Jesus as Priest and Lamb and Mercy Seat

 Our Sunday School class has been studying Romans and man, Romans is just so dense. There’s a lot in there to unpack. I find myself marinating on it throughout the week. One word that came up recently is found in Romans 3:25. Verse 24 says that we are justified freely by God’s grace through the redemption that is found in Christ Jesus, and then verse 25 goes on to say that God set Jesus forth as a propitiation by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness.

That word “propitiation” is just fascinating. The Greek word Paul used here that is translated “propitiation” is hilasterion, and it’s only used one other time in the New Testament - in Hebrews. But before we get there, we need to do a little background.

When God led Israel out of Egypt, He set up the Mosaic law. He gave them instructions for building the tabernacle and all of its furnishings, including the Ark of the Covenant. On top of the Ark was a slab of gold with two cherubim on top. Their wings spread out toward each other, creating a space. This top of the ark was called the Mercy Seat. This Mercy Seat represented God’s throne on earth. It was the place where God revealed Himself to Israel, where He showed up and spoke to them.  But it was more than that.

Once a year, on the Day of Atonement, something happened. There was a sacrifice. First, the high priest would sacrifice a bull to cleanse himself and make him fit for service in the Most Holy Place. Then he would take two goats. He would cast lots over the goats. One goat would be God’s. That goat would be sacrificed. Then he would take the blood of the bull and the goat and sprinkle it on the mercy seat and the great altar for his sins and the sins of the people. Then he would confess all of the sins of the nation over the other goat and drive it out into the wilderness to die for the nation’s sin. Then, after the bull and goat sin offerings would come a ram as a burnt offering. But the blood taken into the Most Holy Place was the blood of the bull and the blood of the goat.

So the Mercy Seat was not only God’s throne, it was also the place where God received the sacrifice of Atonement. It was where the blood of the sacrifice was displayed, showing that God’s wrath was satisfied for the year.

That brings us to the other place that word hilasterion is used in the New Testament.  It’s in Hebrews 9:5.  Now, that’s the only other use of the word in the New Testament. But the word hilasterion is common in the Greek translation of the Old Testament - the Septuagint. And the reason that’s true is because most of the time when that word is used in the Bible it isn’t translated “propitiation” but “mercy seat.” The other place you see the word “propitiation” in the New Testament is in 1 John, and John uses a different but related word, “hilasmos.”  Hilasmos generally means the sacrifice that atones for sin. Hilasterion has a slightly different meaning - not the the sacrifice, but the means or the place of sacrifice - the mercy seat.

Look at Hebrews 9. Hebrews 9 starts with a discussion of the first covenant as the writer calls the Old Testament sacrificial system. He discusses the way the tabernacle was built, and verse 4 describes the ark. verse 5 says that above the ark were the cherubim of glory overshadowing the hilasterion - the mercy seat. Then the writer goes on to describe the sacrificial system.

But look at verse 11: But Christ came as High Priest of the good things to come, with the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands, that is, not of this creation. 12 Not with the blood of goats and calves, but with His own blood He entered the Most Holy Place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption

The writer of Hebrews spends a great deal of time building his case that Jesus was the perfect, final High Priest, not from the line of Aaron, but from the superior, eternal order of Melchizedek. And in chapter 9 he tells us that as our great High Priest Jesus made one final sacrifice that was superior to that of Aaron and the priesthood of his descendants.

But maybe you’re thinking - wait a minute. I’ve never heard Jesus referred to as the Goat of God or the Calf of God. The gospels don’t usually tie Jesus to the Day of Atonement, do they? When John the Baptist sees Jesus coming to him, he says, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” in John 1:29. The perfect, spotless lamb was the sacrifice made at Passover, not on the Day of Atonement. The gospels all lead us inexorably to Passover, to the upper room where Jesus and the twelve celebrated right before he became the sacrificial lamb John proclaimed him to be. The perfect Passover lamb who takes away the sin of the world.

And yet here’s the author of Hebrews speaking of Jesus as the great High Priest who offered the superior sacrifice of atonement.

The Day of Atonement was about the cleansing of sin and making the priests and the people fit for service to God. But Passover was about deliverance. At the first Passover, God delivered Israel from slavery in Egypt. And Jesus' death, which also occurred during Passover week - we’ll leave it at that -  delivers everyone who believes on him from the slavery of sin.

But what the writer of Hebrews is telling us is that Jesus sacrifice wasn’t only the ultimate Passover sacrifice, it was the ultimate fulfillment of all the sacrificial system from Passover all the way through the Day of Atonement. Jesus freed us from the bondage of sin and cleansed us from unrighteousness, making us fit for service to God.

But in Romans 3:25, Paul is saying, but wait, there’s more! Kinda like the best infomercial ever. Paul says that not only was Jesus the ultimate sacrifice, and not only was he the great High Priest, but he is also the propitiation - the hilasterion. The Mercy Seat.

In the Old Testament, the Mercy Seat was hidden behind a thick veil. Only the high priest could see it, and then only once a year when he went in to make the Day of Atonement sacrifice. That sacrifice satisfied God’s wrath toward Israel’s sin for a year.

But what happened when Jesus died?  Mark 15:38 says that the veil of the temple was torn in two - from the top to the bottom. God had closed off access to His throne and now He was opening that access back up.

But remember, the hilasterion - the Mercy Seat - was not only God’s throne, it was the place where God displayed the proof that His wrath toward sin was satisfied. Paul is saying that Jesus is not just the final, perfect sacrifice, not just the great High Priest, but also the eternal display of proof that God’s wrath toward sin is forever satisfied. The price is paid, the debt is canceled. And because the veil of the temple was torn apart, that offer is open to everyone. 

All we have to do is accept the offer. And then live like we believe it.