From the Old to the New

 

Matthew 11:11

Truly I tell you, among those born of women there has not risen anyone greater than John the Baptist; yet whoever is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.

John the Baptist had impressive credentials for his work here on earth: he was born of the line of Aaron the High Priest, his father was an active priest ministering in the Temple, and he was the only priest ever whose birth was announced by an angel in the Temple itself. Many years in the desert equipped him for his important task. His ministry included leading the people to be cleansed of their sins by having them repent and then baptised in the Jordan – this is the most important function of a High Priest. We can then say that John was a better and purer representation of the Levitical priesthood than the High Priest Caiaphas and his priests were at the time – they were totally corrupt and even plotting the murder of their Messiah.

Jesus brought us into a new covenant relationship with God through His death and resurrection. We know that it is a better covenant than the old one - Heb 8:6 Now, however, Jesus has received a much more excellent ministry, just as the covenant He mediates is better and is founded on better promises.

But when a covenant changes, there must also be a change in priesthoods. The new covenant therefore means a new priesthood, replacing the old Levitical one.

It is highly significant then that Jesus urged John the Baptist to baptise Him in the Jordan. Jesus, as our High Priest (Heb 4:14 So then, since we have a great High Priest who has entered heaven, Jesus the Son of God, ...), facing John the Baptist in his High Priestly function, representing the two priesthoods of the two covenants. As John baptised Jesus, he was in reality ending the functionality and right of existence of the old covenant priesthood and handing the reigns over to Jesus, and the new priesthood of the new covenant begins. Two significant happenings pointed to the transition from the old to the new: Caiaphas tore his clothes, thereby stripping himself of his authority and funtion as High Priest, and the veil in the Temple tore in half, opening the sanctuary of God to all who believe.

 The new priesthood started operating at His resurrection. Jesus now makes us, (believers in Him from all nations and tribes), the priests of this priesthood, as we read in 1 Peter 2:9 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for His possession, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of the One having called you out of darkness into His marvelous light  We now function as kings and priests (royal priesthood) in His Kingdom. As kings, we have the authority to act in His name, as priests, we have the duty to reconcile people to God and minister to their spiritual and physical needs. We as believers in Jesus have even greater credentials for this role than John the Baptist had for his priestly role – we are children of God, born in His image, completely equipped for the task by Holy Spirit! And this is what Jesus meant when He said that even the least in the Kingdom will be greater and better equipped than John the Baptist.

Points to ponder:

How do we ‘proclaim the excellencies’ of Jesus as His kings and priests? By our decrees. If we make a proclamation according to the Word, the following happens: the Holy Spirit moves; angels are summoned; spiritual opposition is destroyed; the promises of the Word are made manifest. His prophecies come about, His kingdom expands, miracles happen, and darkness flees! Take your place today – the world needs the continuation of the ministry of Jesus!

The song of the Redeemed

Take up your cross

 

Mark 8:34

Then, calling the crowd to join his disciples, he said, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross, and follow me.

To ‘take up your cross’ is widely interpreted as meaning that we all have a special burden to bear when we follow Jesus. That we have to embrace the will of God, however painful, even if it means to bear the same burdens that Jesus did up unto His death on the cross. Pulpit Commentary explains that this cross assumes various forms such as persecution and martyrdom, affliction and sorrow of whatever kind appointed by God, and temptations of Satan - permitted by God for our trial, to increase our humility and virtue.

All of which certainly is true, but is this what Jesus was saying to the crowd on that occasion? If we dig deeper into the meaning of the Greek words translated here, we see that the words ‘take up’ comes from a verb that means ‘to lift up’ but also ‘to remove’.  The word ‘cross’ means a stake or post, like those used to hold up a tent. It does not refer to the crossbar of a cross, but the stake on which the crossbar is hung. This is shown by the translations in Acts 5:30  The God of our fathers raised Jesus, whom you killed by hanging him on a tree and in Gal 3:13 Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: “Cursed is everyone who is hung on a pole.”

What Jesus’ listeners heard that day, was “If anyone wants to show up after Me, he must reject himself and lift up that stake of his, and follow Me.” They would have understood perfectly, for they would mostly have been traveling people who knew that you pull up the central stake of a tent to use it as a walking stick on your journey to your next destination.

This is still the words of Jesus to us who wish to follow Him today: “Pull up that which is keeping you captive in your present circumstances, fold up your tent and come travel with Me to new horizons!”

Points to ponder:

In Jesus’ day, following Him meant going against everything your culture and religion had taught you to be true. You would be ostracized from your family and from your community, probably with a command never to contact them again. This is still the case in many countries today. Sadly, even in communities that are mostly Christian, religious legalism would have the same effect – your family and friends simply do not understand your new or even renewed passion for Jesus. He is asking you to work out the cost of following Him (Luke 14:28-29), and then decide whether you are willing to pay that price. For there is no cost you can pay in following Jesus that will not be made up a thousandfold in the resurrection! Carefully consider your present circumstances – are you willing to pull up your stake?

Have you counted the cost