THE “MOST HOLY”

Also at the same time, the spiritual “Most Holy” came into existence. How? The residence of God now took on special characteristics as regards heaven’s relationship to mankind. Jehovah was ready and willing to be propitiated, appeased, softened by a satisfying sin offering, so it was as if he throned above the propitiatory cover of the ark of the covenant, the new covenant, which would be validated by the blood of that offering. The offering that he was willing to accept was the perfect human sacrifice of the High Priest Jesus Christ.​—Luke 22:20; compare Revelation 11:19.

While he was thus a spiritual Son of God, there was yet a barrier to his entering heaven to be with his Father. That was his flesh, just as the curtain separating the Holy from the Most Holy blocked entry to the high priest in the tabernacle. (Heb. 10:20) For “flesh and blood cannot inherit God’s kingdom.” (1 Cor. 15:50) Jesus had to die, divesting himself of the body of flesh so that he could receive the change to “divine nature,” by being resurrected “in the spirit.”​—2 Pet. 1:4; 1 Pet. 3:18.

BRINGING INCENSE INTO THE MOST HOLY

The high priest of Israel went into the tabernacle several times during the Atonement Day proceedings, as shown at Leviticus chapter 16. The first entry was with a censer of hot coals upon which incense was put. (Lev. 16:12, 13) How was this fulfilled by Jesus Christ? Of course, this did not mean that Christ went into heaven before his sacrifice was finished. Rather, the entry with incense being the first one showed that it pictured something prerequisite to, and more important than, Jesus’ offering the value of his sacrifice in heaven for the purchase of mankind. What was this?

Here was foreshadowed Christ’s maintaining of integrity under test, thus proving that a man can maintain perfect faith and obedience to God. Jesus thereby exposed the Devil as a liar in his charge that God was not ruling righteously toward all his intelligent creatures, that these were serving him either from selfishness or under coercion, not out of love and true loyalty.​—Job 1:9-11; 2:4, 5; Gen. 3:1-5.

Jesus stated his primary purpose in coming to earth when he said: “For this I have been born, and for this I have come into the world, that I should bear witness to the truth.” (John 18:37) He maintained integrity, proving Satan a liar. (John 12:31; 14:30) Had Jesus failed in this he himself would have lost his life and could not have ransomed mankind. Just as the high priest brought incense into the Most Holy, so Jesus zealously offered up prayers, service and unblemished devotion to God throughout his whole ministry.

CHRIST’S ENTRY INTO THE MOST HOLY

The sacrifice of his perfect human life being successfully accomplished, Christ could enter the real “Most Holy” after his resurrection, not with the literal blood of his sacrifice, but with what the blood represented, namely, the value of his perfect human life. Just as the high priest of Israel made atonement first for his own priestly house by the sacrificial bull’s blood, and then for the people by the blood of the ‘Lord’s goat,’ so the atoning merit of Jesus’ sacrifice would be applied first to his household of underpriests, the 144,000 spirit-begotten, anointed members of the Christian congregation, his spiritual brothers. Later, it would be applied to humankind in general, for with his blood Christ bought all mankind.​—1 John 2:1, 2; Rom. 8:29, 30; compare Hebrews 11:39, 40; Revelation 7:9, 10; Romans 8:21.

As the goat bearing the people’s sins on Atonement Day went into the wilderness, so Jesus carried mankind’s sins far off, into oblivion.​—Lev. 16:20-22.

With the presentation of the merit of Christ’s sacrifice in heaven the great antitypical Day of Atonement ended. This “day” ran from the time of Jesus’ baptism in the autumn of 29 C.E. to the time of the presentation of the value of his sacrifice in heaven in the spring of 33 C.E. Ten days after Jesus’ ascension to heaven the evidence was given to his faithful disciples that the merit of his perfect human sacrifice as presented to God in the heavenly “Most Holy” had been accepted. How? By the pouring out of holy spirit upon them at Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost, 33 C.E.​—Acts 2:1-36.