Good weekend to you my ‘Walking with Jesus” friends,
I wonder what your traditions are for including WORSHIP of Almighty God into your weekend. How have your worship traditions changed as you’ve aged and probably your church has changed in leadership and style over the years? One last time I’d like to use our “Walking with Jesus” today for some reflection about my recent time in Israel. While there I encountered many other people from many different countries who had come to visit the Biblical sites. We saw them worshiping in various places, particularly the Garden Tomb area, the Mount of Beatitudes, the Jordan river baptism site, the western wall. Of course, their expressions of worship varied depending on their language, culture and denomination. We also saw many Jewish people worshiping at the “wailing wall” and on Sabbath, many walking to their Synagogues. In my past visits, I had occasion to spend some time in a Jerusalem Synagogue.
For the Jews their worship is today very different from what it was in the days of Jesus. For us Christians, our worship today is really not much different from what worship was like for those first Christians celebrating Jesus as their resurrected Savior in the first century, Central to the Jewish worship experience in Jerusalem in the time of Jesus was of course the great Temple. That great Temple was totally destroyed by the Romans in 70ad.
Nothing remains of that building of worship and none of the specially made artifacts which were in that Temple of worship exist today. In Jesus’ day, and for centuries before Jesus, smoke wafted up from the huge altar for burnt offerings as Jews brought their sacrifices to the priests who offered them up to God on that great altar while they prayed. That altar no longer exists. Daily a priest went into the Temple with hot coals from that great altar and with incense to offer prayers at the Altar of Incense in the Holy Place of the Temple. In that special room was also the golden candelabra and the Table of Shewbread.
None of them exist today. Remember this Holy Place is where the priest Zechariah had his encounter with the angel Gabriel, the opening event of the New Testament era, as recorded for us in Luke 1. That Altar of Incense and the Holy Place of the Temple have not existed since the Temple was destroyed in 70ad.
One day each year, on the Day of Atonement, the High Priest went behind the great veil, into the Most Holy Place of the Temple to sprinkle the blood of the sacrificial animal on the cover of the Ark of the Covenant called the “Mercy Seat” and pray for God’s mercy on the people of Israel as he confessed the sin of their nation. Neither the Most Holy Place nor the Ark have existed since the Temple was destroyed.
Perhaps you remember that great veil separating the Most Holy Place from the Holy Place was torn in two, from top to bottom, by God Himself, when Jesus took His last breath on the cross that Passover/Easter weekend. God was making a powerful statement that afternoon by tearing that sacred veil. Jesus’ atonement sacrifice payment of His life broke down all barriers and opened the sacred throne room of God to any person, at any time who will come to God fully trusting in Jesus Christ as having paid for their sin.
Hebrews 10:19 explains it this way: “Since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is His body, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith…” My friends, do you approach God with that confidence in Jesus? Finally, with no Temple, no Ark of the Covenant, no Holy Place, no Altar of Incense, no Altar of Burnt offerings, no High Priest and no Priests or Levites carrying on all the worship activities at the Temple, there is little which remains for the Jewish people seeking to honor their heritage of worship of Almighty God.
As a result, when we consider what Jewish worship is today as compared to the time of Jesus, there are so many vital things missing today. What remains for them is the sacred Old Testament, their prayers, their hope that one day God will send His promised Messiah, and their place of local gathering, their Synagogue. Of course, God has already sent His Messiah, Jesus the Christ! And we thank you God, WE THANK YOU!
Now let’s reflect for a moment on what the apostle Paul wrote to the Christians in Corinth about the wonder of the global church which Jesus has established by His life, His death, His resurrection, His teachings and the work of His Holy Spirit for this is what I saw as Christians gathered from around the world to worship God in Israel: “The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts they form one body. So, it is with Jesus Christ. For we are all baptized by one Holy Spirit into one body – whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free – and we were all given one Spirit.” (1 Cor. 12:12,13) The Redeeming work of Jesus, rescuing us from our sin bondage and sin condemnation; the Regenerating work of the Holy Spirit awakening in the repentant sinner a new, holy, spiritual nature; the Forgiving and Adopting work of God the Father drawing all repentant sinners into His family… are working together to form the global church of nearly 1 Billion Christians from every corner of the world!!
Our relationship with Almighty, Holy God is made possible by the work of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, paying the full redemption price for our sin. And the Holy Spirit accomplishes that transformation work in every repentant sinner, cleansing us from our sin and filling us with His Presence. We have no need of an Ark of the Covenant ‘mercy seat’ nor a High Priest going into the Most Holy Place of the Temple, because Jesus is our Advocate with the Father (1 Tim. 2:5,6) and He has earned our right of entry into the Father’s Presence at any time. (Heb. 4 & 10) We have no need of sacrificed animals for Jesus became our once for all sin sacrifice with His death on the cross.
Listen to this wonderful word from Hebrews 7:24 “Because Jesus lives forever, He has a permanent priesthood. Therefore Jesus is able to save completely those who come to God through Him, because Jesus always lives to intercede for them. Such a high priest meets our need – One who is holy, blameless, pure, set apart from sinners, exalted above the heavens. Unlike the other high priests, Jesus does not need to offer sacrifices day after day, first for His own sins, and then for the sins of the people Jesus sacrificed for their sins once for all when He offered Himself!
As Paul describes this global miracle, the people of God, the diverse but unified body of Christ, it’s what I saw in Israel as Christians came from all around the world. Paul writes: “So there should be no division in the body of Christ, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. If one part suffers, every part suffers with it. If one part is honored, every part rejoices with it. Now you are the body of Christ and each of you is a part of it.” (1 Cor. 12:25-27) Now my “Walking with Jesus” friends, are those words from Paul describing you? Do those words from Hebrews describe Jesus as you have come to understand and know Jesus? And as you gather together with others this weekend for worship, regardless of what country or what style of building or style of worship, are you gathering in the Name of Jesus Christ your Savior and Lord, and will your worship be honoring and glorifying to Almighty God as you express your adoration, your thankfulness for your salvation and as you welcome a fresh work of the Holy Spirit in you as He continues to refine you into the man or woman God has designed you to be for HIS glory?
I wonder what fresh experience awaits you with God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit this weekend? And I wonder how your worship experience this weekend will prepare you for what God knows is awaiting you next week as you walk your journey of life with Jesus? Here’s a wonderful worship song to help us celebrate these great truths, my friends…
Today’s Scripture is 1 Cor. 12:12-27.
Choose below to read or listen.
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Bible images provided with attribution to www.LumoProject.com.
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Pastor Doug Anderson
“Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, with our eyes fixed on Jesus…” (Heb. 12:1,2)
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