Hebrews 9:24-28
Twenty-Sixth Sunday After Pentecost Pastor Nathan P. Kassulke Sunday, November 17, 2024
“Christ’s Appearances Do Not Deceive”
Appearances can be deceiving. There is a reason that phrase is as popular as it is. It is true about little things. You don’t always know right away what you are dealing with. Another way of saying that: you can’t judge a book by its cover. You can expect one thing based on the appearance and be surprised— pleasantly or otherwise.
Appearances can be deceiving is true of bigger things, too. How many of us have found ourselves in situations we thought we had figured out only to find out how completely wrong we were?
This is even a general truth about the lives of Christians. Appearances are often deceiving. What things seem like is not the reality. God tells us that we are more than conquerors, but at times circumstances and situations seem to conquer us. God tells us we are victors in Christ, but it often appears as though we are losing our battles. God tells us that we are the most blessed people of all because we have his Word and Sacraments, but appearances suggest that there are lots of people way better off than we are. We are working our way through a worship series called, “Live Like You’ll Live Forever,” but we can’t help but notice death and destruction all around us.
When the Hebrew Christians to whom the book of Hebrews was first addressed came to faith, their lives seemed to get a whole lot worse. As practicing Jews, they had been largely left alone. They continued living in the vast Roman Empire like so many others. But after converting to Christianity, they were targets of persecution. And things were heating up again. The reality was that they had something in Christianity, in Jesus, far better than what they had before. But it didn’t always appear that way. Appearances can be deceiving.
So where could those Christians look for something certain and secure? Where can we find certainty? Where do we go for something that does not deceive? The answer is Jesus. That’s probably not a surprise to us as we gather here on a Sunday morning. It’s the main message of all of Scripture. It’s also the focus of our five verses from Hebrews 9. To those Hebrew Christians and to us, God explains how and why Jesus doesn’t deceive or disappoint. In fact, we could say that Christ’s appearances do not deceive.
Of course, to say that, we’re actually using the word appearance in another way. The way Jesus looked as he lived on earth—his appearance in that sense—actually deceived many. People could not tell just from looking at him how special and how important he truly was. He looked like a poor, even miserable, human being. He looked lowly. He looked ordinary. That appearance was deceiving. But what the writer to the Hebrews invites us to focus on and to consider is not how Jesus looked. We are to focus on the times and places when Jesus appeared and the time when he will appear again. These appearances of Jesus do not deceive. They do not disappoint.
First, Jesus appeared as a priest. The Bible uses this picture to teach us about Jesus quite a bit. The book of Hebrews maybe more than any place else has us focus on applying the things that were taught in the Old Testament to Jesus and his work. So back then, in the history of the Jewish people, the Hebrew people, God appointed priests. And a very special class of priests served over all, the High Priests. The priests served at the temple, and before that at the tabernacle. The beautiful temple, much of it covered in gold, stood in Jerusalem. At the time of this letter, the temple was a not-so-good approximation of the original one. But this was still the center point of the people’s worship. Their sacrifices and offerings were brought to the temple day after day after day.
And there were some days that were particularly special. One of those, perhaps the most special of all, was the Great Day of Atonement. That day was so special because that day alone the high priest went into the Most Holy Place. The Most Holy Place was the innermost part of the temple. It was a room inside of a room, inside of the temple courts. When the temple was first dedicated, a cloud showing God’s presence settled into the Most Holy Place. His Ark of the Covenant had been there. When the
people thought about God, this was the place where they envisioned him. And a thick curtain prevented anyone from not only entering, but even seeing inside.
Except on the one special day. On the Great Day of Atonement, the sins of the people and the sins of the priests, the sins of the high priest himself, were placed on an innocent victim and sent out into the wilderness. The blood of a sacrifice allowed the high priest to enter into that Most Holy Place, where he sprinkled the blood in front of him. And so, at this one time, with blood, the high priest could appear before God.
It was an amazing demonstration. The people could see the consequences of sin separating them from God. They could see the need for innocent sacrifice. They could see the need for blood, and they could see that God’s appointed priest could enter into his presence in his prescribed way. Year after year. Priest after priest.
But Jesus was greater than all of this. He appeared, he came to earth, to be God’s appointed High Priest. And he appeared before God in that role. He didn’t go into a temple that people had built. He didn’t go into a place that showed or represented or taught about the real thing. He went in front of God. And he brought blood. But it wasn’t the blood of a goat. It wasn’t blood that had come from some other victim. It was his own blood. It was the price paid for the sins of the whole world. His sacrifice didn’t need repeating. It wasn’t teaching about something better and depending on something to make it stick. This was the once-and-for-all. This was the only time it was needed. This was Jesus appearing as priest once, and in that role appearing before God once. And he did it for those Hebrews, and for the Israelites over the centuries, and for Abraham their ancestor, and for Adam and Eve—the first people and the first sinners. And he did it for me, and he did it for you. In fact, he made his sacrifice for all people of all time. There is no deceit in this. There is no disappointment. This is the real thing.
And he is going to appear one more time. His first appearance was complete, just like each of us lives in this world just once. When that is done, the time for judgment has come. This is the truth about our lives. Daniel talked about it. Jesus talked about it. Judgment is real. We will die the death we deserve. We will face the judgment of God. But we won’t face the judgment we deserve. Jesus already did that.
So our verses say that once and for all he has taken away the sins of many. That’s why he appeared. That’s why he came to earth. That’s why he became the Great High Priest and offered his sacrifice to God the Father. And since it is done, he will come back without sin. He will come back not to deal with sin, not to offer himself again, not to complete something that was left undone, but to bring salvation.
His second appearing is for those who are eagerly waiting for him. That’s the attitude we can have. That’s the attitude we ought to have: not concern about dying or concern about judgment. Not fearful. Not guilt-ridden or uncertain. Eagerly waiting. This is what we are waiting for: “Those who have insight will shine like the brightness of the sky, and those who bring many to righteousness will shine like the starts forever and ever” (Daniel 12:3). This is what we are waiting for: “All who are in their graves will hear his voice and will come out. Those who have done good will rise to live” (John 5:29). This is what Christ won for us when he first appeared, what he gives us in his Word and Sacrament, and what he will complete when he comes again. You and I have no reason to fear anything.
We live in a world where appearances deceive. Like the Hebrews of centuries ago, we face pressure to rely on or fall back on something other than Jesus Christ. Our lives often don’t look like lives that should last forever. The temptations are going to continue. But Christ’s appearances do not deceive. He appeared on this earth to offer himself as the sacrifice for sin. He appeared before God with his own innocent and precious blood. And he will appear again to bring us and all who believe in him to live with him forever. Those appearances do not deceive. We can live without fear. We will live forever.
The Text: Hebrews 9:24–28 (EHV)
24For Christ did not enter a handmade sanctuary, a representation of the true sanctuary. Instead, he entered into heaven itself, now to appear before God on our behalf. 25And he did not enter to offer himself many times, as the high priest enters the Most Holy Place year after year with blood that is not his own. 26Otherwise he would have needed to suffer many times since the creation of the world. But now he has appeared once and for all, at the climax of the ages, in order to take away sin by the sacrifice of himself. 27And, just as it is appointed for people to die only once and after this comes the judgment, 28so also Christ was offered only once to take away the sins of many, and he will appear a second time—without sin—to bring salvation to those who are eagerly waiting for him.