The Blood of Access

​Maundy Thursday – 2025                                                                                      LSB #’s 445, 570
Text – Exodus 24:8
 
And Moses took the blood & threw it on the people & said, “Behold the blood of the covenant that the Lord has made with you in accordance with all these words.”
 
 THE BLOOD OF ACCESS
 
 
Imagine a person walking in front of the White House seeking access to the president of the United States.   Better yet,  imagine that the person  is you.  Your shoes are shined,  your hair is combed,  you are dressed in your Sunday best.  You want an audience with the Commander in Chief   because there are some burning issues you want to take up with him. 
There is the problem of a new highway.  It doesn’t have an exit ramp close enough to your house.     There’s the issue of income taxes.  They’re too high for you  & too low for everyone else.   Finally, there is that sticky matter called student loans.  Couldn’t the president make a few calls & get you  off  the hook? 
Let’s be honest, though.  There are too many barriers between you & the president.  The gates are locked.  The guards won’t let you in.  The Secret Service has orders to shoot first & ask questions later. 
But what if the president looks out his window on Pennsylvania Avenue & sees you?  What if he gives the command & his security detail escorts you right into the Oval Office?  And what if the president listens attentively & makes all the changes you ask for?    Too good to be true?  With the President of the United States,  it is!  
With the King of the Universe,  you do have a friend in high places.  Listen again to these words in Exodus 24:1, “Then He said to Moses, ‘Come up to the LORD,  you & Aaron,  Nadab, & Abihu, & seventy of the elders of Israel, & worship from afar.’”  Don’t get too close!  Worship from afar.   Moses, Aaron, Nadab, Abihu & the seventy elders of Israel do not have access.  There are too many barriers between them & the LORD.  Yahweh is the holy,  infinite,  eternal, all-powerful, all-knowing & only God.   He   is in a league all His own.  Though Yahweh has descended upon Mt. Sinai in a cloud & glory,  Israel’s leaders must still “worship from afar.”  
Why is that?   The Bible says that we are born  dead in transgressions & sin.  The Bible says that by nature  you & I are enemies of God.   The Bible says we are fading leaves, empty cisterns & flowers quickly fading.  The Bible teaches that we are rebels &  prodigals,  prone to wander, hard-hearted, selfish, & lost  in sin. 
“Moses alone shall come near to the LORD,  but the others shall not come near,  & the people shall not come up with him.”  (Exodus 24:2)   Why does Moses get to come near?  Moses gets to come near  because He is the mediator, the go-between,  between God & Israel.  Moses is going to bridge the gap between Israel’s leaders & Yahweh.  How so? 
“Moses took the blood & threw it on the people & said, ‘Behold the blood of the covenant that the LORD has made with you in accordance with all these words.’”  (Exodus 24:8) Blood is how Israelites get out of Egypt.  The Passover lamb is slain & his blood is splattered on the doorframes of the houses.  
Therefore, the angel of death passes over the Israelite houses  but passes through the houses of the Egyptians striking down every firstborn in Egypt.   Blood is how Israelites get out of Egypt.  Blood is how Israelites gain access to God.   Blood   is what you & I  need! 
“Then Moses & Aaron, Nadab & Abihu,  & 70 of the elders of Israel went up & they saw the God of Israel.  There was under His feet as it were  a pavement of sapphire stone, like the very heaven for clearness.  And He did not lay His hand on the chief men of the people of Israel.  They saw God,  & ate & drank.”  (Exodus 24:9–11)  
These Israelites not only see the God of Israel, they eat & drink in His presence!  Talk
about access!   And this is God’s gift to you!  Blood is how we get out of Egypt.  Egypt – our house of guilt & remorse & darkness & death.  Blood is also how we gain access to God.  Blood is what we need!  Whose blood?   The blood of Jesus.  Calvary isn’t a sudden tragedy.  Christ’s execution is not God’s knee-jerk reaction to a world spinning out of control.  
No!  Revelation 13:8 tells us, the Lamb was slain from the creation of the world.  Before the world was made,  the Father planned for His Son’s blood to be shed.   On Good Friday the Jews wanted Barabbas.  Herod wanted a show.  Pilate wanted out.  Caiaphas wanted death.  The soldiers wanted to have some fun.   And the executioners?  They wanted the blood of Jesus. 
The strategy was singular; beat Him within an inch of death  & then stop.  With His back lacerated by lashes  they shove the crossbeam on His shoulders.   When He comes to Calvary they nail Him to the wood.   And there  Jesus hangs: “…Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!”  (John 1:29 ESV) 
All is not right with the world  because God is in His heaven.  No,  all is right with the world  because God  is on the cross.   As Hebrews tells us, “…brothers, we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place  by the blood of Jesus.”  (10:19 ESV)   By the blood of Jesus, we have access!  Access to the Most Holy Place.  Access to the throne  of Almighty God.  
You have access to the heart of Him who rules the sun, the moon & the stars.  Access to our Father who wields for us, His children,  a full monopoly of power  in heaven  & on earth!  By the blood of Jesus, we enter God’s presence with confidence!  Not with shaking & trembling.  Not with angst & fear.  We enter with confidence!  
The word “confidence” appears forty times in the NT.  Why is that?  The message of the NT is singular.  By the blood of Jesus,  we have unlimited access to the Most Holy Place of the Most Holy God  who has the Most Holy name!   That is confidence!  Confidence to live; confidence to speak; confidence when we suffer; confidence when we pray;  even confidence when we die.   Unlimited access was God’s gift to Moses, Aaron, Nadab, Abihu, & the seventy elders of Israel. They see the God of Israel.  They eat & drink with Him. 
So why should anyone remain on the outside,  all alone,  feeling as though they have no access to the most powerful person in the universe?  At this table you & I not only have access to God,  we see God when we eat & drink the true body & true blood of Jesus.   Imagine that!   Unlimited access  is God’s gift in Christ,   at this table,   for you!  Amen. 
 
 
 
Just as I am,   without one plea   but that Thy blood was shed for me   & that Thou bidd’st me come to Thee,  O Lamb of God,  I come,   I come.      Just as I am,  Thou wilt receive,  wilt welcome, pardon, cleanse, relieve;  because Thy promise I believe,  O Lamb of God,  I come,  I come.     Just as I am;  Thy love unknown  has broken every barrier down;  now to be Thine,  yea, Thine alone,  O Lamb of God,  I come,  I come.  Amen.  LSB 570:1, 5-6.