“For Aaron’s sons, make tunics, sashes, and special head coverings that are glorious and beautiful. Clothe your brother, Aaron, and his sons with these garments, and then anoint and ordain them. Consecrate them so they can serve as my priests. Also make linen undergarments for them, to be worn next to their bodies, reaching from their hips to their thighs. These must be worn whenever Aaron and his sons enter the Tabernacle or approach the altar in the Holy Place to perform their priestly duties. Then they will not incur guilt and die. This is a permanent law for Aaron and all his descendants after him. [Exodus 28.40-43]
The priests involved with Israel's worship of God were to be elaborately adorned when they entered God's presence on behalf of the people. In contrast, Jesus hung naked upon the Cross to enter God's presence on behalf of the people.
The difference might be understood in the "religious work" involved for the Old Covenant priests to enter God's presence versus "no religious work" involved for Jesus to enter God's presence as the first of many New Covenant priests. Necessary and painstaking preparation and effort to abide by rules and regulations characterized Old Covenant devotion - a holy facade, if you will, masking (and thereby protecting) the fallen man inside.
It was fitting then that Jesus allowed Himself to be stripped of all His covering signifying the pure holiness of the body God had given Him. The only effort Jesus exerted in His adornment was to do nothing. He would be seen by man and God as the undefiled Son of God without need for the effort and religious protocol of concealing Himself.
How important then it is for believers in Jesus to understand their ability to enter God's presence in boldness as holy priests without as much as a stitch of religious clothing as they are in Christ! This article does not even begin to touch the full significance of this, but a perusal of the article Get Naked? will shed critical light (I highly encourage taking the time to read it)!
Jesus' words should ever be on our minds as we read and understand the Old Testament:
“You search the Scriptures because you think they give you eternal life. But the Scriptures point to me! [John 5.39]
But no less should Jesus' words remain on our minds as we understand why we live:
Again he said, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I am sending you.” [John 20.21]
“I tell you the truth, anyone who believes in me will do the same works I have done, and even greater works, because I am going to be with the Father. [John 14.12]
The question we might ask ourselves today is, "How am I dressed?"
Father, help us to understand what it means to be "in Christ." Help us to see how the Old Testament points to Jesus and therefore reveals us as well! Wow. So be it.
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