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4 Lutheran Life How often do you stop and deeply reflect on the meaning of Christ's death on the cross for the forgiveness of your sins? This truth is so foundational to the Christian faith that it can become rote and lose its punch. After all, who is Jesus and why did He have to die? And how does the death of another person forgive sins that I commit? I'm becoming increasingly convinced that telling an un- believer, "Jesus died on the cross to forgive your sins," isn't the most helpful starting point when talking about faith. Not because it's not true or of crucial importance to share but because the concepts of sin and atone- ment for sin are so foreign that the meanings of them fall on deaf ears. Even for the regular churchgoer, both confessing sins and hearing the Words of Absolution can ring hollow when the hearer doesn't consider the significance be- hind this Means of Grace. When God gave Moses the Ten Commandments on Mount Sinai, He also set up an intricate sacrificial system to create a way for imperfect people to once again come into the presence of a perfect God. Without this system, no one could see God and live (see Exodus 33:20). God explained to Moses, "For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it for you on the altar to make atonement for your souls, for it is the blood that makes atonement by the life" (Leviticus 17:11). He also summarized hundreds of years later, "Indeed, under the law almost everything is purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins" (Hebrews 9:22). Without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness. And so the high priests would make atoning sacrifices to God on behalf of the people. An innocent, unblem- ished life—often a lamb or bird—would be offered as a substitute for the guilty, sin-stained lives of the people. In this way, God's people could be made clean before the Lord. Priests performed these rituals on a daily basis. God's people also performed regular rites and rituals themselves for cleansing. Life revolved around this sacrificial system, so much so that the holiest day of the year was a day dedicated to T H E A T O N I N G S A C R I F I C E J E S U S

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