Jesus Our Great High Priest and King

As indicated several weeks ago, the primary essence of Jesus’ atonement on the cross lies not in the idea that He suffered in our place to satisfy the Father’s wrath, a concept often called penal substitution. Yes, Jesus suffered immensely, but it was not such that His suffering merely canceled out the punishment that we incur for our sins: the crucifixion was not to satisfy the Father’s wrath that we deserve for our disobedience. Indeed, if the suffering of Jesus merely cancels out the suffering we have earned through our iniquity, then either Jesus only suffered for those bound for heaven and not those who will suffer for eternity in hell or Jesus suffered for all such that everyone goes to heaven. But we know that Jesus suffered for all of mankind and we also know that there are many people who end up suffering the pains of hell. Thus, our atonement is not confined to Jesus suffering in our place to satisfy divine wrath.

Again, it was stated earlier that the better and certainly more Biblical understanding of the atonement wrought on the cross has to do with Jesus offering Himself as a propitiatory sacrifice. It is a voluntary act of love for us and explains why Jesus is referred to as a priest: “You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek” (Ps 110:4, Heb 5:5-6). St Paul makes it more clear that Jesus made atonement on the cross for us as a loving and voluntary sacrifice: “So be imitators of God, as beloved children, and live in love, as Christ loved us and handed himself over for us as a sacrificial offering to God for a fragrant aroma” (Eph 5:1-2). His self sacrifice was not to quell the Father’s anger but was pleasing in the Father’s sight.

Besides Jesus offering Himself as a sacrifice for our sins, other views have been proposed over the centuries, some of which make sense while others are absurd. One of the absurd theories is that of Jesus ransoming us away from satan, that satan held us in bondage but Jesus’ suffering bought us away from satan. This implies that we owe satan for our sins when in reality it is God who is owed, that satan must be satisfied, not God. This idea elevates satan to being equal to God and misplaces justice as if anyone but God is ultimately due satisfaction for our sins. A better image of Jesus’ atonement on the cross than ransoming us away from satan is that His suffering and death destroyed sin and destroyed our death. Here, satan is not offered something in exchange for our liberty but that our two greatest enemies – sin and death, consequences of the fall of Adam and Eve – are defeated. Satan is defeated and Jesus is not a ransom for our sins but a conquering Hero liberating us from our bondage to sin. Jesus takes on our sins to destroy them and He rose from the dead to destroy death. “When he was insulted, he returned no insult; when he suffered, he did not threaten; instead, he handed himself over to the one who judges justly. He himself bore our sins in his body upon the cross, so that, free from sin, we might live for righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed” (1Pet 2:23-24). “He saved us and called us to a holy life, not according to our works but according to his own design and the grace bestowed on us in Christ Jesus before time began, but now made manifest through the appearance of our savior Christ Jesus, who destroyed death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel” (2Tim 1:9-10).

It is important to note that Jesus making atonement by offering Himself to the Father as a propitiatory sacrifice is entirely compatible with Jesus’ passion defeating sin and death. It also is compatible with Jesus’ Kingship. Christ our King defeats our enemies for us on the cross, enemies that had defeated us and we were powerless to overcome. During His trial on Good Friday Pilate affirms Him as King of the Jews and therefore “Pilate also had an inscription written and put on the cross. It read, ‘Jesus the Nazorean, the King of the Jews’” (Jn 19:19). The Good Thief also testified as Jesus, wearing a crown of thorns, hung from the cross, saying “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom” (Lk 23:42). In other words, the cross is Jesus’ throne and the altar on which He offers Himself in sacrifice. For Jesus the cross is not an instrument of divine wrath but it is His royal throne and the altar on which He offers Himself for our atonement.

—Fr Booth