ORDINARILY when an Israelite offered a meal offering to the Lord, after his portion was taken by the offering priest and burned on the altar, the remainder was for Aaron and his sons. In type this was the Lord Jesus offering Himself as an offering to God all His days here below, wholly separated to His will and to His glory. Only those who are priests, those who can draw near to God can appreciate Him in this way; it was their privilege to feed on Him as the One who lived, as He could say, “on account of the Father” (John 6:5757As the living Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father: so he that eateth me, even he shall live by me. (John 6:57)).
But here we have a special case: it is “the offering of Aaron and his sons, which they shall offer unto the Lord in the day when he is anointed.” As priests unto God we ought to honor the Lord Jesus in our thoughts not only of His devotedness in giving Himself up to death, but in all His holy and obedient life.
But the difference of the meat offering we have in this passage is that on the day of his anointing it was wholly burnt to the Lord. He was to offer the tenth part of an ephah, or omen, of fine flour, the same measure as of the manna for an Israelite in the wilderness; no part was reserved as the priest’s food. Half was to be offered in the morning, and half in the evening; but none was to be eaten. Like the burnt offering, all was to be burnt on the altar; all was for the Lord. It is not fellowship with others here, but Christ wholly offered up as a sweet savor to God.
The truth of the Lord’s perfect humanity is the very touchstone of Christianity and must ever be maintained. Perhaps it is the mind of the Spirit to impress this great truth on our souls in that the priests offered half the meat offering in the beginning and half at the end of the day.
How important, how necessary is to be sound as to the truth of the deity of Christ. We hear of some prominent evangelists and teachers, real children of God no doubt, who hold that the Lord Jesus could have sinned. That He did not sin they gladly confess, but at the same time they claim that He could have sinned. What more solemn error than this, and what could be more dishonoring to our blessed Lord! No, dear young friends, may we hold fast to this great truth of Christianity. Unlike the First Man, Adam, the Lord Jesus did not — He could not — sin. “That holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.” Luke 1:3535And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God. (Luke 1:35).
On the day of His anointing we read: “The heaven was opened, and the Holy Ghost descended in a bodily shape like a dove upon Him, and a voice came from heaven, which said, Thou art My beloved Son; in Thee I am well pleased.” Luke 3:21, 2221Now when all the people were baptized, it came to pass, that Jesus also being baptized, and praying, the heaven was opened, 22And the Holy Ghost descended in a bodily shape like a dove upon him, and a voice came from heaven, which said, Thou art my beloved Son; in thee I am well pleased. (Luke 3:21‑22).
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