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| Khrystyna Kvyk (Ukrainian, 1994–), I Am the Light of the World, 2021 |
A Thought for the Day given at a lunchtime service of Holy Communion at St Giles-in-the-Fields on Wednesday 22nd January 2025 based on the text of Hebrews 7.1-3, 15-17 and Mark 3.1-6
Our gospel reading today offers another glimpse of the conflict between Jesus
and the Pharisees. Prior to this encounter there have already been disputes
about feasting and fasting. The matter of contention in each case whether
Jesus’s actions accord with the teachings of the Torah – the first five books
of what we call the Old Testament. In this case, the objection appears to be
that by healing the man with the withered hand, Jesus is ‘working’ on the
Sabbath - in contravention of God’s commandment to rest – according to the Book
of Exodus, an infraction punishable by death.
Once again, Jesus demonstrates that the
Pharisees’ strict interpretation of the scriptures is flawed. Through his words
and actions, he reveals God’s mercy and grace upon which all the commandments
hang.
Today’s epistle reading is taken from an
extended analysis of that truth. That Jesus is the is only authentic mediator
between God and humanity. The only one in whom the nature of God and his
purposes is fully revealed.
Addressed to a community whose identity
is now lost to history, its recipients must have been well versed in the Jewish
scriptures which are referenced throughout. Perhaps why the text is known as
the Letter to the Hebrews?
In it, Jesus is compared to Angels, the
Torah, Moses, the Covenant. In each case he is shown to be superior to each of
these methods of mediating between God and his people. The passage we heard
today is from a section in which Jesus is being compared to the priests of
Israel, whose role was to offer sacrifices on behalf of the people to atone for
their sins.
The text tells us that Jesus is superior
to these priests – from the line of Aaron and the tribe of Levi – who, like the
priests of today, are not without sin themselves! Jesus is shown to be a priest
according to the order of Melchisedec – a mysterious king priest described in
the Book of Genesis and the Psalms, whose lineage is unknown but whose words
and actions demonstrate peace and righteousness beyond measure.
In this service of Holy Communion we are
reminded of that same truth. That Jesus Christ, through his suffering and death
upon the cross for our redemption, made there (by his one oblation of himself
once offered) a full, perfect, and sufficient sacrifice, oblation, and
satisfaction, for the sins of the whole world.
It is through Jesus that we have been
reconciled to God and in Him alone whom we find our salvation. Whenever we
encounter conflict between the interpretation of the scriptures and the way we
live our lives, it is always by turning to that perfect mediator - the person
of Christ - that God’s truth is fully revealed.
Image : Khrystyna
Kvyk (Ukrainian, 1994–), I Am the Light of the World, 2021
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