Christ, the Mediator, once for all.

Sermon for Lent 5, March 29, 2020

Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ our Savior.  Amen.

Hebrews 9:11-15  ¹¹But when Christ appeared as the high priest of the good things that were coming, he went through the greater and more complete tent, which was not made by human hands (that is, it is not part of this creation).  ¹²He entered once into the Most Holy Place and obtained eternal redemption, not by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood.  ¹³Now if the blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer, sprinkled on those who were unclean, sanctifies them so that their flesh is clean, ¹⁴how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, cleanse our consciences from dead works, so that we worship the living God?  ¹⁵For this reason, he is the mediator of a new covenant.  A death took place as payment for the trespasses committed under the first covenant, so that those who are called would receive the promised eternal inheritance. (EHV)

Christ, the Mediator, once for all.

Dear redeemed members of the body of Christ,

            Getting things clean is a big concern right now.  Wash your hands with soap and hot water for a full twenty seconds.  Use hand sanitizer if soap and water isn’t available.  Get out the bleach and disinfectants to make sure your house, car, phone, and anything else you might touch is clean and free of any virus or bacteria that might make you sick.  All good advice, but if we are that concerned about cleaning the outside, how are we cleaning the inside—the soul?  What do we need to stand pure and holy before God?  We might ask, what does it take to wash away the deadly contamination of our sin? 

If we could jump in a time machine and travel back to the days of Solomon’s temple, I think we would be shocked at the amount of blood that was spilt, and sprinkled, during Hebrew worship.  At the week-long dedication of Solomon’s temple, we would see a river of blood.  In that dedication festival, Solomon alone sacrificed “twenty-two thousand cattle, and one hundred twenty thousand sheep.” (1 Kings 8:63)  I can tell you from experience that even one cow can gush out a lot of blood, so from this great number of animals being sacrificed, the blood would have run in torrents.  But the Israelite priests had to offer more sacrifices than just at that great, dedication festival.  They were daily sacrificing burnt offerings, fellowship offerings, sin offerings, and thank offerings, and most required the shedding of blood.

In addition to those sacrifices, the High Priest, once each year, was commanded to make a special sacrifice of atonement for the people.  That one day of the year was the only time anyone, and then only the High Priest, was allowed to enter the Most Holy Place of the temple.  In this ceremony, the High Priest had to ceremonially purify himself before atoning for the sins of the people.  This was required every year to preserve the covenant relationship that Israel enjoyed with God.  The Israelites relied on this atonement.  In fact, they began to rely on the Old Testament sacrifices so much that many of them forgot the point of all the blood.  So, how much blood does it take to wash away sin? 

We don’t know who wrote the book of Hebrews, but the Holy Spirit used that man to remind the Jews, especially those who were following Jesus, that all those Old Testament sacrifices, and all the ceremonial regulations that went with them, were designed and given for the purpose of pointing people to the promised Savior.  The letter to the Hebrews was written to silence those who tried to entice new Christian believers to return to following Old Testament regulations as a condition of salvation.  In this letter, the Holy Spirit teaches that it is only through Jesus’ sacrifice that sins are removed and salvation is won.  So our question shouldn’t be, “How much blood is needed?” or “What sacrifices must we make?”  Rather, our focus must be on Jesus’ work of winning salvation for all people by shedding His holy, precious blood, for Jesus is the Christ, the Mediator, once for all.

The Old Testament priests served one purpose—as a go-between between God and Israel.  It was the priests’ job to offer sacrifices for the sins of the people, to bring their thank offerings and prayers before the LORD, shedding the blood of countless animals so that Israel would remain in good standing with God.  But all of this was to be done with the understanding that there was One Man yet to come, Who would be the true, and final, Sacrifice of Atonement for all.  Generation after generation in Israel looked forward to the coming of this promised Savior. 

The writer to the Hebrews tells us that “when Christ appeared as the high priest of the good things that were coming, he went through the greater and more complete tent, which was not made by human hands (that is, it is not part of this creation).”  Jesus came as our one, true High Priest, not to offer the dead bodies of animals, but to sacrifice Himself.  All of the lambs, goats, calves, and doves that had been sacrificed before, had only been symbols of the sacrifice that was to come.  The true sacrifice that would satisfy God was that final, one-time sacrifice of His uncreated, perfectly holy Son, Jesus Christ, begotten of the Father from eternity.  When the writer tells us that Jesus is “the high priest of the good things that were coming,” he is reminding us of the salvation Jesus brings as our Mediator with God.

“He entered once into the Most Holy Place and obtained eternal redemption, not by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood.”  All the blood that had been shed before Jesus would have no worth without His innocent sacrifice.  Jesus’ blood has true value for our forgiveness and salvation because it had no taint of sin.  Jesus, as God’s own true Son, incarnate of the Holy Spirit, was sinless from conception and lived without any hint of sin so that He could be the final, atoning sacrifice for the world.  In contrast, the Old Testament High Priest had to offer up a sacrifice for his own sins before he could make atonement for the people.  Jesus, as the holy, perfectly innocent Son of God and the One true High Priest, simply offered Himself.’’

“Now if the blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer, sprinkled on those who were unclean, sanctifies them so that their flesh is clean, how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, cleanse our consciences from dead works, so that we worship the living God?”  Here the writer uses a lesser to greater argument to show everyone that those older sacrifices only had meaning in the context of the sacrifice of the Christ.  All of the blood of the animals gave only ceremonial washing, but true spiritual cleansing is done by Christ’s blood which, by faith, transforms believers from sinful flesh into holy servants of the living God.

“For this reason, he is the mediator of a new covenant.  A death took place as payment for the trespasses committed under the first covenant, so that those who are called would receive the promised eternal inheritance.”  Because Jesus was willing to carry out His Father’s will, because He was willing to leave His throne to come to earth to live and die for us, because Jesus was not only willing but able to accomplish the perfect holiness we could not, and because God the Father views His Son’s sacrifice as sufficient and complete for all, Jesus “is the Mediator of the new covenant.”  Christ’s perfect obedience earns Him that right, and His sacrificial death is the perfect answer to the requirement of death demanded by the Law.

The new covenant is God’s promise that Jesus’ death is sufficient payment for all sins.  The new covenant is the one-sided promise from God to mankind that the punishment for sin is complete in Christ.  In Jesus we are given the redemption that He earned for us on the cross.  We cannot gain that gift by anything we do, or by any sacrifice we make.  Yet, as the one Mediator between God and man, Jesus brings that saving gift to all whom the Father has called, and the Holy Spirit goes out from the Father and the Son in the Gospel to bring salvation to all who hear the Word and believe it.  Thus, through God’s holy Word we “receive the promised eternal inheritance.”  Through Word and Sacrament, the Holy Spirit works in us the faith in Jesus that brings the gift of forgiveness, salvation and eternal life.

My friends, how much blood does it take to wash away sin?  The answer was never in the volume of blood.  The answer has always been in the value of the blood that was shed.  Isaacs Watts wrote, “Not all the blood of beasts on ancient altars slain…could wash away the stain.”  The stains of our sins, and the sins of the world, are washed away only by Jesus’ blood.  Christ’s blood cleanses us from sin, because with His blood, He has satisfied the Father that all of our sins have been punished sufficiently—nothing more is ever needed. 

Dear friends, as our Mediator, Jesus sits at God’s right hand testifying on behalf of you who believe in Him, that you are forgiven, that you are redeemed, that you are fellow members of Christ’s family, and you are welcome in God’s mansions in heaven to live with our one true Mediator, and with His Father, in peace and glory for all eternity.  Glory be to Christ, the Mediator, once for all.  Amen.

The peace of God which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus unto life everlasting.  Amen.