Letter to the Hebrews Volume 101

 The Death of Christ Jesus Perfects the Saints Part 1

Hebrews 10:11-12 And every priest standeth daily ministering and offering oftentimes the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins: But this Man, after He had offered One sacrifice for sins forever, sat down on the Right Hand of God; KJV Note: CEV=Contemporary English Version

The previous verse written to us by this author of the letter to the Hebrews declared to us that our Lord Jesus Christ has made every sinner sanctified, (that is, set apart to God the Father as His now adopted sons and daughters)who has come to Him and believed on Him alone and trusted Him only for the forgiveness or the putting away of our sins once and for all in time and throughout eternity in heaven. So, we now find the writer of Hebrews first reminding us of how inadequate all of the Mosaic Law animal sacrifices were and then he begins again to reiterate for us the splendor, the superb, and the spectacular that was and is the One time sacrifice of Jesus Christ for the sin of the human race. First, the reminder of the Old Covenant failure with these words, "And every priest standeth daily ministering and offering oftentimes the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins:" (Hebrews 10:11) (KJV). The emphasis on the frequent and many times offering of animal sacrifices paints a picture of a tiresome works based religion that left many of the Hebrew/Jewish offerers still feeling mentally weary and unsatisfied. God the Father knew that this Old system would not bring into the inner man or inner woman the peace and the relief that the guilt of their sin had been removed or 'taken away' and again this little English phrase is translated by the Greek word periaireō meaning to remove all around, that is, unveil, cast off (anchor); figuratively to expiate: - take away (up). God the Father designed this system to be their/our teacher to lead them/us to the Messiah Jesus Christ, as it is written for us by the Apostle Paul with these words in the New Testament, "Does the Law disagree with God's promises? No, it doesn't! If any law could give life to us, we could become acceptable to God by obeying that law. But the Scriptures say that sin controls everyone, so that God's promises will be for anyone who has faith in Jesus Christ. The Law controlled us and kept us under its power until the time came when we would have faith. In fact, the Law was our teacher. It was supposed to teach us until we had faith and were acceptable to God. But once a person has learned to have faith, there is no more need to have the Law as a teacher. All of you are God's children because of your faith in Christ Jesus." (Galatians 3:21-26) (CEV). Here is what the JFB Commentary had to say of Hebrews 10:11, "A new point of contrast; the frequent repetition of the sacrifices. The oldest manuscripts read, 'high priest.' Though he did not in person stand 'daily' offering sacrifices, he did so by the subordinate priests of whom, as well as of all Israel, he was the representative head. So 'daily' is applied to the high priests (Hebrews 7:27). The attitude of one ministering; in contrast to 'sat down on the right hand of God,' Hebrews 10:12, said of Christ; the posture of one being ministered to as a king. Greek, 'the which,' that is, of such a kind as. Utterly; literally, 'strip off all round.' Legal sacrifices might, in part, produce the sense of forgiveness, yet scarcely even that (see on Hebrews 10:4); but entirely to strip off one's guilt they never could."

The Contrast of the Man Christ Jesus as High Priest to the Hebrew high priest is made here next by the writer of Hebrews because it was indeed the human body of God the Son that was sacrificed for the sin of the world once and for all time and eternity. Though Jesus Christ was fully Man and fully God at the same time, He as God could and can never die, therefore, He willingly humbled Himself and placed Himself into humanity by becoming the same as His brethren and allowing His human body to be killed, as it is written with these words, "And being found in fashion as a man, He humbled Himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the Cross." (Philippians 2:8) (KJV), and also as it was written here by the writer of Hebrews earlier with these words, "Wherefore in all things it behoved Him to be made like unto His brethren, that He might be a merciful and faithful High Priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people." (Hebrews 2:17) (KJV). So, now we find the writer of Hebrews declaring these words next here in Chapter 10, "But this Man, after He had offered One sacrifice for sins forever, sat down on the Right Hand of God;" (Hebrews 10:12) (KJV). Here is what Alexander MacLaren had to say of Hebrews 10:12, "Mark the strong words which immediately precede the last clause of my text. 'This Man, after He had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God.' The writer has just been arguing that all Jewish sacrifice, which he regarded as being of divine-appointment, was inadequate, and derived its whole importance from being a prophetic shadow of the perfect sacrifice of Jesus Christ. And he points, first, in proof of his thesis, to the entire disparity of the two things - the taking away of sin, and the blood of bulls and of goats. And then he adds a subsidiary consideration, saying in effect, The very fact that day after day the sacrifices are continued, shows that they had no power to do the thing for which they were offered - viz. 'to quiet consciences.' For, if the consciences were quieted, then the sacrifice would cease to be offered. And so he draws a sharp contrast between the priests who stand daily ministering and 'offering oftentimes the same sacrifice,' which by their very repetition are demonstrated to be inadequate to effect their purpose, and Jesus. Instead of these priests standing, offering, and doing over and over again their impotent sacrifices, 'this Man' offered His once. That was enough, and for ever. And the token that the one sacrifice was adequate, really could take away sin, would never, through all the rolling ages of the world's history, lose its efficacy, lies here-He sits at the right hand of God. Brethren, in that session, which the Lord Himself commanded us to believe, is the divine answer and endorsement of the triumphant cry upon the Cross, 'It is finished,' and it is God's last, loudest, and ever- reverberating proclamation to all the world, in all its generations, 'This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.'"

If you do not know the Lord Jesus Christ and His amazing healing power, pray this from your heart to the Lord Jesus Christ (you speaking directly to Him), Dear Lord Jesus, I confess to You that I am a sinner and I need Your forgiveness. I believe You shed Your Blood and died for my sins. I believe that You rose from the dead proving that You alone are God. I repent of my sins. I want to turn from my sins. I ask You Dear Lord Jesus to come into my heart and take control of my life. I want You to be my Lord, Savior, and my God. Amen...


Sincerely in Christ,


Clifford D. Tate, Sr.


Author of “Silent Assassins of the Soul - Are you Broken by Pornography and Masturbation? You can be Restored by the Lord Jesus Christ and brought into Deliverance, Freedom, and Victory! A Guide for Men and Women in the Enemy’s Crosshairs” e-book available now @ Amazon Kindle, @ Apple I Bookstore for IPod, Barnes and Noble for Nook, Reader Store for Sony Reade, Kobo, Copia, Gardners, Baker and Taylor, and eBookPie…