High Priest and Husband

John 19:23-27

Let’s look at two things that are recorded in John’s gospel regarding Christ’s final moments on the cross. Both of these happenings lend to Christ’s role as head of the church. On one hand, Jesus is the High Priest of the church, serving as the mediator between the saint and the Father, just as Aaron was the liaison between the people and God. On the other hand, Jesus is the husband with the church serving as the Bride of Christ. He calls Himself our Husband (Isaiah 54:5), and He loves us as a Heavenly Husband (Ephesians 5:23).

Christ can take upon Himself no role or title that was not paid for at Calvary, thus if He is our High Priest and our Husband, He must have paid for those positions with His own body and blood on the tree. The Apostle John gives us unique insight into both of those payments as he records the soldiers gambling for Jesus’ garments near the foot of the cross and Jesus’ own mother standing nearby the cross next to the author. These back-to-back stories are the details of Jesus’ payment to be our High Priest and our Husband.

The 4 soldiers that put Jesus on the cross are bored with the dying criminals and the carpenter. They turn their attention to games of chance, dividing his clothes among themselves as souvenirs before turning to His outer garment. The garment that Jesus wore was seamless having been woven from the top down. This was the same type of garment that was worn by the high priest of Israel and it was considered quite valuable. When the soldiers spotted its quality, they decided to cast lots for it (equivalent to drawing straws, or “paper, rock, scissors”) to determine who would keep it.

They were unaware (and unconcerned) that they were helping fulfill scripture by casting lots for Jesus’ garments (Psalms 22:18). They also could not have known that the garment that they were gambling for was essential to the high priesthood of Israel. If the seamless garment of the high priest was torn then he could not perform the morning or the evening sacrifice until he had a new garment made. Without coincidence, the high priest Caiaphas had torn his just hours earlier when he accused Jesus of blasphemy (Matthew 26:65). By leaving the outer garment of Jesus untorn, these soldiers were unwittingly qualifying Jesus to be the new high priest. What is Jesus first act as new high priest? He takes care of the morning sacrifice (He goes on the cross at 9 a.m.) and He takes care of the evening sacrifice (He dies at 3 p.m.).

Mary, mother of Jesus, stood by the cross near some more acquaintances of Jesus, including the disciple whom Jesus loved (John). Jesus speaks directly to Mary when He says, “Woman, behold thy son!” (John 19:26), and then He turns to John and declares, “Behold thy mother!” (19:27). God had given specific instructions concerning marriage when He said, “Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh” (Genesis 2:24). With the Father having already turned His back on His Son, Jesus must now be rid of the responsibility of His mother. Once He has placed her in the care of John, He is free to “cleave unto His wife”, with His wife being the church. Jesus has now paid to be our Husband!

Let the glorious knowledge that Jesus went to such lengths to be your High Priest before God and that He is your loving Husband right now. You are dead to your first husband (the Law), “by the body of Christ; that ye should be married to another, even to Him who is raised from the dead” (Romans 7:4).

The Grace of Life

1 Peter 3:6, 7

The gift of life is a tremendous example of God’s grace. “For in him we live, and move, and have our being” (Acts 17:28). God has graced us with life and all good things. Our health, our sanity, our physical bodies, etc., are all because of the wonderful gift that God has given to us.

How to improve the life we have is a repeated concern of the Word of God. Jesus told us that He came so that we might have life and have it more abundant (John 10:10). This abundant life has nothing to do with heaven, but is to be had now by every believer. Peter gives advice to men and women as to how to live in the grace of this life to its fullest, specifically within the context of husband and wife.

He starts with the wife, calling her a daughter of Sara (1 Peter 3:6). Sara is the only person in the Bible to whom the Lord restored their youth while they were in their old age. If you are a daughter of Sara then you have grace upon your physical frame. Every woman should “Amen” that! There is a condition that says, “As long as ye do well, and are not afraid with any amazement”. The doing well that the Apostle speaks of is qualified at the end, “not afraid with any amazement”. Doing well is not fearing the husband or the Lord. Living in trembling fear of your husband robs you of the joy of having your youth in your old age. The same principle applies towards your heavenly Father.

Husbands, we are next, being told to dwell with our wives, “according to knowledge” (1 Peter 3:7). “Knowledge” here is the Greek word “nossos” which means, “common sense”. We are to apply common sense to our dealings with our wives, which will cause us to honor her. Common sense should direct us to love and protect her as one who is “the weaker vessel” (verse 7). This is no insult ladies; for you were taken from man’s side, thus it is in his God-given instinct to shelter you under his arm. If he applies the common sense that God gave him, he will do this naturally.

The husband and wife are “heirs together of the grace of life”. Life is lived to its fullest when a man and woman share their hearts, minds and bodies. This is God’s design and it is fought against by the enemy with great force. Marriages between both saints and sinners are fought with equal fervor by Satan for marriage is instituted by God, and he wants to do all that he can to ruin couples from experiencing the grace of life.

Finally, all men should pay particularly close attention to the last phrase of verse 7: “that your prayers be not hindered”. When we pay honor to our wife and protect her as the weaker vessel, we ensure that our prayers get through to the Father. If you are giving no honor to your wife; abusing her verbally, ignoring her needs or treating her disrespectfully, then you are placing a hindrance between your prayers and heaven. I want nothing to stop my cries from going to my Father, so I want to honor my wife to the fullest, and I know that you do too.

Perfect marriages are not possible, because we act imperfectly, but we serve a perfect God who has designed a perfect union. Dwell according to this knowledge and enjoy the grace of life together.

High Priest and Husband

John 19:23-27

Let’s look at two things that are recorded in John’s gospel regarding Christ’s final moments on the cross. Both of these happenings lend to Christ’s role as head of the church. On one hand, Jesus is the High Priest of the church, serving as the mediator between the saint and the Father, just as Aaron was the liaison between the people and God. On the other hand, Jesus is the husband with the church serving as the Bride of Christ. He calls Himself our Husband (Isaiah 54:5), and He loves us as a Heavenly Husband (Ephesians 5:23).

Christ can take upon Himself no role or title that was not paid for at Calvary, thus if He is our High Priest and our Husband, He must have paid for those positions with His own body and blood on the tree. The Apostle John gives us unique insight into both of those payments as he records the soldiers gambling for Jesus’ garments near the foot of the cross and Jesus’ own mother standing nearby the cross next to the author. These back-to-back stories are the details of Jesus’ payment to be our High Priest and our Husband.

The 4 soldiers that put Jesus on the cross are bored with the dying criminals and the carpenter. They turn their attention to games of chance, dividing his clothes among themselves as souvenirs before turning to His outer garment. The garment that Jesus wore was seamless having been woven from the top down. This was the same type of garment that was worn by the high priest of Israel and it was considered quite valuable. When the soldiers spotted its quality, they decided to cast lots for it (equivalent to drawing straws, or “paper, rock, scissors”) to determine who would keep it.

They were unaware (and unconcerned) that they were helping fulfill scripture by casting lots for Jesus’ garments (Psalms 22:18). They also could not have known that the garment that they were gambling for was essential to the high priesthood of Israel. If the seamless garment of the high priest was torn then he could not perform the morning or the evening sacrifice until he had a new garment made. Without coincidence, the high priest Caiaphas had torn his just hours earlier when he accused Jesus of blasphemy (Matthew 26:65). By leaving the outer garment of Jesus untorn, these soldiers were unwittingly qualifying Jesus to be the new high priest. What is Jesus first act as new high priest? He takes care of the morning sacrifice (He goes on the cross at 9 a.m.) and He takes care of the evening sacrifice (He dies at 3 p.m.).

Mary, mother of Jesus, stood by the cross near some more acquaintances of Jesus, including the disciple whom Jesus loved (John). Jesus speaks directly to Mary when He says, “Woman, behold thy son!” (John 19:26), and then He turns to John and declares, “Behold thy mother!” (19:27). God had given specific instructions concerning marriage when He said, “Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh” (Genesis 2:24). With the Father having already turned His back on His Son, Jesus must now be rid of the responsibility of His mother. Once He has placed her in the care of John, He is free to “cleave unto His wife”, with His wife being the church. Jesus has now paid to be our Husband!

Let the glorious knowledge that Jesus went to such lengths to be your High Priest before God and that He is your loving Husband right now. You are dead to your first husband (the Law), “by the body of Christ; that ye should be married to another, even to Him who is raised from the dead” (Romans 7:4).

The Grace of Life

1 Peter 3:6, 7

The gift of life is a tremendous example of God’s grace. “For in him we live, and move, and have our being” (Acts 17:28). God has graced us with life and all good things. Our health, our sanity, our physical bodies, etc., are all because of the wonderful gift that God has given to us.

How to improve the life we have is a repeated concern of the Word of God. Jesus told us that He came so that we might have life and have it more abundant (John 10:10). This abundant life has nothing to do with heaven, but is to be had now by every believer. Peter gives advice to men and women as to how to live in the grace of this life to its fullest, specifically within the context of husband and wife.

He starts with the wife, calling her a daughter of Sara (1 Peter 3:6). Sara is the only person in the Bible to whom the Lord restored their youth while they were in their old age. If you are a daughter of Sara then you have grace upon your physical frame. Every woman should “Amen” that! There is a condition that says, “As long as ye do well, and are not afraid with any amazement”. The doing well that the Apostle speaks of is qualified at the end, “not afraid with any amazement”. Doing well is not fearing the husband or the Lord. Living in trembling fear of your husband robs you of the joy of having your youth in your old age. The same principle applies towards your heavenly Father.

Husbands, we are next, being told to dwell with our wives, “according to knowledge” (1 Peter 3:7). “Knowledge” here is the Greek word “nossos” which means, “common sense”. We are to apply common sense to our dealings with our wives, which will cause us to honor her. Common sense should direct us to love and protect her as one who is “the weaker vessel” (verse 7). This is no insult ladies; for you were taken from man’s side, thus it is in his God-given instinct to shelter you under his arm. If he applies the common sense that God gave him, he will do this naturally.

The husband and wife are “heirs together of the grace of life”. Life is lived to its fullest when a man and woman share their hearts, minds and bodies. This is God’s design and it is fought against by the enemy with great force. Marriages between both saints and sinners are fought with equal fervor by Satan for marriage is instituted by God, and he wants to do all that he can to ruin couples from experiencing the grace of life.

Finally, all men should pay particularly close attention to the last phrase of verse 7: “that your prayers be not hindered”. When we pay honor to our wife and protect her as the weaker vessel, we ensure that our prayers get through to the Father. If you are giving no honor to your wife; abusing her verbally, ignoring her needs or treating her disrespectfully, then you are placing a hindrance between your prayers and heaven. I want nothing to stop my cries from going to my Father, so I want to honor my wife to the fullest, and I know that you do too.

Perfect marriages are not possible, because we act imperfectly, but we serve a perfect God who has designed a perfect union. Dwell according to this knowledge and enjoy the grace of life together.