The Annunciation of Our Lord (March 25, 2007)
Fifth Sunday in Lent
Text: Heb. 10:4-10
Rev. Brian L. Kachelmeier.
In the name of Jesus our Suffering King. Amen.
It may seem strange to hear our Gospel reading today from Luke chapter one in which the angel Gabriel comes to the Virgin Mary announcing that the Lord is with her and that she shall conceive the Holy Child when the Holy Spirit overshadows her. There are two good reasons why we are talking about the annunciation during the season of Lent.
Firstly, we celebrate the annunciation, because today is March 25. This was the date that was set aside by the early church as the day to focus on the conception of the Christ Child. When we focus on the conception of Jesus by the Holy Spirit, we proclaim the significance of the teaching on the Holy Incarnation. For our salvation, God became man. In the words of the Apostles’ Creed we confess this important doctrine by declaring that we believe in Jesus who was “conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary.” In the words of the Nicene Creed we say that we believe in Jesus, “who for us men, and for our salvation, came down from heaven, and was incarnate by the Holy Ghost of the Virgin Mary, and was made man.” From this date of the conception we count nine months and set aside the date of December 25 as the day of the birth of Jesus. In this way, we celebrate that Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit on March 25 and He was born of the Virgin Mary on Dec. 25.
Secondly, the other good reason for meditating upon this text in the season of Lent is the fact that our Lord Jesus was born in order to suffer and to die. Thus we confess that Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate and was crucified. Jesus was born with a body in order to be put to death in His body.
In today’s Epistle lesson, we are told that, “…we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all” (Heb. 10:10 ESV). When we talk of the Holy Incarnation, we focus on reality that God took upon a body in order to die. He is conceived in the womb of the Virgin in order to be flesh of our flesh and bone of our bone. In this body, He was able to shed His blood for us. He was able to be the true sacrifice that takes away all our sins.
In order to understand what it means that Jesus was offered up in the body as a sacrifice, it is most beneficial to understand the sacrifices of the Old Testament. There were two main types of sacrifices: First, there was the “Sacrifice of Propitiation” which were done to appease the wrath of God against sin and to secure forgiveness. Examples can be seen in the animal sacrifices of the Temple. Second, there was the “Sacrifice of Thanksgiving” which was done in order to praise and thank God for all the good that He has done. Examples can be seen in the prayers and tithes of the people.
It is the “Sacrifice of Propitiation” that needs to be commented upon here. In such sacrifices, an animal was put to death because of the sin of a person. It pointed to the punishment of sin being death. It instilled in the eyes and minds of the people that someone else other than the sinner would need to come and make satisfaction to God, namely Jesus. In fact, the animal sacrifices of the Old Testament were shadows of the reality which was Christ. As our Epistle lesson states today, it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.
In the days of the Old Testament, the people of God would observe the Day of Atonement once a year. The high priest would sacrifice a bull and a goat shedding the blood and making atonement for the sins of the people. Yet, in and of themselves, these animals could not take away sins. Instead, they needed to be repeated over and over and over again. The sacrifices themselves actually were reminders of sin. Every time they were repeated, they brought to mind the sin that was committed.
All the ceremonial sacrifices of the Old Testament were prophecies of Christ who was to come. They were not the reality. They were only shadows. Once Christ came, they were no longer needed. In A.D. 70, the Temple was destroyed and the sacrifices came to a halt. Now that we have the reality, we no longer need the shadow.
I can remember waiting for Christmas as a child. I would enjoy looking through the Christmas catalogs from JC Penny’s, Montgomery Wards, and Sears. In these catalogs, there were pictures and images of the toys that I could possibly get at Christmas. My brothers and I would go through the catalogs and pick out which toys we wanted. We put our initials by the toys that we claimed for ourselves. As we waited for Christmas, we would look at the pictures in the catalogs hoping to get the reality on Christmas Day. Now when Christmas came, we would open our presents to reveal the fulfillment of our hopes. Once we had the actual toy in hand, it would be ridiculous to keep looking at the catalog longing to be able to hold the toy. Could you imagine the absurdity of continuing to spend hours looking at the picture when the real thing was in my hand? It would be silly.
When Jesus came, He came to fulfill the law in His body. He was born in Bethlehem in order to die in Jerusalem. He was conceived in order to be crucified. He came to bring reconciliation between God and man. In our text from Hebrews, we hear these words, “Consequently, when Christ came into the world, he said, “Sacrifices and offerings you have not desired, but a body have you prepared for me; in burnt offerings and sin offerings you have taken no pleasure” (Heb. 10:5-6 ESV). In this passage, Jesus is speaking the words of Psalm 40. It was not the body of the animals that brought complete atonement. No, it was the body of Jesus that was the true sacrifice for our sins that made perfect atonement once and for all.
Jesus goes on to speak in verse seven telling us, “Then I said, ‘Behold, I have come to do your will, O God, as it is written of me in the scroll of the book.’ ” (Heb. 10:7 ESV). In His body, He perfectly did the will of God the Father. He did what we were unable to do in our bodies. Because of original sin, our wills, our desires are bent away from God. They curve inward. We desire to do our own wills which is to sin.
In verse nine He adds, “Behold, I have come to do your will.” He abolishes the first in order to establish the second.” (Heb. 10:9 ESV). We are told that Jesus came to abolish the Old Testament sacrificial system and replaced it with the New Testament in His blood. The new replaces the old.
Every day we see new things replacing old things. Each day that we awake, we can either turn on the television or look into the newspaper to find out the latest events. What was news yesterday becomes old today. Throughout the day, we can get updates to find out the latest news. The new is new and the old is old. Thus the Old Testament is old and the New Testament is new. The new has replaced the old. This is Good News. For in Christ, sins are no longer remembered. In Christ we are now at one with God.
In verse ten we are giving this promise to hold on to, “…we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all” (Heb. 10:10 ESV). In the offering of the body of Jesus, all sins, both original sin and actual sins that we commit each day, have been taken away. Jesus is the propitiation for our sins as we sang in the liturgy today. To be the propitiation is to be the One who has put an end to the demands of the law. Jesus has made amends, atoned for, and brought us back to God. He has paid in full that which we could not pay.
As sin entered the world, it shattered the relationship between creation and the Creator. It is like a glass falling to the ground and shattering into a million pieces. In the atonement God has brought it all back together. The atonement fixes the broken relationship. The atonement is the bringing of at-one-ment between us and God.
This true atonement has been done once and for all in the body of Jesus. We no longer need an annual Day of Atonement pointing us to the crucifixion. We now have the reality in Good Friday, the day in which Jesus brought us back to God once and for all. He has made the satisfaction for our sins that we could never make.
In these New Testament times that we now live, we no longer need a priesthood like that in the Old Testament offering up animal sacrifices. In the New Testament, we have the priesthood of the baptized who offer up sacrifices of thanksgiving. The first epistle of Peter declares, “But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.” (1 Peter 2:9-10 ESV). As believers, it is our spiritual sacrifices to proclaim the wonderful things that God has done.
Thus, after the hearing of this sermon, we will stand and sing the Te Deum, praising God. We offer up our thankfulness to God when we pray, praise, give thanks, proclaim, confess, and do good works. We do these things as service to others. Like Mary, we can say, “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word” (Luke 1:38 ESV). Amen.
