Lent 5 - Judica April 3, 2022
Hebrews 9:11-15
Covered in Blood
v.12 He entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves but by means of His own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption.
Dear friends in Christ, have you ever been covered in blood? Your own blood? Someone else's blood? It's not very pleasant is it? Despite the fact that blood is incredibly difficult to get out of clothes--because it stains--usually if you or someone you know is covered in blood it means that they are hurt very badly--possibly even dying. Nobody wants to be covered in blood--it is gross, sticky, and can carry all sorts of diseases that can kill a person.
How different we are from the ancient Israelites. The worship system of the Old Testament actually required blood sacrifice and to be covered in blood--sprinkled with the blood of the sacrificed animal--in order to receive the promised blessing from God. God instituted such a system because the shedding of blood is necessary to make substitutionary atonement for sin. God declared that the life is in the blood. Without the shedding of blood there can be no forgiveness of sins because sin requires the life of the guilty party. The wages of sin is death.
In His mercy, God ordained that the sins of people could be atoned for--their guilt removed--through the shedding of blood of another--innocent animals such as goats, lambs, bulls, etc. Once sacrificed by the priest the blood of the animal would be spread across the altar before God and the remainder sprinkled upon the people--thus signifying that their sin was removed and they had been forgiven--been made right with God once more--through the shedding of blood.
But this sacrificial system of goats and bulls was only a temporary, intermediate measure. For God had something much greater in mind. To fully and completely remove sin--and thus death--from His people--He needed to send One whose blood could cover the sins of all people for all time. Indeed, all Old Testament sacrifices pointed ahead, as the writer to the Hebrews notes, to Jesus and His ultimate sacrifice, which avails so much more than the blood of goats or bulls. For Jesus' blood is no ordinary blood--it is the blood of God Himself--the pure and Holy One. Thus His blood, when applied to sinful human beings, carries with it the power to purify and cleanse for eternity.
Our problem is that we are so covered in the guilt of our sin--stuck in those things that drive us away from Christ and His holy blood--that at times we don't see any possible way back to God's holy presence. You see, ever since the Garden of Eden when man first walked with God in perfect harmony, but then sin forced God to remove us from His presence--we've craved--we've desired--we've needed to get back to God. But sin has prevented that from happening. Sin has set up a barrier between us and God--this barrier was even represented in the Jewish worship architecture by a heavy, woven curtain that separated the Most Holy of Holies (the place where God dwelt) from the people of Israel. It was this curtain that was literally torn in two upon Jesus' death on the cross, thereby signifying for all the people that the barrier of sin that separated man from God has been removed--torn asunder--by the death of God's own Son.
Hebrews describes, in depth, the Jewish religious practices--how the priests and high priests would make atonement for the people using animal sacrifice. But even THEY had to first be cleansed. The high priest could enter into the Most Holy of Holies only after extensive purification rituals for himself--that involved both blood and water. He would enter in, once a year, on the day of atonement (Yom Kippur), to make blood atonement to God for the accumulated sins of the people. After sprinkling blood on the ark of the covenant the high priest would then go out among the people and sprinkle them with the blood that atoned for their sin--covering them in that blood--their faith in God's promises to forgive through that blood that pointed ahead to ANOTHER (Jesus)--is what brought them salvation and life. Just so for you and me today.
For Hebrews says that Jesus entered into God's holy presence "not by means of the blood of goats and calves, but by means of His own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption." Christ has bought you back from your sin--He has paid for your guilt--your death--by means of His own blood sacrifice on the cross--the shedding of His precious and innocent blood. The blood of Jesus, whom John the Baptist declared was the very Lamb of God who came to take away the sins of the world, is precisely what takes away YOUR sin.
Jesus, the spotless Lamb of God, offered Himself to God without blemish--to purify our consciences--yours and mine. No longer need your sin--your guilt--cause you pain or despair. No longer need your sin weigh you down and keep you stuck and mired--adrift in loneliness and despair--separated from God and family and friends. The blood of Christ Jesus covers you--from head to toe--you have been washed clean by His redeeming and purifying blood. Indeed, in Revelation we read how the saints before God are clothed--covered--in pure white robes of righteousness--robes that have been made white by being washed in the blood of the Lamb.
Normally, we don't want to be covered in someone else's blood--but in this case--being covered with the blood of Jesus means we have forgiveness, life, and salvation. You can receive this in no other way. Only by clinging to the cross of Jesus--looking to Him and His blood that He shed--can you and I be freed from this unholy bondage to sin and death that plagues us so in this life. Which is why we can pray with joy and thanksgiving the same prayer that the Jewish authorities chanted with hatred and malice on Good Friday, "Let His blood be upon us and upon our children."
When you are baptized into the triune name of God: Father Son and Holy Spirit--when the pastor sprinkles you with water and the Word--you are connected with Christ Jesus and His blood that was shed for you. The Holy Spirit purifies your conscience by granting faith in your heart to cling to the promises of God that are signed, sealed, and delivered in the blood of Christ. His blood alone can and has set you free. His blood alone covers you fully and completely--granting you full remission of all your sins--all your guilt--all your sorrow and shame--now and forevermore. Thanks be to God in Christ Jesus. Amen.
Hebrews 9:11-15
Covered in Blood
v.12 He entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves but by means of His own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption.
Dear friends in Christ, have you ever been covered in blood? Your own blood? Someone else's blood? It's not very pleasant is it? Despite the fact that blood is incredibly difficult to get out of clothes--because it stains--usually if you or someone you know is covered in blood it means that they are hurt very badly--possibly even dying. Nobody wants to be covered in blood--it is gross, sticky, and can carry all sorts of diseases that can kill a person.
How different we are from the ancient Israelites. The worship system of the Old Testament actually required blood sacrifice and to be covered in blood--sprinkled with the blood of the sacrificed animal--in order to receive the promised blessing from God. God instituted such a system because the shedding of blood is necessary to make substitutionary atonement for sin. God declared that the life is in the blood. Without the shedding of blood there can be no forgiveness of sins because sin requires the life of the guilty party. The wages of sin is death.
In His mercy, God ordained that the sins of people could be atoned for--their guilt removed--through the shedding of blood of another--innocent animals such as goats, lambs, bulls, etc. Once sacrificed by the priest the blood of the animal would be spread across the altar before God and the remainder sprinkled upon the people--thus signifying that their sin was removed and they had been forgiven--been made right with God once more--through the shedding of blood.
But this sacrificial system of goats and bulls was only a temporary, intermediate measure. For God had something much greater in mind. To fully and completely remove sin--and thus death--from His people--He needed to send One whose blood could cover the sins of all people for all time. Indeed, all Old Testament sacrifices pointed ahead, as the writer to the Hebrews notes, to Jesus and His ultimate sacrifice, which avails so much more than the blood of goats or bulls. For Jesus' blood is no ordinary blood--it is the blood of God Himself--the pure and Holy One. Thus His blood, when applied to sinful human beings, carries with it the power to purify and cleanse for eternity.
Our problem is that we are so covered in the guilt of our sin--stuck in those things that drive us away from Christ and His holy blood--that at times we don't see any possible way back to God's holy presence. You see, ever since the Garden of Eden when man first walked with God in perfect harmony, but then sin forced God to remove us from His presence--we've craved--we've desired--we've needed to get back to God. But sin has prevented that from happening. Sin has set up a barrier between us and God--this barrier was even represented in the Jewish worship architecture by a heavy, woven curtain that separated the Most Holy of Holies (the place where God dwelt) from the people of Israel. It was this curtain that was literally torn in two upon Jesus' death on the cross, thereby signifying for all the people that the barrier of sin that separated man from God has been removed--torn asunder--by the death of God's own Son.
Hebrews describes, in depth, the Jewish religious practices--how the priests and high priests would make atonement for the people using animal sacrifice. But even THEY had to first be cleansed. The high priest could enter into the Most Holy of Holies only after extensive purification rituals for himself--that involved both blood and water. He would enter in, once a year, on the day of atonement (Yom Kippur), to make blood atonement to God for the accumulated sins of the people. After sprinkling blood on the ark of the covenant the high priest would then go out among the people and sprinkle them with the blood that atoned for their sin--covering them in that blood--their faith in God's promises to forgive through that blood that pointed ahead to ANOTHER (Jesus)--is what brought them salvation and life. Just so for you and me today.
For Hebrews says that Jesus entered into God's holy presence "not by means of the blood of goats and calves, but by means of His own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption." Christ has bought you back from your sin--He has paid for your guilt--your death--by means of His own blood sacrifice on the cross--the shedding of His precious and innocent blood. The blood of Jesus, whom John the Baptist declared was the very Lamb of God who came to take away the sins of the world, is precisely what takes away YOUR sin.
Jesus, the spotless Lamb of God, offered Himself to God without blemish--to purify our consciences--yours and mine. No longer need your sin--your guilt--cause you pain or despair. No longer need your sin weigh you down and keep you stuck and mired--adrift in loneliness and despair--separated from God and family and friends. The blood of Christ Jesus covers you--from head to toe--you have been washed clean by His redeeming and purifying blood. Indeed, in Revelation we read how the saints before God are clothed--covered--in pure white robes of righteousness--robes that have been made white by being washed in the blood of the Lamb.
Normally, we don't want to be covered in someone else's blood--but in this case--being covered with the blood of Jesus means we have forgiveness, life, and salvation. You can receive this in no other way. Only by clinging to the cross of Jesus--looking to Him and His blood that He shed--can you and I be freed from this unholy bondage to sin and death that plagues us so in this life. Which is why we can pray with joy and thanksgiving the same prayer that the Jewish authorities chanted with hatred and malice on Good Friday, "Let His blood be upon us and upon our children."
When you are baptized into the triune name of God: Father Son and Holy Spirit--when the pastor sprinkles you with water and the Word--you are connected with Christ Jesus and His blood that was shed for you. The Holy Spirit purifies your conscience by granting faith in your heart to cling to the promises of God that are signed, sealed, and delivered in the blood of Christ. His blood alone can and has set you free. His blood alone covers you fully and completely--granting you full remission of all your sins--all your guilt--all your sorrow and shame--now and forevermore. Thanks be to God in Christ Jesus. Amen.