MidWeek Lent - Part 3

MOST CERTAINLY TRUE

“The Blood that Brings Eternal Redemption”

Text: Hebrews 9:11–22 Supporting Texts: Deuteronomy 6:1–9; Mark 12:28–37

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Introduction

Have you ever noticed how difficult it is to live with a guilty conscience?

When guilt settles into the conscience, it follows us everywhere.

You can try to ignore it. You can try to justify it. You can try to distract yourself from it.

But guilt lingers.

It whispers in the quiet moments of life.

And throughout history people have tried to solve that problem in countless ways.

—Religion after religion offers rituals. —People attempt acts of devotion. —They try to purify themselves. —They try to make themselves worthy to approach God.

However, the book of Hebrews tells us something remarkable.

The conscience cannot cleanse itself. Only the blood of Christ can do that.

And that is exactly what Hebrews proclaims tonight.

The blood of Christ does something no sacrifice before it ever accomplished.

It brings eternal redemption.

Tonight we continue our Lenten series “Most Certainly True.”

Two weeks ago we heard Jesus give His Church the Office of the Keys—the authority to forgive sins.

Last week we heard the words of Jesus on the night He was betrayed:

“This is My body… This is My blood… given and shed for you for the forgiveness of sins.”

Tonight we ask the next question.

What blessing do we receive there?

Luther’s Catechism answers clearly:

Through these words— “given and shed for you for the forgiveness of sins”— we receive forgiveness of sins, life, and salvation.

Our readings tonight help us see why this gift is so important.

In Deuteronomy 6, Moses teaches Israel the great confession of faith:

“Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.”

And in Mark 12, Jesus says this commandment is the greatest of all.

To love God completely.

To love Him with your whole heart.

Your whole soul.

Your whole mind.

But that raises an important question.

Who among us can actually do that?

Because a guilty conscience makes wholehearted love for God impossible.

And that is why Christ came.

Because Christ came not to crush guilty consciences but to cleanse them… He came not to leave us distant from God but to bring us near.

And He does this not in vague, general ways, but in a concrete, personal way we can taste and see. That is why He has given His Church His very Body and Blood in the Sacrament.

That we would cherish the Lord’s Supper as Christ’s gift that delivers forgiveness, life, and salvation to us personally.

Yet if this is what Christ is giving, then how we regard His Supper matters immensely. How we think about it—how we approach it—reveals what we really believe about our own need and about His mercy.

The truth is, many Christians underestimate what Christ gives in the Supper.

—Some treat it as a ritual. —Some treat it as a symbol. —Some treat it as something optional.

But underneath that misunderstanding lies something deeper.

We underestimate our need for Christ.

The song we heard tonight captured that longing:

“Lord, I’m desperate for You. There’s a longing for You deep inside my soul.”

That longing exists because our deepest problem is not physical weakness.

It is sin.

It is guilt.

It is a troubled conscience.

And without a cleansed conscience, the heart mishears everything.

—It mishears God’s Law as impossible condemnation. —It mishears the Gospel as permission to sin, thinking I’m free to do as I wish as long as I don’t hurt anyone else. —It even misunderstands God Himself—seeing Him either as an indulgent grandfather or an angry judge.

And if we are honest, this temptation lives in our own hearts as well. We can come to the altar distracted, casual, or indifferent, as though Christ were offering us less than His very life.

But Christ came to do something entirely new.

And to see that clearly, we return to the Garden of Gethsemane where we heard earlier from an unexpected witness.

I. The Garden — A Moment of Mercy

Malchus.

A servant of the high priest.

He was there with the soldiers to arrest Jesus.

In the darkness of Gethsemane, Peter drew his sword.

He struck.

Malchus’ ear fell to the ground.

But instead of escalating the violence, Jesus did something astonishing.

He healed the man who had come with the crowd to arrest Him.

Malchus received a blessing he never expected.

His ear was restored.

His wound was healed.

And that moment stayed with him forever.

But the healing of Malchus points to something even greater.

Malchus received physical healing.

Christ came to bring eternal healing.

The Lord who restored Malchus’ ear is the same Lord who restores our hearing of God’s Word— so that guilty consciences no longer mishear Law and Gospel, but hear clearly His mercy.

And that healing would come through His blood.

II. The Sanctuary — A New High Priest

Hebrews explains what happened next in God’s plan of salvation.

For centuries priests entered the earthly sanctuary.

They offered sacrifices again and again.

Day after day.

Year after year.

But as Hebrews reminds us, those sacrifices could never fully cleanse the conscience.

They pointed forward to something greater.

Then Christ arrived.

The true High Priest.

Hebrews says:

“But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things that have come… he entered once for all into the holy places… by means of his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption.”

Christ went where no man had ever gone before.

Not merely into the temple in Jerusalem.

But into the heavenly sanctuary, to the very presence of God in heaven.

And He brought something no one had ever offered before.

Not the blood of goats.

Not the blood of calves.

But His own blood.

And by doing so He secured something no one had ever obtained before.

Eternal redemption.

Isaiah had foretold it centuries earlier:

“He was pierced for our transgressions. He was crushed for our iniquities… and by His wounds we are healed.”

But Hebrews tells us something even more remarkable.

Christ’s saving work stretches across all of time.

He appeared once in the past to obtain redemption.

He now appears before the Father as our High Priest.

And one day He will appear again to bring the fullness of salvation to His people.

The blood of Christ is therefore not just something that happened long ago.

It is a living reality.

It continues to cleanse.

It continues to give sinners access to God.

Animal sacrifices could only purify outward defilement.

But the blood of Christ purifies the conscience.

It removes the guilt of sin.

And because our conscience is cleansed, we can approach the living God without fear.

Now the words of Deuteronomy begin to make sense.

“Love the Lord your God with all your heart.”

That kind of wholehearted devotion is impossible for a guilty conscience.

But when Christ cleanses the conscience, everything changes.

Now the believer can approach God with confidence.

Now the believer can hear God’s Word clearly.

Now the believer can love God and serve Him with joy.

III. The Altar — The Redemption Delivered

But Hebrews does not stop in heaven.

The redemption Christ secured there is delivered to us here.

On the night before His sacrifice was completed, Jesus gathered His disciples and gave them a gift.

He took bread and said,

“This is My body, given for you.”

Then the cup:

“This cup is the new covenant in My blood, poured out for you.”

The sacrifice of the cross would happen the next day.

But the benefits of that sacrifice were already being given.

Shared.

Delivered.

Our catechism asks:

“What blessing do we receive through this eating and drinking?”

And the answer is simple:

Through these words— given and shed for you for the forgiveness of sins—

we receive forgiveness, life, and salvation.

Where there is forgiveness of sins, there is also life and salvation.

The same blood that secured eternal redemption on the cross is the blood Christ gives to us on the Altar.

This is why Christians throughout the centuries have treasured the Lord’s Supper.

Because our greatest need is not physical healing.

It is forgiveness.

It is peace with God.

It is a cleansed conscience.

And Christ gives exactly that in this holy meal.

Conclusion

Think again about Malchus.

His ear was healed.

But Malchus would still grow old. He would still suffer. And one day he would still die.

But the healing Christ gives His Church something different.

Jesus does not promise that His people will escape suffering in this world.

Christians still endure sickness. Christians still face sorrow. Christians still die.

But something decisive has changed.

Through His blood, Christ cleanses the conscience.

The burden of guilt is removed. The barrier between God and sinner is taken away. And the door into the presence of God is opened.

And so tonight hear what is most certainly true.

Christ appeared once in the past to obtain redemption.

He now appears before the Father as our High Priest.

And one day He will appear again to bring the fullness of salvation.

Until that day He continues to serve you:

Through His Word. Through His Absolution. And through His Holy Supper.

This coming Sunday, that same Savior will once again place His gift before us.

The body given for you. The blood shed for you. For the forgiveness of sins.

The very blood that secured eternal redemption will again be given into your mouth to cleanse your conscience and strengthen your faith.

And so this Sunday come.

Come hungry for mercy. Come burdened with sin. Come trusting the promise of Christ.

For the blood of Christ restores us to the living God and enables us to begin to love Him with our whole heart even now, and one day, when Christ appears again, we will love Him perfectly forever.

“Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.

You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.”

Because of the blood of Christ, your consciences are clean.

And one day, when Christ appears again,

we will love Him perfectly forever.

This is most certainly true.

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Prayers of the Church

Let us pray for the whole people of God in Christ Jesus and for all people according to their needs.

Lord God, heavenly Father, You have given Your Son as our great High Priest, who entered once for all into the holy places by His own blood and secured eternal redemption for us. Grant that Your Church on earth may always cling to this saving Gospel and proclaim it faithfully, that troubled consciences may be cleansed and sinners restored to You. Lord, in Your mercy, hear our prayer.

Gracious Father, bless the pastors and servants of Your Church who are entrusted with the mysteries of Christ. Grant that through the preaching of Your Word and the administration of the Sacraments many may come to know the forgiveness of sins, life, and salvation won by Christ. Lord, in Your mercy, hear our prayer.

Lord of all nations, we lift before You our country, the United States, together with Israel and all our allies. In these days of conflict and military operations in Iran and throughout the region, preserve those who serve in the armed forces. Protect them from harm, grant wisdom to those who lead, and bring about justice and peace according to Your good and gracious will. Comfort the wounded, sustain their families, and restrain the forces of violence and destruction. Lord, in Your mercy, hear our prayer.

Merciful Father, we commend to You all who suffer in body, mind, or spirit. Grant healing to the sick, comfort to the grieving, and hope to the weary. Remind them that Christ has secured eternal redemption through His blood and that nothing in life or death can separate us from Your love in Him. Lord, in Your mercy, hear our prayer.

God of all comfort, we commend into Your gracious keeping Your servant Chuck McCauley, whom You have called from this life. Grant comfort to all who mourn his passing, and strengthen them with the sure and certain hope of the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come. Lord, in Your mercy, hear our prayer.

Gracious Lord, we give You thanks for Your protection and mercy toward our youth who have returned safely from their ski trip. For the fellowship they shared and the safe travels You granted, we offer You our praise and thanksgiving. Continue to guide them in faith and strengthen them in their life in Christ. Lord, in Your mercy, hear our prayer.

Holy Father, prepare our hearts to receive the gift of Your Son’s body and blood in the Sacrament of the Altar this coming Sunday. Grant that we may come with repentant hearts and trusting faith, rejoicing that through these words, “given and shed for you,” we receive forgiveness, life, and salvation. Lord, in Your mercy, hear our prayer.

Merciful Lord, cleanse our consciences by the blood of Christ, that we may serve You without fear. Deliver us from dead works, strengthen us in faith, and lead us to love You with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength until the day when we stand before You in everlasting righteousness and joy. Lord, in Your mercy, hear our prayer.

Into Your hands, O Lord, we commend all for whom we pray, trusting in Your mercy; through Jesus Christ, our Lord, who taught us to pray…

Our Father, who art in heaven…