“This is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah came about:
His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came
together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit” (Matt. 1:18).
There can be disgrace associated with carrying the Son of God within, as when
Mary was found to be with child before marrying Joseph. What was in her was of God but appeared
illegitimate. She seemed to be guilty
of sin, and yet she bore the One who would save from sin (Matt. 1:21). “Let us, then, go to him outside the camp,
bearing the disgrace he bore” (Heb. 13:13).
Hebrews here contrasts the High Priest presenting the blood of atonement
in the sanctuary with the animal carcass that was burned outside the camp. It was the human priest and the people which
needed the atoning blood yet the animal from whom the saving blood was drawn
was expelled from the assembly in disgrace.
The priest in need of forgiveness retained his reputation and his place
in the sanctuary of God, while the sacrifice was cast out like an unclean
thing. Faced with the choice between
our public image and being ostracized with Jesus, the writer of Hebrews
counsels us to stick with Jesus, even if it means looking bad.
“Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our
sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him, and
afflicted. […] He was assigned a grave with the
wicked…though he had done no violence, nor was any deceit in his mouth”
(Isaiah
53:4, 9).