DIFFERENT KIND OF MEDIATOR

Heb.9:15 – For this reason He is the mediator of a new covenant, so that, since a death has taken place for the redemption of the violations that were committed under the first covenant, those who have been called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance.

Jesus is Himself the mediator of a new and better covenant. The Old Testament was centered around a complicated system of animal sacrifices. After all of the intricate ceremony of offerings and sacrifices there was still a huge problem, the animal sacrifices did not have the power to take away the sin from off of our lives. So in today’s verse we see this new covenant speaking about a mediator and a death that would be eternal, not temporary. So what made the difference? What kind of mediator is Jesus? Here are some answers from the CCEC.

“But there is no common ground between a holy God and sinful humanity. Therefore, Christ, as mediator, doesn’t find a compromise between the two because God’s holiness cannot be compromised. Far from suggesting a compromise between two opposing positions, Christ agrees with the Father that we deserve the infinite outpouring of his wrath. He agrees with the Father about the ugliness of our sin. He agrees with the Father about the necessity of a sacrifice. And as our mediator, he agrees to be that sacrifice even as the Father sends him for that task. In this mediatory work, Christ procures an eternal inheritance for his church (i.e., the “called”), an inheritance simply synonymous with all of the present and future benefits of Christ’s salvific work.”

So we often think of a mediator as someone who meets with two opposing parties and works out a deal, sort of a compromise. There is a problem with this approach, the mediator in this case, Jesus, agrees with the Father in all points, we have all sinned against God and there must be retribution. But this is the amazing part, Jesus is our mediator and this is where His humanity comes into play. He is one of us and to satisfy the judgement against us Jesus made a deal, He would take the wrath of God against sin on Himself that we could be brought to God. So our mediator has cleared the way for us, we can come to God with boldness, as if we have never even committed any sin.