The Word Made Fresh
1The law only reveals a shadow of the good things to come, not the true appearance of them, so it can never make perfect those who approach through sacrifices that are offered year after year. 2If it could, wouldn’t the offerings have ceased, since the worshipers, having been fully cleansed, would no longer have any awareness of sin? 3But these sacrifices are a reminder of sin year after year 4because it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sin. 5That is why, when Christ came into the world, he said, “You do not desire sacrifices and offerings, but you have prepared my body. 6You take no pleasure in burnt offerings and sin offerings. 7Then I said, ‘See, God, as it is written in the scroll, I have come to do your will.’”
8Now, when he said, “You neither want nor enjoy sacrifices and offerings and burnt offerings and sin offerings” – things offered as prescribed in the law – 9he then added, “I have come to do your will.” So, the first has been done away with to establish the second. 10After all, it was by God’s will that we should be purified through the offering of Christ’s body for us all.
11Every priest is engaged day by day at his service of offering again and again the same sacrifices even though they cannot take away sins. 12But when Christ offered a single sacrifice for sins for all time, “he sat down at God’s right hand,” 13and since then he has been waiting “until his enemies are made a footstool for him.” 14By a single offering he has permanently purified those who are sanctified.
15And the Holy Spirit is also for us, because after he said, 16“This is the promise I will make for them after those days, says the Lord: I will put my laws in their hearts, and write them on their minds,” 17and, “I will remember their sins and crimes no more.” 18You see, where there is forgiveness there is no longer any need to make offerings for sins.
19So, my friends, since we are confident that we can enter the sanctuary through Jesus’ blood 20by the new and living way opened for us through his body, 21and since we have a high priest over the house of God, 22let’s approach fully assured by faith, with true hearts washed clean from any wicked conscience and bodies washed as well with pure water. 23Let’s hold on to our confession of hope without hesitation because the one who has given us the promise is faithful. 24And let us think of ways to nudge one another toward loving and doing good, 25without neglecting as do some to meet together, but rather encourage each other, and doing so more and more as you see the Day approaching.
26If we stubbornly continue sinning after having been told the truth, there is no longer any sacrifice available to us; 27only a fearful prospect of judgment and a furious fire that will consume every enemy. 28Those who have broken the law of Moses will die without mercy “on the testimony of two or three witnesses.” 29So, how much more punishment do you think will be deserved by those who have refused the Son of God, corrupted the blood of the covenant through which they were sanctified, and angered the Spirit of grace? 30We know the one who said, “Vengeance is mine and I will repay,” and, “the Lord will judge his people.” 31It’s a frightening thing to fall into the hands of the living God.
32But remember those days when you suffered in your struggles after having been informed, 33publicly exposed to abuse and punishment, and even sometimes put with others who were being mistreated. 34You felt for those who were imprisoned, and accepted without rancor having your possessions stolen because you knew that you already had something better and longer lasting. 35So, don’t abandon the confidence you have, for it will result in a huge reward. 36You need to endure so that you can receive the promise after having done God’s will. 37After all, “in a little while the one who is coming will arrive without delay; 38those who are righteous will live by faith, for my soul takes no pleasure in those who shrink back.”
39But we aren’t among those who are lost because they shrink back. We are among those who have faith and are saved.
Commentary
1-10: The author of Hebrews sees the law as merely a precursor of the reign of Christ (the “good things to come”). The law specified the offerings to be made. That these offerings had to be made over and over is a demonstration of their limitations. Since they had to be made over and over it is obvious that the “blood of bulls and goats” cannot take away sins for good. He paraphrases Psalm 40:6-8 to show scriptural support for his statement about the inefficacy of the law and how Christ’s coming is the abolishment of the law and the establishment of his reign. God’s will is that we’ll be sanctified through the sacrifice of Jesus.
11-18: The offering by Christ of his own body provides the means by which sins are forgiven, once and for all. Paraphrasing Jeremiah 31:33-34 he shows how Christ establishes the new covenant in which God’s law and God’s will are an integral part of those who are sanctified. There is no longer a need for a written law, for it is written “on their hearts.” Through Jeremiah God had declared that their sins would not be remembered, and if sins have been forgiven and forgotten there is no longer a need to sacrifice animals.
19-25: That forgiveness, then, ought to result in certain things; steadfastness in the faith, encouragement of one another in love and good deeds, and “meeting together” regularly to uphold one another in faith and good works.
26-31: Those who persist in wrongdoing are therefore in danger of the judgment. The mention of the “fury of fire” that consumes God’s enemies is often used as evidence that hell is a place of flames, but the author is simply using imagery from the descriptions in the Bible about the burning of sacrifices on the great altar. Since the law of Moses provided for the death penalty if guilt could be established by at least two eyewitnesses (see Deuteronomy 17:6), the author thinks it reasonable to expect that denying Christ must surely call for an even worse fate. “Vengeance is mine” is from Deuteronomy 32:35 (the “I will repay” was added at Romans 12:19). “The Lord will judge his people” is perhaps from Psalm 96:13. Given the author’s understanding of how things are to be, it is indeed a fearful thing to fall into God’s hands.
32-39: He reminds them of the time, perhaps not long past, when they were persecuted for their faith and had to endure extreme hardships. They were able to endure it only because of confidence in their faith. Hang in there, he tells them, because the Lord is coming soon (see Habakkuk 2:3).
Takeaway
Everything we might suffer in this life will be erased in the life to come.