Christ’s blood cleanses our consciences.

 

Sermon for Trinity 13, August 30, 2026

Now may the God of hope fill you with complete joy and peace as you continue to believe, so that you overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.  

Hebrews 9:6-14  ⁶After these things had been furnished in this way, the priests would always enter the first room of the tent to perform their ministries.  ⁷But only the high priest would enter the second section of the tent, once each year, and not without blood, which he offered for himself and for the sins the people committed in ignorance.  ⁸By this the Holy Spirit indicates that, while the first room of the tent existed, a way into the Most Holy Place had not yet been disclosed.  ⁹This tent is a picture pointing to the present time.  Since it is only a picture, the gifts and sacrifices that are brought there are not able to clear the conscience of the worshipper.  ¹⁰They are only bodily regulations about foods, drinks, and various washings, which were in force until the time of the new order.  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? (EHV)

Christ’s blood cleanses our consciences.

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

            Do you ever wonder how many lambs, goats, calves and other animals were slaughtered at the tabernacle and temple over the fourteen hundred years of Israel’s worship before Jesus was nailed to the cross?  With sacrifices happening daily, and extraordinary numbers on special occasions, not to mention those special sacrifices for every male child born in Israel, the amount of animal blood shed throughout the years would have to be measured in Olympic swimming pool volumes rather than in gallons or liters.  It simply boggles my mind to think about all that blood flowing from slaughtered animals and huge amounts also being sprinkled on the people as well.  Our modern minds would likely be horrified at the scene.

Yet, even though those vast numbers of animals had given their lives (involuntarily, of course), none of those sacrifices actually cleansed anyone’s conscience.  How horrible that would all be except for one thing: they all pointed God’s people toward the one sacrifice that actually would make a difference in their eternal lives.  As the writer pointed out, “They are only bodily regulations about foods, drinks, and various washings, which were in force until the time of the new order.”

Of course, the modern reader might still shudder at the thought.  Some might protest, how could God require such a graphic display merely to teach the people what was to come?  Still, for both the Old Testament Israelites, and us also as well, now in the time of the new order, those sacrifices show us how dear the cost God paid so that Christ’s blood cleanses our consciences.

You see, so that you and I, and anyone else too, might enter God’s heaven, a sacrifice of supreme worth had to be made.  God had no need for those animal sacrifices.  Indeed, He had spoken through His prophet, “What do your many sacrifices mean to me?” says the Lord.  “I have more than enough rams as burnt offerings and enough fat from well-fed animals.” (Isaiah 1:11)  And through the psalmist He says, “I do not need to take a bull from your barn or goats from your pens, because every animal in the forest is mine, the cattle on a thousand mountains.  I know every bird in the mountains, and everything that moves in the field is with me.  If I were hungry, I would not tell you, because the world is mine, and all that fills it.” (Psalm 50:9-12) 

Thus, God didn’t require all those sacrifices for His own benefit, but rather, so that the people would see the graphic cost of their sin.  But, the redemption price still had to be paid, for justice demands that the law be carried out.  “The wages of sin is death”—a decree that goes all the way back to the creation.  After Adam sinned, his every descendant was born in sin and lived in it, and every sinner would die.  To ensure that eternal death isn’t the only outcome, God sent Jesus to be the second Adam, who without any sin of His own, would die and suffer the pains of hell so that you and I could be set free from the curse. 

Sin had separated mankind from God.  The reality of our separation from God was visually displayed to all in the temple.  Before Jesus entered our world and gave His life on the cross, there was a curtain in the temple that barred the people from entering the most holy place.  Therefore, so that we who were sinners could enjoy peace with God, a Redeemer interceded on our behalf.  That Redeemer is Jesus.

Though the priests assigned as go-betweens for the people would offer sacrifices, prayers, and thanksgivings to the Lord in the courtyard and the holy place of the temple, “only the high priest would enter the second section of the tent, once each year, and not without blood, which he offered for himself and for the sins the people committed in ignorance.  By this the Holy Spirit indicates that, while the first room of the tent existed, a way into the Most Holy Place had not yet been disclosed.”  The reality for people like you and me who often sin without even trying is that the curtain in the temple was a proclamation that we could never enter God’s presence in peace.

However, at the moment of Jesus’ death, that curtain that separated us from God’s presence was torn from top to bottom, signifying that our separation from God has been eliminated by the Son who came down from heaven.  The blood Jesus shed was enough.  The price had been paid in full so that not one more sacrifice would ever be required for the sins of mankind.  “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).  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.”  By His sacrifice and suffering and the shedding of His holy precious blood, Jesus fulfilled the prophecy of all the sacrifices of those previous fourteen hundred years.  By His suffering and death, Jesus had paid the full price of our reconciliation with God, and His resurrection from the grave and ascension into heaven testify forever after that Christ’s blood cleanses our consciences.

For you and me, the meaning of all that shedding of blood has changed.  No longer are we required to kill animals and sprinkle blood to cover our sins.  Jesus covered our guilt with His holy blood.  Instead of requiring a sacrifice from us, the blood of the sacrifice Jesus made is now poured out upon and in us through the eating and drinking of His body and blood in the bread and wine of the Lord’s Supper.  This eating and drinking in not a command given to us that must be carried out so that we show God our faithfulness.  Rather, it is Jesus declaring His faithfulness to His Father, and His devotion to saving us for His Father’s house.

For this reason, the writer asks the rhetorical question, “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?”  The answer is infinitely!

What an amazing gift Jesus gives, that Christ’s blood cleanses our consciences.  The guilt and shame that so burdened our souls has been lifted.  The consciences troubled by sin are freed from the devil’s chains.  Again and again, Jesus comes to us in the bread and wine to show us the vivid reality that He died to make us counted as holy citizens of His heaven.  The ancient sacrifices of sheep and goats removed the outward appearance of sin, but only Jesus’ blood could truly cover the guilt of the world.  And that, dear friends, means that Christ’s blood cleanses our consciences.  You and I have been set free from the devil’s accusations and from our own troubled feelings and fears.

For the sake of the suffering and death of His Son, Jesus, the Father in heaven now counts those who believe in His Son as though they had never sinned at all.  On the mountain of transfiguration, the Father’s “voice came out of the cloud, saying, ‘This is my Son, whom I love.  Listen to him!’” (Luke 9:35)  Consequently, when Jesus says, “The Father loves the Son and has put everything in his hands.  The one who believes in the Son has eternal life,” (John 3:35-36) we better believe Him. 

That is the message and meaning we receive in the Lord’s Supper.  Every taste of the bread and every sip of the wine is participation with the body and blood of Jesus.  It is God’s way of putting Jesus personally into each believer. 

Just as Baptism is not merely an external cleansing of the body, but rather a “washing of rebirth and the renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs in keeping with the hope of eternal life.” (Titus 3:5-7)  So, in this Sacramental meal we are not fed merely a representation of what Jesus has done for us.  Rather, this Supper is real food and real medicine of immortality, given to cleanse our souls of all guilt and to strengthen our faith in Jesus as our Savior, Redeemer, and Lord.  As this writer asks, “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?” 

Apart from Jesus, anything we might do or hope to do to please God is worthless.  Nothing we can do or say would prove that we deserve to be with the Lord in heaven.  However, having been cleansed of all guilt by the blood of His Son, God now welcomes us who believe into His heavenly mansions and praises those works we do out of trust in Him and faith in the sacrifice of His Son.  A living faith means a living service to our Lord.  Trusting the blood of Jesus poured out for you and me means that Christ’s blood cleanses our consciences.  Amen.

Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit; as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, forevermore.  Amen.