Jesus & Yom Kippur
Today, our Jewish brothers and sisters observe Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. It is a solemn day of humble, reflective repentance and purification—the annual release of the heavy burden of sin for the people of Israel.
So why am I, a Christian follower of Jesus, writing about Yom Kippur? How do I see Yom Kippur through the lens of Jesus? Well, the answer begins with a trip to the airport.
Before the brilliant innovation of wheels on luggage, my favorite place at any airport was the baggage counter. As the designated pack mule for family trips, every pound of every suitcase made me long for the place where I would lay my burden down. As sweat rolled and muscles quivered, I would gladly surrender that which was becoming too much to carry—releasing everything that weighed me down in tangible, joyous relief.
In the same way, much of our lives are spent lugging around the weight of guilt and shame. We carry this sin-baggage—burdens we've laid on ourselves and those handed to us—longing for the place where we can surrender the unbearable weight, straining forward with every step toward the "drop-off place" where we can finally lay it all down. The place called "forgiveness." Atonement. At-one-ment.
“Yom Kippur is a tangible, liturgical event where the people of God get to see forgiveness in action. Where the accumulated baggage of sin and guilt is released. ”
God knew we needed to be relieved of the weight of sin—delivered from the very power of sin—and since words alone would not suffice, God provided a demonstration. Yom Kippur is a tangible, liturgical event where the people of God get to see forgiveness in action. Where the accumulated baggage of sin and guilt is released.
The extensive instructions for Yom Kippur, or the Day of Atonement, are found in Leviticus 16, when God instructs the high priest to go into the holy of holies, the innermost chamber of the Tabernacle, to make a sin offering for all the sins of all the people.
"This shall be a statute to you forever…For on this day atonement shall be made for you, to cleanse you; from all your sins you shall be clean before the Lord…This shall be an everlasting statute for you, to make atonement for the Israelites once in the year for all their sins."
Leviticus 16:29a, 30,34, NRSV
Exceedingly precise and thorough instructions for this significant event are given to Moses by God throughout Chapter 16. These instructions are more than just suggestions—they are a divine imperative, indicated by an onslaught of the word "shall." By my quick count, the word "shall" occurs forty-eight times in this single chapter. Perhaps it is exceedingly important that we humans see a precise demonstration of the weight of sin being forgiven and the power of sin being overcome. Every priestly detail in Exodus 16 is accompanied by a "shall." The priestly garments. Ceremonial washing. Sacrifices. Blood. Everlasting statute. Shall. Shall. Shall!
“Jesus most surely knew and observed Yom Kippur throughout his life, much as he practiced all the other traditions, feasts, and festivals of Judaism.”
As a Palestinian Jew in the Second-Temple period, Jesus most surely knew and observed Yom Kippur throughout his life, much as he practiced all the other traditions, feasts, and festivals of Judaism. Jesus intentionally placed himself at the center of the Passover in the upper room with his disciples— offering them the bread and the cup, the body of Christ broken, and the blood of Jesus shed, like the blood of the Lamb sprinkled on the doorposts of the Exodus. And just as Jesus saw himself at the center of Passover, he likely saw the Via Dolorosa, his suffering upon the cross, as his High Priestly entry into the Holy of Holies to atone for sin once-for-all.
Along with scholars like N.T. Wright, I believe that Jesus saw the story of God with the people of God as being fulfilled in himself. As Jesus prayed in agony in the Garden of Gethsemane, he was all too aware of the painful reality that awaited him—the looming reality of the cross, where, as the lamb that was slain, he would be himself the once-for-all sacrifice. The burden of receiving into his body the sins of all, offering himself as the once-for-all sacrifice, led to sweat as drops of blood before his blood was ever shed.
Jesus announces his coming death and resurrection three times in the Synoptic Gospels. He knew the road ahead. He had witnessed the torture of crucifixion. He knew the pain of the cross and the weight of sin that would be placed on him. And he knew all about the Day of Atonement, Yom Kippur. Jesus is simultaneously the High Priest entering the Holy of Holies on behalf of all people and the once-for-all eternally effective sacrifice for the sins of all people.
“Jesus is simultaneously the High Priest entering the Holy of Holies on behalf of all people and the once-for-all eternally effective sacrifice for the sins of all people.”
Great humility must characterize any attempt to view Yom Kippur, this sacred day of Judaism, through the lens of Christian thought or the lens of Jesus. Yet the writer of the New Testament book of Hebrews gives radiant and clear focus to this daunting task. With evident knowledge of and tender respect for the ancestral tradition and Yom Kippur itself, the book of Hebrews points us to the Son, Jesus, as the "reflection of God's glory and the exact imprint of God's very being." As the one who "once for all" makes purification for sins and sits down at the right hand of the Father. And just as through the 48-fold use of "shall," Leviticus 16 details the everlasting statute of Yom Kippur, the author of Hebrews emphatically declares the eternal efficacy of the life and death of Jesus through the four-fold use of the greek word "ephapax," which means "once-for-all."
Unlike the other high priests, he (Jesus) has no need to offer sacrifices day after day, first for his own sins, and then for those of the people: this he did once for all when he offered himself.
Hebrews 7:27
But when Christ came as high priest of the good things that have come, then through the greater and perfect tent (not made with hands, that is, not of this creation), he entered once for all in the the Holy Place, not with the blood of goats and calves, but with his own blood, thus obtaining eternal redemption.
Hebrews 9:11-12
But as it is, he has appeared once for all at the end of the age to remove sin by the sacrifice of himself.
Hebrews 9:26b
And it is by God's will that we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.
Hebrews 10:10
The author of Hebrews turns the 48 uses of "shall" into the "once for all" removal of sin via the sacrifice of Christ. Perhaps the instructions for and observance of Yom Kippur from Leviticus 16 are the necessary gestation period for the incarnation of the One who would be the once-for-all sacrifice. The atoning work of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus flowing out of the inner being of the Holy Trinity—from the detailed instructions for the Day of Atonement to the transcendent, once-for-all sacrifice upon the cross.
“In Leviticus, that release only occurs once per year, but in Hebrews it is eternally, perpetually, and every day available.”
Now, turning our theological attention back to the burdensome task of carrying luggage, it seems to me that the exceedingly precise instructions of Leviticus 16 serve as a humbling reminder of the power of sin to weigh us down. This chapter, with its 48 "shalls," insists that we feel that weight in the sinews of our souls, creating an eternal longing for the "drop-off place" of forgiveness. In Leviticus, that release only occurs once per year, but in Hebrews it is eternally, perpetually, and every day available. Jesus high and lifted on the cross is both the priest and the sacrifice—the precise demonstration of the weight of sin forgiven and the power of sin overcome.
Jesus himself is the "drop-off place" where we are relieved of the weight we cannot carry and the burdens for which we cannot atone. In meditating on Leviticus 16 and all the uses of "shall," may we humble ourselves and discover an even greater gratitude for the life and death of Jesus. The yearly observance of Yom Kippur prepares us for the once-for-all all event of Good Friday, when Jesus died upon the cross and the veil of the temple curtain was torn from top to bottom, eternally and perpetually releasing the mercy inherent in the Holy of Holies. In liturgical churches, this grand drama of redemption is remembered and re-enacted weekly through the Eucharist, and in doing so, we are living into the transformative gift of the one who "entered once for all into the Holy Place, not with the blood of goats and calves, but with his own blood, thus obtaining eternal redemption." (Hebrews 9:12)
Through tears of gratitude, I see the "drop-off place" of sin and deliverance available 24/7, all day, every day, singing "Amazing love, how can it be that thou, my God, should die for me!"
PraYER & Practice
Praying the prayer of confession daily and while observing the Eucharist humbly reminds us of the provision for atonement in Leviticus 16.
May we open our hearts in humble gratitude to receive the precious gift of Jesus laying down his life as the once for all sacrifice.
Most merciful God, we confess that have have sinned against you
in thought, word and deed
by what we have done and by what we have left undone.We have not loved you with our whole heart.
We have not loved our neighbors as ourselves.We are truly sorry and we humbly repent.
For the sake of your Son Jesus Christ have mercy on us and forgive us
That we may delight in your will and walk in your ways
For the glory of your name.Amen.
Receive this prayer as if spoken over you by Jesus, the one who said, "Father forgive them, for they know not what they do" as he offered himself upon the cross.
Almighty God have mercy on you, forgive you all your sins through our Lord Jesus Christ, strengthen you in all goodness, and by the power of the Holy Spirit keep you in eternal life.
Amen.
(From the book of Common Prayer, p. 360)
