Posted on Thursday, April 9, 2009
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HOLY THURSDAY - NOON

9 April Anno + Domini 2009

"We Enter the Holy Places by the Flesh and Blood of Jesus”

Hebrews 10:15-25; Luke 22:7-20

In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

"Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.” 

The author of Hebrews gets it.  So, why don't we?  Or, maybe we do get it.  But, certainly, most don't, at least, not in our day and age.  What is it that the author of Hebrews and, hopefully, we get that most don't?  It is this:  When we come into the Lord's House for Divine Service, we enter the holy places!  This place is more than a building, dear friends.  It is the Holy Place where our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, dwells among us.  There, where the altar sits, is none other than the Holy of Holies, the very place where only the high priest in Israel was permitted to enter, and only once a year, on the Day of Atonement.  Would that more Christians, including Lutheran Christians, understood this reality!  This is sacred space, holy ground, for our Lord Jesus is present here. 

And, look at how the author of Hebrews tells us we get to enter the holy places with confidence:  By the Blood of Jesus and through His Flesh.  Do you see it?  You enter the holy places via the Body and Blood of Jesus.  And, how do you do that?  You know very well, don't you?  It's one of the main focuses of this Holy Thursday.  You enter the holy places via the Body and Blood of Jesus when you partake of the Holy Sacrament He instituted on the night when He was betrayed. 

Here is the mystery our human reason cannot fully comprehend and our human eyes cannot fully see, but is true nonetheless:  Heaven and earth come together as one here in this place during Divine Service.  There is no need for us to try to ascend into the heavenly realm to dwell there with Jesus spiritually, as if such a thing were even possible.  No, dear friends, we need only fix our gaze upon the altar, for there is Jesus in His very Body and Blood given and shed for you for the forgiveness of your sins. 

"Lo, I am with you always,” He promises.  And, here, dear friends, in the Holy Eucharist, is where Jesus makes good on His promise.  He did not say, "I'll live on in your hearts and minds forever.”  No, He said, "I am with you always.”  He instituted the Sacrament of His Body and Blood as His last will and testament, bequeathing His disciples, including you, nothing less than Himself. 

This is real, dear friends.  Jesus, our Lord, is here among us - really here - in His Body and Blood.  That's why we enter this holy place with reverence and awe; that's why we conduct ourselves with dignity here; that's why we teach the kids not to run and goof around, especially around the altar; that's why we bow toward the altar, elevate the Host and Chalice, and genuflect at the consecration.  These gestures are not made out of some mere personal piety, nor are they made because we're infatuated with the traditions of the past.  They are made because we believe, teach, and confess that our Lord Jesus is present in the Sacrament. 

We believe, teach, and confess this, dear friends, because this is what our Lord Jesus tells us.  He says, "Take, eat, this is My Body; Take, drink, this is My Blood.”  He doesn't say "represents” or "symbolizes”; He says "is.”  And, what our Lord tells us is confirmed by the Holy Spirit-inspired testimony of St. Paul, who says, "The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a participation in the Blood of Christ?  The bread that we break, is it not a participation in the Body of Christ?”  We also have the testimony of the one, holy, catholic, and apostolic throughout the ages, in which it has always been believed, taught, and confessed that the very real and most certainly true Body and Blood of Christ are delivered in the Holy Supper.  The false teaching of the fanatics, who deny this truth, did not arise until the sixteenth century.  And, dear friends, that false teaching, which surely has its origin with Satan, who is the originator of all false teachings, has done more damage to Christendom than any other heresy in history, for the influence of that teaching is felt even within those Christian church bodies that confess on paper that they believe in the Real Presence, such as our own synod.  Sadly, when you walk into many congregations, even within our own synod, you would never know that Jesus is really there. 

Let this never be so among us!  Let us cling with steadfast faith to the truth of this Most Holy Sacrament.  It is, my friends, the very medicine of immortality, the lifeblood of our faith, the sustenance we need to travel through the wilderness of this sinful world.  In the words of the author of Hebrews, "Since we have a great high priest over the house of God [in Jesus], let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.” 

This, dear friends, is how we are prepared rightly to receive this Most Holy Sacrament worthily, when we are gifted by the Holy Spirit to believe Jesus' words, that is, to discern with a true heart in full assurance of faith that His very Body and Blood are given in the Sacrament, and when our hearts are sprinkled clean with the Word of Holy Absolution upon the confession of our sins, and when our bodies have been washed with the pure and cleansing water of Holy Baptism.  Then, dear friends, we approach in true assurance that what we receive here is more blessed than we can possibly imagine. 

So, come, dear friends, having been Baptized by your Lord and numbered among His saints, and having confessed your sins and received His Absolution, and having been gifted with the faith to believe Jesus is present in the Sacrament, and receive the Body and Blood of Jesus, your Lord, that you may enter the holy places with confidence.  And, having received this Heavenly Bread and Drink, be strengthened and preserved in your faith, that you may "hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful,” and that you may "consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.” 

The author of Hebrews gets it.  So have our brothers and sisters in the faith throughout the ages.  May we get it as well, now and always.  Our Lord, Jesus Christ, is here among us in this Holy Place with His Holy Body and Blood to bestow upon us forgiveness, life, and salvation.  This is most certainly true!  And, thanks be to God that it is.  In Jesus' Holy and Precious Name.  Amen.

Now the peace of God which passes understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, unto life everlasting.  Amen.