Hebrews 7:23-25
23 Now there have been many of those priests, since death prevented them from continuing in office; 24 but because Jesus lives forever, he has a permanent priesthood. 25 Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them.
Reflection
I hate math and I always have. My dad was a civil engineer by trade, and I always admired the ability he had to do math. Though he was not a structural engineer, he had a good understanding of all matters pertaining to engineering. For whatever reason, when we crossed bridges, he would mention something about how the bridge was constructed. I had merely a passing interest, no matter how much he talked about it. But, I did note the importance of bridges and that smart people had to think them through. I knew enough to know that if a novice designed the bridge, there was a good chance we would plummet to our certain doom. In that way I did take interest. Bridges get us safely from the span of one place to another, without the risk of certain collapse.
The Latin word for priest is Pontifex… the word for “bridge builder.’ Jesus, as our high priest, is the Great Bridge Builder. Advent is a celebration of the fact that Jesus comes, not merely to lay in a manger, but to build a bridge between God and man. The gap between us, that we could never span by ourselves, Jesus spans with his death on the cross. Our ability in mathematics would never help. We simply could not bridge this gap that is too long and too hard to span. Math won’t help. Good works won’t help. Not effort. Not good intentions. Not money. No! We need a God-man in Christ to bridge the gap between God and man. We celebrate the great work of Christ on the cross… His high priestly role to build us a bridge.
Prayer
Oh Lord, you have built the bridge we could not build making peace with us. Blessed be your name.
Written by Jesse Caro, Pastor of Discipleship
