READ: Hebrews 7:23-28
Ever heard the story of Sisyphus?
According to Greek mythology, Sisyphus committed many crimes against the gods and was condemned to atone for his sins by pushing an enormous boulder up a hill, bearing the weight, enduring the toil, suffering endlessly as he eyed the top he would never reach, for time and again he slipped, the boulder rolled downhill, and Sisyphus was forced to begin again.
How futile and hopeless the whole thing must’ve seemed.
I can relate to Sisyphus. Before I knew Christ, I knew God. I didn’t understand Him fully, but I knew Him well enough to know that He was holy and I was not. So I tried desperately to atone for my sin. Good deeds to erase bad deeds - didn’t remove the guilt. The physical sacrifice of punishing exercise - not enough. Vows to change - constant failure.
The Jews understood this and accepted God’s gracious offer of substitutional sacrifice. Day after day priests offered the lives of animals as atonement for the sins of the people. And day after day the people sinned again - their boulder rolled right back to the bottom of the hill.
Then came a high priest holy, blameless, and pure! He offered Himself as atonement for our sins and our sins were washed away once and for all!
Thanks be to God our futility ended with Christ Jesus!
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