The Mercy Seat
I was talking with a friend in Memphis about the difficulties I was having raising enough money to keep doing campus ministry. A few minutes later, he dug into his pocket, pulled out his wallet, and took out everything he had. "Here," he said. "Take this." I hadn't asked him for anything and I didn't know that he had margin to spare. I still remember how grateful I felt.
We feel the tension: God is good and we are bad. How can a righteous God love sinners like us? If God does not judge our sin, he fails to be just. But if our sin cannot be forgiven, then we have no hope of knowing him. I try to get out of this dilemma by ignoring how I've sinned, trying harder to be good, or watching Netflix. But now. Thank God there is another option available to us. For three chapters, the Law and the Prophets proved that we are sinners. But now Paul explains how they prove that God makes us righteous: God presented Jesus as the mercy seat. When I first read this, I had no idea how that would help me. In the Temple in Jerusalem, the innermost room was the most holy place. The Ark of the Covenant was placed inside it. This ark was where God would meet with his people and deal with their sin (Leviticus 16:1-15, Exodus 25:10-22). On top of the ark was the mercy seat, a slab of gold. (No one would dare to sit on it). Once a year, the high priest would enter this room and sprinkle the blood of a sacrificial animal on the mercy seat. Ever since Babylon destroyed the temple in 586 B.C., the ark had been missing, so the high priest had been sprinkling blood on the floor. To find God's mercy seat, you'd have to look for it or build a new one. But when God brought the mercy seat back, it was not a slab of gold but a man rejected by the religious and political leaders. Jesus didn't reveal his glory in a temple or a palace but on a cross. The Day of Atonement required the sacrifice of animals. Jesus' disciples were familiar with the smell of warm blood. When they thought about Jesus bleeding out on the cross, they realized it was God sacrificing himself for them. God's justice and mercy meet in Jesus. God's salvation is completely free for us because it cost him everything. Jesus has already paid the price. It's done. We are not just forgiven, but also made right with God. There's nothing we can earn to avoid God's wrath or get his favor. By faith, God's righteousness is ours forever. Jesus gave his life for us; we respond by trusting him with our lives.
Who has given you a gift you can't pay back? How did that gift change your relationship?
What does it tell us about God that he doesn't ignore our sin but pays the price for it himself?
How are you still trying to pay for the righteousness God has given you?
What's the hidden shame or unrelenting guilt you can't get over? Write it down on a piece of paper. Then pray, "Jesus, because of what you did, I can come into your presence. Help me understand that I am justified freely by your grace. Help me believe that I am completely forgiven. In your name, amen." Then, throw the paper away.
Sources:
James R. Edwards, Romans, Understanding the Bible Commentary (Baker Books, 2011), on 3:25.
Everett F. Harrison and Donald A. Hagner, Romans, The Expositor's Bible Commentary, rev. ed., on 3:25.
John R. W. Stott, The Message of Romans, The Bible Speaks Today (InterVarsity Press, 2001).
Craig S. Keener, The IVP Bible Background Commentary: New Testament (InterVarsity Press, 1993).
Douglas J. Moo, The Letter to the Romans, 2nd ed., NICNT (Eerdmans, 2018).