Yom Kippur or New Year's Day?

Leviticus 16:30
30 For on that day the priest shall make atonement for you, to cleanse you, that you may be clean from all your sins before the LORD.

Society likes to grab hold of New Year’s Day as a though it were some semi-sacred holiday. With the drunken foolishness of December 31st barely a blurry memory, the new year is an opportunity to forget about the past and move on into the future. What future, though? Another year filled with pain and suffering? Another year where resolutions fail, where attempts at reconciliation fall to pieces, where career ambitions grind to a halt? What makes January 1 so different from any other day? My answer to you is: nothing! There is nothing different or significant about January 1 that sets this day apart from all the rest. There are 11 other months of the year that begin with day 1. We could plan to change on any of those days too (or on any other day, for that matter)!

God saw something special in one specific day, though. It was the Day of Atonement, known to the Jewish people as Yom Kippur. Oddly, this day does not fall on the first of the year. This day is 10 days after the Jewish New Year (Rosh Hashanah), but according to our calendar this day comes sometime in the fall. Either way you look at it, God did not intend for the Day of Atonement to be the first day of the year. So why do we put so much emphasis on the beginning of the year?

I think it’s our human desire to start over and make everything right. We feel like we can do it all; just give us a starting point! What better place to begin than on the first day of the year? It’s easier for us that way. I’ll start my diet, quit smoking, stop fighting with my wife after the first of the year. Unfortunately, we all know what happens. Our best intentions and attempts to fix our lives starting on January 1 usually fall apart by January 14 and we rarely achieve our goals. The fact is that we’re trying to do all of the work instead of putting our trust and faith in the Miracle Worker, Jesus.

On the Day of Atonement no one in the nation of Israel, whether native or stranger (Jew or Gentile), could do any work. It was a day of complete and total rest for the people. The only person who was allowed to work at all was the high priest. His job was to go before God and make the sacrifices and sprinkle the blood on the altar for the entire nation. It was the priest who would be working on the Day of Atonement to make amends, to make right, all of the misdeeds of his people before a holy and just God. It was his work that would cover the sins of the people and allow them a prosperous new year. It was his job, and his alone, to fix all the mistakes of the past year.

Today, we have a High Priest; His name is Jesus. With Him, every day is our continuing Day of Atonement. We don’t have to wait until January 1, 10, April 17, or September 18 to have our change and reconciliation. We can have our rest, healing, and health through His work any day, any time! When Christ went to the cross He became the High Priest for the world. The day of His crucifixion became the most holy Day of Atonement ever! He did all of the work, took all of the burden, bore all of the curses, so that we could simply rest and be reconciled to God the Father through His work, not our own.

So here it is, the first of the year and I’m sure the resolutions are working in full force, but I’m asking you to rest. Stop working, stop trying so hard to fix everything; you can’t do it. Instead, rest, relax, and enjoy this day. Today, as the beginning of 2011, simply accept the rest that Jesus, the High Priest has offered you. (Matthew 9:6-7 But that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins”—then He said to the paralytic, “Arise, take up your bed, and go to your house.” 7 And he arose and departed to his house.) There is both healing and forgiveness of sins found in Him!