Was It Not Necessary?

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Short Summary
The discourse explores how Jesus studied and understood Old Testament Scriptures topically, focusing on themes of suffering, sacrifice, and redemption as essential to his mission. It highlights Jesus’ 40 days in the wilderness as a period of reflection on his role as the sacrificial Lamb and High Priest, connecting Passover and sin offering symbols to the church’s participation in his sacrifice. The teaching emphasizes the unity of Christ’s sacrifice for both the church and mankind, the significance of covenant and consecration, and the fulfillment of prophetic promises concerning resurrection, priesthood, and kingdom.

Long Summary
Detailed Summary of the Discourse on Jesus’ Topical Teaching and Scriptural Understanding

Jesus’ Method of Teaching and Scriptural Study
– Jesus taught topically, systematically going through the Scriptures from Moses through the prophets and Psalms to reveal the full truth (Luke 24:27, Luke 24:44).
– This approach—comparing spiritual things with spiritual—provides a deeper understanding of God’s plan and was exemplified by Jesus himself.
– The two disciples on the road to Emmaus recognized Jesus only after he broke bread with them and explained the Scriptures, leading them to joyously return to Jerusalem to share the news of His resurrection (Luke 24:13-35).

Fulfillment of Scripture and Opening Minds
– Jesus emphasized the necessity of His suffering and death as foretold in the Law of Moses, the Prophets, and the Psalms (Luke 24:44-46).
– Despite prior teaching, the disciples’ strong earthly expectations of the kingdom hindered their understanding until Jesus “opened their minds” to understand the Scriptures (Luke 24:45).
– Acts 3:18-21 confirms that all the prophets spoke of the necessity of Christ’s suffering before the restoration could come.

Jesus’ 40 Days in the Wilderness
– Jesus’ 40 days in the wilderness after baptism were not just about resisting temptation but a period of constructing His own understanding of His mission—especially the necessity of suffering and sacrifice.
– The Spirit “drove Him” into the wilderness immediately after baptism, underscoring the importance of solitary reflection and study of Scripture (Mark 1:12-13).
– Jesus’ knowledge of His pre-existence and role as the Logos was veiled until this time, when He began to understand His identity and mission more fully (Reprints 51, 56; 5064).
– During this time, He meditated on Old Testament types and prophecies such as the bullock (sin offering), the Passover lamb (ransom/deliverance), Abraham’s offering of Isaac (foreshadowing resurrection), and the fiery serpent lifted in the wilderness (healing through faith).

Isaiah 53 and the Suffering Servant
– Isaiah 53 presented a challenging but crucial prophecy of the Messiah’s suffering: being “despised and forsaken,” “a man of sorrows acquainted with grief,” and one who “bore our iniquities” (Isaiah 53:3-6).
– Jesus would have studied this in the wilderness, understanding the depth of rejection and suffering He would endure.
– This prophecy helped shape His comprehension of the necessity of sacrificial suffering for mankind’s redemption.

Daniel’s Prophecy and the Timing of the Messiah
– Daniel 9:24-27 speaks of the “seventy weeks” prophecy, indicating the coming of “Messiah the Prince” and His being “cut off” at the midpoint—key to the timing of Jesus’ ministry and sacrifice.
– Jesus would have seen the divine timing and understood that the kingdom was not immediate but involved a period of gospel age harvest work.

The Passover and Tabernacle Sacrifices: Two Perspectives on Salvation
– The Passover lamb symbolizes deliverance and ransom—the protection of the firstborn and the eventual rescue of Israel (Exodus 12).
– The tabernacle sin offerings (bullock and goat) symbolize atonement or redemption—sacrificial death to cover sin (Leviticus 16).
– Jesus’ sacrifice combined these pictures: He is the Passover Lamb (deliverance) and the sin offering (redemption), fulfilling both roles.
– The two animals in Leviticus 16 represent Jesus (bullock) and the church (goat), showing the church’s participation in sacrifice and suffering alongside Christ.
– The burnt offering demonstrates total consecration and acceptance by God, following the sin offering, symbolizing the complete offering of self.

Jesus’ Understanding of His Role and the Church’s Role
– Jesus recognized His consecration to the Father’s will and began to grasp the extent of suffering involved.
– The church is pictured in the tabernacle sacrifices as under priests who share in the sin offering by laying down their lives in sacrifice (Romans 12:1).
– The high priest entering the Most Holy Place twice (Leviticus 16) illustrates Christ’s one offering with two applications: once for the church and once for all mankind.
– The New Testament confirms that the church shares in the sufferings of Christ (Philippians 3:10, 1 John 2:2).

Jesus’ Memorial and Invitation to the Disciples
– At the Last Supper, Jesus linked the Passover and sin offering pictures by giving bread (body) and cup (blood) to His disciples, inviting them to participate in His sacrifice and sufferings.
– This act is a profound call to joint participation in sacrifice for the sake of mankind’s salvation (1 Corinthians 10:16).
– The memorial unites the ransom (deliverance) and sin offering (atonement) in a practical and spiritual fellowship.

Suffering, Resurrection, and Glory
– Jesus found comfort in Scriptures promising resurrection and glory:
– Psalm 16:10 (“You will not abandon my soul to Sheol”)
– Isaiah 53:12 (sharing a portion with the great)
– Psalm 110 (sitting at God’s right hand as priest forever)
– These assured Him that suffering was not the end but a necessary step toward glory and the eventual establishment of God’s kingdom.

Theological Lessons and Practical Applications
– The discourse emphasizes the importance of studying Scriptures topically and comparatively to understand the full scope of salvation history.
– Jesus’ example encourages believers to seek spiritual enlightenment and openness to revelation (Luke 24:45).
– Understanding these sacrificial types deepens appreciation for the church’s role in sacrifice and the hope of resurrection.
– The timing of God’s plan (Daniel’s prophecy, the gospel age, the harvest) calls believers to active participation in God’s work now.

Key Biblical References
– Luke 24:13-35, 44-47 (Road to Emmaus and fulfillment of Scripture)
– Acts 3:18-21 (Prophetic necessity of Christ’s suffering)
– Mark 1:12-13 (Spirit driving Jesus into the wilderness)
– Leviticus 16 (Day of Atonement sacrifices)
– Isaiah 53 (Suffering servant prophecy)
– Daniel 9:24-27 (Seventy weeks prophecy)
– Romans 12:1 (Living sacrifice)
– Hebrews 7:26-27, 13:11-13 (Christ as high priest offering once for all)
– Psalm 16:10; Isaiah 53:12; Psalm 110 (Promises of resurrection and glory)
– 1 Corinthians 10:16 (Participation in the blood of Christ)
– John 10:17-18 (Jesus laying down and taking up His life)
– Luke 23:46 (Jesus commending His spirit to the Father)

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Summary:
The discourse reveals a profound insight into how Jesus studied and interpreted the Hebrew Scriptures to understand His mission of sacrificial suffering and redemption. By examining types such as the Passover lamb, the bullock and goat sacrifices, and prophecies like Isaiah 53 and Daniel 9, Jesus constructed a comprehensive understanding of God’s plan. He recognized the church’s role in sharing His sufferings and the significance of His resurrection and glorification. The memorial meal connects these themes by inviting believers to participate in Christ’s sacrifice. This topical, comparative study approach strengthens faith and motivates believers to live sacrificially while awaiting the full realization of God’s kingdom.

Transcript

Friends, I learned something in Wilmington I never realized before. Jesus taught topically, he went through the Scriptures from Moses to the prophets. I mean, this is the way we really get the fullest understanding of the truth is to study topically, to compare the Scriptures across all of the evidence that the Scriptures are given to us, and it’s remarkable that our master, it’s remarkable that he gave us this example that he compared spiritual things to spiritual, and he repeats this as we’ll see, because the two disciples are overjoyed.

They have an answer. They recognize Christ when they ask him to come in their home and he breaks bread, you know, he appeared as a stranger to them prior to that point. But there’s a seven mile trip between Emmaus and Jerusalem and they turn around and they walk all the way back because they have to tell the disciples and the apostles that Jesus has been risen, and also this point, that his death was necessary according to the Scriptures.

Well, when they go and explain, Jesus appears in the upper room and he makes an almost similar statement. He says, these are my words which I spoke to you while I was still with you. This point about his suffering, that all things which are written about me in the law of Moses and the prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled. Well brethren, if you think of this Moses, the prophets and some translations give this as the writings. That’s the whole Hebrew Scriptures, that’s the Tanakh from beginning to end.

And he tells them, I’ve told you this. But their expectations of the earthly kingdom were so strong they could not accept this point, and it’s beautiful because the next text says then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures. Now friends, wouldn’t you love to have been there on the way to Emmaus or in the upper room and heard this sermon? I sure would.

Brother, wouldn’t you want to sit at his feet or walk with him, see the Master day by day? Of course we have the writings and we’re supplied in that way. But what a blessing that would have been to be with them when there’s any open their mind to understand the Scriptures. Brethren, have you ever had that privilege of witnessing to someone and you see their mind and I would say their heart open and understanding. It is such a beautiful thing to share the truth.

Well brethren, it’s interesting. Jesus said he had told them these things before. Well, Acts 3, 1821 tells us about what the prophets, all the prophets had written of. Now we always like to quote verse 21, that they all wrote about the times of restitution or the times of restoration. But verse 18 says all the prophets spoke that Christ must suffer.

So it explains both that it was necessary for him to enter into glory. It was necessary for him to have the suffering to provide the redemption price for mankind. So I think that’s why he says to them, oh, you who are foolish on this matter. You haven’t heard the Scriptures. You haven’t heard my words.

They had ample basis for their faith, but their understanding was locked up because of that strong expectation they could recognize him as Messiah. They could expect the kingdom, but they did not understand the need of the redemption price. Now friends, we think of this in the Context of Jesus. 40 days in the wilderness. I don’t know if you ever considered this.

Why did Jesus need 40 days in the wilderness? You know, he was a perfect man and he’s begotten of the Spirit. Why didn’t the truth just suddenly get dumped in his head? Okay, I think it underscores, brethren, the importance of proving truth, of living the Scriptures. You know, Jesus said that man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of truth.

So brethren, we believe those 40 days is the time when he was constructing for himself his understanding of what his mission would be, that he was going to be the one that would suffer and die on behalf of Israel. Now brethren, what’s interesting here, you know, you know the story. He’s baptized. I like Luke because it says he was praying when he was baptized. Heaven’s opened.

I like this. Heaven was opened and the Holy Spirit descended upon him. Mark adds the Spirit immediately drove him into the wilderness. Now think about this, brethren. Why would the Spirit drive him into the wilderness?

He needed to be alone with the Father going over the Scriptures. Now brethren, I love the provision under the law that during the year they read the whole of the Hebrew scriptures every year, and as a perfect boy, he’d have that perfectly in his mind so he could review all the scriptures there in the wilderness, just with himself. He didn’t need the scrolls from the synagogue and so forth. There’s a couple of really good references in the towers.

Reprint 51, 56 speaks of our Lord’s knowledge of his pre existence. You know, brother Russell suggests there that Jesus for the 30 years it was veiled from him that he was the Logos. So when you see the Spirit come upon him and the heavens are opened, you know, he’s realizing one piece, that he was with the Father. He was daily his Father’s delight, that that had been his privilege. But at the same time, he’s realizing all these prophecies that were locked to his understanding beforehand.

The other reprint is 5064, which is the Word made flesh.

But brethren, as we look at this we think probably some of the first things that came into his mind were the sacrifices of atonement, and that he realized I’m pictured in the bullock, I’m going to die for the sins of my people, of mankind, and then he realized I’m the Passover lamb that was slain. The blood was put on the door so that the ones behind it, the firstborns, could be protected, and it’s interesting brethren, you’ve got two pictures that are two perspectives on what his work would be.

And I think he had to put this, and hopefully we can share in this next hour some of how it seems he would have put these things together. Well, other things, you know, he said, was it not necessary that Christ should suffer these things? Well, we think the bullock and the lamb were very early, but also Abraham sacrificing Isaac. He would see in that picture his father and Abraham giving him.

And really brethren, I think he would see the promise of the resurrection in that picture because Isaac was spared. Remember Paul says Isaac was received from the dead in a figure. His mind probably also went to the fiery serpent on the cross that healed the Israelites who had complained about their food and the journey in the wilderness, that looking at that they could be healed, and he would realize from that how all mankind to be healed of sin would look to him. You know, friends, as we go.

Probably one of the most difficult passages, I think it’s probably the most difficult for most today is Isaiah 53. Now we’re studying at Wilmington, which I really appreciate because for years you’re reading it and you’re reading all this suffering and suffering and sin laid on him, and why is it so repetitive over and over again? Well brethren, I think it’s another subject. But I think it shows how the apostles minds were open to the meaning of Christ’s sacrifice.

They start out with we esteemed him, stricken of God, smitten and afflicted. They go on to he’s born our iniquities. They see that it’s not well, they see that it’s for others that he is making this offering. Then they see, well, it’s the Lord that put this upon him. But there’s a progression of thought in Isaiah 53 that is really beautiful if you can get past all the suffering, suffering that is mentioned there.

But this verse three would point out to him how the world would react to him, how his own people, he would be despised and forsaken. A man of sorrows acquainted with grief. Think of this, reading this or reviewing this in the desert, that men would hide their faces from him, and brethren, you know the kings, it says that he was more marred than any man. He was more misunderstood.

His ministry and his activities, he couldn’t be any more misunderstood than what he was that was part of his cup.

Well, friends, we believe also that he would know the time from the Daniel prophecy in Daniel 9. You know, brethren, it’s interesting, one of those articles goes into the things that would be locked up for him. He wouldn’t have known the time then for the kingdom to be established. But the Scriptures give this prophecy in Daniel 9 of When Messiah the prince would come. It’s really interesting, brethren, because, you know, God is outside time, but yet he created time.

And he gave chronology for us to understand the times and seasons and really the mission that we are to have for Jesus, saying, I have three and a half days, there’s 69 weeks would reach to Messiah the prince, and at the three and a half day point, the midweek, it says Messiah would be cut off, and I think this is a really important lesson that the Lord gives us truth just in time for his people to undertake the work of whatever sort it is. You know, brethren, one thing that just thrills me absolutely is the fact that we’re all in Ecclesiastes. Where did Ecclesias come from, brethren?

They came from the harvest work, and brethren, you think about that. How did the brethren know it was time for the harvest work? It was because they saw when the 6,000 years ended, when Christ would return, and as chief reaper, he would say, it’s time for harvest.

And it’s pretty remarkable, brethren, as soon as Brother Russell learned that point about the time, he recognized immediately it’s time for harvest. He wanted to know what was being done, and you know, Barber said, well, I’ve got a few subscribers, they’re pretty tired. The real motivating force behind the harvest work was Brother Russell. He put his own resources into it.

So that’s what I mean about. I think it’s important for us to look at truth and ask, why does the Lord give us now what am I supposed to do with this truth? How does it add to my mission or to my work of overcoming in my own character?

Now, one thing that’s quite interesting here, brethren, I mentioned the Passover and the sin offering have two different perspectives, and really to understand the plan of salvation, you need both of these really, the lamb focuses on deliverance, where the bullock, the offering there focuses on atonement or redemption. You know, brethren, it’s kind of wonderful if you take a 30,000 foot view of God’s plan and you look at things like these huge types, the atonement sacrifices are repeated year after year, the Passover, which they were to keep year after year. Or you think about the jubilee cycles, for example, and you just think, what’s the essence of each one of those points? Well, you know, Passover shows deliverance, but the sacrifices show redemption.

You have the jubilees to show restitution. If you take just those three points, brethren, isn’t that a complete view of our Father’s plan? But Jesus had to have these things clearly in mind, and you know, brethren, one thing that’s kind of a mystery here, how much did Jesus understand as the Logos and you know, did the Lord veil some of those things from him? Did he know that he was going to come and die on the cross?

I don’t know a way to prove it. We had a nice discussion yesterday about it. But here he had to construct. I don’t know how else you could look at the 40 days. They weren’t just days of temptation.

You know, Satan came to him afterwards with a direct temptation. I guess I should explain this, brethren, if you read about the temptations of the adversary, Mark says he was tempted throughout the 40 days, and I think the point was, you know, was he reading the scriptures correctly? Was he choosing to take a course that would be easier than what the Scriptures laid out, that that would be a temptation to him as he studied these texts. But he had the direct temptations, as Matthew and Luke point out afterwards.

Now Jesus would know from the Passover story, which by the way, brethren, if there’s one story people all over the world know from the Hebrew scriptures, from the Hebrew scriptures, it’s this story. This has universal appeal, freedom from slavery. It’s such a beautiful picture of deliverance, and Jesus would recognize, as we do now, he would recognize this is about Satan’s empire of sin and death, and he would see in it how are mankind going to be rescued and that there are two parts.

There’s first, the deliverance of the firstborn, and the next morning the deliverance of the whole nation, and he would see the central role that the lamb’s blood would play, and brethren, he would also recognize in the plagues of Egypt for the hold of sin and death to be removed, for Satan to be taken out of the way. In the picture, Egyptian civilization was destroyed economically, religiously, politically. Now, militarily, they still had a little bit of that.

Because the picture ends with the deliverance in the Red Sea. Jesus would recognize the gospel, age, time from this picture that the time when the church would be protected and would be developed while under the blood.

Now Paul picks up and points out, christ, our passover lamb is sacrificed. I don’t know if you ever thought about this question, brethren, but it doesn’t say Christ, the world’s passover lamb is sacrificed. It says, christ, our passover lamb sacrificed. So it’s focusing on that particular night when the church is under the blood, and brethren, as we look at that picture, we find that the lamb that was slain represents the ransom the church is not shown in the Lamb picture.

And we can see Jesus in his mind going through the law, a life for a life, an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, that to rescue Adam would require a perfect sacrifice and substitute for Christ, and you know, friends, I should have mentioned this is why the Spirit drove him in the wilderness. All these things were unfolding in his mind. He was remembering about being the Logos with the Father, and brethren, if you think about this, one of the things I absolutely love about our Father is what happened when the Spirit descended.

There is a voice from heaven. Behold my beloved son, in whom I am well pleased that God gave him a witness right there of his acceptability and God’s pleasure in his consecration. Consecration to do the Lord’s will, whatever that required. I don’t think it was consecration to sacrifice. I don’t think he saw that.

He came to give his life to the Lord, whatever that meant, and then he began to realize all these points about what his consecration would mean in the way of sacrifice. You know, brethren, it’s interesting. The picture of consecration is in the tabernacle. Okay, it’s tied in with sacrifice, which I’ll get to in a moment.

But he also recognized in the Passover picture, there’s a second deliverance that the morning after the passing over of the firstborns, then the rest of the nation was delivered. But we can think of this kind of as a temporary deliverance because Pharaoh isn’t dead. He’s going to be inactive for a little bit while the nation travels to the Red Sea. But it’s very clear, and it would be in his mind, the general deliverance of the world could not happen until the firstborns were completely passed over. You know, brethren, we can kind of take for granted the parentheses of the gospel age.

Why didn’t Jesus just come at the end and rescue everybody. Well, there has to be time for the development of the church. So that picture of the night in Egypt is critical, and then the morning comes. Isn’t it wonderful to be part of that morning, brethren, when the blessings come to mankind?

So again, God didn’t fully deliver Israel until he destroyed Pharaoh and his army in the Red Sea, and I think Jesus must have loved the celebration in Exodus 15 when Pharaoh and his host are destroyed and they sang the song of deliverance there. You know, that would picture how mankind and I think heaven will sing together when the plan is completed and sin is completely destroyed. The joy that will be there. You know, it’s interesting, brethren, the Lord was giving him understanding not just of the suffering portion, but also why glory was needed and what that would mean and more of that as we go.

Okay, so there’s, I think, some of his thoughts about the. The Passover lamb. Now, the tabernacle sacrifices. It’s quite interesting. After the Red Sea experience, Israel goes on.

And this was prophesied in Exodus 3 when Moses was questioning the Lord about, how can I do this? The Lord tells him, you’re going to have a sign. You’re going to worship me on this mountain, and this is where the tabernacle picture is given, the tabernacle example, the priesthood and so forth, and this is where Israel could have some measure of relationship with the Lord.

And brethren, there’s all kinds of sacrifices here. So there’s all kinds of lessons I think he would have received. But the most important is the sin offering sacrifice. You know, brethren, I personally, I love the burnt offering sacrifice because it shows God’s entire acceptance of the sacrifice that precedes, and I’m not going to remember who, but Sister Kathy may remember.

One of the brethren from Chicago, I believe, made the point that the burnt offering, it shows the entire consecration of the offerer, but it also shows the entire acceptance of our Father, and the whole thing is burned on the altar. I mean, how better to show this concept? But even more important than the burnt offering is the sin offering. The burnt offering follows the sin offering, again, showing the acceptance of that.

You know, brethren, I think our Lord considered all these pictures. You know, we’re not going into the pictures of the shepherd, but here we have the picture of the priesthood, the priesthood as teachers, as sacrificers, and eventually as blessers. Again, that point about glory.

So in Leviticus 16:11, we have the discussion of the bullock being killed for himself and for his house, and as I mentioned, he would recognize the bullock representing himself. But wouldn’t he have wondered at first why the Lord’s goat? Why are there two animals for a sacrifice? And brethren, this would teach him about the part the church would play in following after him, being as he was in this world, that the sacrifices were handled exactly the same.

The second sacrifice we refer to as the Lord’s goat, which we believe represents collectively the whole church, and that’s in verse 15 of Leviticus 16, and you know the picture, brethren, how the blood of both is brought into the most Holy. How the choice parts of the animal are burned on the brazen altar, and how the not choice parts of the animal are burned. Without the camp three views of the sacrifice, I mean, can you picture him going through all of this and thinking through what this would mean for his own experience?

Okay, and I’ve covered some of this. You know, brethren, I think you would also recognize here that the killing of the bullock would show his sacrifice of his earthly will at Jordan. But when the sacrifice was completed, then that would be his, the last, at the end of the three and a half years at Calvary, and brethren, don’t you appreciate the picture? The high priest carries the fire from the altar and the sweet incense.

And how that shows that he brought the trials upon himself. He was willing to do that representing the Lord, representing the truth. But that sacrifice shows the sweet incense he gave. The Father couldn’t help but think when Brother Brett was talking last night, you remember how Mary’s breaking of the anointing. The aroma filled the whole room.

Well, here we have the sweet incense filling the holy and then passing into the most holy. It’s just a beautiful picture of how acceptable that sacrifice would be to the Heavenly Father.

Now, friends, I believe this also would point out to Jesus what he said later. That I lay my life down in order to take it up again. I have power to lay it down and take it up again. You know, when you think about the high priest going in twice, if Jesus gave the ransom and he didn’t have any suffering, you know, the ransom could have been applied for mankind and they would come out of the grave. But the suffering really qualified Jesus to be the mediator.

You know, he laid one life down and then he picked up the heavenly nature through the covenant that he had made. The covenant of sacrifice with the Father. Now here in John 10, 17, 18, he points out that he chose to lay his life down. No man could take his life from him. But then he also says that he would take it up.

And he’s referring to the human life here because he would use the life rights to impute to the church justification so they could even make a sacrifice in following after him, and then he repeats, I have power to lay it down and take it up again. Well, how could the high priest go in a second time if he gave the ransom and simply died? So I think he had a testimony there was more work to do for him in offering the church. You know, brethren, you have to love Luke 23:46, that Jesus said on the cross, into thy hands I commend my spirit.

He was putting his life rites into the Father’s hands, so he could use those later, first on behalf of the church and then for mankind. Now brethren, in Leviticus 16:15, when the goat is brought again, it’s plain that everything that is done with the bullock is done done with the goat, and this is again the high priest that is doing this offering, and it confirms the point that I don’t know if you ever thought how did Jesus know he would have followers? How did he come to early in his ministry select those individuals?

He had to get that from the scriptures, and this is one of the places we believe he got it, Isaac and Rebecca. He would see that there would be a bride for Christ, but again he would be putting these things together. So in Romans 12:1 we find one proof that Christians are called to sacrifice their lives to God. That the church is part of the tabernacle picture.

And you know the quote. I beseech you therefore brethren, by the mercies of God, that you singular present. Excuse me. Yes, you present your bodies. A living sacrifice.

One sacrifice, but made up of many living sacrifices. Many bodies offering a living sacrifice, and this began at Pentecost, and it continues until the last of the 144,000 finish laying down their lives and death.

Now brethren, I mentioned the fire in the camp. This would represent to him, you know, he would combine this with Isaiah 53:3 that I read earlier, that he would be misunderstood. He would suffer. His sacrifice would be a stench in a sense as the fire in the camp burning the hooves and the hide and the offal and those things that would create quite a stench. It would confirm this point that he would be disesteemed in this world.

And brethren, it’s interesting because there’s no other sacrifice except those of the sin offering that were ever burned outside the camp, and no other sacrifices had their blood sacrificed and sprinkled in the most holy to make an atonement for sin, and brethren, he had to go over the priests Going in there twice, okay, bringing in blood twice, and to consider just what that meant, and brethren, to me, it really emphasizes the point about two salvation. One presentation on behalf of the heavenly class, a second presentation of his same merit on behalf of the world, of mankind.

And this is why Paul’s words in Hebrews 13, 11, 13 are so important, because he points to this going without the camp, following the Master and bearing his reproach. Now, brethren, just a quick comment here. I think Jesus, in going through the tabernacle, would see the church, and we find this confirmed, you know, Paul in the book of Hebrews, and we find this repeatedly in the New Testament that the church is put into this tabernacle picture. Well, he would recognize himself as high priest and that there were under priests that would tell him that there would be other followers.

Another picture that shows the church in it, he would recognize that he would be the forerunner. He goes into the most holy first for the church, the second time, the sacrifice of the Lord’s goat. He’s going on behalf of mankind. But the blood of the goat is mingled with the blood of the bullock at that point, and brethren, again, to be really clear here, this is the sin offering.

It’s not the ransom. Sometimes there’s criticisms of the tabernacle picture saying, well, you’re talking about the ransom. You know, the ransom is the substitution, the life for the life. It doesn’t include suffering, and it’s interesting, the Passover picture does not say anything about the death of the lamb in the sense of, did it suffer?

You know, was it tortured? Of course it wasn’t. It was simply slain and offered, and I think that’s consistent with the point that it represents the ransom. This picture is all about flesh being consumed upon an altar.

It’s really emphasizing the suffering point, which we find mentioned so much in the New Testament. So again, I think Jesus mind is going over this, going in twice, two different animals, and this entry into the holiest, you know, that the churches as body members would go in there with him. It’s amazing that Paul points this out. You know, brethren, we would never claim these things for ourselves. This is too high for us.

But we have it repeatedly in the scriptures that the church is in this tabernacle picture, and I mentioned the camp picture already. These are just a few. You know, this point about sweet savor brother Brett made, it’s talking about the sacrificing from the golden altar.

Okay, so brethren, how do we tie together? This was kind of the most interesting thing for me in this study. You’ve got this picture of the bullock and this picture of the Lamb. How do they relate? You know, I mentioned earlier that Paul says that Christ, our Passover lamb, is sacrificed.

But John said, the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world. So which is it? Our sacrifice, the world’s sacrifice? Well, you know, it’s both, brethren, 1 John 2. Two answers that he is the propitiation for our sins and not ours only, but the world of mankind.

But brethren, what’s really beautiful and is that our Lord’s memorial ties together the Passover and the sin offering. Again, the Passover picture does not show the firstborn sacrificing or suffering. It shows them delivered. But the Lord’s goat offered for sin does picture the sacrifice and suffering. How did Jesus tie these two pictures together?

You know, on the night of Passover when he takes the bread and the cup from the remains of the Passover meal? You know, brethren, think how different this picture would be if Jesus partook of the bread and the cup but didn’t hand it to his disciples. You know, his handing the cup is so simple, but it’s an invitation to them to share in his experiences. That’s the importance of his handing the cup to them. He invited them to be part of this sin offering for mankind, to lay their lives down.

And brethren, simply for me, I kind of chuckled because one of the brethren told me one time, you know, the brethren think the sin offering is important, but they all explain it differently, and I think part of that is because it was a difficult concept. There were so many efforts to explain it in different ways, different explanations appeal to us differently. For me, brethren, I think the Church has the same object that Jesus has had. We want to lay down our lives so mankind gets the blessings of the future.

Just simply put, in that regard, we have this opportunity. We have this same motivation.

Again, the Church’s part is not the ransom. That sometimes has been a discussion.

You know, brethren, it’s interesting because I think we should ask ourselves, what covenant is the Church under? Is it the same covenant that Jesus had? Why do the scriptures tell us to be as he was in the world and to suffer with him? You know, sometimes the covenants become an issue, but it’s kind of good to have an easy touchstone for that.

I want to quote here. This is a very early article. I don’t know, brethren, if in your mind, if you ever wonder how soon did the brethren know about the memorial? You know, there was great controversy in the Dark Ages about just what Jesus did I remember my mom, when I was learning the truth, saying, well, she’d partake of communion. She’d feel like her sins were kind of, you know, taken care of.

And there’s a lot of misconception about what the Lord’s Supper meant, and this is 465. This is very early. Jesus shed blood was the ransom for all. But his act of handing the cup to the disciples and asking them to drink of it was an invitation to become partakers of his sufferings.

Or as Paul expresses it, to fill up that which is behind the afflictions of Christ. You know, brethren, it’s remarkable to be able to share with Christ, and he saw these pictures and he saw that he would have followers and he was thrilled to be able to share with them. Brethren, that’s the most amazing portion. Now, Paul explains to us it’s rather interesting.

There’s one offering, but it’s in two parts. Hebrews 7, 26, 27. For such a high priest does not need continually as those high priests to offer up sacrifices, first for his own sins, then for the people’s. For this he did once for all when he offered up himself. This concept is really important to understand.

Once for all, it’s the offering of Christ’s head and body. For himself would be his body members, for the peoples would be the world of mankind. Now, brethren, you have to ask yourself again, why two animals? Because this is kind of a difficult concept, brother. What I would offer is proof.

You know, there are three sacrifices in the Old Testament that were offered on behalf of the whole nation of Israel. You find 1. Leviticus 8, 9 and 16. Leviticus 8 is the consecration of the priesthood. Now, each one of those offerings starts with a sin offering, okay?

It really emphasizes how the sins of mankind had to be dealt with. Now, Leviticus 9, 16, you find only the high priest, but there are two animals. There is a bullock and there’s a goat. When you look at Leviticus 8, however, you find the high priest and the under priests, and you have one animal, the bullock.

And they all lay their hands on that bullock, and to me, this is really the proof that the church is in the sin offering. It’s shown by the two animals in the other two pictures. But it’s like the Lord gave us all three to make crystal clear in our minds that the Church shares in this, and I like, brethren, the concept that it’s really Jesus merit that is passed through the Church.

The church doesn’t add any merit that takes away sin. But they’re privileged to share by grace in this experience of living and laying down their lives for the benefit of all mankind.

And Paul picks up on this, of course, about the cup of blessing which we bless, does it not mean a joint participation in the blood of Christ? This is again amazing, brethren, and I think it really, to me, this is a proof as to why Jesus partook of both. It is a joint sharing with him and with all the body members, both the bread and the cup showing that portion of sacrifice. Now comparing these two brethren, just briefly, you’ve got the lamb sacrificed in the Passover picture.

You got the bullock and the goat sacrificed. That’s Leviticus 9, 16. The Passover shows the ransom. The Leviticus pictures show the sin offering. Both the first part, which is Jesus, and the secondary part, we could say that the Passover lamb would also show Jesus part.

And it’s interesting, friends, you have the firstborns in the Passover picture. You have the under priests in the picture in Leviticus 8, and brethren, you might recall in Numbers 3, 40, 45, the firstborns of Israel are exchanged for the Levites. So I think you can make another connection here that he would have made in his mind to show that these pictures relate and to show the role that the church would have. One in being delivered, the other in sharing in the sin offering picture.

Okay, so deliverance, atonement or redemption there, and last part, brethren, just have to say, we’ve been focusing so much on suffering, but I think what comfort did Jesus get from Psalm 16 that you will not leave my soul in hell, that there would be a resurrection. Or from Isaiah 53:12, where the promise is that God would allot with him a portion with the great, and then he in turn would share a portion with the strong. That’s a reference again to the church of the firstborn. Or Psalm 110.

The Lord says to my Lord, sit at my right hand until I make your enemies your footstool. That’s a promise that he would sit with the Father in his throne. Or you go further down to verse three and four. It says the people will be willing in his day in the kingdom, and that the Lord has sworn he would be a priest forever. After the order of Melchizedek, he would be a king and a priest.

Brethren, this has just been thrilling to me to put these things together, to think how did he derive all these things from the Old Testament?

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