John 3:13-21; Hebrews 10:1-18; Exodus 34:1-10; Psalm 130
Washed in the Blood of the Lamb: The Ten Commandments and Confession & Absolution
Confession & Absolution: Corporate or Individual?
In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit.
Should sins be confessed and absolved corporately or individually? The answer, of course, is “Yes.” In fact, Luther actually speaks of the confession of sins in three distinct settings: 1) private confession to a pastor; 2) confession to God alone; and 3) confession made to a fellow Christian. Each of these settings can be found in Scripture, indeed even in the Mosaic and Levitical law of the Old Testament.
The Levitical law prescribed five types of sacrifices or offerings: 1) Burnt Offering – a whole burnt offering of a bull, sheep, goat, dove, or pigeon for the general atonement of sin and expression of devotion to God; 2) Grain Offering – a thank offering of seasoned bread; 3) Peace Offering – a thank offering of unblemished livestock taken from the cattle, sheep, or goats; 4) Sin Offering – a purification offering after having committed sin, intentional or unintentional, and repented, or after having become unclean, in order to purify oneself for re-entering the presence of God; 5) Guilt Offering – a reparation offering of either an animal sacrifice or money in order to make reparations for sin. These sacrifices had both corporate and individual ramifications.
In addition to those periodic sacrifices, once a year, on Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, the High Priest would purify himself through ritual washings and sacrifice so that he might enter the Holy Place, and then the Holy of Holies and the presence of God, in order to make sacrifice for the sins of the people. This involved two goats, one of which would be offered as a whole burnt offering before the LORD. Its blood was sprinkled upon the mercy seat of the ark of the covenant. Then the High Priest would lay his hands upon the other goat, symbolically transferring the sins of the people to it and then release it into the wilderness. This scapegoat symbolically carried away the sins of the people to Azazel, which means, “to hell.”
Of course, all of these sacrifices pointed to the unblemished Lamb God would provide, whose holy and innocent blood has cleansed us from our sins and has marked the doorposts and lintels of our hearts that God’s wrath against sin may pass over us. Jesus was the ram caught in the thicket provided Abraham as a substitute for his promised son. We receive all that Jesus died to give us through holy baptism and faith. We are clean, holy, and righteous in His blood. And we return to our baptismal purity through confession and holy absolution, our scarlet sins as white as snow, our spiritual flesh like that of a newborn infant child.
In the Catechism Luther says: “Before God we should plead guilty of all sins, even those we are not aware of, as we do in the Lord’s Prayer; but before the pastor we should confess only those sins which we know and feel in our hearts.” Should sins be confessed and absolved corporately or individually? Yes!
Corporate confession and absolution serve us well as we plead guilty of all sins before God: “I, a poor, miserable sinner, confess unto You all my sins and iniquities with which I have ever offended You and justly deserved Your temporal and eternal punishment.” However, there are times, and likely more than we realize or are willing to admit that, despite corporate confession and absolution, our conscience remains troubled. The words have been spoken, the absolution pronounced, and yet the heart still whispers, “But what about this sin? What about that one?”
And there the devil goes to work. He accuses. He presses. He dredges up what God has already buried. He would either drive you to despair, “God could never forgive this,” or to self-justification, “It’s not really that bad.” Either way, he wins. Either way, Christ is pushed aside.
That is why we should make use of individual confession and absolution, not only when we feel the crushing weight of our sin, but even when we do not. For the Christian life is not lived by feelings, but by faith in the promises of God.
Listen again to the words of Psalm 130: “If You, O LORD, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand? But with You there is forgiveness, that You may be feared.” Notice that: with You there is forgiveness. Not uncertainty. Not possibility. Not probability. Forgiveness.
And where does the Lord place that forgiveness for you? Not in the air. Not in your imagination. But into words, spoken, external, concrete words, so that you may hear it with your own ears and believe it.
This is what Hebrews proclaims: that the sacrifices of old were only a shadow, but Christ has offered Himself once for all. “By a single offering He has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified.” There is no more sacrifice for sin. It is finished.
And yet, the benefits of that once-for-all sacrifice must still be delivered to you. That is what absolution is. It is not a new sacrifice. It is not a work you perform. It is the delivery of Christ’s finished work to you, personally, individually, by name.
In corporate confession, you hear that forgiveness with the whole congregation. And thanks be to God for that! But in private confession, that same forgiveness is spoken directly to you, into your particular sin, into your particular struggle, into your particular conscience. There is a great comfort in being able to say out loud what burdens you, to stop hiding, to stop excusing, to stop pretending, and simply confess. No polishing. No spinning. Just the truth. And then to hear, just as plainly and clearly: “I forgive you all your sins in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” Not “God might forgive you.” Not “God will forgive you if…” But “I forgive you.” As certain and sure as if Christ Himself were standing before you, which, in fact, He is, hidden under the voice of His called servant. This is not a burden. It is a gift. Luther even says that private confession should not be forced, but neither should it be despised. For what is it, after all, except the Gospel spoken to you individually?
And this brings us back to where we began. Should sins be confessed and absolved corporately or individually? Yes. Both are gifts. Both are necessary. Both flow from the same cross, the same blood, the same mercy of God in Christ.
So do not neglect the corporate confession of the Church. There, together, you stand as beggars before God and receive His rich mercy. But neither neglect the treasure of private confession and absolution. When your conscience is troubled…when a particular sin clings to you…when you need to hear, not just that sinners are forgiven, but that you are forgiven, then come. Come and speak. Come and confess. Come and receive. For Christ has already carried your sin into the wilderness. He has already borne it to the cross. He has already declared it finished. And here, now, He speaks that same forgiveness to you.
In the + Name of Jesus. Amen.
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