The law said that the bodies of beasts whose blood was brought into the sanctuary by the high priest for sin were to be burned without the camp. Those priests who busied themselves with the tabernacle and all its laws had no right to eat of those sacrifices. Of all other sacrifices they received their portion. But of the beasts burned without the camp they could not eat.

A sign!

Then as now, those who busy themselves with the things of the law—touch not, taste not, handle not—have no right to eat of that sacrifice. For that sacrifice was a picture of Christ and his work to sanctify his people and to bring them to God. Jesus also suffered without the gate. The Jews captured him—he gave himself up. They tried him and charged him with unspeakable crimes—he answered not a word. They bruised him—like a sheep he opened not his mouth. They led him away outside the city of Jerusalem to be crucified, and there he suffered, the just for the unjust. There he restored what he took not away. And by that sacrifice he perfected forever those who are sanctified. He brought his people to God.

Not in the way of their obedience!

Christ brought his people to God through his own flesh and blood that he made an offering for sin. We, who have cast away all confidence in the law and its works and have believed on Jesus Christ, have Christ; we eat of him and are nourished and sustained by his flesh and blood. All who come to God in the way of their obedience cannot eat of Christ. They have no right. They do not believe in him. And thus they do not come to God, for they have no right. They do not have Christ’s righteousness, holiness, and perfect obedience.

And let us, therefore, go out to Jesus Christ without the camp. Let us bear his reproach. He was crucified outside the city because he was rejected by men. And is it any surprise that when you eat of Christ and drink of him and when he sanctifies you and makes you like himself, you will be rejected too? That is his reproach. People are not rejecting you. They are still rejecting Christ. Christ is an offense to them because he takes away all their laws, their works, their obedience, and their repentance and makes them worthless for salvation. Christ declares that he alone is the way, the truth, and the life; and they hate him for it.

It is the glory of the Christian to bear that reproach of Christ. If he is Christ’s, he cannot remain in the city. In the city Christ is rejected. Christ is put outside the city walls daily and weekly in many sermons, books, and articles. He is displaced, and his honor and glory as the only savior are reproached. So let us also bear that reproach. Then you must also go outside the camp. If you will retain your friends and associations, your family and your life, then you must stay in the camp; but then you shamefully refuse to bear the reproach of Christ. If you go out of the camp, you will have his reproach; and then you will also lose your name and standing, your family and friends, and even your own life. But you have Christ! Having him, you have the promise of eternal life and an entrance into another city, a heavenly Jerusalem—the glories of which far surpass any glory of this earth—where we will live and reign with Jesus Christ forever.