Christ's sacrifice- Heb 10
The letter to the Hebrews is written by someone who knows the Apostles, and is written to people who have a very in-depth knowledge of the Old Testament Scriptures. So, we can pretty safely assume that this is written to Jewish followers of Jesus.
Most of the letter compares Jesus to four aspects in Israel’s history, and makes the comparison that Jesus is superior to all these previous ways that God has revealed Himself, and paths that have been given to Israel. The author also gives warnings as a part of the comparisons.[1] Our reading completes these comparisons.
In chapters 1-2 Jesus is compared with angels and the Torah. (The Torah is the Law given to Moses on Mt. Sinai). It was believed that angels delivered the Law to Moses on Mt. Sinai, and the author is saying that Jesus and his Gospel are superior to this previous message. What Jesus teaches is more important than what the angels communicated to Moses on Mt. Sinai. … Israel was directed to take the Law very seriously, and now a more important teaching has come through Jesus, and so we should take this even more seriously than Israel took the Law.
In chapters 3-4 Jesus is compared to Moses and the Promised Land. Here the author is saying that Jesus is superior to Moses who led the people through the wilderness and built the tabernacle (which would be the model for the Jerusalem Temple). Like Moses, Jesus is also leading God’s people, but he didn’t just build the tent of the tabernacle, but actually built all creation. (Jn 1:3; Col 1:15-16) … God’s people grumbled against Moses and that generation lost their chance to enter the Promised Land, and the author of Hebrews warns us that the stakes are higher for rejecting Jesus because he is so much greater than Moses and he is leading us somewhere so much greater than the Promised Land.
In chapters 5-7 Jesus is compared to the priesthood of Israel. The priests were from the lineage of Aaron, Moses’ brother. Their role was to represent Israel before God and offer sacrifices that atoned for the sins of the people. The priests were also morally flawed people and had to offer sacrifices for their own sins as well as the sins of the people. It wasn’t a perfect system because the priests themselves were flawed. … Jesus, the perfect human being, did not have the flaws the priests of Israel had. But, Jesus didn’t come from the priestly lineage of Aaron. There is another priesthood mentioned in the Bible, however- That of Melchizedek, who encountered Abraham, and whose name is mentioned in Psalm 110 which they believed described the expected Messiah as a priest-king in the pattern of Melchizedek. Jesus is the ultimate priest-king. He is perfect, and forever present to his people. He is the superior mediator between God and humanity. … The priesthood was meant to facilitate a reconciling relationship with God, and the author warns that if it was so serious to reject the ministry of the priests, then it is even more serious to reject the ministry of this priest-king.
The last comparison is the section where our reading comes from. In chapters 8-10 Jesus is compared to the temple sacrifices. Jesus’ death on the cross is superior to all animal sacrifices as offered in the Temple. Temple sacrifices were offered constantly. Many of the sacrifices acted as a kind of sin management system, but the problem of sin wasn’t really fixed. It was an imperfect system, so the sacrifices had to be offered over and over, constantly. They could never rest. … Jesus offered his sacrifice once and for all- his work is finished and complete- he was able to sit down because that part of his work was done. It doesn’t have to be added to, or repeated. His sacrifice was sufficient to cover the whole world for all time, and this is the basis of the New Covenant that the prophets spoke about, where all sins are forgiven. And the author warns that to reject the sacrifice Christ offered, is to reject the benefits that come from it. And these benefits cannot be found elsewhere. …
A Jewish commentator, Richard Elliot Friedman, says this regarding sacrifice in the book of Leviticus.
“Sacrifice is the only mechanism for forgiveness in the book of Leviticus. There is no suggestion in Leviticus that repentance alone can bring forgiveness for violations of the laws, no indication that one can appeal to YHWH’s mercy, his grace, or his kindness for atonement. Indeed, the words ‘repentance’, ‘mercy’, ‘grace’, and ‘kindness’ do not occur in Leviticus. Thus, the psychological and spiritual state of the community is linked powerfully to this visible, tangible act. And this psychological and spiritual focus, together with the very physical focus of the consumption of meat, places sacrifice in a critical and pervasive role in the community’s life. And it places the priests who alone can perform sacrifice in a correspondingly critical role. And, no less significantly, it concentrates the community’s attention on the single place where sacrifice can be performed: The tabernacle”.
As mentioned, the mobile Tabernacle was later replaced by the Temple in Jerusalem. The Temple, served by its priests, were the only way to find forgiveness according to the book of Leviticus. But, this is an imperfect system.
In the ancient world, sacrifice is usually an act of hospitality to God. It is a meal offered by the one making the sacrifice. The priests would prepare the meal for those who were offering it, and those offering the meal would (in a sense) eat the meal with God as the host. … But with continuous sin, there was a sense of continuously offending the one they were inviting to partake of their hospitality.
Something more was needed. This system wasn’t enough. Imagine I invite you to dinner, but each time I invite you I say something ignorant that offends you. I keep inviting you, but I keep offending you, so we never really progress in our relationship.[2] … Jesus replaces these offerings for sin. He is the place where humanity and God meet together. His offering of his flesh and blood are the place where God and humanity meet together in a meal- He is where God and humanity have communion with each other. The Eucharist is a partaking of the benefits of his sacrifice. We meet God in the flesh and blood of Christ, and there we have communion with God.
Around 40 years after Jesus died and was resurrected, the temple was destroyed by the Romans, never to be rebuilt. And this is reflected in the words of Jesus in our Gospel reading-
In the ancient world, sacrifice is usually an act of hospitality to God. It is a meal offered by the one making the sacrifice. The priests would prepare the meal for those who were offering it, and those offering the meal would (in a sense) eat the meal with God as the host. … But with continuous sin, there was a sense of continuously offending the one they were inviting to partake of their hospitality.
Something more was needed. This system wasn’t enough. Imagine I invite you to dinner, but each time I invite you I say something ignorant that offends you. I keep inviting you, but I keep offending you, so we never really progress in our relationship.[2] … Jesus replaces these offerings for sin. He is the place where humanity and God meet together. His offering of his flesh and blood are the place where God and humanity meet together in a meal- He is where God and humanity have communion with each other. The Eucharist is a partaking of the benefits of his sacrifice. We meet God in the flesh and blood of Christ, and there we have communion with God.
Around 40 years after Jesus died and was resurrected, the temple was destroyed by the Romans, never to be rebuilt. And this is reflected in the words of Jesus in our Gospel reading-
“As [Jesus] came out of the temple, one of his disciples said to him, ‘Look, Teacher, what large stones and what large buildings!’ Then Jesus asked him, ‘Do you see these great buildings? Not one stone will be left here upon another; all will be thrown down.’”
… Even now, with the Dome of the Rock sitting on the Temple Mount, it is not politically possible to rebuild the Temple. It would probably start World War 3. … That historical reality matches the theological reality that the temple is replaced by Christ as the place where we find communion with God. We don’t need the Temple. Jesus is the place where sin is dealt with. Jesus is the place where heaven and earth overlap, and the place where we meet with God. …
Our reading from Hebrews summarizes what the letter has been arguing up t that point-
Our reading from Hebrews summarizes what the letter has been arguing up t that point-
“So then, my brothers and sisters, we have boldness to go into the sanctuary through the blood of Jesus. He has inaugurated a brand new, living path through the curtain (that is, his earthly body). We have a high priest who is over God's house. So let us therefore come to worship, with a true heart, in complete assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.” (Heb 10:19-22, NT Wright’s translation).Behind the curtain was the Holy of Holies, in which only the high priest once per year was allowed to go. But we are invited to boldly approach the holiness of God. Even to have that presence within ourselves. … And we come with a “true heart”- a heart like Jeremiah describes, inscribed with God’s ways (Jer 31:33). We come with ‘complete assurance of faith’- a strong trust in the God we see in the face of Jesus. We also come with ‘our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience’- Which is the result of the sacrifice of Jesus. Whatever sin weighs on us, we can bring it to Jesus, and his sacrifice is enough to restore our relationship with God. We come with ‘our bodies being washed with pure water’- The waters of baptism that join us to the body of Christ. … Christ has given us incredible access to God. May you know this in your head and your heart. AMEN
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