On this day atonement will be made for you
(Leviticus 16:30).
Chapter 16 is where we find instructions for Yom Kippur
(the Day of Atonement). This was the one day of the year when the High Priest
entered the Most Holy Place (the Holy of holies), to make atonement for the
nation’s sins. Yom Kippur, the most important day of the Jewish calendar, is
the final day of a ten-day period of repentance beginning with Rosh
Hashanah. Rosh Hashana falls in September on the western calendar.
The writer of Hebrews refers to the Day of Atonement and its
trappings as copies of heavenly things (Hebrews 9:23). In other words,
the Old Testament sacrificial system was as close as they could come to
Christ’s saving work on the cross for a people living in pre-Incarnation times.
God’s heart for reconciliation didn’t just begin with the coming of Christ. He
has always been working to reconcile humanity to himself.
We have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body
of Jesus Christ once for all (Hebrews 10:10). Unlike the offering brought
by Old Testament priests, there was no need for Christ to repeat his sacrifice
yearly. The cross, while absolutely necessary, was also completely sufficient
to bring reconciliation between God and humankind.
Jesus said, “It is finished.” With that, he bowed his
head and gave up his spirit (John 19:30).
TODAY’S MEDITATION
What does it mean to you
that Christ’s offering of himself was a once and for all sacrifice? As you
reflect on that, can you thank him that “It is finished”?
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