The Liturgy of Finality: Cleaning Up After Atonement Text: Leviticus 16:23-28
Introduction: The Grammar of Cleansing
We live in an age that is allergic to ritual, and consequently, an age that is profoundly ignorant of what sin is and what it does. We think of sin as a simple mistake, a poor choice, a psychological hiccup to be managed with therapy or positive thinking. But the Bible presents sin as something far more potent. Sin is a spiritual contagion. It is a defiling power. It is a filth that stains everything it touches, and it cannot be removed with a simple apology. It requires blood, and it requires fire, and it requires a meticulous, divinely-prescribed cleansing.
The Day of Atonement, Yom Kippur, was the high point of Israel's liturgical year. It was the one day the high priest entered the Holy of Holies to make atonement for the sins of the entire nation. What we have in our text today is the "clean up" phase of that ceremony. The great work of atonement has been accomplished, the blood has been sprinkled, the scapegoat has been sent away. Now, the aftermath must be dealt with. And it is in these seemingly mundane, concluding details that we see the profound logic of the gospel. This is not just ancient housekeeping. This is the grammar of our salvation, showing us the nature of sin's pollution and the all-encompassing sufficiency of the work of Jesus Christ.
If we do not understand the problem that Leviticus diagnoses, we will never appreciate the solution that Hebrews proclaims. The modern church often wants to jump straight to the comforting parts of the New Testament without wading through the blood and smoke of the Old. But this is like wanting to be declared healthy without ever understanding the disease. These rituals teach us that dealing with sin is a messy, dangerous, and costly business. And they show us, in glorious typology, how our Lord Jesus Christ handled that business once and for all.
The Text
Then Aaron shall come into the tent of meeting and take off the linen garments which he put on when he went into the holy place and shall leave them there. And he shall bathe his body with water in a holy place and put on his clothes and come forth, and offer his burnt offering and the burnt offering of the people and make atonement for himself and for the people. Then he shall offer up in smoke the fat of the sin offering on the altar. And the one who sent the goat out as the scapegoat shall wash his clothes and bathe his body with water; then afterward he shall come into the camp. But the bull of the sin offering and the goat of the sin offering, whose blood was brought in to make atonement in the holy place, shall be taken outside the camp, and they shall burn their hides, their flesh, and their refuse in the fire. Then the one who burns them shall wash his clothes and bathe his body with water, and afterward he shall come into the camp.
(Leviticus 16:23-28 LSB)
The Mediator's Change of Wardrobe (v. 23-24)
The first action after the central atoning work is a change of clothes for the high priest.
"Then Aaron shall come into the tent of meeting and take off the linen garments which he put on when he went into the holy place and shall leave them there. And he shall bathe his body with water in a holy place and put on his clothes and come forth, and offer his burnt offering and the burnt offering of the people and make atonement for himself and for the people." (Leviticus 16:23-24 LSB)
Notice the details. Aaron entered the Most Holy Place not in his glorious, ornate high priestly robes, but in simple, white linen garments. These were the clothes of a servant, the clothes of humility. They were also the clothes that would be spattered with the blood of the sacrifice. Now, that specific work is done. So he re-enters the tent of meeting, takes off those linen garments, and leaves them there. They are not brought back out. Their purpose is fulfilled. This is a picture of the finished work of Christ. Our Lord, in His incarnation, laid aside His glory and took on the form of a servant (Phil. 2:7). He wore the humble linen of our humanity. In that humanity, He accomplished the work of atonement. And having finished it, He left the grave clothes, the linen, behind in the tomb. The work of humiliation is over.
After disrobing, Aaron bathes his entire body. This signifies a complete cleansing. He had to wash before he put the linen garments on, and now he must wash again after taking them off. This shows the inadequacy of the Old Covenant priesthood. The priest himself is affected by the transaction. He needs cleansing from his proximity to sin and death. Then, he puts on his regular clothes, the glorious garments of the high priest with the ephod and breastplate. He transitions from the humble servant making atonement to the glorious representative of the people before God. This is a type of Christ's ascension. Having finished His atoning work on earth (the linen), He ascended to the right hand of the Father, where He now intercedes for us in all His glory (the glorious garments). The burnt offerings that follow are offerings of total dedication and consecration, signifying God's acceptance of the people now that their sin has been dealt with.
The Residue of Atonement (v. 25-28)
The next section deals with the disposal of the instruments of atonement, and here we learn a crucial lesson about the nature of sin.
"Then he shall offer up in smoke the fat of the sin offering on the altar. And the one who sent the goat out as the scapegoat shall wash his clothes and bathe his body with water; then afterward he shall come into the camp. But the bull of the sin offering and the goat of the sin offering, whose blood was brought in to make atonement in the holy place, shall be taken outside the camp, and they shall burn their hides, their flesh, and their refuse in the fire. Then the one who burns them shall wash his clothes and bathe his body with water, and afterward he shall come into the camp." (Leviticus 16:25-28 LSB)
First, the fat of the sin offering is burned on the altar (v. 25). The fat was considered the richest, best portion, and it always belonged to God. This signifies God's satisfaction. The offering is acceptable to Him. His portion is received, and His justice is honored.
But then we see something remarkable. The man who led the scapegoat into the wilderness, the goat that carried away the sins of the people, is now considered unclean (v. 26). He must wash his clothes and his body before he can re-enter the community. Likewise, the carcasses of the bull and goat used for the sin offering are not eaten or left on the altar. They are taken completely outside the camp, to a clean place, and are utterly destroyed by fire, every last bit of them (v. 27). And the man who performs this task is also rendered unclean and must wash before re-entering the camp (v. 28).
What is this teaching us? It is teaching us that sin is so profoundly polluting that even the instruments God uses to remove it are contaminated in the process. The goat that bears the sin defiles the one who leads it. The carcasses that represent the sin offering defile the one who disposes of them. This is the great weakness of the Levitical system. The tools get dirty. The priests need washing. The process is contaminating.
This should make us marvel at the ministry of Jesus Christ. He touched lepers, and instead of Him becoming leprous, they became clean. He touched the dead, and instead of becoming ritually unclean, He raised them to life. He bore all our sins in His body on the tree, and He was not defiled by them. He absorbed all that pollution, all that filth, all that contagion into Himself, and He exhausted it. He is the one priest who does not need to be cleansed after the sacrifice, because He is the cleansing.
Outside the Camp
The location of this final disposal is of paramount importance. The sin-laden carcasses are taken "outside the camp." The camp represented the holy community of God's people, dwelling in God's presence. To be outside the camp was to be in a place of rejection, shame, and curse.
The author of Hebrews picks up this exact detail and applies it directly to Jesus. "For the bodies of those animals whose blood is brought into the holy places by the high priest as a sacrifice for sin are burned outside the camp. Therefore Jesus also, that He might sanctify the people through His own blood, suffered outside the gate" (Hebrews 13:11-12).
Golgotha, the place of the skull, was outside the city gates of Jerusalem. Jesus was crucified there, bearing our shame, becoming a curse for us. He was cast out so that we could be brought in. He became the ultimate sin offering, completely consumed by the fire of God's wrath on our behalf. He was taken "outside the camp" of the holy city, rejected by His own people, so that we, who were outsiders and aliens, could be brought into the true camp, the heavenly Jerusalem, the very family of God.
Conclusion: The Finished Work
This ritual of Leviticus, with all its washing and burning, shows us an atonement that was real but also temporary and incomplete. Aaron had to perform this every year. He had to wash before and after. The men who helped him were defiled. The whole process was a constant reminder of sin's polluting power and the inadequacy of animal sacrifices to truly remove it.
But Christ has come. He is the great High Priest who did not enter the Holy Place with the blood of bulls and goats, but entered once for all with His own blood, having obtained eternal redemption (Hebrews 9:12). He did not need to wash afterward, for He is the fountain of living water that cleanses us. The instruments of His sacrifice, the cross, the nails, the tomb, did not defile Him; He consecrated them.
Because He was burned outside the camp, we are now welcomed inside. Because He wore the linen of humiliation, we are now clothed in the glorious robes of His righteousness. Because He finished the work, there is no more "clean up" required. The atonement is not an annual event but an eternal reality. The lesson from the end of the ceremony is its finality. It is done. It is finished. Therefore, as Hebrews tells us, let us "go out to Him outside the camp, bearing His reproach" (Hebrews 13:13). Let us leave the old systems of works and ritual behind and cling to the one who was cast out for us, for He is our perfect and permanent cleansing.