John 17:19, “For their sake I consecrate myself, that they also may be consecrated in truth…”
In John 17:19, Jesus speaks of His coming passion and death as a “consecration” that He enacts of His own power and will (similar to 10:18). There is much to say about Jesus’ “setting Himself apart” or “consecrating Himself” so that His followers also might be set apart/consecrated in truth (namely, the truth that is Himself as the revelation of the Father, which can only be fulfilled by making atonement on the cross), but what particularly caught my attention here—since I’ve been reading through Exodus lately—was the priestly connotation of the word “consecrate.”
In Exodus 29, we read about the formal process of consecrating (setting apart for service) the high priest. Now, this would just be interesting historical information if it were not for two things:
First, that everything related to the tabernacle—including the priestly garments and rituals—is expressly stated to be an image of heavenly realities (Exodus 25:40, Hebrews 8:5).
And second, that the person and work of Jesus is the fulfillment of the figure and role of the OT High Priest (Hebrews 8:1-2, etc.). This means that what we read in Exodus 29 has some analogical connection to the person and work of Christ.
Certainly many connections can be made, and I doubt there is one “right” connection….more likely there is an entire tapestry of valid connections woven between the elements of the tabernacle and Christ…but as I mused over the consecration of the high priest, I could not help but notice some of the similarities to Christ’s own passion….I think that there is legitimacy in seeing these connections since, Hebrews tells us that Jesus entered into His role as Perfect High Priest only through His sufferings (Hebrews 2:17-18, 4:8-9). I’ve included the possible parallels below.
John 17:19, “For their sake I consecrate myself, that they also may be consecrated in truth…”
Exodus 29:1, “Now this is what you shall do to them when you consecrate them…”
- OT high priest—You shall take the garments, and put on Aaron the coat and the robe of the ephod, and the ephod, and the breastpiece, and gird him with the skillfully woven band of the ephod (Ex.29:5)
- Christ—And they stripped Him and put a scarlet robe on Him (Matt.27:28)
- OT high priest—And you shall set the turban on his head and put the holy crown on the turban (Ex.29:6)
- Christ—…and twisting together a crown of thorns, they put it on his head… (Matt.27:29)
- OT high priest—You shall take the anointing oil and pour it on his head and anoint him (Ex.29:7)
- Christ—And they spit on Him and took the reed and struck Him on the head. (Matt.27:30)
- OT high priest—Following this, in Exodus 29:10-37, there are multiple offerings that must be made in order to consecrate Aaron and the priesthood and the altar.
- Christ—“And when they had mocked Him, they…led Him away to crucify Him (Matthew 27:31ff)
As the Messiah gave Himself up to the chief priests, He—by His own sovereign authority—was consecrating Himself to the High Priestly ministry that the Father had given Him from all eternity. A mock robe rather than an ephod, the thorns of our curse rather than a golden band, his own blood and his enemies spit rather than anointing oil, and Himself rather than a bull or a lamb on the altar….By this suffering, by this sacrifice, and by His subsequent resurrection to indestructible life, He “became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey Him, being designated by God a high priest after the order of Melchizedek” (Hebrews 5:9-10). Glory to God for Christ!
