Passon Sunday/5th Sunday in Lent
Isaiah 1:10-20

White As Snow

On a feast day over 700 years B.C., Isaiah watched the Israelites leading goats and calves and lambs to the Temple. They were going to offer sacrifices to the Lord. Those who had violated some ritual taboo tied up their animals and went first to the priest to undergo a rite of purification. Earlier that day somebody would have chosen the best animal from out of his flock or herd; for the victim must be perfect. Sick or deformed animals were not permitted.

Once the worshippers arrived at the temple they waited in a line. When they got their turn at the door of the Temple, the priest began the ceremony. The family members laid their hands on the animal, making it their own, an innocent victim standing in their place. Then the father stuck a knife into the lamb or bullock, and drained the blood into a basin. As long as the lamb or calve shed blood, it was alive; only when the bleeding stopped, was it dead. Naturally the people of Israel regarded blood as the life of the lamb. Then the priests took the blood and sprinkled it on the altar in order to purify it (Leviticus 3:1 ff.) Next the priests burned certain parts of the animal upon the altar. Carving the victim into chunks required much time. The sacrifice concluded with a feast in which both the priest and people participated. They went to a spot and boiled the leftover meat in a pot. Everyone was invited to share the meal.

Isaiah’s ministry began in the year of the death of King Uzziah, around 739 B.C. Shortly thereafter, Isaiah witnessed this feast-day scene, the ritualistic parts carried out flawlessly. But something was wrong. Inspired by the Holy Spirit, Isaiah preached: “Hear the word of the Lord, you rulers of Sodom; Give ear to the law of our God, You people of Gomorrah: To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices to Me?” Says the LORD. “I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams and the fat of fed cattle. I do not delight in the blood of bulls, or of lambs or goats” (Isaiah 2:10-11). These are hard words. The people must have been shocked. Was the prophet calling them sodomites? That is what Sodom and Gomorrah referred to. God judged those nations so terribly nobody survived. Then Isaiah went on to say, “I am glutted with these sacrifices.” The Hebrew word expresses weariness, tiredness, and disgust. The Israelites were probably carrying out their sacrifices like they were supposed to do, but the Lord said, “I’m sick of what you are doing! I’m tired of your burnt offerings. The fat on the altar doesn’t please me, neither does the blood. My soul hates your incense, not to mention your New moon and Sabbath observances. They disgust me. Even your prayers are worthless to me. I no longer listen to them.”

What was the problem? Why was the Lord irate? Immorality. Moral filth had come to dominate the lives of the people performing the sacrifices and offering prayers. Somehow, the Israelites had compartmentalized their daily lives from the worship. They had separated what they believed from what they did. Their temple duties were terrific but sin and wickedness marked their characters. “Let us read Isaiah 1:16-17. [Read them.]

God wanted repentance and righteousness and care for the needy over their ritualistic niceties. What is the relationship between worship and conduct? Did Isaiah want to close the doors of the Temple? Some people read these verses as a total rejection of ritual and would prefer to replace it with ethical behavior alone. Others see it in terms of outward religion verses internal religion. This passage is grounds for abolishing liturgy, symbolism, sacraments in favor of a private internal religion. Since Isaiah prohibited sacrifices, we prohibit ceremonies, goes the thinking. The groups that interpret the passage this way maintain the Old Testament religion was external and ceremonial, but the New Testament religion is spiritual and internal. But this text from Isaiah hardly supports such a view. First of all, Isaiah didn’t call for the abrogation of sacrifice. Isaiah himself continued to attend the temple worship. He was in the Temple when he had that vision. Remember when Isaiah saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up and the six-winged seraphim crying out: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; The whole earth is full of His glory”? That entire scene transpired in the Temple (Isaiah 6:1-8). Second, if one believes that Isaiah puts a halt to sacrifices, incense, and liturgical feasts, he would have to get rid of prayer too. According to Isaiah, Yahweh was even weary of their prayers. Third, this hyper-spiritual view leaves out the place of the body. We happen to have bodies that yearn for a little ceremony. We have imaginations that appreciate symbols. We are not yet disembodied angels or spirits.

What Isaiah opposes is not sacrifice or ceremony or prayer in itself, but the misuse of these things. That is his point. He is telling the Israelites of his day that they cannot persist in evil deeds and expect ritual to deliver them from the consequences of those evil deeds. Right worship and right conduct are two sides of the same coin. What God wants is right and just behavior, especially toward those who are helpless: “Cease to do evil, Learn to do good; Seek justice, Rebuke the oppressor; Defend the fatherless, Plead for the widow.” The Israel of Isaiah’s day was a very religious people. But religious people can deceive themselves. The people of Isaiah’s day are similar to us. They went to the temple and offered Jehovah their sacrifices and prayers, they faithfully carried out the ceremony of the Old Covenant system, and yet, their characters, their lives in the world, their dealings with others, reflected a radical disconnect with God’s will. That is what aroused the Lord’s ire. God demands evidence of a changed life, especially in the way we treat those under us. Of course it is a struggle, but the Lord God appreciates our struggle to grow in holiness with others.

In verse 15, God says, “Your hands are full of blood.” There is perhaps a bit of double entendre here. Yes, the hands of the Israelites were full of the blood of sacrifice, but they were also full of the blood of the innocent, whom they had abused. God shut his ears to their prayers because their prayers were not matched by godly lives. They wanted God to bless them while they destroyed the weakest members of society.
Moving on the last verse. Isaiah 1:18-20. [Read them.]

The Lord says, “Come now, and let us reason together.” In other words, think of the choices. Do they want blessing or curse? They were sinners. They needed cleansing. God offered to cleanse them from their sin. “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall be as wool.” Why does God mention the colors scarlet and crimson? Maybe they refer back to the bloody hands of the worshippers. Their hands were bloody through oppressing the poor, the widows, and the fatherless. God was about to judge them. They deserved His judgment. But He is giving them one last chance to repent. First, they must be willing to repent of their sins and obey. Then God would make them white as snow, and like wool. He would cover the hillsides with abundant crops. On the other hand, resist and rebel, and cleansing would be impossible. They would go hungry, and, the enemy’s army would consume them.

How would God wash them and make them clean? Sacrifice. The Great Sacrifice. The once and for all sacrifice the Old Testament sacrifices prefigured. Jesus Christ would die on a tree and shed His blood. For the Israelites the sacrifice of Christ on Golgotha was a thing of the future. They looked forward to the cross. We look back to the passion of Christ. An old hymn tells about it: “What can wash away my sin? Nothing but the blood of Jesus; What can make me whole again? Nothing but the blood of Jesus. Oh! Precious is the flow That makes me white as snow; No other fount I know, Nothing but the blood of Jesus.” 739 years before Chist died, the Holy Spirit allowed Isaiah to stand at the foot of the cross and see the Roman soldier stab the side of Jesus, water and blood flowing forth. It was a scene of sorrow and joy. Sorrow that the Son of God was slain. Joy that the blood would wash away sin.

“Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall be as wool.” Even if the sins of Israel are the deepest red, they may yet become the purest white: the very opposite of what they now are, in other words, non-existent. The doctrine of justification is found in these words.

This doctrine comes through very clearly in 2 Corinthians 5. St. Paul writes: “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. …that is, God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, …For [God] made [Jesus] who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” In other words, at the moment the Holy Spirit regenerates you, the Lord Almighty imputes your sins to Christ, and imputes Christ’s righteousness back to you. It is called the doctrine of imputation. Luther called it the great exchange. There is a gracious trade-off. By grace though faith your sins are transferred to Christ while His righteousness is transferred back to you. Positionally, you stand before the Holy Almighty a perfectly just and righteous man or woman. When God moves you to conversion the words of Isaiah come true: “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall be as wool.” This is good news. Thank the Lord for His grace. Offer Him in return your body a living sacrifice in service to others.

Are there people today who cover their sin with a thin veneer of religious ritual? Of course there are! How easy it is to think that when we go to church regularly, read the Bible, pray, tithe, and refrain from certain vices that God could hardly expect more from us. Compared to the heathen we look wonderful! God should be grateful to have such faithful servants as us, we think. This is an attitude of self-righteous pride. That is how we turn Church-attendance, Bible reading, Holy Communion, and fellowship into a game. It is possible for these activities to become substitutes for real biblical faith. However, God sees through the hypocrisy real fast, and others eventually do too.

Nathan Wilson wrote an article recently about two guys who grew up in Christian circles and turned against Christianity. “Marilyn Manson (his real name is Brian Warner) attended Heritage Christian School in Canton, Ohio. It was a definitive experience for him. He claimed the school was full of phonies. If he had never entered Heritage Christian School then he never would have gotten stuck calling himself the “Antichrist Superstar…” A similar thing happened to Anton La Vey (Howard Levey was his original name). Anton La Vey was the founder of the Church of Satan. He also made Brian Warner an official priest during a concert. What excuse did La Vey give for giving himself over to Satan? He claimed that he was a circus performer. He saw lots of men living double lives. They were in the tent at the Saturday night skin shows, and Sunday morning singing hymns at the revivals. All the hypocrisy made him shave his head, write The Satanic Bible, design a few logos and make up a bunch of rituals. [Credenda Agenda. Vol. 18, No. 1, “Millstones.” p. 7]

To be sure stories like this are extreme, yet they remind us to evaluate our walk with the Lord. Are we truly surrendered to Christ, or is it a charade? I must ask myself: “Am I absorbed in the cause of Christ’s kingdom, and becoming more Christlike, or am I absorbed in myself? Do my sons and daughters see hypocrisy in my life? Is my life going to drive people away from the Lord? Is the grace of God as He grants it to me through prayer, Bible reading, worship, fellowship, and Holy Communion making me a better person? Making me more concerned about others? More devoted to serving them? Is worship making a difference in my life, in the way I treat others, growing a greater love for them? Or, am I living two lives, one on Sunday and another the rest of the week? God abhors individuals who call themselves Christians and then treat other people badly.

I was so impressed with Mother Virginia, the director of the orphanage in Mexico. She told us yesterday that the greatest burden she faces has to do with children getting along with each other. There are about 75 kids there. Mother Virginia must deal with the fights. Every bad word, every ugly face, every insult. She says the ten or so mothers who stay at the orphanage and help are the hardest cases. Sometimes the arguments between mothers turn into atomic bombs. Those are her words. Real biblical faith leads to an obedience that treats others well. Jesus says, “By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” It is not our actions in Church that make us a disciple of Christ, but rather our love for the brethren. We can be very religious and yet be living our lives for ourselves. We can give the appearance of obedience and yet be living a self-centered life that is nothing but rebellion. On this passion Sunday, ask God to forgive you of your sins and make you clean. Try extra hard to help someone in need.

Let us pray.