November 8

Leviticus 21:1-22:33, Mark 15:1-32, Psalm 31:19-24

Devoting your life to God can be a bit tough, it can involve a great deal of sacrifice but then there is a far bigger picture.

In all the stuff we have read so far about priests and what they will wear and what they will do, I think this is the first time that I have realised that the high priest must never leave the sanctuary. No holiday, no weekend, no time out, he is always in there. He has been anointed by oil, he is sacred to God and so he must stay in the sanctuary, the holiest of holy places.

It also seems a bit harsh that they have to give the very best animal to God. You can imagine the scenario though, you get a dodgy animal born one day which you can’t really eat or sell, well you might as well give that one to the priest, it is only going to get burnt after all. But what God wants from us is the very best, he doesn’t want us to palm him off with second rate stuff, he wants our all.

Simon of Cyrene also had to make a sacrifice. It was not easy carrying a cross, that was all part of the punishment. The punishment though was Jesus’ (or rather it was ours) but this poor chap who just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time ends up carrying the can, or the cross! So Simon makes a sacrifice.

I have already blogged about us making a sacrifice to God, about what we might give up. But there is something that puts all of our sacrifices into context, the sacrifice that is made by Christ which we come to in the Gospel of Mark today. In Christ God sacrificed the whole glory of heaven and took on the humbleness of earth. In the cross he sacrificed his life and took on all of our sin.

Whatever we are asked to sacrifice, whether the high priest giving up his freedom for the sanctuary, whether it was the people of Israel sacrificing the best animal or whether it was Simon taking the cross. All of this pales into insignificance when we look at the sacrifice God made in Christ. Look again at the sacrifice God might be asking you to make.