Free!

November 1, 2009

Proper 26

Hebrews 9:11-14

Near Michelangelo's famous statue of David, four unfinished sculptures line the hallways. Calling them "The Captives," Michelangelo had planned to use them as part of Pope Julian's tomb. With protruding limbs and body parts, each piece appears to be a human figure trying to escape its marble enclosure.

On seeing the sculptures for the first time, author Theodore Roder wrote, "When I looked at those partial figures, they stirred up in me a deep longing to be completed—an ache to be set free from that which distorts and disguises, imprisons and inhibits my humanness, my wholeness. But as with those statues, I cannot liberate myself. For that I need the hand of another" (John H. Stevens, "His Liberating Touch," Discipleship Journal July/August 1984).

"I cannot liberate myself." What a rare admission! In our culture we praise the entrepreneur and the "self-made man." But in the Bible, God's people are qualified by their dependence on God, not their independence. We need a Savior, not a motivational speaker. Jesus sets us free in four ways that we cannot accomplish by ourselves.

I. Freedom from Bondage (vv. 11-12)

Beginning with the Old Testament story of the Exodus, the Bible describes how God set His people free from bondage and how He came to dwell among them in the tabernacle. Designed to reflect heavenly realities (Ex. 25:40; Heb. 8:5), the tabernacle was a massive, two-room tent surrounded by a large courtyard. God's awesome presence was believed to be accessed in the innermost room of the tent—the Holy of Holies, or simply, the Holy Place.

It was in the courtyard and the first room of the tabernacle that the high priest conducted the daily administration of sacrifices. No one was allowed to go past the dividing veil into the Holy Place, with the exception of the high priest who entered annually with a blood sacrifice in order to ceremonially atone for the sins of the nation (Heb. 9:6-10). The tabernacle design and administration served to constantly remind God's people that sin is a barrier to the presence of God.

In Hebrews 9:11-14, the writer explains how the blood of Jesus became the source of true freedom symbolized by the tabernacle. Through His personal sacrifice, Jesus secured an "eternal redemption" for His people (Heb. 9:12). A familiar concept to the first-century recipients of the text, redemption describes the process of a slave being set free through the payment of a price.

The worldview of Jesus and His followers assumed that all human beings were in bondage (Luke 4:18; Acts 10:38;