5th Saturday of Lent: Hebrews 9:1-7; Luke 1:39-49, 56

5th Saturday of Lent

Hebrews 9:1-7; Luke 1:39-49, 56

This morning’s Scripture readings remind us of the incarnation and the priestly ministry of Christ. Our Gospel reading is a familiar passage in which a pregnant Mary meets with her cousin Elizabeth. Elizabeth proclaims that the fruit of Mary’s womb is blessed. Mary responds with what would become known as the Magnificat, “My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has regarded the low estate of his handmaiden. For behold, henceforth all generations will call me blessed; for he who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is his name." Indeed, the Lord regarded not just her humble estate, but our low estate and through Mary’s child, the Lord would do great things for us.

The epistle reading then focuses on a passage from Hebrews that discusses the temple. Perhaps this seems like an odd reading for the day, a day in which much of our hymnography focusses on Mary and what God did for her, being chosen as the one who would give birth to the Savior of the world. But it is in this context of what God has done not only for Mary, but the whole of the world that our reading from Hebrews refers. For it comes in the context of a larger argument in which the Old Covenant is not only described, but supplanted by the materialization of a New Covenant. A covenant in which the priestly ministry of Christ is compared to the earthly priestly ministry established by God during the time of the Old Covenant. Mary’s conception and the subsequent incarnation of the Logos marked the transition and ultimate ending to the Old Covenant. This change meets its fruition in the death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is through these great events that the old priesthood, which is a type of Christ’s true priesthood, comes to a close and is superseded by Christ’s supreme sacrifice and offering to God on our behalf as well as his eternal priesthood, a priesthood on our behalf.

The author of Hebrews goes to great lengths to demonstrate that Christ is at once both the sacrifice to end all sacrifices AND the only priest who could offer unto God a sacrifice that could once and for all redeem the world.

To do this, our reading this morning focuses on the “tent of meeting” and the temple of the heavenlies. It is a reference to the ritual of sacrifice, for the sins of the people, that was established after Moses led the Israelites out of bondage during the Exodus. While in the wilderness, the tent was set up as a place where Moses would meet to speak with God. “Now Moses used to take the tent and pitch it outside the camp, far off from the camp; and he called it the tent of meeting. And every one who sought the Lordwould go out to the tent of meeting, which was outside the camp….9 When Moses entered the tent, the pillar of cloud would descend and stand at the door of the tent, and the Lord would speak with Moses. 10 And when all the people saw the pillar of cloud standing at the door of the tent, all the people would rise up and worship, every man at his tent door. 11 Thus the Lord used to speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend.[1]

A couple of observations regarding this. The placement of the tent of meeting was outside the camp. Most commentators believe this is symbolic of God’s separation from His people (really all people!) due to their sin. This makes sense because the Old Testament record is brutally honest regarding the multiple sins of the people- idolatry being the worst. There is, in the story of God’s people, a constant motif of fall and return. While the “tent of meeting” served as a place to meet God, it also became a place of reconciliation.

As part of this reconciling purpose, the original tent of meeting was surrounded by an outer court, where an altar was kept continually lit and offerings were made at morning and evening. The tent of meeting itself was divided into two areas. Only priests could enter the tabernacle portion of the tent. The back portion of the tent was separate- and this was the Holy of Holies where only the high priest could enter, and only once a year.

As the author of Hebrews notes, “The priests go continually into the outer tent, performing their ritual duties; 7 but into the second only the high priest goes, and he but once a year, and not without taking blood which he offers for himself and for the errors of the people.”[2] This was the great annual sacrifice was called the Day of Atonement, commonly known as Yom Kippur. It was a special day to atone for greater sins, “For in spite of all the daily, weekly, and monthly sacrifices that had been offered,” notes one scholar, “there was still sin that was not fully atoned for, and on this special day all the people sought God for forgiveness.”.

On this Day of Atonement, two goats would be brought to the temple. Lots would be drawn. “The goat selected [was] an offering [and] was killed along with the young bull. Their blood together was brought into the center, most holy place of the Temple. That sacrifice atoned for (cleansed, purified) the High Priest, the people and the sanctuary.” Then the second goat was brought forward, the scapegoat, “The High Priest placed both hands upon the head of the goat and confessed aloud the sins of the nation, transferring them to the goat.” The goat was then set lose into the wilderness to symbolically carry away the sins of the people- far from them.

Yet despite this annual sacrifice, it was a temporary fix. The daily, weekly, monthly sacrifices would continue. And on the appointed day, the Day of Atonement would come again and again the priest would enter the Holy of Holies. The sacrificial system of the Old Testament could never resolve permanently the issue of sin and judgment. While it provided a stop-gap, it could never resolve the issue. So, each year, an imperfect sinful priest, for all have sinned, offered an imperfect offering.

The coming of Christ changed all of this, for as the author of Hebrews argues, he is the not only the perfect sacrifice- for he was sinless. As the author of Hebrews writes, “For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified.” The prophet Jeremiah predicted this when he wrote:

31 “Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, 32 not like the covenant which I made with their fathers… But this is the covenant…: I will put my law within them, and I will write it upon their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people…. for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.” [3]

The perfect sacrifice of Christ is the sacrifice that will end not only the consequences of our sins: death, corruption, and separation from God- but will lead to the end of the remembrance of our sins.

But Christ is not only the perfect sacrifice, but he is the perfect High Priest. In the days of the Old Covenant, the high priest could only enter the Holy of Holies once per year. But Christ is of another order entirely, he is a priest “after the order of Melchizedek,” a priest who is sinless and perfect. A priest who is both God and man.

As our eternal high priest, Christ is perpetually in the presence of the Father for He is himself God. As Hebrews explains, “the law appoints men in their weakness as high priests, but the word of the oath, which came later than the law, appoints a Son who has been made perfect for ever. 1 Now the point in what we are saying is this: we have such a high priest, one who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in heaven, 2 a minister in the sanctuary and the true tent which is set up not by man but by the Lord. [4]” Our High Priest is in the true tent of meeting, where he intercedes for us as both priest and sacrifice.

What becomes clear then, is that the Old Testament system was a precursor to the final priestly ministry and final sacrifice of Christ. The Old Tent of Meeting, which allowed the people limited access to God, was a type of the heavenly tabernacle, the heavenly priesthood, and the permanent sacrifice of Christ that would not only be the end of all sacrifices, but would be a final act that would cleans God’s people and redeem the world. Under the Old Covenant, the tent of meeting was outside the camp, away from the people, and the Holy of Holies was off limits, inaccessible save by one priest, once a year. With the advent of the New Covenant, Christ’s sacrifice removes the barriers between God and us. The curtain in the temple is torn in two. The Holy of Holies, God’s presence, become accessible to us!

Christ becomes our scapegoat, taking our sins far from us. But he is more than just a scapegoat, he is the paschal lamb for unlike the two goats in the old ritual, who were unwilling participants, Christ willingly offers himself up for us and for our salvation. As the prophet Isaiah foretold, “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us.” Our sins are laid upon Christ, to be remembered no more.

A day from tomorrow, Christ will enter into Jerusalem- on the way to the cross. As both priest and sacrifice, he will offer up himself for us and for our salvation. He will rise again as the author and perfector of our faith. So today, we look forward to these events and with the Theotokos, our souls magnify the Lord, we too rejoice in God our Savior. For he has done great things for us… being our priest, our sacrifice, our atonement, our reconciliation with God.

Glory to Jesus Christ! Glory Forever!

[1]Catholic Biblical Association (Great Britain). (1994). The Holy Bible: Revised Standard Version, Catholic edition (Ex 33:7–11). New York: National Council of Churches of Christ in the USA. [2]Catholic Biblical Association (Great Britain). (1994). The Holy Bible: Revised Standard Version, Catholic edition (Heb 9:6–7). New York: National Council of Churches of Christ in the USA. [3]Catholic Biblical Association (Great Britain). (1994). The Holy Bible: Revised Standard Version, Catholic edition (Je 31:30–34). New York: National Council of Churches of Christ in the USA. [4]Catholic Biblical Association (Great Britain). (1994). The Holy Bible: Revised Standard Version, Catholic edition (Heb 7:28–8:2). New York: National Council of Churches of Christ in the USA.