This is how Aaron is to enter the Most Holy Place: He must first bring a young bull for a sin offering and a ram for a burnt offering. – Leviticus 16:3

Today’s Scripture Reading (October 5, 2018): Leviticus 16

G. K. Chesterton describes the difference between a child an adult. “For children are innocent and love justice, while most of us are wicked and naturally prefer mercy.” Children often exist in a black and white world. We teach them about right and wrong, and they understand it in absolute terms. And we want them to understand it in absolute terms. Part of bringing up a child is removing the doubt of right and wrong; we want them to understand, in very concrete terms, the consequences of certain behaviors. And so children learn to love justice.

But then we grow up and become adults. We learn that life is not always black and white, and often we begin to believe that we have no choice but to live in the grey areas of life. And even for the best of us, it is these grey areas that make us wicked. We are all tarnished by the world around us. Innocence is really a condition of our childhood. For us as adults, we live in a world dominated by our guilt.

Leviticus makes it clear that the High Priest cannot enter into the Holy of Holies or the Most Holy Place at any time. And before he does enter the Most Holy Place, which he must enter once a year on the Day of Atonement, the High Priest acknowledges his own wickedness and the wickedness of his nation with a sacrifice for sin. God is Holy and just, but what the High Priest and the nation living in a world dominated by grey needed is not justice, but rather mercy.

We all need mercy because we recognize that we have lived in the grey areas of our world. And if we are willing, to be honest, we know that we have not only lived in the grey areas but have ventured into the dark world of outright sin. God is still Holy and Just. As Christians, we understand that, through Christ, we have access to the throne of God. We know that Jesus is both our High Priest and our sacrifice, but there is also a responsibility on our shoulders to recognize our sin before we enter into God’s presence. We have to recognize, before God, that we have lived in a world that exists in shades of grey and that we are culpable for our personal sin. We are truly sorry for allowing the grey to enter into our lives. And we are willing to make the changes necessary to live more in a way that honors our God. 

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Leviticus 17