The Scarlet Cord
…we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. Day after day every priest stands and performs his religious duties; again and again he offers the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But when this priest had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God…And where these have been forgiven, sacrifice for sin is no longer necessary.
Hebrews 10: 10-12, 18
The Jewish Talmud, a collection of the ancient writings and oral traditions of the rabbis, describes a remarkable event that took place in the time of the second temple (between 516 BC and 70 AD).
On Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement and the holiest day of the Jewish year, a scarlet cord representing the sins of the people was tied to the Temple doors.
After the high priest went into the Holy of Holies to offer the once-a-year sacrifice for the sins of the people, the cord would supernaturally turn from scarlet to white. This sent the message that the sacrifice had been completed and was accepted. This phenomenon occurred every year.
But then something dramatic happened.
The rabbis wrote that in the first century the cord stopped changing from scarlet to white! It remained scarlet. These teachers had no explanation for it.
Or perhaps they just couldn’t see it.
The Talmud records that the cord stopped changing about forty years before the Romans destroyed the temple. That destruction took place in AD 70.
That means the dramatic change took place around the year AD 30.
What else happened at that same time in history?
Jesus the Messiah came to Jerusalem to give His life as the ultimate sacrifice for sin.
Coincidence? I think not.
Could it be that in that scarlet cord God was giving His people a sign? I think so.
Once for All
The writer of the New Testament book of Hebrews declares that we are no longer saved by the sacrifice of Temple lambs, but we are saved by the sacrifice of Jesus, the Lamb of God. His “once for all” sacrifice was completed and accepted by God, making the old system obsolete.
We are no longer saved by the sacrifice of Temple lambs, but we are saved by the sacrifice of Jesus, the Lamb of God.
“…we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. Day after day every priest stands and performs his religious duties; again and again he offers the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But when this priest had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God…And where these have been forgiven, sacrifice for sin is no longer necessary.”
Hebrews 10: 10-12, 18
With Good Friday approaching, I encourage you to reflect on the once-for-all, final sacrifice Jesus provided. Then rejoice that through His atonement, God has cleansed completely those who have put their faith in Him. Like that ancient cord, our sins that once were as scarlet, have become white as snow.
PRAYER
Lord, in this special season, once again I am stunned by the immensity of Your sacrifice on the cross. Thank You that we have been freed of the ancient sacrificial system and can now revel in our acceptance and adoption in light of the atonement Jesus provided. I freshly commit myself to living in the light of my cleansing.
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