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Word from the Pastor:
The Mediator
You have not come to something that can be touched, a blazing fire, and darkness, and gloom, and a tempest, and the sound of a trumpet, and a voice whose words made the hearers beg that not another word be spoken to them. (For they could not endure the order that was given, “If even an animal touches the mountain, it shall be stoned to death.” Indeed, so terrifying was the sight that Moses said, “I tremble with fear.”) But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering, and to the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.
—Hebrews 12:18–24
I hate to admit it, but I often look for signs. I want signs that God is with me, that God’s got me, that things are going to turn out okay, that this or that problem will be solved. On a practical level, when I experience an ache here or a pain there, I wonder whether it is a sign of a bigger problem. I think we all look to verbal and nonverbal clues to whether people are listening to us and care for us, or will be there in times of trouble. The list of my, of our, attempts to discern signs of presence, whether divine or corporeal, could go on without end.
We are creatures, and our desire is to rest securely within the walls of cold, hard, tangible reality. Or at least we think we do…
As the writer of Hebrews points out, from time to time such signs were given to the people of God. On Mount Sinai, the very presence of God shrouded the mountain in a thick cloud of thunder and lightning (Exodus 19:16). The whole land trembled as trumpets from heaven blared. God showed up in force, and the very rocks and dirt his presence touched were holy ground, which neither they nor their animals dared to touch.
As creatures, the people trembled and were afraid. They begged Moses to go in their stead (Exodus 20:19). We may want to rest securely within the walls of cold, hard, tangible reality, but we want that security on palatable terms, delivered to our front doors, minus risk. More Amazon, less divinity.
We want. God gives. We draw back. This is the truth of things. What we want isn’t what we need. Instead, we need a mediator, someone to stand between the grandeur and holiness of God and our mean estate.
And this is what God has provided in the Lord Jesus Christ. In him, all the promises of God are given, veiled in flesh. We could touch him and speak with him. But most important, united with him, all the promises of reunion and fellowship with a God who shows up in thunder and smoke are fulfilled. He is our entry into a kingdom we have no hope of inhabiting on our own terms.
In fact, the terms are clear: this entry back into eternal fellowship comes at the great cost of his life. He did for us what we could never do, and he makes the approach to the very throne of God we are unable to make. His sacrifice is better than the blood shed in the first murder of our forebear Abel, repairing the breach, and giving us a way back home.
We have a mediator, and his name is Jesus. Thanks be to God.
In Christ,
Pastor Sam
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