Easter: The Final Sacrifice

 

April 12, 1998 ~ Bloomfield Standard Church

April 19, 1998 ~ Pickering Standard Church

 

Hebrews 10:1-18 - The law is only a shadow of the good things that are coming— not the realities themselves. For this reason it can never, by the same sacrifices repeated endlessly year after year, make perfect those who draw near to worship. If it could, would they not have stopped being offered? For the worshipers would have been cleansed once for all, and would no longer have felt guilty for their sins. But those sacrifices are an annual reminder of sins, because it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins. Therefore, when Christ came into the world, he said: "Sacrifice and offering you did not desire, but a body you prepared for me; with burnt offerings and sin offerings you were not pleased. Then I said, ‘Here I am— it is written about me in the scroll— I have come to do your will, O God.’" First he said, "Sacrifices and offerings, burnt offerings and sin offerings you did not desire, nor were you pleased with them" (although the law required them to be made). 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. Since that time he waits for his enemies to be made his footstool, because 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, there is no longer any sacrifice for sin.

 

The passage underlined above takes a quote from Psalm 40:6-8 which is here expounded upon to confirm to the Hebrew Christians who had converted from Judaism that the practice of continual sacrifice finally came to an end in the sacrifice of the perfect Christ for our sakes. Not because they were no longer required but because the event of which they were a foretelling had occurred. The book of Hebrews contains a wonderful comparison of the priesthood of Aaron to the priesthood of Jesus:

 

THE PRIESTHOOD OF AARON

THE PRIESTHOOD OF JESUS

Similarities

Both Jesus and Aaron were chosen by God for priestly duties

 

Hebrews 5:4-5 - No one takes this honor upon himself; he must be called by God, just as Aaron was. So Christ also did not take upon himself the glory of becoming a high priest. But God said to him, "You are my Son; today I have become your Father."

Both Jesus and Aaron offered sacrifices to God on behalf of the people

 

Hebrews 5:1 - Every high priest is selected from among men and is appointed to represent them in matters related to God, to offer gifts and sacrifices for sins.

Both Jesus and Aaron were human and able to understand our temptations

 

Hebrews 2:17-18 - For this reason he had to be made like his brothers in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people. Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.

Differences

Earthly priesthood

 

Hebrews 5:1 - Every high priest is selected from among men and is appointed to represent them in matters related to God, to offer gifts and sacrifices for sins.

Heavenly priesthood

 

Hebrews 5:6 - And he says in another place, "You are a priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek."

Aaron stood before God

 

Hebrews 10:11 - 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.

Jesus sits at God’s right hand

 

Hebrews 10:12 - But when this priest had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God.

Appointed to the priesthood

 

Hebrews 7:28 - For the law appoints as high priests men who are weak

Jesus takes office with an oath

 

Hebrews 7:28b - but the oath, which came after the law, appointed the Son, who has been made perfect forever.

Priesthood of limited duration with many priests

 

Hebrews 7:23 - Now there have been many of those priests, since death prevented them from continuing in office.

Eternal and unique

 

Hebrews 7:24 - but because Jesus lives forever, he has a permanent priesthood.

Must offer sacrifice for their own sins before they could offer sacrifices for people

 

Hebrews 5:2-3 - He is able to deal gently with those who are ignorant and are going astray, since he himself is subject to weakness. This is why he has to offer sacrifices for his own sins, as well as for the sins of the people.

As a sinless man Jesus had no need to offer a sacrifice on His own behalf

 

Hebrews 7:26-27 - Unlike the other high priests, he does not need to offer sacrifices day after day, first for his own sins, and then for the sins of the people. He sacrificed for their sins once for all when he offered himself. For the law appoints as high priests men who are weak; but the oath, which came after the law, appointed the Son, who has been made perfect forever.

Descended from the tribe of Levi, that of Aaron

 

Numbers 26:58-59 - These also were Levite clans: the Libnite clan, the Hebronite clan, the Mahlite clan, the Mushite clan, the Korahite clan. (Kohath was the forefather of Amram; the name of Amram’s wife was Jochebed, a descendant of Levi, who was born to the Levites in Egypt. To Amram she bore Aaron, Moses and their sister Miriam.

Descended from the tribe of Judah, that of David

 

Hebrews 7:14 - For it is clear that our Lord descended from Judah, and in regard to that tribe Moses said nothing about priests.

 

The final difference, which is the core of our text, is that the sacrifices made by the Levitical priests were incomplete. In verse four we read:

 

Hebrews 10:4 - It is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.

 

and Hebrews goes on to say that where the Levitical priests offered sacrifices to God on a daily basis for the people Jesus, when He had risen from the dead after His own sacrifice, ascended into heaven and sat at the right hand of God:

 

Hebrews 10:11-12 - 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.

 

His presence in heaven is symbolic of the completion of His sacrifice, Jesus would not be in heaven if more sacrifices were to be required. That Jesus is in heaven at God's right hand is an unassailable fact. His disciples saw Him ascend into heaven and were told that He would return from there:

 

Acts 1:9-11 - After he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight. They were looking intently up into the sky as he was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them. "Men of Galilee," they said, "why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven."

 

and Stephen, upon his execution, saw Jesus in heaven at God's right hand:

 

Acts 7:55-56 - But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, looked up to heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. "Look," he said, "I see heaven open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God."

 

David, in an other of his psalms, records a prophecy of the Saviour being honoured at the right hand of God:

 

Psalm 110:1 - The LORD says to my Lord: "Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet."

 

So He is indeed in heaven at the right hand of God and there is therefore no further need of sacrifice, His performance of the High Priest's sacrifice is complete and requires nothing else. We are told by John that from the right hand of God Jesus intercedes for us before God, a reminder as it were that His blood has washed away all of our sins, even those done after we are saved. John continues by emphasizing that Jesus' duties as our advocate are contingent upon His sacrifice being sufficient for all our sins, that He could not be our advocate if His sacrifice were not sufficient:

 

1 John 2:1-2 - My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have one who speaks to the Father in our defense— Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.

 

We therefore have in Jesus all that we need, there is no further payment to be made, our sins are fully covered through His blood. Because of Him we are free from our burden of sin and we are saved. We are no longer dead but alive, alive through the death of Christ and His resurrection. Through Him the debt has been fully paid. As Jesus said on the cross so long ago:

 

John 19:30 - It is finished.