Tiny Little Things

Do you know which offering did Jesus fulfilled on the cross? Jesus came to fulfill all that’s written, one of it is His death on Calvary as an atonement for all. As we have just commemorated Good Friday and now entering the silence of Holy Saturday, I invite you to meditate on the mystery of God’s love through His love and law.

The writer of Hebrew wrote about the suffering of Jesus outside the camp to invite us also to go out of our camp bearing the reproach He endured (Heb. 13:12). But what is it about outside the camp? Why must a sacrifice be done outside the camp and for whom? Now we need to understand the sacrificial system the LORD ordained to Israel when they were on their journey in the desert.

The LORD has already stated to mankind that the wages of sin is death, not in the New Testament through Paul, but since in the Garden of Eden (Gen 2:17). After breaking God’s command not to eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil, Adam and Eve did not immediately die physically, but they fell short of the glory of God and seeing themselves naked. That nakedness made them fear rather than shame, that nakedness could not be covered even after they had put on coverings over their body (you might want to check this post exploring this topic). When God came to them, He made garments from animal skin to cover their nakedness (Gen 3:21). Blood was poured on the earth for the first time and a substitution had taken place to atone for human’s sin.

Then at the foot of Mount Sinai, where the Israelites encamped and the tent of meeting established, the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle and He spoke to Moses, giving His divine law of sacrifice and offerings. Leviticus 4 tells us about sin offerings that must be offered to atone for when a party or two sin unintentionally. From the anointed priest to common people, all have different portion depending on their position. But there is only one sin offering that has to be burned outside the camp, the sin offering to make amend for the whole congregation (Lev 4:13-21).

On the day that was supposed to be happy and joyful, Jesus was humiliated and severely scourged after not having slept throughout the whole night. Any ordinary man would have died from such wounds even without further torture, but as if it was not enough, they placed a heavy wooden cross on His shoulders. Walking uphill to Calvary, Simon of Cyrene was forced to carry it part of the way. During Jesus’ time, Golgotha was just outside the city of Jerusalem. There Jesus died for all, just like the sin offering for the whole congregation that was burned outside the camp. Jesus died at the ninth hour, the hour of evening prayer for the Jewish (Act 3:1), and the time when the Passover Lamb was slain (Exo 12:6).

Not only was Jesus a sin offering for the whole congregation, He was also the Passover Lamb that died (1 Cor 5:7) whose blood covered firstborns of Israelites from death (Exo 12:21-22). In front of his disciples, John the Baptist pointed to Jesus as the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world (Jn 1:29). May this message bless you as you enter the Holy Saturday in preparation of the celebration of His resurrection. Marana tha!