“Setting an example—and a standard”
By Rev. Michael Stonhouse
Meditation – Friday, June 16, 2023
Ecclesiasticus 45:6-16 (Forward, p. 49) RSV p. 188
Well, what do you make of it? I mean, what relevance or application could today’s passage ever have to us today? The passage selected for today is from the book of the Wisdom of Jesus the Son of Sirach, or as it is more routinely and popularly known, Ecclesiasticus, or ‘the church book’ as it was considered by the church of the third century to be the most important of the Apocrypha or deuterocanonical books.
The entire passage dwells on Moses’ brother, Aaron, and mostly touches on his vestments and his unique calling. Only in the last few verses does Sirach say anything about his duties. Here he is mentioned as:
Ministering to the Lord, serving as priest and blessing God’s people in His name; Offering sacrifice to the Lord and making atonement for the people.
Our passage in question tells us next to nothing about the man Aaron himself, but numerous other passages in the Hebrew Scriptures do tell us something of his character and career:
He is Moses’ elder brother, being some three years old when Moses was born, and therefore exempt from Pharaoh’s terrible edict mandating the death of all male Hebrew children. After Moses fled Egypt, Aaron remained with the Hebrew people and shared in their servitude;
After Moses’ call to rescue God’s people, Aaron joined him and became his spokesperson and mouthpiece, both with regards to their own people and Pharaoh. For much of their time together in the Wilderness, Aaron served as his faithful lieutenant and often shared in the criticism and anger from the common people that Moses had to endure.
However, we see something of his weaker side upon Moses’ ascent up into Mount Sinai, when Moses was gone for days and days. Here Aaron allowed himself to be browbeat into letting the people create and worship a golden calf, as a visible sign or substitute for God.
But that was not all: Aaron, and his sister Miriam, also protested against Moses at one point, probably feeling that the authority he claimed was self-assumed rather than being from God, and for that rebellion Miriam was struck by leprosy, but not Aaron.
And, as Aaron was something ‘of a mixed bag’ character-wise, so too were his sons. Two of his sons, Nadab and Abihu, met their death because of some unspecified sacrilegious act (see Leviticus 10:1-3), and while the two remaining sons, Eleazar and Ithamar, were more pious & reverent, they too became subject to God’s displeasure (see Leviticus 10:16-20). Obviously, the sin offering, the offering to Achieve atonement had to be done ‘just the right way’! However, that Priesthood continued right up to the time of Jesus (consider Zechariah and Elizabeth in Luke 1:5)—and beyond.
So, how does all this relate to us? Firstly, it reminds us that we, aa Christians, have been called and set apart to be a kingdom of priests to our Lord, to offer spiritual sacrifices to Him (see 1 Peter 2:5,9 and Revelation 1:6; 5:10; and 20:6). And though we are human and therefore flawed and our offering less than perfect, we still have that duty and obligation.
However, it does not end there: while we humans are called to be priests unto our God, there is one High Priest, one perfect priest, who serves always to offer and make atonement for us, namely Jesus. He has made atonement for us, once and for all, a perfect sacrifice and one that never needs to be repeated or improved upon. And so, Aaron, his family and his descendants were just the beginning, the beginning of our priesthood, but even more, of the more perfect priesthood, that of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Forward notes: “He chose him out of all the living to offer sacrifice to the Lord, incense and a pleasing odor as a memorial portion, to make atonement for the people” (verse 16).
“I recently visited a colleague at his Coptic Orthodox church. Icons! Icons everywhere! So much beauty, so much veneration, so much symbolism all around me.
“The saints’ room and the baptistry were stunning, but my favourite part was the altar. In the Coptic tradition, the altar represents heaven, and it is
separated from the chancel by a veil. The room was dome-shaped, with art covering every inch of the walls, depicting various symbols in Revelation. I think my soul left my body for a second.
“It was perhaps the closest I’ve come to comprehending the beauty of the temple and the priestly duties attending it, described in the reading from Ecclesiasticus. What amazes me is that this glory now belongs to all believers—the priesthood of the people, the stately robes, the authority, the holy bells and smells, the crown, the seal, the anointing. Thanks be to God for this honour.”
Moving Forward: “What parts of your church building remind you of the glory of God?”