DYNAMIS!
A publication of St. George Orthodox Christian Cathedral
Wichita, KS
Hebrews 9:8-10, 15-23 (12/29) Epistle for Tuesday of the
Thirtieth Week after Pentecost
Blood Sacrifice: Hebrews 9:8-10, 15-23, especially vss.
22, 23: “And according to the
law almost all things are purified with blood, and without shedding of blood
there is no remission. Therefore it
was necessary that the copies of the things in the heavens should be purified
with these, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than
these.” The very idea that human beings can have intimate
fellowship with God is questionable for many reasons: the otherness of
God over against human creatures and His incalculable power to create and
sustain His universe are in vivid contrast with even the greatest of
mankind’s collective powers.
Any might of ours is nothing by comparison. Or set the knowledge of God against all
that mankind knows and against all the multitude of questions that none of us
can answer. Above all there is the
squalor of our moral and social life, which is a fraud before the utter
holiness of God.
And, do not stop at that point! Observe the claim of our Holy Faith: in
order to have fellowship with us, the Lord of creation Himself stood before a
Roman Procurator, was delivered up to Crucifixion of His Own
will, and said to His Heavenly Father, “'...forgive them for they do not
know what they do'” (Lk. 23:34). The Holy Gospel strains every sense of
proportion. Such is the witness of
the word: God not only wishes to be in Communion with us, He has gone out of
His way to initiate a rich, wonderful fellowship to which He is now calling us,
even now!
At first, God revealed His desire for true Communion with
Himself symbolically, by setting an earthly place of worship, the Mosaic
tabernacle. Next, He communicated
the necessity of blood sacrifice to purify men for Communion with Himself. Finally, He offered His own Blood in sacrifice
to remove all barriers to relationship with Himself - to cleanse our sin.
In this passage,
In the earthly tabernacle, God foreshadowed a reality to
come in which a sacrifice offered to Him would make a worshiper
“...perfect in regard to the conscience...” (vs.9). Thus, God was
planting a promise that would come to fruition in the Lord Jesus; but the first
stage was a symbolic representation of God’s intention to have full
Communion with mankind.
During the symbolic stage, God also established the terms
for achieving fellowship between man and Himself - blood sacrifice. Anciently, animals were slain and their
blood was collected in bowls. Then
Moses “...took the blood of calves and goats...and sprinkled both the
book [of the Law] itself and the people, saying, ‘This is the blood of
the covenant which God has commanded you.’ Then likewise he sprinkled with blood
both the tabernacle and all the vessels of the ministry” (vss.
19-21). Thus, tangibly, God
established blood sacrifice as the means for achieving fellowship between Himself and mankind.
As the Apostle explains: “...almost all things are purified with
blood and without shedding of blood there is no remission” (vs. 22).
Finally there is the truth of the Gospel - that the
heavenly things should be purified “...with better sacrifices than these”
(vs. 23), i.e., the blood sacrifice of the Lord Jesus in His Passion. Christ Jesus says to us, “'This
cup is the new covenant in My blood,which
is shed for you'” (Lk. 22:20). It is His Divine Blood that makes full
Communion with the living God a reality.
Make me worthy to partake of Thine
immaculate Mysteries unto remission of my sins.
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