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Whether Joseph knows it or not, he is preparing Jesus for priestly ministry. \u00a0Clean linen cloth reminds us of the priestly attire at the temple, the linen clothing that the high priest wore on the day of atonement when he entered the Most Holy Place to sprinkle blood toward the ark.\u00a0 The stones of the temple were \u201chewn\u201d and the stones of the foundation were \u201clarge stones,\u201d 8-10 cubits high (1 Kings 7:10).\u00a0 John makes this point very clearly in his account of the resurrection, when he shows the tomb to be like the Most Holy Place, and the slab on which Jesus lay to be the ark, flanked by two angels. \u00a0Jesus is placed in the grave to transform the place of death into a source of life, to cleanse and sanctify a place of intense impurity. <\/p>\n
Should we read that backward into the Old Covenant as well? \u00a0The High Priest\u2019s approach to the ark on the Day of Atonement was an ascent to the presence of Yahweh. \u00a0Was it also a descent to Sheol? \u00a0The temple itself was all stone on the exterior; \u201chewn from stone,\u201d one could say. \u00a0The High Priest enters the Most Holy Place with blood, sign of death. \u00a0He sprinkles blood on the ark cover. \u00a0He is dressed in simple linen, like a corpse. \u00a0He is warned not to go in at other times, lest he die, so the Most Holy Place is a place of most intense life and also a place where instant death is always a possibility. <\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Whether Joseph knows it or not, he is preparing Jesus for priestly ministry. \u00a0Clean linen cloth reminds us of the priestly attire at the temple, the linen clothing that the high priest wore on the day of atonement when he entered the Most Holy Place to sprinkle blood toward the ark.\u00a0 The stones of the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3021,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5500","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-bible-nt-matthew"],"yoast_head":"\n