Hebrews Chapter Ten, Tetelestai

 

Hebrews 10:12 But this Man, after He had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of God,

 

This Man, of course, refers to our Lord Jesus. One may exegete the verse very simply. Jesus offered a single sacrifice for sins forever. This observation should be the hallmark of the Christian faith. Jesus offered Himself as that sacrifice, Hebrews 7:27, 9:28.

By virtue of this very observation, is there another sacrifice for sin? The short answer is no. No religion can remit sin; no further offering can pardon sin. No human effort can add to, substitute or replace Christ’s one time offering. We know that Jesus’ priesthood was meritorious because the latter portion of the verse admits that Jesus, after offering Himself without spot to the Father, sat down, Mark 16:19, Psalm 110:1, Hebrews 1:3. In fact, Hebrews 1:3 draws us back full circle to the reality that Jesus, not religion, sacrifice, or human effort, effected entirely and once for all, the redemption of mankind. “When He had by Himself purged our sins, [He] sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high.”

 

Contrast Hebrews 1:3 with Hebrews 10:11. Christ offered one offering, which God accepted, and then He sat down, indicating that His work was finished, John 19:30. The alternative, framed by a million competing voices and their attendant rules, laws, regulations and sacrifices, is summarized in the latter verse. They can never sit, because their work is never finished. In unbelief they persist, and in unbelief they will be cast into outer darkness for trampling the Son of God underfoot, Matthew 25:30, Hebrews 10:29.

 

The comparison is still being wrought between Judaism and all that falls under its umbrella, and Christ. The tone of the epistle to the Hebrews is the supremacy and sufficiency of Jesus Christ over all. Our Lord is greater than the Law He gave, greater than Moses, the human instrumentality when He gave the Law, greater than the sacrifice of animals, which cannot remit sin. He is sufficient. This is why John writes, “He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world,” 1 John 2:2. The Greek term “propitiation,” is “hilasmos.” It, “signifies [in Jesus] that He Himself, through Him alone, the violated holiness and righteousness of God by man’s sin has been satisfied.” More simply put, “propitiation” can be paraphrased as, “satisfactory payment.” Imagine if you couldn’t pay the mortgage for your house any longer, because your income wasn’t sufficient for the task. Then a wealthy relative comes along, pities your situation, and buys you the house. His money is the propitiation for the house’s redemption. There is nothing more to pay. Paying further would be pointless; the bank is satisfied. Paying back your wealthy relative would be equally ludicrous because your income is no different, and therefore incapable of meeting the challenge. And if your relative was spurred by love, then you may be heaping insult upon him for his act of selfless charity. When a debt has been settled, the matter is concluded. Religion pretends that this transaction between Christ and the Father never happened, or they drag it out as though His offering is in installments, as though you’re buying furniture from E-Z Own.

 

There is no question. Jesus paid it all, as the hymnal written by Elvina Hall in 1865 attests. It is a Scripturally sound hymn, lauding the merit of Jesus’ atonement, and how the ransomed sinner can rest, not in our works, but in His work. Our Lord sat down at the right hand of the Father, and we are commanded to enter the rest that He won for us by His sacrifice, Hebrews 4:10. Let us, who name the name of Christ, be found in Him, not having our own righteousness, but the imputed righteousness of the Savior, who washed us clean in His own blood, Revelation 1:5, Isaiah 1:18, Psalm 51:7.