Our worship services have a very special ending: the benediction. These are more than words said to signal that it is time to leave. The benediction is God placing his blessing on his people through the one he ordained for that task. In our church, only an ordained minister is supposed to raise his hands and place God’s blessing on the people. It is not because of the special character of the minister, but because God has ordained to bless his people this way. In Numbers, God gives the task to the priest and even tells them the very words to say in vv. 24-26.

The blessing is a familiar one: The Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious unto you. The Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace. To be blessed by God is a wonderful thing. It means that God is supplying all that you need according to his riches in glory (Phil. 4:19). His presence is with you to hear your cry for help and your offering of thanks and praise. God blesses his people because they are his. He also keeps them. This is the protection of God. He will cause all things to work together for their good, that they would become more like Jesus (Rom. 8:28).

The next two lines expand upon the first. God turns his face, his attention to his people. He looks on them to give them grace and peace. This is the greeting that begins most of St. Paul’s letters. Grace and peace to you from God the Father and the Lord Jesus (Phil.1:2). This is also how I begin our worship service, placing the blessing of the Apostolic greeting on us.

What does it mean to have God’s grace? All that God does for us is an act of his free grace. By grace we are saved from sin. By grace we are adopted as God’s children. By grace we die to sin and live to righteousness. By grace we endure through hardships and trials in this life. By grace we will be brought to glory in heaven. All that we have from God we have by God’s grace. Even the breath we draw is not because we have the ability to guarantee our life. We exist day by day because of God’s grace.

God’s peace is also part of his blessing. Peace is more than the absence of anxiety. It is positive wholeness, security and blessed rest. The Hebrew word for peace is shalom. This is used as a greeting and parting word, much as we would use hello and goodbye. What a great way to remind each other of the peace of God which passes understanding which is able to keep our minds and our hearts in Jesus. God gives us this reminder in his blessing as we take our leave from corporate worship.

A very striking part of this passage is v 27: So they will place my name on the Israelites and I will bless them. The act of blessing is the act of placing the name of the Lord on his people. The name of God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit is placed on us when we are baptized. It is placed on us again every time we receive his blessing.

To have the name of God placed on us is not something that we do for ourselves. God places his name on us through those he has ordained in the Church. The blessing of the name of God is not something that we put on when we want it and take off when we don’t. We cannot put it on and go to church and take it off and go deep into sin. When we go to a place where sin abounds the name of God is still on us. What does that mean? It means that we are not only defiling ourselves with our sin, but we are defiling the name of God. And that means judgment.

The good news is that God’s presence is with us even when we sin. We can cry out for forgiveness and rescue from sin. God’s face is turned toward us to hear.

Would we sin less if we knew Jesus was right there in the room looking at us shaking his head? I think it might make a difference. This blessing placed on your head is a reminder that Jesus is right in the room with you all throughout your life. He is there to help you, forgive you, and give you grace and peace. When you leave his presence in corporate worship, the last thing you hear is the blessing that places God’s name on your head. This reminds us that God is with us the rest of the week too.

Why does God want his name on you? God’s desire is to bless you—for you to know his grace and peace. Receive God’s blessing. Know that it is God’s blessing for your whole life. Live with his name placed upon your head.