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.
Hebrews 10:11 And every priest stands ministering daily and offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins.
This verse hearkens back to earlier passages, where we are assaulted by a litany of identical language, meant to reinforce this truth. “For the law…can never with these same sacrifices, which they offer year by year, make those who approach perfect,” Hebrews 10:1. “Not that He should offer Himself often, as the high priest enters the Most Holy Place every year with the blood of another,” Hebrews 9:25. “Now when these things had been thus prepared, the priests always went into the first part of the tabernacle, performing the services,” Hebrews 9:6.
Hebrews 10:10 By that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.
The will the author mentions is the Father’s, of course. Jesus, prior to His incarnation, alluded that His first advent was in accordance with the Father’s will. Rather, Jesus would come to do, or fulfill, the Father’s will. As He made His circuit around Israel, He said as much, “I must preach the kingdom of God to the other cities also, because for this purpose I have been sent,” Luke 4:43.
Hebrews 10:8 Previously saying, “Sacrifice and offering, burnt offerings, and offerings for sin You did not desire, nor had pleasure in them” (which are offered according to the law), [9] then He said, “Behold, I have come to do Your will, O God.” He takes away the first that He may establish the second.
The author compounds verses 5 and 6, summarizing the multiplicity of sacrifice being considered. Again, we are confronted with the stark language that God does not desire sacrifice, and finds no pleasure in sacrifice. The writer takes pains to mention sacrifice (synonymous with offerings) four times, representing various types of offerings commanded under the Law.
Hebrews 10:5 Therefore, when He came into the world, He said: “Sacrifice and offering You did not desire, but a body You have prepared for Me. [6] In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin you had no pleasure. [7] Then I said, ‘Behold, I have come—in the volume of the book it is written of Me—to do Your will, O God.’”
Chapter 10 is contending with the futility of sacrifice and its hopeless repetition. The Law commanded sacrifice, but this passage, quoted out of Psalm 40:6-8, reveals the heart of God. He does not desire sacrifice. So, it is not the act of sacrifice that benefited the Jewish worshiper. Rather, it was the spirit behind it, the motivation that empowered the worshiper’s decision to obey.
Hebrews 10:4 For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and goats could take away sins.
Verse 4 has numerous implications worth consideration. The writer wants us to be assured, “for it is not possible” that the blood shed on Jewish altars could take away sins. The NKJV and KJV render the verse this way, while the NIV, NASB, ESV, HCSB, and RSV simply substitute the word impossible, with various synonyms.
Hebrews 10:3 But in those sacrifices there is a reminder of sins every year.
Before going forward, we must pause and summarize. Beginning with Hebrews 9:22, a very pivotal verse for redemption’s plan, the writer informs his readership that shedding of blood alone remits sin. By its very definition, shed blood (or death) is a one time sacrifice, because death prevents it from being repeated.
