A Little Theology

When you think of the throne of a king, what do you think of?

I think of a chair, but a really big chair.  With steps going up to it, and curliques and lots and lots of gold.

But what if at one time a throne looked like a tomb?

It's not a new idea.  I'm not the first person to think about it.  But it has captured my imagination.  So try to bear with a little theology.

It started in the Old Testament.  The Israelites were instructed to build a tabernacle, a special tent which would become a symbol of the dwelling place of God with his people.  Immanuel.  God with us.  God has ALWAYS been about dwelling with his people.

One of the pieces of furniture in the tabernacle was the ark of the covenant, a gold box with a solid gold lid, and with two angels on the lid, one at each end, with their wings stretched out over the top of the box, forming a kind of arch.  It probably looked something like this (except way cooler):




The golden lid, right between the angels, under their wings, was called the mercy seat.  It was the holiest of all places on earth.  It was the throne of God.  It was so very holy that no one could approach it.  You couldn't just think, Hey, there's a good place to sit down and rest a minute, and do it.  The ark was hidden away in the Most Holy Place in the tabernacle, behind a thick curtain, and no one -- NO ONE went in there.

Except the high priest.

Once a year.

Once a year, the high priest went behind that curtain, carrying the blood of a perfect lamb, and he threw the blood all over the golden lid.  He threw the blood of a perfect lamb on the mercy seat.  And God saw the blood of a perfect lamb, and he forgave the people their sins.  The blood of the lamb covered the sins of the people.  The high priest approached the mercy seat of God and found mercy.  God accepted the blood of the lamb as atonement for the sins of the people.

But the tabernacle wasn't just a "place to go to church".  The ark wasn't just a cool-looking golden box.  The blood of the lamb itself could not atone for a single sin.  Those things were only pictures on earth of a heavenly reality.  They pointed to something much, much bigger.  And here's where it gets cool. . . .

Because Jesus is Immanuel. God With Us.  The perfect Lamb of God.  Every single one of those little lambs that died pointed to him.  Every time the people slaughtered those doe-eyed little lambs, they were to remember that God had promised a Messiah, One who would bring to an end the slaughter of the lambs.

And so he died.  And he brought his blood to the mercy seat of God.  And when he did, the veil in the temple tore wide open.  The curtain that had hidden the mercy seat was gone.  Because when the real thing appears, the shadow is no longer significant.

It says in John 20 that Mary went to the tomb and looked in and saw two angels, one at the head of where Jesus had lain, and one at the foot.  Can you picture it?  Maybe like this:




Except much, much cooler than that.

Robin Mark has a great song that says, "Were heaven's praises silent in those hours of darkness?  The Holy Spirit brooding 'round an empty throne?"  The throne in heaven was empty.  The throne in the temple no longer existed.  Now, the throne was the tomb.  The holiest place on earth was found in a hole in the ground.

But that's not the end of the story of the throne.  Because Jesus rose.  Mary met the risen Lord after she met the angels in the tomb.  And he ascended.  John saw the ascended Lord seated on his throne.  A throne surrounded by angels.  Cherubim.  Living creatures.  John saw the Reality the ark had only foreshadowed.  He saw what the tomb had made possible.  He saw the mercy seat of God upon which was seated the Lamb of God, dead but now risen.

So what?  Who cares?  Because the author of Hebrews tells us, "Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need."  Do you see what we are approaching?  Do you see the absolute wonder of what we are approaching?  It's the whole story, from beginning to end, all rolled up in that one little verse.  All of history points to that single incredible reality:  the heavenly mercy seat covered with the blood of the Lamb so that our sins can be atoned for.  And we can approach with confidence.

But there's one more thing. You see, there is still an earthly picture of that heavenly reality.  There is still a place on earth where God dwells with us.  He still has a throne here.  There is still a holiest-of-all-places-on-earth.  All reflecting the heavenly reality.

It's not inside a tent.  It's not the lid of a golden box.  It's not a tomb.  It's the followers of Jesus.  Paul says, "Don't you know that you yourselves are God's temple, and God's Spirit lives within you?"

We are to be to the world around us what the tabernacle and the ark and the mercy seat and the blood of all those lambs were to the people of God so long ago.

The holiest-of-all-places-on-earth is you.

And me.