sacraments
+ NewChrist Our High Priest — Hebrews 9
Heb 9:11-14 presents Christ entering "the greater and more perfect tent... by means of his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption." The earthly tabernacle was a copy; Christ ministers in the true sanctuary. Aquinas read Christ's priesthood as the perfect fulfillment of the Levitical types, and Owen built his entire theology of the atonement on Hebrews' priestly logic. The once-for-all sacrifice of 9:26 ends the cycle of repeated offerings. The chapter is a sustained meditation on the Day of Atonement in Lev 16:14-15, and its new-covenant frame fulfills Jer 31:31. The blood that inaugurates the new covenant reappears at the Lord's Supper in 1Cor 11:25.
The Trinity in the Great Commission — Matthew 28:19
Matt 28:18-20 commissions the church to baptize "in the name (singular) of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit." One name, three persons: the baptismal formula is implicitly trinitarian. Augustine's On the Trinity mined this text for the unity of the divine persons, and the Nicene Creed gave the church its trinitarian grammar. Basil and the Cappadocians defended the Spirit's full deity on such baptismal grounds. The baptism commanded here is unfolded theologically in Rom 6:3-4, and the abiding presence of 28:20 echoes the Immanuel of Matt 1:23. The triune name is the church's confession and its commission.
The Passover and the Lamb of God — Exodus 12 and John 1:29
Exod 12:21-27 institutes the Passover: a lamb without blemish, its blood on the doorposts, and the LORD passing over the houses so marked. Israel is redeemed by substitutionary blood and a shared meal. Calvin read the Passover as a sacrament of the old covenant, pointing to Christ, and Augustine saw in the lamb a figure of the crucified Lord. John the Baptist names Jesus "the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world." The Passover lamb of Exodus is fulfilled in the Lamb of God of John 1:29 and becomes the framework for the Lord's Supper in 1Cor 11:23-26. Paul says plainly, "Christ our Passover lamb has been sacrificed" in 1Cor 5:7.
The Day of Atonement — Leviticus 16
Lev 16:14-22 prescribes the Day of Atonement: blood sprinkled on the mercy seat, and a second goat sent into the wilderness bearing the people's iniquities. Propitiation and removal of sin are enacted in one rite. Aquinas read the two goats as together prefiguring Christ's one sacrifice, and Owen drew on this chapter for the nature of substitution. The mercy seat (kapporet) is the meeting place of holiness and mercy. Hebrews makes this the controlling type for Christ's priesthood in Heb 9:11-14, and Paul calls Christ the hilasterion — the mercy seat — in Rom 3:25. The scapegoat's burden anticipates the Servant of Isa 53:6.
Baptism into Christ — Romans 6 and Matthew 28
Rom 6:3-4 interprets baptism as union with Christ's death and resurrection: "we were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that... we too might walk in newness of life." The sign signifies a real participation. Calvin defined a sacrament as a visible word that seals the promise, and the Catechism treats baptism as the gateway to life in the Spirit. Augustine's debates with the Donatists shaped the church's theology of valid baptism. Baptism is commanded in the Great Commission of Matt 28:19 and grounded in the union of Rom 6:5-11. It is the visible entry into the body addressed in 1Cor 12:13.
The Lord's Supper — 1 Corinthians 11:23-26
1Cor 11:23-26 hands on the words of institution: "this is my body... this cup is the new covenant in my blood... do this in remembrance of me." The meal proclaims the Lord's death "until he comes." Aquinas articulated transubstantiation as the mode of Christ's presence, which Calvin rejected in favor of a true spiritual feeding by the Spirit. The Catechism summarizes the Catholic eucharistic faith. The Supper has been the central sacramental dividing line of the church. The "new covenant in my blood" fulfills Jer 31:31 and the Passover of Exod 12:23. The shared loaf expresses the one body of 1Cor 12:12.
The Church as the Body of Christ — 1 Corinthians 12
1Cor 12:12-27: "for just as the body is one and has many members... so it is with Christ." By one Spirit all are baptized into one body, and the diversity of gifts serves the common good. Augustine's totus Christus — the whole Christ, head and members — expresses this unity, and Calvin treated the church as the mother of believers. The Catechism develops the body-of-Christ image for the communion of saints. The Spirit who distributes gifts here is the same Spirit of John 15:26 and Pentecost in Acts 2:17. The one baptism into one body connects to Rom 6:3 and Eph 4:4-6.