Should the Church abandon the church? Part 2

Ancient Israel's Design

From the mysterious Melchizedek, through the Aaronic ranks, and into the Levitical line, the role of the Priesthood has a long, beautifully complex, and sometimes sordid history. Their role was to mediate between God and man.  They ministered according to very specific instructions, and offered sacrifices on behalf of the people. Once a year, the High Priest would walk into the Holy of Holies and offer a sacrifice to atone for the sins of the entire nation (including the Priests) committed in the past year. In their system, there was no other way to God, but through the ministry of the Priest.

It has often been said that power corrupts, but absolute power corrupts absolutely. And, there can be no position more powerful than to act on behalf of God. As expected, Isreal's Priestly history has it's share of ugliness.

The Pharisees and Sadducees in Jesus' Day

People love to disagree. It's always been that way, it probably always will be. The Pharisees and Sadducees were no different. Making up two very different ReligioPolitical views with varying swings of power and influence as first one party then the other would take popular precedence. It was much the same as our current Democratic/Republican extreme power swings where the majority of the populace are left somewhere in the middle benefiting from neither.

Whether is was the Pharisees imposing their strict and constricting views of Scripture on everyone, or the Sadducees with their elite classism, the resulting effect was the same. The system, bloated by largess and aggresive posturing was broken and much in need of reform or revolution.

Into this environment walks the peaceful warrior, Jesus. He held nothing back. Telling it like it was. Hating the situation, but loving the people enough to tell them the truth, even if they didn't want to hear it. His Father's Temple had been defiled by the avarice of it's leaders, and it was time for a change!

Now, please understand that God knows human nature very well. It was never his intention for this system of beliefs and practices to be perfect and exist forever. It was merely a placeholder. An imperfect work of man, to prepare the way for the perfect work of Christ. God created this leadership with the full intention of eventually replacing it. But, like all man, and especially men of power, the Jewish leaders of Jesus' day were not quick to give up their authority.

Scared of His power and influence, the Jewish leadership had Him crucified, not that this would surprise Jesus...

After they gathered again in Galilee, Jesus told them, "The Son of Man is going to be betrayed into the hands of his enemies. He will be killed, but on the third day he will be raised from the dead." And the disciples were filled with grief. - Mat 17:22-23 NLT

As Jesus was going up to Jerusalem, he took the twelve disciples aside privately and told them what was going to happen to him. "Listen," he said, "we're going up to Jerusalem, where the Son of Man will be betrayed to the leading priests and the teachers of religious law. They will sentence him to die. Then they will hand him over to the Romans to be mocked, flogged with a whip, and crucified. But on the third day he will be raised from the dead." - Mat 20:17-19 NLT

When Jesus had finished saying all these things, he said to his disciples, "As you know, Passover begins in two days, and the Son of Man will be handed over to be crucified." At that same time the leading priests and elders were meeting at the residence of Caiaphas, the high priest, plotting how to capture Jesus secretly and kill him. - Mat 26:1-4 NLT

On the way, Jesus told them, "Tonight all of you will desert me. For the Scriptures say, 'God will strike the Shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.' But after I have been raised from the dead, I will go ahead of you to Galilee and meet you there." - Mat 26:31-32 NLT

In my favorite example of this, Jesus, being Jesus; walks into the temple and seeing the money hungry vultures feasting on the people, throws a holy fit.

Jesus made a whip from some ropes and chased them all out of the Temple. He drove out the sheep and cattle, scattered the money changers' coins over the floor, and turned over their tables. Then, going over to the people who sold doves, he told them, "Get these things out of here. Stop turning my Father's house into a marketplace!" Then his disciples remembered this prophecy from the Scriptures: "Passion for God's house will consume me." But the Jewish leaders demanded, "What are you doing? If God gave you authority to do this, show us a miraculous sign to prove it." "All right," Jesus replied. "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up." "What!" they exclaimed. "It has taken forty-six years to build this Temple, and you can rebuild it in three days?" But when Jesus said "this temple," he meant his own body. - Jhn 2:15-21 NLT

So, who exactly is in control here? No doubt that it is Jesus, and Him alone. See, this is part of God's plan. He has come having already decided to sacrifice His son.  And, one of the most important things that He is trying to accomplish during this, (aside from the whole saving the world from their sins thing) is to take the middle man out of the equation. He is coming to destroy the priesthood. To destroy the thing that separates man from God.

I heard a man once say that if you have some frogs to eat, you might as well eat the biggest one first. When it came time to destroy the system of the Jewish Priesthood, Jesus went straight for the big frog.

The Big Frog
The crowning achievement of the Jewish priestly duties happened once a year. It is now known as Yom Kippur, or The Day of Atonement. It is the holiest of all the Jewish holy days. It takes place, ultimately, in the Holy of Holies. And it is done by the premier Priest of the day, a title handed down for thousands of years through an unbroken family lineage, The High Priest. The Big Frog.

A Day in the Life
It had been a tough time for Caiaphas, but it is almost over.

His strategic marriage to the High Priest Annas' daughter, had positioned him just right. The right education, the right contacts, the right relationships, and now the right position belonged to him. He was Israel's High Priest.

15 years earlier, his friendly working relationship with the Roman Governor Valerius Gratus had lead to his appointment to this ultimate role. He had even survived the shift of power as Gratus was replaced by the current Roman lead, Pontius Pilate.

At 15 years of service, he has been High Priest longer than most anyone. As Chairman of the Sanhedrin, the Jewish High Court, his place in history was secure.

He should be feeling a lot better about this day, the biggest day of the year. The day reserved for the HIghest of Priests to step into the Holiest of places, and to do the job that only he could do. He'd feel alot better about this day, if it weren't for that trouble maker Jesus. But, that was almost finished.

What an exhausting week. Finding a traitor in Jesus inner circle, Caiaphas had been able to arrange Jesus; arrest and lead the subsequent 'trial' where Jesus sat silently as they accused Him of blasphemy.

Jesus hadn't said a single word.

It was almost laughable. It would have worried him more. But, for all the trouble the Nazarite had been giving him, at the end, He stood there silently and refused to defend Himself while witness after witness that Caiaphas had been able to fabricate brought forth lie upon lie.

And, Jesus said nothing.

Like a burrowing worm, this unsettled Caiaphas. Jesus didn't seem like the kind to back down easily. But, in thinking about it, Caiaphas realized Jesus must have understood it was hopeless. Assured now. Caiaphas had done his job. He had done it right. And, the Jesus issue was about to go away... forever.

Now, it was time to get down to the liturgical duties of the Jew's High Priest. He just wished he could get the bearded trouble maker out of his thoughts.

Beginning the yearly ritual he had done so many times before, Caiaphas washed his hands and feet. Painful images of the nails being driven into the hands and feet of the carpenter's son splashed through his mind as he scrubbed all the harder.

Slowly undressing from his golden regal priestly garments, and laying out the white linen he will wear for the duration of the sacrifices, he thought suddenly of the garment he had watched them take from Jesus. It really was of excellent quality, rivaling his own. He wasn't sure how a poor street preacher had come across a garment of that quality, He had probably stolen it. But, Caiaphas could guarantee, Jesus would never wear anything as regall as that again.

"Okay, Caiaphas... concentrate. Today's isn't about Jesus, it's about you," he refocused. Putting on the White Robe, and washing again, he nodded, "That's right. Today is all about me."

Standing now between the Temple-porch and the altar, he faces the east, towards the people, and turns the head of the soon to be slain bullock towards the west, to face the sanctuary. Placing both hands on the head of the bull, he speaks, for the benefit of the crowd, the words that he has spoken so many times before.

'Ah, JEHOVAH! I have committed iniquity; I have transgressed; I have sinned— and my house. Oh, then, JEHOVAH, I entreat Thee, cover over (atone for, let there be atonement for) the iniquities, the transgressions, and the sins which I have committed, transgressed, and sinned before Thee, I and my house— as it is written in the law of Moses, Thy servant: "For, on that day will He cover over (atone) for you to make you clean; from all your transgressions before JEHOVAH ye shall be cleansed."'

As always, the people fall on their faces. They cry out in one voice, "Blessed be the Name, the glory of His kingdom is forever and ever."

Stepping closer to the people, he nears the Calphi urn, and standing between two identical goats, thrust both hands inside the urn (called the "Lottery) to grab the two "Lots". The 'Lots' were stones, one white with "la-JEHOVAH" etched in it, the other black with "la-Azazel" or "The ScapeGoat". Taking the unseen stones in hand, and placing a hand on each goat's head, the goat's "lot is cast."

Taking two scarlet cloths, one will soon be tied around the throat of the "la-JEHOVAH" goat where it will soon be slit, He tears the 2nd cloth and ties the 1st half around the horn of the "ScapeGoat", which is turned from the Sanctuary to face the people, awaiting their sins to be "laid upon him." The 2nd half of the Scapegoat cloth, is tied to the door of the temple.

Caiaphas's mind flicks to Jesus standing with Pontius Pilate.

"Which one should I set free?" Pilate's voice rings over the crowd.

"Barrabas! Give us Barrabas!" the crowd screams. 

"But, what shall I do with Jesus?" Pilate is shocked by their passion.

"Crucify Him! Crucify Him!"

Returning to himself, Caiaphas shakes his head and thinks, "When this day's over, I'm gonna sleep for three days!"

Turning back to the bull, Caiaphas again lays both hands on it's head and this time confesses not only his own sins and the sins of his family, but now confesses the sins of all the priests. He wishes this was more private. It seems almost sacrilege for a man of his position to confess in front of the people. But, it is the tradition after all.

With a swift and practiced hand, Caiaphas kills the bull, and in a vessel gathers it's blood. This vessel, he hands to a helper who swirls it to keep the blood from coagulating.

Stepping to the Altar of Burnt Offering, Caiaphas fills a censer with hot coals, and throws a handful of Frankincense in another dish.

He would normally carry incense in his right hand, and the censer of coals in his left, but today, on the Day of Atonement, when the censer is so big and heavy, he is allowed to reverse the common order, and so, carrying the censer in his right hand, and the incense in his left, every eye watches as the white robed High Priest disappears from sight into the Holy Place.
The curtain of the Most Holy Place towers in the darkness before him. Forty feet high, and four inches thick, it's sheer mass is suffocating. Lit only by the light of the coals in his censer, the corner of the veil is turned back between him and the Holy of Holies, allowing him entrance. In Moses' temple, the Ark of God stood therein with the Mercy Seat overshadowing it. Above it, the glowing presence of JEHOVAH in the cloud of Shekinah between the outspread wings of the Cherubim. In that day, the High Priest would have placed the censer between the staves of the ark. But, in Herod's temple, the Holy of Holies sat empty of ark or shekinah, and instead Caiaphas rests the heavy censer on a large stone, called the "Foundation Stone".

Taking the Frankincense, he carefully throws all of it into the golden censer of burning coals and waits for the temple to fill with smoke, then withdraws.

The incense offering filling the Most Holy Place, the people in the court withdraw in silence to worship. As the people see Caiaphas withdraw from the Most Holy Place, they know his sacrifice has been accepted.

Grabbing the swirling vessel of bull's blood from the attendant, Caiaphas again advances into the darkness, dipping his finger into the blood, he sprinkles, once upward to where the Mercy-Seat would be, and seven times downward, his heart pounding in his chest.

Withdrawing again, he sets the vessel of bull's blood on a golden stand before the veil. Heart thumping, he slits the throat of the goat "la-JEHOVAH", catching it's blood in another vessel, he ventures into the empty darkness again, wondering if the people know that there is nothing inside. As before, sprinkling once upward, and seven times downward, before placing the second vessel on another golden stand.

Taking again the bull's blood, he sprinkles this time toward the veil, outside the Most Holy Place, once upward, and seven times downward, and does the same with the blood of the goat.

He pours the vessel of bull's blood into the vessel of goat's blood, then both back into the bull's vessel, mixing the two. He sprinkles both horns of the Altar of Incense, and seven times the top of that altar.

His own blood coursing through his head, Caiaphas, pours the remainder of the blood at the west side of the Altar of Bunt Offerings, purifying it as well.

His White Robe is without blemish or spot.

Having now completed the purification of the temple, Caiaphas's weariness nearly overwhelms him. It is almost 3 o'clock in the afternoon. But, strangely, it is as dark as the middle of night.

Now that he pauses, Caiaphas realizes that each time he stepped out of the Most Holy place over the last 3 hours, it has seemed as dark as death.

He has only one last act to perform this day as High Priest, his weariness suffocating. One last sentence. A phrase to be uttered by the High Priest alone.

What Caiaphas does not know, is that at The Place of The Skull hanging between two thieves, the Jesus whom Caiaphas schemed to defeat begins to form His mouth to speak. The mouth that remain closed during His trials, now opens to speak once again.

And, as one, two Priests breath in. The Heavenly Priest, bloody and beaten, gulps in His last. The earthly Priest thinking all is normalcy. But, none the less, as one, they agree for the first time and speak together the closing words of the sacrament...

"It is FINISHED!"

What Caiaphas next experienced, he would never be able to fully retell. The Earth began to violently move beneath him like a long-captive behemoth finally breaking it's bonds. Caiaphas next became aware of the warm blood on his hands and knees. Having fallen to his knees, his fingers, so often dipped in the warm blood of the sacrificed animals, now dripped his own blood.

The next sound shattered his ear drums. The earth quaking, rocks disintegrating, the multitudes screaming in terror. They did not compare with the rending sound exploding behind him. As if the earth itself were roaring it's triumph, the mighty curtain snapped taught. Though no hands touched it... though no outside force pulled it... The mighty curtain... the immense veil... the separation between God and man... that which seperated Caiaphas from all other men... with one horrendous, heart-stopping snap, rent explosively from top to bottom.

Sudden, clean, piercing, and cleansing light splashed the heavens. The unnatural night ends in an instant. The sun pierces the before-shadowed room, now no longer hidden by veil or fear.
Truly, It is finished.

Next, Whatever happened to the Priesthood?

Should the Church Abandon the church (Part 1)

Camelot

The year is 1960. A baby-faced good looking kid from Massachusetts has just been elected the youngest American President ever. He appoints his brother Bobbie to the US Attorney General's office. Bobbie, then approaches the storied founder and leader of the FBI, J. Edgar Hoover to begin investigating the Mafia.

Hoover and the FBI had been criticized in the media for ignoring the mafia for many years. Truth is, he had been avoiding the Mafia for a very long time. The world-wearied Hoover understood something practical that others seemed not to grasp.

There was money in the Mafia. There wasn't money in government service.

J. Edgar Hoover had been around the seedy side of people long enough to know that his underpaid and overworked field agents were much too vulnerable. The long hours, the financial needs of their families, and the necessary periods of separation from direct leadership oversight that was the life of a field agent was a recipe for disaster when mixed with Mafia money.


Now, history tells us that J. Edgar Hoover attacked the Mafia by upping the ante in their game. He attempted to trump their aces by buying mafia informants. Offering them protection and resources that would exceed anything they would see in their current deals in exchange for information. Only the 20/20 vision of review allows us to see whether there was wisdom in his decisions. However, one thing remains clear...


J. Edgar Hoover was hesitant to put his people into a position in which they were almost certain to fail.


The Mission or the Missionaries?
Jesus is about to be betrayed. He will soon be beaten, whipped, ridiculed, mocked, and humiliated. He knows this is coming. He has agonized over it. He has begged to have this cup that He must drink removed from Him. Nevertheless, He has accepted it.


Having done that, His thoughts are on His friends. Let's take a moment and look at an extended piece of scripture as Jesus exposes His heart towards His friends as He prays for His disciples.


After saying all these things, Jesus looked up to heaven and said, "Father, the hour has come. Glorify your Son so he can give glory back to you. For you have given him authority over everyone. He gives eternal life to each one you have given him. And this is the way to have eternal life--to know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, the one you sent to earth. I brought glory to you here on earth by completing the work you gave me to do. Now, Father, bring me into the glory we shared before the world began. "I have revealed you to the ones you gave me from this world. They were always yours. You gave them to me, and they have kept your word. Now they know that everything I have is a gift from you, for I have passed on to them the message you gave me. They accepted it and know that I came from you, and they believe you sent me. "My prayer is not for the world, but for those you have given me, because they belong to you. All who are mine belong to you, and you have given them to me, so they bring me glory. Now I am departing from the world; they are staying in this world, but I am coming to you. Holy Father, you have given me your name; now protect them by the power of your name so that they will be united just as we are. During my time here, I protected them by the power of the name you gave me. I guarded them so that not one was lost, except the one headed for destruction, as the Scriptures foretold. "Now I am coming to you. I told them many things while I was with them in this world so they would be filled with my joy. I have given them your word. And the world hates them because they do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world. I'm not asking you to take them out of the world, but to keep them safe from the evil one. They do not belong to this world any more than I do. Make them holy by your truth; teach them your word, which is truth. Just as you sent me into the world, I am sending them into the world. And I give myself as a holy sacrifice for them so they can be made holy by your truth. "I am praying not only for these disciples but also for all who will ever believe in me through their message. I pray that they will all be one, just as you and I are one--as you are in me, Father, and I am in you. And may they be in us so that the world will believe you sent me. "I have given them the glory you gave me, so they may be one as we are one. I am in them and you are in me. May they experience such perfect unity that the world will know that you sent me and that you love them as much as you love me. Father, I want these whom you have given me to be with me where I am. Then they can see all the glory you gave me because you loved me even before the world began! "O righteous Father, the world doesn't know you, but I do; and these disciples know you sent me. I have revealed you to them, and I will continue to do so. Then your love for me will be in them, and I will be in them." - Jhn 17:1-26 NLT


Do you hear His love for His guys?  Do you hear the responsibility He feels towards them?

The next chapter, John 18, starts by Jesus and his guys crossing the Kidron, and walking into a grove of olive trees. Judas knows this spot, and Judas is ready with soldiers to give his "kiss of death."


This is His final thought before He is taken from them to be crucified. His heart is not for the mission as much as it is for His missionaries. His heart is breaking for them. That love is amazing.


Like Whitewashed Tombs
One thing is for sure. When it came to confronting the religious leaders of His day, Jesus did not mince words. He laid it out plain and simple...


Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples, "The teachers of religious law and the Pharisees are the official interpreters of the law of Moses. So practice and obey whatever they tell you, but don't follow their example. For they don't practice what they teach. - Mat 23:1-3 NLT


Alrighty, then. Sounds like a lot of people we know...


They crush people with unbearable religious demands and never lift a finger to ease the burden. "Everything they do is for show... . - Mat 23:4-5a NLT


I don't know about you, but that sounds like what everyone I know says about our Modern Day church.


And they love to sit at the head table at banquets and in the seats of honor in the synagogues. They love to receive respectful greetings as they walk in the marketplaces, and to be called 'Rabbi.' - Mat 23:6-7 NLT


Right off the bat, I think it's safe to say that Jesus is not fond of these traits in His church. He has come to earth to start a revolution. The Jews wanted Him to start a political revolution, and to lead them out of the oppression that they were suffering at the hands of the Romans. But, He has other plans. He ALWAYS has other plans.


Understand that, in this passage, He is talking about what we would now call the "church." But, He is talking to His followers, His believers. He's talking to the "Church." Follow the capital letters here, He's talking to the Church about the church. (I'll explain the differences as I see them later)


Let's continue in Matthew 23 as He instructs how He wants them to be different than what they've seen so far...


"Don't let anyone call you 'Rabbi,' for you have only one teacher, and all of you are equal as brothers and sisters. And don't address anyone here on earth as 'Father,' for only God in heaven is your spiritual Father. And don't let anyone call you 'Teacher,' for you have only one teacher, the Messiah. The greatest among you must be a servant. - Mat 23:8-11 NLT


Shut the front door! How do we miss this stuff? Or more correctly said, how do we put so much importance on some of the things Christ said, while we completely ignore other things He said?


I'm not Jewish, so I don't call anyone Rabbi. But, I get His point. There is only one teacher, and all the rest of us are all equal. I'm also not Catholic, so I don't call anyone 'Father', but I was in church yesterday, and sat and listened to a wonderful 'Teaching Pastor' give a great 'sermon' on Job and the ups and downs in his life. It was meaningful, it was inspirational, it was comforting. The 'Teaching Pastor' is genuine and Godly. His message was impacting not because of his title, but because he has caught onto the heart of his calling, 'The greatest among you must be a servant.'


My issue isn't with him, we'll come back to this. For now, let's continue with a warning from Christ to the power hungry...


But those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted. - Mat 23:12 NLT


I don't know about you. But, Jesus doesn't seem like the kind of guy to make empty threats. I'd guess that you could pretty much bet that if He says something, He'll follow through on it.


He continues to characterize the religious establishment. Understand that, if you only know the "Sunday School" polite Jesus, what He says here may shock you. If your prayers sound like Ricky Bobby's, "Dear Eight Pound, Six Ounce, Newborn Baby Jesus, in your golden, fleece diapers, with your curled-up, fat, balled-up little fists pawin' at the air..." Well, this Jesus has a beard. Let's listen to the MAN.


"What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you shut the door of the Kingdom of Heaven in people's faces. You won't go in yourselves, and you don't let others enter either. "What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you cross land and sea to make one convert, and then you turn that person into twice the child of hell you yourselves are! "Blind guides! What sorrow awaits you! ... Blind fools!... How blind!... "What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you are careful to tithe even the tiniest income from your herb gardens, but you ignore the more important aspects of the law--justice, mercy, and faith. You should tithe, yes, but do not neglect the more important things. Blind guides! You strain your water so you won't accidentally swallow a gnat, but you swallow a camel! "What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you are so careful to clean the outside of the cup and the dish, but inside you are filthy--full of greed and self-indulgence! You blind Pharisee! First wash the inside of the cup and the dish, and then the outside will become clean, too. "What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs--beautiful on the outside but filled on the inside with dead people's bones and all sorts of impurity. Outwardly you look like righteous people, but inwardly your hearts are filled with hypocrisy and lawlessness. "What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! ...Snakes! Sons of vipers! How will you escape the judgment of hell? - Mat 23:13-33 NLT


This may not be clear to you, but to me it seems pretty obvious. Jesus does not dig people who use "religious authority" to laud power over people for their own advantage or for the people's disadvantage. He REALLY doesn't like it, and He REALLY isn't someone to mess with. One thing is clear. Jesus did not like the way the Jewish leaders treated the Jewish people. I would imagine His opinion of that type of leadership in today's church is not much different.

Next, Part 2, where we go back a few thousand years...