# Synodical Conference Convention Proceedings_St. Louis Missouri_1928_S33
# AI translation — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration)

of the Ev. Luth. Synodical Conference of North America. 1928. 33

that Scripture does not place Jesus' high-priestly work exclusively in the
establishing of the right relationship between God and the world. Even after
the completion of this great work he is still active as our High Priest. For he
is a High Priest in eternity, as we have already heard. An important passage is
Heb. 8:1, 2, where Jesus is called a minister of the holy things and of the true
tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, and not man. In what way, then, does he
still work in this office now? The Epistle to the Hebrews points to several
things. First it explains that Christ now intercedes for us. So we read in
Heb. 7:25: "Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come
unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them." The same
truth Scripture has also attested to us elsewhere. 1 John 2:1 says: "If any man
sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous." And Paul
cries out in his great hymn, Rom. 8, namely in v. 34: "Who is he that
condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is
even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us." On the
basis of these Scripture words we must say that Jesus even now is active for us
in a glorious way. He implores God to forgive us. He is our Advocate. In the
original text (1 John 2:1) stands the word Paraclete, that is, counsel,
advocate. Christ thus pleads our cause with God. We ourselves are not yet in
heaven. We can indeed pray, but how little zeal we show in prayer! And even
when we pray, what are we but weak, sinful men! And now we transgress God's holy
Law still so often and load guilt upon ourselves. We must confess with Luther
that we sin much daily and deserve nothing but punishment. But there we have
the comfort that Christ intercedes for us, that God may forgive us.

That is not necessary, the scoffer exclaims. You teach, after all, that God is
reconciled by the sacrifice of his Son. Why then pray still? Yes, to be sure,
God is reconciled. He also gave us, when we came to faith, the forgiveness of
all our sins for our own person. But when we sin, it weighs heavily on our
conscience, and we want again and again to have the assurance anew that God does
not reckon the sin against us. We long always for the word: "Son, thy sins be
forgiven thee." Therefore we pray daily in the Lord's Prayer: "And forgive us
our trespasses." And how glorious now that not only we pray so, but Christ also,
our High Priest, intercedes for us! Then we can be sure that sin will really be
forgiven. And in this we do not want to think merely of forgiveness of sins.
Christ makes our cause altogether his own cause (Schlatter). What we need he
implores for us. Must that not make us joyful and confident in all situations
of life?

It has been pointed out that in this respect also Jesus is the antitype, that
is, the fulfillment of the real prophecy of the Old Testament which meets us in
the high priest. The high priest of the Old Covenant had to appear before God
and burn incense. The burning of incense is a symbol of prayer, it has rightly
been said. Think of Ps. 141:2: "Let my prayer be set forth before thee as
incense; and the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice"; further of
Rev. 5:8, where it is said of the twenty-four elders in heaven that they had
golden vials full of odours, which are the prayers of saints. So Christ proves
himself the true High Priest precisely also in his prayer, in his intercession
for us.