The Sacrifice of Jesus (Heb. 9:11-14)

When Christ came as high priest of the good things that have come to be, passing through the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made by hands, that is, not belonging to this creation, 12 he entered once for all into the sanctuary, not with the blood of goats and calves but with his own blood, thus obtaining eternal redemption. 13 For if the blood of goats and bulls and the sprinkling of a heifer’s ashes can sanctify those who are defiled so that their flesh is cleansed, 14 how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from dead works to worship the living God.'

Christ’s passion was his suffering and crucifixion.  His glorification was his resurrection and ascension which brought him back to the glory he shared with the Father before the world began (Jn. 17:5).  His passion and glorification was a liturgical action much greater and with more effect than the liturgical action of the priests in the Old Covenant (Lev. 17:11) because Christ, the great high priest (Ps. 110.4), has actually entered the heavenly sanctuary not made by man like the OT sanctuary (Heb. 4:14; 9:1-3).  Jesus’ voluntary sacrifice began on earth with the sprinkling of his blood to obtain the salvation of mankind and ended with his entry into the greater and more perfect heavenly sanctuary (v. 12).  

The earthly tabernacles will no longer exist (Heb. 12:26-27).  The perfect tabernacle then is the glorified body of Christ which remains forever and is the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him (Heb. 5:9).  If the blood of animals through external ritual can purify the flesh and expiate sin, how much more will the body and blood of the risen Christ purify the conscience?  Under the Old Covenant the High Priest himself was a sinner and therefore was not able to offer himself for the purification of man’s conscience.  Christ was a sinless offering worthy to stand before God and offer himself as expiation for the sins of the people.  The Blood of Christ purifies the conscience from sin (Eph. 2:1) and makes the worship of God possible (v. 14).  

Almighty God, we give thanks to you for the loving sacrifice of your Son who opened the gates of heaven for all who believe in him.  Grant us the grace to hear his word and be obedient to all he has taught as we confidently look forward to sharing in your glory.  This we pray through Christ our Lord.  Amen!

__________________________________

References
Chiu, José Enrique Aguilar, et al. The Paulist Biblical Commentary. Paulist Press, 2018.
Brown, Raymond Edward, et al. The New Jerome Biblical Commentary. Upper Saddle River, NJ, United States, Prentice Hall, 1990.