But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things that have come, then through the greater and more perfect tent (not made with hands, that is, not of this creation) 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. (Hebrews 9:11-12)The Fifth Sunday in Lent is traditionally called Passion Sunday because the appointed readings in the Prayer Book point to our inability to save ourselves from sin. They also point to the sacrifice that redeemed us from sin. So as we come to the last two weeks of Lent we begin reflecting on our Lord's Atonement - his death – which brought us back into fellowship with God the Father through the sacrifice of Jesus, God the Son.
Before our Lord’s sacrifice on the cross, a process was begun after the fall in the Garden of Eden. God accepted Abel and his sacrificial lamb (Gen. 4:2, 4), and from that time on men had known that the blood of animals (Blood was regarded as the seat of life Gen. 9:4), made men acceptable to God for a time.
Scriptures tell us that God established a system of sacrifices which would atone for the sin of his people (Exod. 29:38-30:16, Lev. 6:8-end). T his became known to the people of Israel as The Day of Atonement. It was by far the holiest day in the Old Testament calendar. The rituals and sacrifices proceeded according to the following steps:
1. The high priest washed and dressed, and then sacrificed a bull as a sin offering for
himself.
2. He entered the Most Holy Place and sprinkled the ark with the bull’s blood.
3. He took two goats, and by lot, chose one to be the scapegoat, the other to be
the sin offering.
4. After sacrificing one goat as the sin offering, he then sprinkled the goat’s
blood on the ark, the outer part of the tabernacle of meeting, and the main alter.
5. He confessed the sins of the Israelites as he laid hands on the scapegoat's
head and then sent the scapegoat into the desert. By doing this, the high
priest transferred those sins to the goat and the goat then symbolically carried
the people's sins away into the desert.
This process of sacrifice merely established a principle, for the men were imperfect in themselves. This sacrifice had to be repeated over and over again (Heb. 8:6-10). No earthly sacrifice could perfectly pay the price of sin. Sin, being an offence against God, is an infinite offence. So only an infinitely good sacrifice could cancel its effects, but man had nothing worthy enough to provide. So God, in his infinite mercy, sent God the Son to become man, and to offer himself as a worthy sacrifice. “…a full, perfect, and sufficient sacrifice, oblation, and satisfaction for the sins of the whole world” (1928 BCP pg 80).
The New Testament makes many comparisons between the Day of Atonement and the death of Christ; For if the blood of goats and bulls, and the sprinkling of defiled persons with the ashes of a heifer, sanctify for the purification of the flesh, 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 serve the living God. (Hebrews 9:13-15)
As we prepare for Easter remember, as Jesus hung on the cross, God the Father took the sins of all people - past, present and future - and placed them on God the Son. Jesus became our substitute.
2. He entered the Most Holy Place and sprinkled the ark with the bull’s blood.
3. He took two goats, and by lot, chose one to be the scapegoat, the other to be
the sin offering.
4. After sacrificing one goat as the sin offering, he then sprinkled the goat’s
blood on the ark, the outer part of the tabernacle of meeting, and the main alter.
5. He confessed the sins of the Israelites as he laid hands on the scapegoat's
head and then sent the scapegoat into the desert. By doing this, the high
priest transferred those sins to the goat and the goat then symbolically carried
the people's sins away into the desert.
This process of sacrifice merely established a principle, for the men were imperfect in themselves. This sacrifice had to be repeated over and over again (Heb. 8:6-10). No earthly sacrifice could perfectly pay the price of sin. Sin, being an offence against God, is an infinite offence. So only an infinitely good sacrifice could cancel its effects, but man had nothing worthy enough to provide. So God, in his infinite mercy, sent God the Son to become man, and to offer himself as a worthy sacrifice. “…a full, perfect, and sufficient sacrifice, oblation, and satisfaction for the sins of the whole world” (1928 BCP pg 80).
The New Testament makes many comparisons between the Day of Atonement and the death of Christ; For if the blood of goats and bulls, and the sprinkling of defiled persons with the ashes of a heifer, sanctify for the purification of the flesh, 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 serve the living God. (Hebrews 9:13-15)
As we prepare for Easter remember, as Jesus hung on the cross, God the Father took the sins of all people - past, present and future - and placed them on God the Son. Jesus became our substitute.
Be Passionate,
Bishop Ian
