Thankfully, Jesus our high priest is not like the priests of Israel who constantly failed. Further he is the one sacrifice to which the ritual sacrifices of Israel pointed. He was without blemish, taking the place of sinners, each of whom had innumerable faults.
There is a New Testament passage that links Jesus and the sin offering: ‘For the bodies of those animals whose blood is brought into the holy places by the high priest as a sacrifice for sin are burned outside the camp. So Jesus also suffered outside the gate in order to sanctify the people through his own blood. Therefore let us go to him outside the camp and bear the reproach he endured’ (Heb. 13:11-13). What does this mean?
In the sin offering, the carcases of the bulls were burned to ashes outside the precincts of the camp – in other words, at the place for putting rubbish. When Jesus died, he was executed outside the gates of Jerusalem, at Calvary, which was the despised place of execution. He became an object of contempt, and for many people that is where they still locate him.
On the other hand, the place of burning was where the sin offering was completed – it was not completed when the bull’s blood was used and when its fat was used in the tabernacle. The completion occurred when the carcase was burned in the place of contempt. Jesus cried ‘Finished’ at Calvary, an announcement that he had completed his work as the sin offering.
A worshipper in Israel could look from a distance at the pile of ashes and say, ‘That was my sacrifice.’ In contrast, a Christian is not to remain at a distance, but instead he is to stand at the cross and despise its shame because he knows that was the place where Jesus dealt with the sins of his people. Since his sacrifice is never repeated, believers have nowhere else to go but to stand with Jesus at Calvary, outside the camp.
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