Mercy Has Come!

Now Mary stood outside the tomb crying. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb and saw two angels in white, seated where Jesus’ body had been, one at the head and the other at the foot. They asked her, “Woman, why are you crying?” “They have taken my Lord away,” she said, “and I don’t know where they have put him.” At this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it was Jesus. He asked her, “Woman, why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?” Thinking he was the gardener, she said, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him.” Jesus said to her, “Mary.” She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic, “Rabboni!” (which means “Teacher”). Jesus said, “Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. Go instead to my brothers and tell them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’” John 20:11-17 (New International Version, NIV)

Today is Resurrection Sunday, also called Easter by many. Christians around the world are celebrating not just the death of our Savior, Jesus Christ, but also His resurrection from the dead. Most people of Jesus’ day missed His coming. They did not recognize it for what it was. And this is so amazing considering all the prophetic mentions of Him and the prophetic pictures and representations of Him throughout the Old Testament Scriptures. He very clearly fulfilled them and still they didn’t get it.

“He shall then slaughter the goat for the sin offering for the people and take its blood behind the curtain and do with it as he did with the bull’s blood: He shall sprinkle it on the atonement cover and in front of it…. “This is to be a lasting ordinance for you: Atonement is to be made once a year for all the sins of the Israelites.” And it was done, as the Lord commanded Moses. Exodus 16:15, 34 (New International Version, NIV)

One very clear example is the sprinkling of blood upon the Mercy Seat in the Holy of Holies once a year to atone for the sins of the people. The high priest went into the Holy Place in the tabernacle (and later in the temple) where the presence of God dwelt upon the Mercy Seat, which was on top of the Ark of the Covenant. He sprinkled blood upon the Mercy Seat. The Mercy Seat was very distinctive in its design. It was flanked on each end by a golden angel, a seraphim to be exact, each turned toward each other over the Mercy Seat. Between them is where the presence of God was.

When God gave Moses the design of the tabernacle and the furniture in it, He said it was patterned after things in heaven. This means that the Mercy Seat in the tabernacle with its two golden angels was a replica of the original Mercy Seat in heaven which was flanked by two very real angels. Do you see where I am headed with this?

Now, return back with me to the morning that they found the empty tomb. There were two angels- one at the head of where Jesus body laid, and one at the foot. Although Scripture does not say it, I would venture to guess that those two angels may have been seated facing one another- like the angels on the Mercy Seat. I would even speculate that is very likely that they were the very same angels from the original Mercy Seat in heaven!

Before Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection, the presence of God dwelt in a tent, hidden and separated from man. Jesus rose from the dead and applied His blood to the real Mercy Seat in heaven, possibly with those very angels witnessing it. As they sat in the empty tomb at each end of where Jesus’ body had been, they announced that Jesus has risen, and it serves as a sign that the presence of God was no longer cut off from man, but that God would now dwell inside each of us as we receive Him. Man previously had to approach the Mercy Seat and now the Mercy Seat has been brought to man- and is placed within us as we are born-again. That is why we are called the temple of the Holy Spirit- the presence of the Lord indwells us.

Without the death and resurrection of Jesus, His holy blood would have never been applied to the Mercy Seat, and the presence of God would have never moved to dwell in our hearts. And now our sins have not just been atoned for, but they have been washed away. What a beautiful Savior. What a glorious day! Happy Resurrection Day!