Text: Lev 16:1-24
In the name of + Jesus. Amen.
Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia!
The Old Testament rituals and feasts were put in place to atone for the sins of Old Testament Israel. The Word of God was clear and exacting – and to unbelievers, they sound either ridiculous and superstitious, or they just make God seem arbitrary. And so we read about the Day of Atonement – and the entry of the priest into the Most Holy Place beyond the veil, before the mercy seat. Aaron is vested and bearing a sacrifice. There is also a ritual involving a scapegoat, whose head bears the sins of the people, and who is cast out of the settlement to die as a sacrifice. There is incense. There is blood, sprinkled on the people. There is water that is applied ritually to the priest. And when all of these things have happened, the sins of Israel have been atoned for. And this liturgy will be repeated every year.
But to us in New Testament Israel, we do not see these rituals as superstitious or arbitrary. Rather what we see is the cross. We see the atonement of the sins of the world! We see Jesus!
All of the imagery is there, dear friends. The Word of God is clear and exacting: “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners” (1 Tim 1:15). The final Day of Atonement has come, and it never again needs to be repeated. For the veil to the Most Holy Place was torn from top to bottom. The mercy seat is now wherever Jesus is. The priestly vestments worn by the men who serve in Christ’s stead and by Christ’s command, speaking Christ’s Word, remind us of Jesus: our great High Priest. Jesus has brought the sacrifice: Himself, once and for all. He is the Lamb whose blood is slain. He is the Scapegoat whose “sacred head now wounded” bears the sins of the world. He is sent out of the city to die on the cross: the bloody sacrifice to end all bloody sacrifices. In our churches, we may well see and smell incense. And there is indeed blood, according to the Word of Jesus: the blood in the cup given to the people. There is water, used ritually applied to all of the priestly people of God, making us clean not merely ceremonially, but in rebirth by the Holy Spirit. And because all of these things happen, the sins of the world have been atoned for, and we receive that atonement as a free gift.
The Old Testament makes sense when viewed from beneath the cross, through the lens of Jesus our Priest and our Lamb, shared in the Divine Service. Every Mass is a reminder of our atonement. Every Sunday is a sacrifice of praise for the one who was sacrificed “for us men and for our salvation.”
Jesus is the temple. Jesus is the ark. Jesus is the Most Holy Place. Jesus is the priest. Jesus is the sacrifice. Jesus is the scapegoat. Jesus is the source of the water and the blood that are present not only at the temple on the Day of Atonement, but also from His side at the cross on the Day of Atonement that is never again to be repeated. The Lord’s blood will never again be shed, but it is shared. His body will never again be offered as another atonement, but it is offered to you again and again as the one complete and eternal atonement. Take, eat. Take, drink. For the forgiveness of sins!
Let us read the Old Testament with joyful reverence, dear friends, knowing that Christ has fulfilled it all, knowing that Israel is saved by her King and her Savior, and that His body and blood atone personally for you, who receive, and who believe.
Amen.
Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia!
In the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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