The Sacrifice of The High Priest

The Sacrifice of The High Priest 
A Poetic Meditation Contrasting the Type & the Substance

Hear the heavy pound of hooves led to the slaughter.
Heavier still, the weight of my sin.

See a hand, once resting on matted fur,
Raised to atone for my sin … again.

Watch fingers of the high priest dripping blood;
A pool formed at the base of the altar.

Behold, this gruesome scene, wrought by me.
My sins ever needing a substitute.

Know the blood of bulls and rams will not do;
For I am destitute of righteousness.

Smell the stench; it’s egregious.
Yet this is grace.

I see my sin, once precious in my sight,
As foul, costly, and resulting in death; its consequence.

This ritual performed by the High Priest will be done again.
Tonight another lamb.
Tomorrow a bull, then more lambs again.

Costly, continual;
A picture of the pervasiveness of sin,
Yet a promise of God’s grace toward us and His promised presence.

Despite the state of our stubborn hearts and unclean camp,
He is here, making provision, dwelling with us.

We continue, and we await the promised child of Eve,
Who will crush the head of the serpent;
Liberate us from captivity.
As God did for us leaving Egypt, He will make a way.

…

Hear the heavy thud of the cross as it’s lowered into the ground.
Heavier still, the weight of my sin upon His shoulders.

See a hand, just raised with a mocking cry,
To crown the King with thorns,
Now raised to punish, to crucify,
Yet in God’s providential plan, to atone for my sins … once and for all.

Watch fingers of my Holy High Priest dripping blood,
Flowing from His wrists,
A pool formed at the base of the altar cross.

I watch from afar.
(He draws me near).

Behold this gruesome scene, wrought by me.
My sin needing a blameless substitute.
He went willingly.
(Oh how I begrudged to give my meager offering. Woe to me!)

I knew that the blood of bulls and lambs would not do,
For I am destitute of righteousness,
But He is not.

The sight is egregious, yet wondrous,
This is grace and glory.

I see my sin,
Once appealing in my sight, now an abomination.
Costly, and causing death.
By the cross of Christ I see;
The consequence of my sin, laid on another.
Made to suffer,
Like a blameless lamb led to the slaughter.

This sacrifice performed by the hanging High Priest is unlike any other.
He is both the Hight Priest and the offering.
Another will never be needed again.
What once was ritual, has now been ratified,
By the blood of Christ,
Once and for all.

The covering was costly, long lasting (eternal),
A promise fulfilled of God by God,
Of grace, love, and presence with His people.

Now, in Christ, by faith, we are both cleansed and changed.
The long awaited Son of Man came.
He decidedly crushed the serpent’s head,
Freeing us from oppression (we are liberated!)
He made a way. He is the Way.

I am washed wholly, cleansed by His blood.
The gory glory of the cross.
Where His love and blood washed down on us.

(See Exodus 29, John 17, 19, Hebrews 12:24, Isaiah 53:7)

Written by Lizzy Blanchard