We all know what a last will and testament is. Generally we just refer to it as a will. It is a instrument for the legal conveyance of an inheritance. It a way of making sure that your property is distributed to those to whom you want it to go after your death. Death - that's the key. For a last will and testament to be set in motion the testator, that is, the one who has made the will, has to die. We've all heard stories of greedy nephews and nieces who were eager for the death of a rich uncle so that they could receive an inheritance. Until the death takes place, the inheritance is not given.

This is the point that the writer to the Hebrews makes in this evening's text. Jesus has established His last will and testament which bestows on us the legacy of the forgiveness of sins. His last will and testament require His death. Quoting the Old Testament Book of Leviticus, Hebrews says, "without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins." God forgives sins. He doesn't overlook them. He doesn't simply say, "That's OK...I'll excuse your wrong-doing." God forgives sin. And that forgiveness requires blood.

Hebrews says that even the first covenant was not set in place without blood. The reference here is to God's covenant made at Mt. Sinai. The establishment of that covenant is recorded in Exodus 24. Moses spoke God's words of the covenant to the people. The people agreed to those words saying, "All the words which the Lord has said to us, we will do" (v.3). Then Moses built an altar at the foot of Sinai. He set up the twelve pillars for the twelve tribes of Israel. Sacrificial animals were slaughtered for burnt offerings and peace offerings. Moses took the blood of those animals and put it in basins. Half of the blood Moses sprinkled on the altar. Half of the blood was sprinkled on the people. It was through the blood of sacrifice that the covenant was sealed. The blood bound the people of Israel to their God. Stained with the blood of sacrifice, Israel was cleansed to stand before her God. Shed blood maintained that communion with God as we can see in Leviticus 16 where Aaron sprinkles the blood of bulls and goats on the mercy seat in the tabernacle.

That was the first covenant. Jesus is the Mediator of a new covenant, a new testament. This new testament is an eternal testament established by God Himself and it is established by blood, God's own blood shed on the cross. No more would an endless procession of goats and bulls be brought for sacrifice, for the Lord Jesus Christ who is at one and the same time both the High Priest and the Lamb for sacrifice offers Himself in our place. He pours out His own blood to atone for the sins of the world. From His veins flow the blood that covers our sin, making us pure and holy to stand in the presence of God forever. His blood gives us an eternal inheritance.

In the community where I grew up in North Carolina, there stands one of the oldest Lutheran churches in the country. Old St. Paul's Lutheran Church was established well before the Revolutionary War. One of the striking things about Old St. Paul's Lutheran Church is not just its age, but the blood stains that are still visible in the balcony. In the years before the Civil War, slaves were seated in the balcony, which at that time was called the "slaves' gallery." The slave of a local plantation owner ran away and hid himself in that balcony, thinking that after night fall he would make his way north and eventually find freedom. As the story goes, the plantation owner was a man with a hot temper. His search for the run-away slave led him to the church where he found the slave crouched under a pew in the slave gallery. Then and there, he shot and killed the slave. The blood stains remain to this very day. The blood stains on the pew and on the floor of that old church remind visitors of blood shed long ago. The blood of the New Testament is more than a reminder. The blood of Jesus Christ is a present reality.

This is the blood which the Lord gives you to drink in His Holy Supper. It is the blood of the New Testament poured out for the forgiveness of your sins. The blood that dripped from the hands and feet of our Redeemer did more than stain the wood of the cross and redden the ground beneath that cross. The blood of Jesus Christ atones for the sin of the world. When you take the chalice in the Lord's Supper, you are not simply remembering a death long ago and far away. When you drink from the Cup of the New Testament, you are drinking the blood that was shed for your forgiveness and is now given you as the pledge and promise of the forgiveness of sins, life, and salvation. Jesus' blood gives you an eternal inheritance. The death of the testator has taken place. His last will and testament are set in motion. He names you as an heir and the gift that He gives is eternal life. It is all in the Sacrament. Amen.

The peace of God which passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus to life everlasting. Amen.