PRIESTHOOD, too, is always “in things pertaining to God,” — not the Father, but God (Heb. 2:1717Wherefore in all things it behoved him to be made like unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people. (Hebrews 2:17)). He is called of God. He sat down on the right hand of God. He now appears in the presence of God, or before the face of God, for us. He intercedes for them that come unto God by Him. It is because of this that priesthood does not take up the believer’s sins; for being brought to God, reconciled to God, born of God, and children of God, the question of our sins as God’s children has to do with the Father. Hence the Father’s injunction to His children is to “sin not”; but if any man sin we have an Advocate with (it does not say God, but) “the Father, Jesus Christ the Righteous.” Our Advocate is “the Righteous One.” Priesthood, then, has to do with us in relation to God, and that not about sins; while advocacy has to do with us and the Father, and that, too, about our sins.
It is very important to be clear about this; for having been cleansed from all sin by the blood of Jesus on believing, and made children of God, our path is to walk in the light, in love, in truth, in faith, and in the Spirit, according to our Father’s will, in fellowship with the Father and His Son Jesus Christ. Any disobedience, transgression, or failure, is unsuitable to the Father, and consequently communion is broken, and we become accountable to Him, not as sinners, as we once were, but as children. Here self-judgment and confession on our part come in, and also the advocacy of the Lord Jesus prior to restoration to the Father’s fellowship. It is a question of communion, not of justification; for by Christ “all that believe are justified from all things,” but the Father cannot give us to enjoy His fellowship while our sins and transgressions are unjudged. And, blessed be His name! “if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:99If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (1 John 1:9)).
Feet-washing
There is also another ministry of Christ in heaven on our behalf which must not be confounded with priesthood — I refer to the Lord’s washing the disciples’ feet (John 13). This is not Christ as Priest appearing before the face of God for us, neither is it the precious action of His advocacy with the Father about our sins; but it is a most gracious activity of our Lord on our behalf, to maintain us in communion with Himself. As He said to Peter, “If I wash thee not, thou hast no part with Me.” It is the warm desire of our adorable Lord that during His absence we may know what entering into His love, and mind, and ways, and counsels, and service are — having part with Himself.
When Peter saw the blessed Lord gird Himself with a towel, take water, pour it into a basin, and begin to wash the disciples’ feet, he cried out, “Thou shalt never wash my feet,” which brought out the Lord’s gracious announcement already referred to, of the imperative necessity of this ministry in order to maintain us in communion with Himself. “If I wash thee not, thou hast no part with Me” (ver. 8). And when Peter with equal rashness replied, “Not my feet only, but also my hands and my head,” it served to bring out from the Master’s heart the true meaning of this most precious ministry. “Jesus saith to him, He that is washed needeth not save to wash his feet, but is clean every whit” (ver. 10), clearly showing us that a believer in the Lord Jesus having been completely cleansed from sin by His precious blood, never needs to have that process repeated; but he does need to have the defilement removed from him which he may contract in his daily walk. In other words, he that hath been washed all over in a bath, needs only to have his feet washed from the defilement he may have contracted in his subsequent walk. And this charmingly illustrates one of the most precious ministries of Christ on our behalf while He Is seated on the right hand of God. It is the needed application of the Word to our souls, to cleanse away from us the evil we pick up in our daily walk, so as to keep our hearts free and happy for communion with Himself.
We read in Ephesians of “the washing of water by the Word.” All this, too, was foreshadowed by the altar of burnt-offering and the laver. After the priests had been washed all over and sprinkled with the blood, it needed never to be repeated; but after this, when they had been consecrated to the service of the sanctuary, though often handling the sacrifices, &c., they went to the laver, and washed their hands and feet every time they went into the tabernacle of the congregation, to have to do with the things of God and the service of the sanctuary. It is a mistake, therefore, to suppose that when a believer is conscious of defilement, and of having failed and dishonored the Lord, that he needs, as some say, to take his place again as a sinner, and to be sprinkled again with the blood — that would be to go back again to the altar instead of the laver. But what we have here is the wondrous care of Christ Himself over us, so ministering His Word as to wash our souls clean, and (as the wiping with the towel sets forth) making us feel so comforted in His presence as to be able to go on in happy fellowship with Himself. While defilement is on our consciences, communion with our infinitely holy Lord must be hindered; but He restoreth our souls, washes us with the Word, and gives us again to enjoy the blessedness of His own presence with us.
The Shepherd and Bishop of Our Souls
But there is another character of ministry most graciously carried on by our blessed Lord on our behalf at this present time — I refer to His being the Shepherd and Bishop of our souls; not only overseeing everything that concerns us, but also feeding, tending, leading us into varied pastures, guiding us in difficulties and dangers, bringing us out of mischief, and setting us right when wrong. Here also we see a difference as to the character of the ministry. The truth is that the same blessed Lord who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood, sustains various offices and exercises different ministries on our behalf. And all these being conducted by the same loving heart, and the object of all the ministries being the same persons, they must necessarily in some respects run one into the other. Still their distinctness cannot be questioned, and the knowledge of all are necessary in order to meet our varied needs. We may say, then, speaking in general terms, that the priesthood of Christ has to do with us in things pertaining to God, and not about our sins. The advocacy of Christ has to do with the Father, and about the sins of His children. The action of washing the feet is to sustain our souls in conscious happy communion with Christ Himself; while Christ as Shepherd cares for the state of our souls, so as to preserve us in health and strength, according to His own gracious will.
Having grouped together some of the precious offices of our adorable Lord, in order to show that, strictly speaking, His priesthood is not the same as His advocacy, His washing of our feet and His shepherding of our souls, the way has been cleared to enable us to pursue our inquiry as to the priesthood of Christ in our next lecture. We can scarcely ascribe too much importance to the subject, because it has to do with the conscious sustainment of our souls day by day in the presence of God. This, and every other ministry of our Lord Jesus Christ, and all our blessings, are no doubt based upon His atoning work, as we sometimes sing, and truly so—
“Our every joy on earth, in heaven,
We owe it to Thy blood.”
A Risen and Glorified Christ
But while the death of Jesus is the alone foundation of all our confidence and hope, yet the precious lessons of divine grace do not end here; for Jesus is risen from among the dead; which shows that He hath triumphed over death, and Satan, and the grave for us, as well as put away our sins; that we have been quickened together with Him, thus giving us new life — resurrection life, life in One who is on the other side of death; a subject of deepest importance and comfort and large in its wealth to our souls. But more than this, Jesus has ascended, gone into the presence of God; and there we are now as to standing before God, complete in Him, who is our righteousness for evermore. And besides all this, as we have seen, He is our ever-living, ever-loving, ever-faithful High Priest, our Advocate, the Washer of our feet, the Shepherd and Bishop of our souls. What an incalculable loss to those who are in ignorance of what the finished work of Jesus has accomplished for us, and what He is to us, and for us, now as risen and ascended! How terribly defective, not to say damaging to souls, to suppose that the proper place of the Christian is, as they say, “to be always at the foot of the cross”! It is impossible that Christians in such a state can be enjoying the peace, liberty, and triumph to which the grace of God so richly entitles them. How can they be in the true place of separation from the world, delivered from self, and consciously true worshippers of the Father, enjoying communion with the Lord, or be free to live unto God, and have leisure to help the souls of others?
Happy indeed are those who can look back upon the cross, and adoringly praise Him for His finished work — who can look up to the throne and now “see Jesus” by faith “crowned with glory and honor,” and delight in all He is to God there, and all He is to us and for us; happier still to be rejoicing in the prospect of His soon corning to receive us unto Himself, that where He is there we may be also.