Sermon Hebrews 9:11-15 “A Much Better Sacrifice”

Rev. Jeffrey T. Howard
Sermon Hebrews 9:11-15 “A Much Better Sacrifice”
New Covenant Church
Palm Sunday, March 25, 2018

Today is Palm Sunday.  As you heard earlier Jesus has come into Jerusalem.   He had been staying with friends in Bethany, just across the Mount of Olives east of Jerusalem.   He asked his follower to find a donkey for him to ride over the Mount of Olives and into Jerusalem.   The people coming to Jerusalem for the Passover celebration knew exactly what that meant.   The prophet Zechariah had written that the Messiah would enter Jerusalem this way.   So the people greeted Jesus as a king by placing cloaks on the ground before him.  Jesus descended the Mount of Olives and entered Jerusalem through the East Gate and made his way up to the Temple Courts.

Thus began the final week of Jesus’ life.   Later this week he had a final supper with his disciples where he washed their feet and gave them a new commandment.   This Thursday night we will look at this new commandment in our Maundy Thursday worship service.   On Friday we remember Jesus’ death on the cross.   There will be no worship service here.   But the sanctuary will be open this Friday from noon to three for personal prayers.   Please come and go as you wish.   I will be here if you would like for me to pray with you.   So remember Thursday night at 7 for Maundy Thursday worship and Friday from noon to 3 for prayer. 

Next Sunday we will join with a group of women at Jesus’ tomb at sunrise.   At 6:45 am next Sunday morning we will begin Easter with a Sunrise Worship outside the church.   This will be followed by breakfast at 9 am an Easter Egg Hunt, and Celebration Worship at 10. 

But today, Palm Sunday, we have followed Jesus into the temple and we will find out why he went there.   We will get to this, but first, let’s pray.

“Grant unto us, O Lord, to be occupied in the mysteries of thy heavenly wisdom, with true progress in piety, to thy glory and our own edification. Amen.” (John Calvin)

So why did Jesus enter the temple courts on a Sunday morning two thousand years ago?   According to the Book of Hebrews, he went there to bring us into the presence of God.

The Jerusalem Temple that Jesus entered was built based on the design of a tabernacle or tent that the Hebrews constructed and used during their forty years in the wilderness while preparing to enter the promised land.  This tabernacle was built with cloth and animal skins and had a wooden frame.   Whenever the Hebrews moved to a new watering hole in the desert the Levites would pack up the tent and carry it to the next place.   There they would set it up and begin to do what had to be done.

The outer room was where the Levites did their ordinary work.   There were lamps to be filled with oil so that they would light the tabernacle 24 hours a day.  Fresh bread had to be baked every day and placed before the Lord.   These are the things we know about.   But there had to be a lot more than the Levites were responsible for.

No doubt they had Levite trustees to maintain the tent and the surrounding grounds.   They had to have a Levite treasurer to manage money and resources.   There had to be a Levite committee to educate children to make sure that the youth studied the Torah.   There had to be a Levite committee to recruit new priests to replace the ones that retire.  There had to be a Levite group that ensured that everything was in place for worship and prayer and sacrifice and service.   All these things had to be done.   And all these things have to be done today.

But the author of Hebrews was concerned that his church was so busy in the outer room, doing all the stuff churches require,  that they never entered the inner room.  Let’s take a look at the inner room of the tabernacle.

Once each year, on the Day of Atonement, the high priest would enter the inner room, the Holy of Holies.   But before entering the high priest had to bathe and put on special clothing.   The priest had to then sacrifice a bull as a sin offering and burn it upon the altar as a burnt offering.  Then he took some of the coals generating smoke, an odor pleasing to the Lord, and some blood of the bull, representing the sacrifice and with these, he entered the inner room.   And here is what he saw.
     
Hebrews 9:3 Behind the second curtain was a room called the Most Holy Place, 4 which had the golden altar of incense and the gold-covered ark of the covenant. This ark contained the gold jar of manna, Aaron’s staff that had budded, and the stone tablets of the covenant. 5 Above the ark were the cherubim of the Glory, overshadowing the atonement cover.

There, in this magnificent place, beholding the splendor of God,  the high priest would offer to God the prayers of his people and receive God gracious forgiveness. 

But in the year 70 AD, the Romans destroyed the Jerusalem temple thus bringing to an end the sacrificial system for both Jews and Christians.   Christians still had the outer room.   They had their churches where all the ordinary activities of being church took place.   But how could they get into the inner room?  How could they get into the presence of God to see God’s glory and receive  God’s grace?  The author of Hebrews reasoned that the church needed a high priest, a new temple, and a sacrifice to get us there.

11 But when Christ came as high priest of the good things that are now already here, he went through the greater and more perfect tabernacle that is not made with human hands, that is to say, is not a part of this creation. 12 He did not enter by means of the blood of goats and calves; but he entered the Most Holy Place once for all by his own blood, thus obtaining eternal redemption.

So we have a High Priest who brings us into the presence of God to behold God’s splendor and glory.   That High Priest is Jesus Christ.   The new temple he serves is not here on earth.   Rather the temple is in heaven where Jesus sits at the right hand of Almighty God.  And the blood he carries into that Most Holy Place as a sacrifice is his own blood shed on the cross. 

This is good news for us because it means that as we worship and pray our great high priest, Jesus Christ, hears our prayers and intercedes on our behalf with his father in heaven.   And even more, it means that our confessions are heard, Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross is accepted,  and we are all assured of forgiveness.  As the author of Hebrews put it:

13 The blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkled on those who are ceremonially unclean sanctify them so that they are outwardly clean. 14 How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death,

And so with Jesus’s sacrifice on the cross and his ascension to heaven, we now experience atonement, our sins are forgiven, our guilt and shame are washed away, and we are made new.   This is the blessing, the gift we receive with Jesus’ death on the cross.  As the Gospel of John so eloquently puts it:

John 3:16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

Why would God do such an extraordinary thing.?  Why did he give us his Son?  Because God loves us.
With Jesus as our high priest, we are allowed to enter the inner room.   In worship, we are lifted up by the Spirit into the heavenly temple where we enter into the Most Holy Place and perceive the glory and splendor of God.   There, God hears our prayers and pronounces us forgiven. 
How do we respond to this glorious gift?  Here is what the author of Hebrews told us.

14 How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death,[c] so that we may serve the living God!

So in worship, we see the splendor of God and receive forgiveness.   Then we leave church to participate in God’s mission in the world.   We are to care for the poor and needy, the widows and orphans and the aliens in our land.   We are to share our faith with others and make new disciples of Jesus Christ.  By doing these things we love and serve our Lord.  The is what the author of Hebrews called the New Covenant. 

As church which has taken this as its name I challenge you to follow through on your promise.   Join Jesus in the Most Holy Place every Sunday in worship.   And follow Jesus into the world to care for the people God loves.

The author of Hebrews explained it this way:

Hebrews 10:19 Therefore, brothers and sisters, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, 20 by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body, 21 and since we have a great priest over the house of God, 22 let us draw near to God with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water. 23 Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. 24 And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, 25 not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another. 

Let’s pray.  Lord Jesus, we have followed you this day into the Most Holy Place and can perceive the splendor and glory of God.   Thank you for hearing our prayers and pronouncing forgiveness upon us.   As we leave worship today go before us and show how we can honor you by serving in our community.   This we pray in your glorious name.  Amen.