Bible Passage: Hebrews 9:24-28
Pastor: Joel Jenswold
Sermon Date: November 17, 2024

Bulletin November 17, 2024

In the name of, and to the eternal glory of, Jesus,

In order for us to understand our text this morning, we have to spend a moment reviewing something that was a huge part of the religious life of God’s Old Testament saints.  And that thing is Yom Kippur, also known as The Day of Atonement.  In particular, we need to review what the High Priest did on that day.  Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement) was the one day of the year when the high priest, and ONLY the high priest, entered into the Holy of Holies in the Tabernacle, and later in the Temple.  The Holy of Holies was that chamber that was perfectly cubical in its dimensions.  The Ark of the Covenant was kept in the Holy of Holies.  On Yom Kippur the High Priest entered the Holy of Holies and splashed the blood of a bull and a goat on the cover of the ark, thus making “atonement,” or literally, a covering of blood on the ark.

Observance of Yom Kippur began at the time of Moses and was still going at the time of Jesus.  That’s a span of roughly 1500 (minus a few years when there was no Holy of Holies because there was no Temple).  But let’s just say 1500 years.  That little ritual, that little “pre-enactment” of Good Friday was repeated 1500 times!  1500 bulls were sacrificed and their blood splashed on the Ark of God.  1500 goats were sacrificed and their blood splashed on the Ark of God.

In contrast to those high priests and those thousands of sacrifices, our text puts before us Jesus and his sacrifice.  With Jesus, it is not thousands and thousands of sacrifices.  When it comes to Jesus and his sacrifice for sin, it is One and Done!

The author of our text has been comparing and contrasting the priests of the old covenant with Jesus.  He has been doing this because his readers were being tempted to turn away from Jesus and revert back to relying on the Old Testament laws and the Old Testament priesthood.  And he wants them to realize that Jesus is a far superior priest than any priest of old!

That comes out in the first verse of our text.  For Christ did not enter a handmade sanctuary, a representation of the true sanctuary.  Instead he entered into heaven itself, now to appear before God on our behalf. (v. 24)  1500 years of priests entered into a tent and later into the Temples in Jerusalem to do their work.  These things were made by the hands of Jewish artisans and craftsmen.  Jesus, on the other hand, has entered into heaven itself!

And here is another difference.  For 1500 years those high priests entered those man-made sanctuaries because bulls and goats had been freshly sacrificed.  Each year, another bull and another goat.  Each year, another bowl of blood carried behind the curtain of the Holy of Holies.  Each year, this blood splashed onto the mercy seat of God.  Each year, the high priest would exit the Holy of Holies with the thought, “I’ll be back to do this again next year.”  Jesus, on the other hand, is not in heaven right now, being sacrificed again and again.  He is not in heaven shedding his blood again and again.  If that is what the Son of God does in heaven, the writer of our text makes us think, “How many times since the creation of the world would he have suffered and died if this was the case?”

Here is why Jesus Christ is not like all those other high priests.  But now he has appeared once for all, at the climax of the ages, in order to take away sin by the sacrifice of himself. (v. 26)  Also, Christ was offered only once to take away the sins of many. (v. 28)  He appeared ONCE.  He was offered ONCE.  Notice how Jesus’ death is referred to.  It is called a sacrifice (v. 26).  He was “offered.”  We die.  People die.  But Jesus’ death was a sacrifice and an offering!  Jesus was 1500 years’ worth of Yom Kippur bulls!  Jesus was 1500 years’ worth of Yom Kippur goats!  Jesus was 1500 years’ worth of Yom Kippur blood!  Except for him it was one day and one sacrifice.  “It is finished!”  All sin covered, atoned for.  One sacrifice for sin!  Done!

Why is this so important?  Because you and I are “one and done.”   We live once.  And we are done.  We die.  It is appointed for people to die only once and after this comes the judgment. (v. 27)  We will die and stand judgment.  Paul wrote to the Corinthians, For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ. (2 Corinthians 5:10)  No exceptions.  No exemptions. No second chances.

We are a culture that feels entitled to second chances.  We are shocked when we are not given a second chance.  The parent says to the child, “You do that again and I’m gonna…”  Junior knows he has a second chance.  Students perform poorly on a test so the teacher throws out the results and lets everybody take a retest.  The convicted criminal is given probation.  The policeman gives you a warning instead of a ticket.  Life is filled with second chances!   It is a dreadful miscalculation to approach judgment before God expecting a second chance.

You get one shot to pass muster before the judgment throne of God!  How will you do it?  Decency will not cut it!  Nothing short of holiness gets you out of the courtroom and into heaven.  Thank God that his Son once came into the world!  Jesus offered himself once on the cross!  Atonement blood has been splashed on the mercy seat of God! Blood so powerful and all-availing it only needed to be shed once!   Friends, you don’t need a second chance to stand judgment!  You need only the once-shed blood of Jesus!

Our text ends with the truth that Jesus is coming again, a second time, not as a high priest to make atonement for sin, but as the Bringer-of-salvation to those who are eagerly waiting for him (v. 28).  It is only the “one and done” sacrifice of Jesus that can make us eager to welcome Jesus back when he returns!

Amen.