Category: Hebrews

Take a moment to read Hebrews 9:11-28 before reading the devotional below.

Today’s passage is a bit longer, but this section has one main idea: Jesus is the perfect sacrifice. In modern America, we don’t really have a good framework for the idea of ceremonial sacrifices (specifically involving killing animals). But the first-century Jewish readers of this letter would have a very visual concept of a sacrificial system. It was messy. It was bloody. It was very specific and precise. The death of an animal was considered a payment for sin because sin and death are intertwined. God established that reality very clearly the moment Adam and Eve left the Garden of Eden.

Verses 16 and 17 offer an analogy we might understand better: a legal will doesn’t go into effect until a person dies. Death activates a specific legal contract that is binding. When we think about the payment collected for sin, it is important to understand that death activates that payment. Jesus’ death was far more valuable than the death of any animal or any of us. His was the ultimate death because of his divine status as God. His death paid for all sin for all time. The old sacrificial system is no longer needed.

Jesus is the priest, the sacrifice, and the God to whom the sacrifice is offered as payment. He fills every role in the play. He’s the judge, the defense lawyer, and the jury. I love the way this chapter ends in verse 28: “He will come again, not to deal with our sins, but to bring salvation…” Jesus has dealt with your sin. It’s taken care of. He’s not coming back to yell at you or to condemn you. If you are “eagerly waiting for him” then he’s coming to rescue you. He is everything you will ever need.

“The old system under the law of Moses was only a shadow, a dim preview of the good things to come, not the good things themselves. The sacrifices under that system were repeated again and again, year after year, but they were never able to provide perfect cleansing for those who came to worship. If they could have provided perfect cleansing, the sacrifices would have stopped, for the worshipers would have been purified once for all time, and their feelings of guilt would have disappeared. But instead, those sacrifices actually reminded them of their sins year after year. “

I wear glasses to see things that are far away. Without them, objects in the distance are a blur of shapes and colors. I can see faintly, and perhaps if I really squint I can make out a few details. Seeing clearly only comes when I put my glasses on. Similarly, the systems of the Old Testament — prior to Jesus’ life on earth — were blurry shadows of God’s kingdom. There were fuzzy images of concepts like atonement for sin and a Messiah to come, but nothing was quite clear.

Year after year, God’s people continued to offer sacrifices to him as prescribed in the law. I’m sure it would have been easier if they could have just brought in a sacrifice that would have covered everything — past, present, and future sins. Maybe some people wanted to say to the priest, “Can you just apply this to next year, too?” Unfortunately, the old system didn’t work that way. No sacrifice was ever perfect enough. Instead, offering sacrifices just cemented their reality of being sinners. That much was not blurry at all.

We live on the other side of history. Jesus has come to earth and we have the privilege of living in God’s new covenant. Our sins are paid for once and for all time. We are still sinners, but we get to experience and understand grace in a whole new way. The Holy Spirit dwells in each one who follows Jesus, so that we can have full access to God. It’s an incredible time to live. Jesus brought into focus what they could not possibly see in the Old Testament. However, we still only see partially what we will fully see when Jesus returns and God’s kingdom is brought fully to earth. Get ready for an awesome “aha moment” because it’s coming!

“For it is not possible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins. That is why, when Christ came into the world, he said to God,

‘You did not want animal sacrifices or sin offerings.
    But you have given me a body to offer.
You were not pleased with burnt offerings
    or other offerings for sin.’
Then I said, ‘Look, I have come to do your will, O God—
    as is written about me in the Scriptures.’

First, Christ said, ‘You did not want animal sacrifices or sin offerings or burnt offerings or other offerings for sin, nor were you pleased with them’ (though they are required by the law of Moses). Then he said, ‘Look, I have come to do your will.’ He cancels the first covenant in order to put the second into effect. For God’s will was for us to be made holy by the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ, once for all time.”

We have talked at length about how the old system of animal sacrifice was replace by a new covenant with God as a result of Jesus’ sacrifice of himself on the cross. Today’s verses point us towards the heart of God. What does he want from his people? While he had given them an earthly, tangible way to pay for their sins, God was never really interested in these offerings. Throughout the Old Testament, God had already made this clear. Those who were paying attention to God’s heart had no question about Jesus’ identity as the Savior, or Messiah. Those who focused on the law missed it completely.

So what exactly does God want? Micah 6:6-8 gives us the answer:

“What can we bring to the Lord?
    Should we bring him burnt offerings?
Should we bow before God Most High
    with offerings of yearling calves?
Should we offer him thousands of rams
    and ten thousand rivers of olive oil?
Should we sacrifice our firstborn children
    to pay for our sins?

No, O people, the Lord has told you what is good,
    and this is what he requires of you:
to do what is right, to love mercy,
    and to walk humbly with your God.”

Many people claim the label “Christian,” and for many that means they follow some cultural traditions that are historically rooted in the Christian church. Deliberately following Jesus means looking beyond these traditions to understand the heart behind them. Don’t give an offering just to hear some change clink in the plate. Do the right thing in your life. Find someone to whom you can show mercy. Walk around with deep humility that assumes you are not always right. Jesus was the once-for-all sacrifice in order to give you freedom. Use today to live that freedom by sacrificing your pride and your comfort to him.

“Under the old covenant, the priest stands and ministers before the altar day after day, offering the same sacrifices again and again, which can never take away sins. But our High Priest offered himself to God as a single sacrifice for sins, good for all time. Then he sat down in the place of honor at God’s right hand. There he waits until his enemies are humbled and made a footstool under his feet. For by that one offering he forever made perfect those who are being made holy. And the Holy Spirit also testifies that this is so. For he says,

‘This is the new covenant I will make
    with my people on that day, says the Lord:
I will put my laws in their hearts,
    and I will write them on their minds.’

Then he says,

‘I will never again remember
    their sins and lawless deeds.’

And when sins have been forgiven, there is no need to offer any more sacrifices.”

In chapter 8 the author of Hebrews referenced Jeremiah 31, and this reference is repeated here in today’s passage. Why would the author keep going over and over the same points? It might be tempting to start skimming, thinking that these points have now been driven home for several chapters. However, imagine that this letter was designed to be read aloud and delivered as a sermon (which it most likely was). A sermon often has a circling back or repetitive style because listening to the whole thing at once is very different from dissecting it verse by verse as we are doing here. To replicate the early audience’s experience, you could listen to all of Hebrews in one sitting in the Bible app (YouVersion). I suggest using either the New Living Translation or The Message versions for that purpose.

Let’s focus on the last verse in today’s passage, which stands out from the rest of the verses that are similar to what we have already read. “When sins have been forgiven, there is no need to offer any more sacrifices.” Rationally, you may be able to comprehend that idea. Okay, new system, Jesus, perfect priest/sacrifice, got it. But let’s soak into our hearts the idea that our sins are forgiven in a permanent and enduring way. There is so much freedom in that reality. What used to be a heavy burden has now been lifted.

In America, we are often fiercely independent. We fight for what we want and look out for ourselves. In the end, that only gets us so far. Depending on myself has significant limits. What if you didn’t have to depend on yourself for everything? What if you couldn’t depend on yourself for everything? The spiritual reality is that you cannot depend on yourself. You will never get to God that way. If you have accepted Jesus to be the Savior and leader of your life, you’ve been forgiven and there is no need for you to keep proving yourself to him. You can’t earn it. You can’t get it. You can only accept it. And that is what true freedom is all about.

“And so, dear brothers and sisters, we can boldly enter heaven’s Most Holy Place because of the blood of Jesus. By his death, Jesus opened a new and life-giving way through the curtain into the Most Holy Place. And since we have a great High Priest who rules over God’s house, let us go right into the presence of God with sincere hearts fully trusting him. For our guilty consciences have been sprinkled with Christ’s blood to make us clean, and our bodies have been washed with pure water.”

What does it mean to boldly enter heaven’s Most Holy Place? The first thing that comes to my mind is the intro to Star Trek: boldly go where no one has gone before! There’s something daring about the idea of boldly walking into a place. The thing about heaven is that someone HAS gone before us — Jesus! It’s only because of him that we are able to boldly speak to God. Very few people in the Old Testament could speak to God, and even some of the most direct encounters (like Moses on a few occasions) required him to cover his face.

As today’s passage says, we can go right into the presence of God. The problem? We don’t make use of this privilege often enough. What does it mean for you to be in the presence of God? These verses say that such an encounter is connected to a sincere heart that fully trusts God. We are no longer trapped in shame and guilt and we deeply trust God to have total control of our lives. We are free.

Why do people avoid spending time in God’s presence if we have such a privilege? Often in my work as a counselor I see that people avoid God a specific reason: they do not trust him. There are areas that we don’t always want God to touch. Boldly entering his presence with a sincere heart full of trust is actually pretty hard. We have to open our hands, release control, deal with the stuff that’s in our heart and in the way. But it’s the most free place to be, and you don’t have to fix yourself first. You simply choose to be with him and slowly open your heart to him. That might not sound bold, but it takes great courage. You’ve got all of eternity to deepen your trust in him. Take time today to be in his presence on that journey.