“First he said, 'Sacrifices and offerings, burnt offerings and sin offerings you did not desire, nor were you pleased with them' —though they were offered in accordance with the law. Then he said, 'Here I am, I have come to do your will.' He sets aside the first to establish the second. And by that will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.
Day after day every priest stands and performs his religious duties; again and again he offers the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But when this priest had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, and since that time he waits for his enemies to be made his footstool. For by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy.
The Holy Spirit also testifies to us about this. First he says: 'This is the covenant I will make with them after that time, says the Lord. I will put my laws in their hearts, and I will write them on their minds.'
Then he adds: 'Their sins and lawless acts I will remember no more.'
And where these have been forgiven, sacrifice for sin is no longer necessary.” -Hebrews 10:8-18
This passage is continuing the author’s thought from the previous section, and you can read about that here before proceeding. The “he” at the start of this passage refers to Jesus Christ from back in verse 5. In verses 6-7, the author quoted Psalm 40:6-8, and now he moves on to more Old Testament references and quotes to continue making his point.
But first, in verse 8, the author refers to Mark 12:33, which says, “To love him with all your heart, with all your understanding and with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself is more important than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.” These are not words of Jesus, but Jesus does agree with the person who said them. You can read the context of that here. Jesus is conversing with a teacher of the law, and after Jesus tells the teacher the greatest commandments, the teacher replies with the words above. Jesus affirms that this is “not far from the kingdom of God.”
That teacher of the law understood whthe point that the author of Hebrews has been trying to make for many verses now – that loving God and loving others is what it’s all about, not following rituals of burnt offerings and sacrifices. That is summarized in what the author of Hebrews says next in verse 9 – “I have come to do your will.” That is why we are following Jesus, to do God’s will. God does not desire for us to offer up sacrifices, but He desires that we do His will. God takes away those rituals that He had previously established so that we can follow the new way of doing things in Jesus Christ. The sacrifice of Jesus means that those ritual sacrifices are no longer necessary.
As the author has been pointing out many times now in these last few chapters and again in verse 10, because of Jesus following the will of God, we are all made holy through His sacrifice. Jesus’ sacrifice truly was once and for all!
This once and for all sacrifice is in contrast with what the priests did according to the Old Testament law, explained in verse 11. They would daily offer sacrifices, again and again, but those could never truly take away the sins of the people. The finality of Jesus’ sacrifice is contrasted to the continual sacrifices of the priests.
Verse 12 turns the focus back to Jesus. After Jesus completed His sacrifice for all of the sins of all people for all time, He sat down at the right hand of God. The posture of standing indicates work or movement, whereas sitting signifies that His work was done. Note that in verse 11, “every priests stands” whereas in verse 12, Jesus “sat down.” He completed the work that He came to do, so He sat down at the right hand of God. This is the place of highest honor! Even angels are not suited to that honorable place; in Luke 1:19 the angel Gabriel said, “I stand in the presence of God.” This verse tells us both that Jesus finished the work and that He is due the highest honor because of that work.
Now that His work is done, Jesus waits for His enemies to be made His footstool (verse 13). It doesn’t tell us who these enemies are, but perhaps the author leaves that vague on purpose so the reader questions whether he or she is among those enemies and will take steps to make sure that’s not the case.
Yet again in verse 14, the author emphasizes the finality of Jesus’ sacrifice. “For by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy.” Jesus did it; the work is done!
In verse 15, the author sets up two more Old Testament quotations. It’s interesting to note that he calls out the Holy Spirit as testifying about these things. While the author clearly believes that the Bible is inspired by God, he often ascirbes the words to their human authors and/or “God.”
The passages quoted in verses 16-17 are from Jeremiah 31:33-34. He previously quoted from this same chapter of Jeremiah back in Hebrews 8, but he emphasizes that passage again here to remind the reader that the old covenant is no more and the new covenant is now in place. Jesus Christ has established this new covenant, and it truly does provide for the forgiveness of sins.
Finally, this section is concluded in verse 18 by the author making his point yet again that the people no longer need to make ritual sacrifices because Jesus’ sacrifice took care of all that.
So what can we today take from all of this? While we’re pretty far removed from the days of making literal sacrifices to please God under the old covenant, it is important for us as followers of Jesus Christ to remember that His sacrifice is still sufficient for us and our sins even today! We may not need to see the contrast between the old and new covenants like the early believers did, but we need to see the contrast between following Jesus and going against Him.
Once Jesus came, those old ways of sacrifices were no longer necessary, so the people needed to turn to the ways of Jesus instead. If you had a life of following this world’s ways before you met Jesus, those ways are no longer necessary; instead, you need to put your faith and trust completely in Jesus and in His sacrifice that is truly sufficient for all.
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