No More Shadows

“Now the main point in what has been said is this: we have such a High Priest, Who has taken His seat at the right hand of the Throne of the Majesty in the heavens, a minister in the Sanctuary, and in the true Tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, not man.” —Hebrews 8:1–2

 

It was Grand fun watching fear turn to amusement as Ella and Caleb saw their shadows for the first time.  It’s not practical that we attempt to identify a person by his or her shadow.  The ministry of Old Testament priests served a divinely ordained purpose, however, it was only a shadow of the reality to come.  In his Advent meditation, Good News of Great Joy, John Piper illustrates this truth: “Suppose you and your mom get separated in the grocery store, and you start to get scared and panic and don’t know which way to go, and you run to the end of an aisle, and just before you start to cry, you see a shadow on the floor at the end of the aisle that looks just like your mom. It makes you really happy and you feel hope. But which is better? The happiness of seeing the shadow, or having your mom step around the corner and seeing that it’s really her?”  Aside from the angels, few likely completely understood the eternal significance of Jesus’ birth in Bethlehem.  For sure, if the priests of Jesus’ day understood Scripture, no wonder they opposed The Messiah at every turn – their days as priests were over!  Jesus came to replace the shadows – He came to be our High Priest, to offer Himself at Calvary … unblemished, final, eternal Sacrifice.  “Christmas is the replacement of shadows with the real thing.”