The Entered High Priest

God hath ascended with a shout, Jehovah with the trumpet’s sound Sing praise to God our King, sing praise, Yea, let His glorious praise abound.

Christ’s ascension is the second step of His exaltation. He is the living Savior and His work continues unhindered. His Ascension Day is the day of His coronation. The text speaks of the excellency of His ministry in heaven: “Now of all things which we have spoken this is the sum: We have such an High Priest, who is set on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens.” The work of Christ in the heavens must be the main concern in the life of the Lord’s church here on earth, and this is what His people must speak about. The glory of Christ must be the most important subject of their conversations, and also the subject of their faith. The eye of faith must be focused on the glory whereunto He has ascended. The Holy Scriptures show us His glory and His work there — both above and inside. May the eye of faith of God’s children rest there. We speak so much about our work, but that does not have any value at all. Christ’s ascension offers us more of heaven than of earth. The Holy Scripture gives us a view above the cloud and behind the gate.

What are the things that we speak about? What is the subject of our discussions? Do all our considerations remain below the clouds? Do we only have worldly conversations? Do we only talk about the church and its short-comings? Do we only talk about our strife, our doubts, our imperfections, and so on?

The text speaks about something that we possess, not about something that we miss: “We have such a High Priest.” He was given by the Father, and by faith He must be embraced and received. Oh, may the Church of the Lord be exercised more and more in communion with the ascended Savior, because then they will speak more and more about what they possess and what they have in Christ. What Christ is and what He does is of the utmost importance, and that is what this text is speaking about.

The High Priest has entered into the heavenly sanctuary. Christ has finished His mediatorial work here on earth. He has entered into the complete High Priestly honor and dignity; He has entered in by His own blood. He is the ransom that He paid to redeem His people and to deliver them from Satan’s power and dominion. He has delivered His Church from the sentence of the law, and by His blood He has reconciled them with God, to bring in everlasting righteousness. “It is finished” and — nothing needs to be added to that anymore. Heaven cannot remain closed. The everlasting doors have been opened and the King of glory has come in. He is the great Conqueror over death, grave, hell, Satan and sin, and that victory can never be undone anymore. He is highly exalted above all powers and enemies. He has entered into everlasting glory, and in Him and with Him all His Church, all those who were given Him by the Father, have entered in.

This now is the “sum” that the text refers to; it is the “sum” for Christ, for the Father and for the Holy Spirit, and these three are One. The whole work of salvation is only from and by a triune God: the electing work of the Father, the redeeming work of the Son, and the applicatory work of the Holy Spirit. “O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are His judgments, and His ways past finding out!” Should we then not speak of that magnificent work of redemption? What an undeserved blessing it is when God’s children begin to speak about this salvation, when they experience to have died with Him and to forsake everything whereon they rested before, when they experience that they were buried with Him, when the power of sin was broken, and when they were risen with Christ. When His life flows into their soul, and the power of His resurrection is their life, then His work becomes the “sum” of which they speak. He is more precious to them than anything else.

It is not true that all God’s children always live in this full assurance. We notice that when we hear them speak more of the condition of their own heart than of the work that Christ does in heaven. Ephraim has become so darkened and so barren. The reason that there are so few exercises of faith regarding the glorified Christ is that God’s children speak much more about other things and other people than about Him. Oh, may God’s children in their meditations of what Christ is and does now come to the sure confession, “We have such an High Priest,” because then their desires will be drawn above the clouds and their hearts will be made to long for His salvation in order to be ministered from His fullness. Blessed are they who can say: “We have such an High Priest given by God for the propitiation of all our sins; He is mine and I am His” — no, not in superficial contemplations, but as fruit of the actual application of the Holy Spirit. Yes, then He is the focal point of our conversations, and the center of our prayers, our preaching, and the administration of the sacraments.

Beloved reader, have you learned to know this High Priest in a way of dying to everything that is yours? Do you dare, yes, are you able, to say that? Is it your desire to be hidden in Him? Does your heart go out to Him? Is the way to get to Him concealed for you? Can you understand Mary’s lamentation, “They have taken away my Lord, and I know not where they have laid Him”? Why seek ye the living among the dead? Do you still think that you must do something for Him? Has your strength been broken? Has your world perished? Whence cometh thine help? From the holy place, from the sanctuary? That is the place where your mighty Redeemer, the sitting High Priest, is working.

Five glorious things are mentioned here:

1. Christ goes to the highest glory;

2. He goes to the throne;

3. That throne is a throne of the Majesty in the heavens;

4. He receives the place on the right hand of that throne;

5. He sits on that throne.

With majesty and honor crowned,
How great His glory in Thy grace!
Forever blest, Thou makest Him
With joy to live before Thy face.

All power is given unto Him in heaven and in earth. By His finished work on earth that throne is a throne of mercy.

Oh Thou, who in a former day
Didst turn Thy dreadful wrath away!

From out of that throne flow all the treasures and merits of the covenant of grace to His children here on earth. Justice and judgment are the habitation of His throne.

The Old Testament high priest was not permitted to do his work on the Day of Atonement sitting down, and neither was his work ever finished. None of all those sacrifices brought satisfaction, but they were a type of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. Each sacrifice called for the next one, until the Lamb of God was slain. And that only was sufficient to satisfy God’s justice. “By one offering He hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified.” The High Priest that we are speaking about here sits down; His work on earth is finished; He sits in majesty and glory. Because of His propitiative and finished offering He has “received gifts for men; yea, for the rebellious also, that the LORD God might dwell among them.” The enemy cannot reach Him anymore; He goes on undisturbed, in holy eternal confidence, to gather, keep, protect, lead, maintain, purify and teach His Church. And His rest shall be glorious. Eternal blessings, rest and peace will come down from His throne.

Dear readers, observe that all these blessings can only come from above, from the heavenly kingdom. They can never come from the earth, nor from ourselves: “From Me is thy fruit found.” Do not seek salvation for your soul in any other place than in Him alone. The certainty of your salvation lies in the faithful and glorified Christ alone. All blessings of the exercises of faith flow from His throne. He alone builds His Church. Just as the disciples looked steadfastly toward heaven as He went up, so your eye of faith must be fixed on Him. He sits there on His throne for the welfare of His church militant here on earth.

He is the ministering High Priest there. The “sum” of the things we have spoken of is this Minister of the sanctuary in heaven. I am afraid that in our dark days more is spoken about the ministers of the earthly sanctuary than of this Minister of the sanctuary. It seems that the future of the church and the salvation of sinners depend on earthly ministers. Our text, however, teaches us expressly that the future of the church and the salvation of sinners depend on the Minister of the sanctuary which the Lord pitched, and not man. Let us speak of this Minister; let our eyes be fixed on Him alone. He works and prays, and He fainteth not and will not be weary. Just as He, in faithfulness, has done His work in the form of a servant, He will also work His work in glory. There He ministers the service in the sanctuary. Heaven also knows worship services and a liturgy. How singularly glorious that must be! As High Priest, Christ will lead the worship service in heaven. Satan cannot disturb nor sow division there. There Israel’s songs of praise will be sung where the Lord has His habitation; there the angels and the redeemed will sing. Songs, praying and thanking will be heard in heaven. But also here down on earth the same work is being performed, because it is the same Church under the same Head.

Thy Church above and here on earth,
In conflict or in victory,
Will always praise Thy glorious Name
From now to all eternity.

Christ is the praying and thanking High Priest in the true tabernacle. There He walks in the midst of the golden candlesticks with the seven stars in His right hand. There He sings as the only chief musician the song of praise for and with those who are His. There He prays for His children so that their faith faileth not. Yes, we have such an High Priest, and we speak of Him and we preach Him. This holy event is for encouragement, comfort and hope for the Lord’s militant church here on earth, to encourage us when our sin-stained prayers and conversations are so full of shortcomings, so heartless and so cold, and so very often only form. This heavenly liturgy covers all sins and imperfections with His blood. He is always there, even when we do not speak of Him, even when we lose sight of Him, even when we have ruined and spoiled everything. His church will not perish; His service in heaven guarantees that. His church has been in existence from the beginning of the world and will remain until the end of the world.

Dear reader, do you have such a High Priest? Speak then of Him alone. Do you miss Him as your personal High Priest? May your eye then be fixed on the place where He went. He lives forever. Amen.

Rev. H. Hofman is pastor of the Netherlands Reformed congregation of Chilliwack, British Columbia.

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