9

Last night we encountered Christ in mystery. How does the spiritual interact with the physical and the eternal with the created order? How do divinity and humanity meet in Jesus? There are profound mysteries here and the greatest mystery of all is how Jesus stands with us and goes with us to God. But as I hope we saw last night, mystery is not a bad thing because it calls forth our faith. We encounter Christ in mystery.

Tonight we encounter him in redemption. What does it mean that we are redeemed by Jesus Christ? I mentioned last evening that the writer of Hebrews often contrasts the new covenant with Jesus as the High Priest and the old covenant with the Jewish high priest. Redemption comes in both covenants. But the redemption of Jesus is far superior because it is spiritual and eternal whereas the old covenant’s redemption is earthly and temporal.[1] So the major thrust of tonight’s text is to contrast the settings and the actions of the old and new covenants. Let’s read it in Hebrews 9.

Now even the first covenant had regulations for worship and an earthly sanctuary. For a tent was constructed, the first one, in which were the lampstand, the table, and the bread of the Presence; this is called the Holy Place. Behind the second curtain was a tent called the Holy of Holies. In it stood the golden altar of incense and the ark of the covenant overlaid on all sides with gold, in which there were a golden urn holding the manna, and Aaron’s rod that budded, and the tablets of the covenant; above it were the cherubim of glory overshadowing the mercy seat. Of these things we cannot speak now in detail.

Such preparations having been made, the priests go continually into the first tent to carry out their ritual duties; but only the high priest goes into the second, and he but once a year, and not without taking the blood that he offers for himself and for the sins committed unintentionally by the people. By this the Holy Spirit indicates that the way into the sanctuary has not yet been disclosed as long as the first tent is still standing. This is a symbol of the present time, during which gifts and sacrifices are offered that cannot perfect the conscience of the worshiper, but deal only with food and drink and various baptisms, regulations for the body imposed until the time comes to set things right.

But when Christ came as a high priest of the good things that have come, then through the greater and perfect tent (not made with hands, that is, not of this creation), he entered once for all into the Holy Place, not with the blood of goats and calves, but with his own blood, thus obtaining eternal redemption. For if the blood of goats and bulls, with the sprinkling of the ashes of a heifer, sanctifies those who have been defiled so that their flesh is purified, how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to worship the living God!

For this reason he is the mediator of a new covenant, so that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance, because a death has occurred that redeems them from the transgressions under the first covenant.

As I said last night, Hebrews is tightly organized and closely argued and there is much in this text that we won’t be able to look at in any detail tonight. But in the first part of the text, the writer acts like a museum guide showing us an amazing exhibit of ancient Israel’s first sanctuary which was called the tabernacle or tent of meeting. The tabernacle eventually became the paradigm for the temple built by King Solomon. But the old and original sanctuary was a tent, described in detail in Exodus 25-40, and it was divided by curtains into two chambers.[2]

According to the text, as we tour the first chamber we see a table and a lampstand. But what the text doesn’t tell us is that according to the instructions in Exodus, the table was made of acacia wood and was a yard long, half a yard wide, and nearly thirty inches high.[3] And it was covered with pure gold and had a pure gold molding around it. There were rings on the corners of the table made out of pure gold and poles made out of acacia wood to be inserted in the rings to carry the table. The poles were covered with pure gold. And the lampstand was made of pure gold. Practically everything in the first chamber was gold. The museum tour so far is quite impressive and the docent comments that this is called the Holy Place.

But the second chamber is even more impressive. In coming to this museum you would never expect to see it or be allowed in. For the second chamber is the Holy of Holies and only the Jewish high priest could enter here and even he could do so only once a year on Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. In the Holy of Holies was more gold. The mercy seat itself, which sat atop the ark of the covenant was nearly four feet long and thirty inches wide and made of pure gold. The cherubim, the wings of which were spread over the mercy seat, were made of pure gold. There was more gold in the Holy of Holies than you can shake a stick at, and the mercy seat was thought to be the very throne of God.

Have you read that artifacts from Tutankhamen’s tomb are going to soon tour the United States again and there is lots of gold in that exhibit. But the gold in the Holy of Holies would make the boy pharaoh’s artifacts look like Wal-Mart trinkets. What a thrilling museum tour we’ve had.

And then with a dismissive wave, the docent says, “Of these things we cannot speak now in detail.” In other words, as impressed as we’ve been with the gold and perhaps even the religious symbolism of the Holy Place and the Holy of Holies, these things aren’t all that important when compared to the redemption of Jesus Christ.[4] The redemption of Jesus goes higher and deeper than the redemption of the old covenant.[5]

Jesus’ redemption goes higher because in contrast to the Jewish high priest who goes into the Holy of Holies once a year and sprinkles the blood of an animal, Jesus enters once for all into the “greater and perfect tent” the “spiritual Holy Place” and there offers his own blood for “eternal redemption.” Now just like last night, there is mystery here and much speculation about what it means that Christ entered the spiritual Holy of Holies once for all. But let’s not focus on that mystery. Instead we need to look at the superior redemption for it goes not only higher but deeper than the old redemption. Christ’s redemption “purifies our conscience.”

“You need to clean up your life,” a counselor told a young man addicted to drugs. The young man replied, “But how do I do that?”[6]

What an important question that is. How does one clean up a life of addiction? How does one stop hating others? How does one stop ruining a marriage? How can we possibly change?

Hebrews argues this way. Change is possible because Christ’s redemption changes the inside of us, the conscience, the true person. The old covenant just changed the outside. Following the rituals made you feel good for awhile but effected no permanent change. Christ changes who we really are.

I didn’t see this commercial but I read about it. It was a soap ad and the advertisers found a homeless man in a gutter — unshaven, dirty, smelly. They cleaned him up, give him a bath with that special soap, shaved him, and give him some new clothes. He looked good and the commercial said the soap could really transform people.

But someone followed up on that and found the same man a week later — back in the gutter, unshaven, dirty, smelly.[7] I don’t watch these reality shows but I suspect the same thing happens most of the time with all this “extreme makeover” kind of thing. You can change the outside all you want, but only changing the inside will last. And only Jesus can purify the conscience and make us clean.[8]

You’re thinking, Well, Christians fall back too. We still battle our addictions. We still do what we know is wrong. We’re not free from sin yet.

That’s right. But here’s the difference. When we encounter the redemption of Christ and let it begin to work in us, we start to realize — not all of the time but some of the time — that it is not our being good that gets us to God. It is Christ who gets us to God. That takes the burden of guilt off us and then we can enjoy and worship the living God, not out of fear but out of love.

I’ll close tonight by sharing a few words from C. S. Lewis’ Letters to an American Lady. For many years Lewis corresponded with a woman in America named Mary, a woman he never met in person. They wrote regularly from 1950 until his death in 1963. Mary is obviously struggling with a guilty conscience and not feeling forgiven. Here’s how Lewis replies:

“Remember what St. John says “If our heart condemn us, God is stronger than our heart”.[9] The feeling of being, or not being, forgiven and loved, is not what matters. One must come down to brass tacks. If there is a particular sin on your conscience, repent and confess it. If there isn’t tell the despondent devil not to be silly. You can’t help hearing his voice (the odious inner radio) but you must treat it merely like a buzzing in your ears or any other irrational nuisance.

“Remember the story in the Imitation,[10] how the Christ on the crucifix suddenly spoke to the monk who was so anxious about his salvation and said, ‘If you knew that all was well, what would you, today, do, or stop doing?’ When you have found the answer, do it or stop doing it. You see, one must always get back to the practical and definite. What the devil loves is that vague cloud of unspecified guilt feeling or unspecified virtue by which he lures us into despair or presumption. ‘Details, please?’ is the answer.”[11]

Because of the redemption of Christ, we know that all is well. That helps us quiet that “odious inner radio” and live more faithfully and freely for the Lord.

[1] F. F. Bruce, The Epistle to the Hebrews (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans, 1964) 182. “Provision was made under the old covenant for the people of God to worship Him, but the sanctuary erected for this worship was a material one [plainly the wilderness tent described in Exodus].” Bruce argues that the author’s not referring to the Jerusalem temple proves neither that the temple was already destroyed (70 ce) nor that the readers were not Jews. It does prove that the author’s argument was thoroughly biblical. In other words, the author argues that the sanctuary of the old covenant proclaimed its temporary character in its very furnishings and arrangements.

[2] “Tent of meeting” occurs 146 times in 140 verses. Of those, 134 are in Exodus, Leviticus, and Numbers. Twelve occurrences are in Deuteronomy, Joshua, 1 Samuel, 1 Kings, and 1 and 2 Chronicles. “Tabernacle” occurs 112 times in 102 verses, all in Exodus, Leviticus, or Numbers except 12 spread in Joshua, 2 Samuel, 1 and 2 Chronicles, Lamentations, and Judith.

[3] “Two cubits long, one cubit wide, and a cubit and a half high” (Exodus 25.23). A cubit is approximately 18 inches.

[4] While unable to develop this within the sermon itself for lack of time, we must be careful to not completely denigrate the old covenant by comparison with the new. Several psalms long for the redemption Christians would say comes from the new covenant. But the fact that the psalmists can even express the desire suggests that high and deep redemption was experienced within the Hebrew traditions. For example: Psalm 25.5-7 “Lead me in your truth, and teach me, for you are the God of my salvation; for you I wait all day long. Be mindful of your mercy, O Lord, and of your steadfast love, for they have been from of old. Do not remember the sins of my youth or my transgressions; according to your steadfast love remember me, for your goodness’ sake, O Lord!” Also Psalm 65.3: “When deeds of iniquity overwhelm us, you forgive our transgressions.” And Psalm 69.6: “Do not let those who hope in you be put to shame because of me, O Lord God of hosts; do not let those who seek you be dishonored because of me, O God of Israel.”

[5] Roger E. Van Harn, ed., The Lectionary Commentary: Theological Exegesis for Sunday’s Texts, The Second Readings (Acts and the Epistles) (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans, 2001) 493.

[6] Hugh Litchfield, “Cleansing!,” The Abingdon Preaching Annual, 2003, David N. Mosser, ed., (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2002) 367.

[7] Litchfield, 368.

[8] William L. Lane, Hebrews 9-13, Word Biblical Commentary, vol. 47B (Dallas: Word Books, 1991) 225-226. Although the ritual of the Day of Atonement might effect temporary relief, the renewal was short lived. The annual repetition of the solemn ceremonies indicated that sin had again come into remembrance. Furthermore, the division of the tabernacle into a front and rear compartment was significant, for it indicated that approach to God was not an easy matter. The old sanctuary consisted of a system of barriers between the worshiper and God and the changes effected by it didn’t last. The point seems to be that in the old way, access to God was barred. People could approach God only through their representatives, the priests and high priests. The necessity of repetition shows they were inadequate. To have an unbroken relationship with God required something more, a new action by God.

[9] 1 John 3.18-22: Little children, let us love, not in word or speech, but in truth and action. And by this we will know that we are from the truth and will reassure our hearts before him whenever our hearts condemn us; for God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything. Beloved, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have boldness before God; and we receive from him whatever we ask, because we obey his commandments and do what pleases him.

[10] The Imitation of Christ by Thomas à Kempis.

[11] C. S. Lewis, Letters to an American Lady, ed. by Clyde S. Kilby (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans, 1967) 77.