Good Friday: April 14, 2006

[For there is no distinguishing,] for all sinned and have fallen short of the glory of God. They have been made righteous freely by his grace through the liberation which is in Christ Jesus, whom God publicly proposed as a mercy seat apprehended through faith in his blood, in proof of his righteousness according to the overlooking of the sins previously having been committed.

Romans 3:22b—25

Paul uses three metaphors to describe our benefits in Christ: the metaphor of being made righteous by a judge “overlooking” our sins, the metaphor of being liberated as though formerly conquered or enslaved, and the metaphor of atonement by blood. It’s that last one that is the most radical, and probably the least understood today.

Leviticus (the very name still gives me chills) prescribes the rite for the Day of Atonement. (Lev 16) The High Priest donned special linen garments and took sacrificial animals deep into the sanctuary in the temple. He slaughtered a bull and spattered the blood upon the Mercy Seat—God’s throne, the Ark of the Covenant—and upon the Altar. Did the High Priest really believe that God physically sat on the Ark? That was not really the point of the rite. Sin requires atonement. The High Priest spattered blood from the sacrifices on the Mercy Seat and the Altar, expressing in a physical action the atonement required. (We have plenty of similar acts in the Church. The Imposition of Ashes makes unmistakably tangible the fate of all life pronounced in the words, “you are dust, and to dust you shall return”. The Anointing with Oil at a Healing Service makes unmistakably tangible God’s healing and prophetic commission poured into us.)

What Paul says in Romans is that God performs this whole atonement in Christ. God publicly (in the crucifixion) proposes Christ as the very Mercy Seat itself, and we are able to apprehend (grasp and perceive) this by faith in the blood of Christ. In other words, Christ is both the Mercy Seat and the blood spattered upon it! The old system might enable people to better perceive their atonement, but it is a mere rite that enacts the deeper mystery of God’s boundless forgiveness and love. In Christ we see that God has taken care of atonement for us (because we can’t, but God loves us too much to abandon us).

Don’t let any of this steer you away from the point Paul makes. There is no distinguishing among us. In Christ no one is “better”. Lifelong Lutherans are no better (or worse) than those who are from other faith traditions. Lifelong members are no better (or worse) than new members. All sin. All fall short. All are justified. All are liberated. All sins are forgiven. We’re equals in Christ.

Pastor Timothy A Leitzke

pastortal@holytrinity-nj.org