Thoughts on Jesus' Physical Death

The other night I was reading in Hebrews as part of the BSF study of John (cross-referencing). I found the 7th and 9th chapters to be very enriching spiritually…I know I must have read these chapters before, but I feel like I’m reading them for the first time again. The way that Paul discusses Jesus’ death and our salvation is wonderful to me. It has always been a bit of a mystery to me, and I know that it will always be at least somewhat mysterious. In fact, even Paul talks of the union between Christ and the Church as a “great mystery.” (Eph 6:32) However, there is some clarity to be had between my past understanding of the cross and our understanding as we continue to discover the depths of God’s nature.

We hear things like “living sacrifice” or “perfect sacrifice,” but do we really grasp their meaning? I still have much to discover, but tonight I feel a small step closer to appreciating the wonder of the crucifixion, its impact on us, and why it was needed in the way that it happened. I think it is easier to accept Jesus as perfect, sinless, and blameless Son of God, than to understand why He had to die as a man to save us. So my thoughts come from the perspective of acceptance of His perfect deity and as a result, focusing on the role of the physical aspect of the sacrifice.

The motivation came from Heb 9:11-15 and Heb 7:23-25. Two things stuck out to me. Heb 9:13-15 says,

“For if the blood of bulls and goats and the ashes of a heifer, sprinkling the unclean, sanctifies for the purifying of the flesh, how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, cleanse your conscience from dead words to serve the living God? And for this reason He is the Mediator of the new covenant, by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressors under the first covenant, that those who are called may receive the promise of eternal inheritance.”

And Heb 7:23-25 says,

“Also there were many priests, because they were prevented by death from continuing. But He, because He continues forever, has an unchangeable priesthood. Therefore He is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.”

What strikes me are the parallels and stark contrast between human priests and animal sacrifices to Jesus as Priest and his human and spiritual sacrifice. In addition, one phrase sticks inside me: “He always lives to make intercession for them."

Jesus is an active sacrifice, a living sacrifice. Bulls, goats, rams and such were one-time, lifeless sacrifices. After their sacrifice, they were used up and even burned up. This is one way Jesus is different. Not only is He perfect and the Son of God and the only perfect sacrifice to be offered, but He still lives! He was fully dead and fully sacrificed, yet He is fully alive. He was tested under spiritual fire, yet not consumed…He was fully sacrificed, yet fully and perfectly preserved and remains in that state to this day and forever. No other sacrifice can make this claim or meet this requirement. It is the source of the new covenant that Jesus Christ is active. That means the instant we realize our sin and repent, we are instantaneously cleansed by Jesus’ immediate living sacrifice. He is available to all mankind in a new way that He wasn’t before. The Holy Spirit calls out to Him and communes with Him. We have the Spirit inside and are never off His radar. His eyes are trained on us, He sees all, and is ready to pounce on evil and cleanse us of sins if we’ll only call on Him. He is immediately and ever-presently on call to plead our case to the Father and reclaim us as His. “He lives to make intercession” for us! It’s as if, in the human understanding bound by time, Jesus spends every waking moment of His days and nights living for the “opportunity” to present Himself as the living sacrifice all over again for any sin we repent of today. I say “opportunity” not from the perspective of right before a sin is committed, but from the perspective of after a sin has been committed, due to the inherent weakness of our flesh…at that point I increasingly believe that Jesus experiences great joy in our turning to Him, and He to the Father, asking for our forgiveness, and He leaps at the opportunity to cleanse and rescue the sincere, feeble, human heart crying out to Him. I think He loves us like that, and “lives to make intercession.”

2 Chronicles 16:9 is one of my favorites and says, “For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him.” And that was in the old covenant, before Jesus' human death and resurrection to save us. I believe there may be no greater strength than the salvation of our souls, once captive in a sinful body--I say that because it takes what was separated by God through sin, and restores us to Him--that is a supernatural spiritual strength unparalleled by anything I have ever comprehended...it is well beyond any physical strength. I wonder if the new covenant might further articulate 2 Chronicles 16:9, highlighting that Jesus’ eyes run to and fro throughout the earth, to show Himself strong as the Living Sacrifice to redeem those whose heart is loyal to Him. That is a wonderful picture of my loving God to me.

I have a suspicion that each of you has inquisitively studied the crucifixion before and marveled at it. I would love to hear your thoughts, questions, and conclusions if you have any.