Our Priest Cleanses Us

Title, theme, and major divisions: “Getting clean”

Theme: There is no way to get clean without the blood of Christ’s sacrifice for you.

Tonight my brothers and sisters in CHrist we look at how our Priest Cleanses Us and purifies our conscience from dead works to serve the living God. You might wonder why it is that we need to be purified so much, but it has to do with our sinful state, and that is why it is so important. But the old adage that you may have heard that cleanliness is next to godliness might be applied a little bit here to understand what Christ is doing for us.

I. Holiness in the Old Testament

The Old Testament had a strong emphasis on clean and unclean, this was connected with the holiness that a person was to have to enter before the presence of God. Now it is hard for us to understand God’s holiness but cleanliness is something that we can appreciate a bit easier.

WHen we talk about sin, it is hard for us to understand how problematic sin is in the presence of the living God, but we can understand a bit better that a person is clean. Imagine for a moment that your parents have just finished cleaning the house, and then the dog and kids come tearing through the house covered from head to toe in dirt, mud, and filth. That pristine kitchen and living room are no longer quite so pristine, but unclean.

Now this has with it a bit of a humor element as long as you aren’t the one that was cleaning or the one who was about to get hauled off by mom or dad and hosed down. When we seek to understand this in relation to God’s Holiness and our Sin the example falls far short. Because our sin is serious stuff.

For God’s Holiness is such, that if an unclean person, a sinner, appears in his presence they die. This is why Isaiah cries out Woe is me, when He sees God’s throne but an angel quickly brings a coal to his lips so that his sin is atoned for that he might not perish. It is why so many were terrified to meet the Lord throughout the Old Testament and would fall down on their face, for they realized that they stood in a dangerous place. They were unclean, corrupt, filthy sinners and they were in danger because they stood before God’s holiness.

When sin created a division between God and man, it separated us in such a way that we could not stand safely in the presence of God on our own, for when God’s holiness comes into contact with sin, it obliterates it. This is why there was such a complex system of clean and unclean in the Old Testament it was meant to keep mankind safe lest God’s holiness destroy that which He had created.

The only way mankind could ever hope to stand in the presence of God again would be if we were cleansed from our sins, if the corruption was gone and the filth that had corrupted our flesh could be purified.

II. Christ’s provision of purification through His blood once for all your sin

Now in the old testament they had used the blood of goats and calves to purify for without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sin. However, that purification would work only for awhile. As they went back out into the world, sin would sully them and they would need to be purified again and again so that they might stand before the presence of God. For God wanted his people to be able to approach him in safety, to not fear his holiness but rather that they might be cleansed from their sins and have peace with Him.

That is why the whole sacrificial system of the Old Testament was setup so that the people of God could be in God’s presence safely. Hence Cleanliness is next to Godliness. This is not referring to washing the body from dirt, but washing the body free of sin. The warning that folks were unclean wasn’t just a condemnation against sin, but a warning against them entering into the presence of God lest they die. So to cover their sins, so that they would be safe, other things needed to die so that they might be spared.

Now as it says here, if that is what the blood of goats and bulls could do, then what about the blood of Jesus, the sinless son of God who offered up His life for us, will that be enough to purify us? Most certainly, in the case of Christ this new covenant is not secured by the blood of animals that were offered up again and again, but by His single sacrifice once for all. Jesus established a covenant for your sake. A covenant that was better than the covenant established with Moses. Because God wanted you to be in His presence forever and something greater was needed. The the corruption of sin, the corruption that is in our hearts would be purified forever.

So to do that Jesus shed his blood to purify you from the power of sin. To cleanse you from sin not just for a little while but for all eternity that you might dwell in the presence of God. Now this is wonderful, and a blessed thing, but it doesn’t mean much if we are not part of that covenant. For you will notice that the people of the Old Testament had the blood of the animals sprinkled on them, so that they might be purified. What does CHrist say on the night that he was betrayed? Take drink, this is my blood of the new covenant which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. The blood of the new covenant is not just sprinkled upon us, but given to us.

Now why is it that we ask folks to wait? Because even though the Sacrament does bring people into contact with the work of Christ upon Calvary, they are still being brought into direct contact with the body and blood of Christ. Now what if a person who is unworthy or is unable to examine themselves is brought into contact with that which is holy, that which is divine, that is to say God? Paul says they will take it to their own judgment. People think of this position as being hard hearted or unloving, but when you consider the consequences of it, that a person might be brought into contact with that which is holy and if they do so wrongly they come before the Lord unclean, and they are in danger. This is why in 1 Corinthians 11 you find that we are to be stewards of this gift. We practice closed communion out of love for neighbor.

Make no mistake, Christ desires that all people may receive this, and be brought to the Father through His blood, but He wants them to receive it for their benefit that they might be forgiven, Jesus came into this world that people might not come under God’s wrath but that through Him they might have access to God our Heavenly Father. Jesus wants you to have peace in God’s presence to that end He gave up His life to purify you by His blood. That being said, Jesus is still true God of true God. So the Lord’s Supper is no small or idle thing. So if a person is living unrepentantly, or if they refuse to forgive or if they deny that it is the body and blood of Christ. Then they would take the Lord’s Supper to their own harm.

What about the person who is unprepared, do they have any hope? Well we give thanks that the Lord’s Supper is not the only place that a person is connected with Christ. We are also connected with Jesus’ death that is His sacrifice in Holy Baptism. There is great comfort to be found in our baptisms for all people for when we talk of purification, those waters wash away our sins for Christ’s death, and his resurrection are found there and we have hope.

So my brothers and sisters in Christ, let us rejoice in the good things that Christ has worked for our sake, that in him we are purified of our sins and have eternal life. Should we wonder, did Jesus really purify me? Did he really die for me? You have only to look at your baptismal certificate, or hear the words spoken in the sacrament. Yes Jesus has cleansed you and forgiven all your sins. In Jesus name. Amen.