Hebrews for Today: The Majestic Jesus - xi. Christ our Sanctuary

Preacher: Alan Cameron

Verses: Hebrews 9:1-28

The writer of the Hebrews depicts Jesus resplendent in majestic glory.  He attempts to describe the indescribable.  No visual image will suffice.  This presents a creative challenge for us today.  One social critic has described our contemporary world as having shifted from the Age of Exposition in which the written world prevailed to the Age of Entertainment in which image trumps words.  Lines have been blurred.  Confusion parades as creativity.  Comprehensive descriptions of reality are regarded as suspect.  Our postmodern world has come of age in which a multiplicity of ‘truths’ (small t) have replaced ‘Truth’ (capital T) reminiscent of Pontius Pilate who asked ‘What is truth’ and did not wait for an answer.

 That notwithstanding, Hebrews is quite content to describe Jesus as God’s final word. (Heb 1:1,2).  Various metaphors are used – Jesus as high priest, an anchor for the soul, the guarantor of a new covenant, culminating in Jesus as our Sanctuary, the one who offers forgiveness and a clear conscience.  “How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death so that we may serve the living God” (v14).