Hebrews 10:16-25 bridges two major sections of the letter. The main topic of Hebrews 10:1-18 is offerings and sacrifices. Because of the sacrifice of Jesus, the people of God no longer need the levitical offerings and the law. The author concludes the doctrinal argument begun at 7:1. Jesus is true High Priest and belongs to a superior priesthood, offers a superior sacrifice, functions in a superior temple, offers forgiveness that is more effective, and introduces a superior covenant. A Son of David theology is not present. Throughout he has related the doctrine to ethical demands. That is the focus of the concluding section.
now referring to the Septuagint (the Greek Old Testament) of the prophet Jeremiah 31:33-34. 16 "This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, says the Lord: I will put my laws in their hearts, and I will write them on their minds." The reading from the Greek Scriptures fits well with the oft-observed facility of the author with the Greek language and its philosophical tradition. The author shows himself to be an educated Hellenistic Jewish-Christian. The passage from Jeremiah provides the perfect proof-text for his argument. To prove that sanctification was always the will of God from the beginning, Hebrews 10:16 states that the Holy Spirit (speaking as it were through Jeremiah 31:33) promised to alter the human heart. Furthermore, the quotation in the Hebrew of Jeremiah reads, "I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts." The Septuagint passage used by the author of the Hebrew treatise reads, "I will put my laws in their hearts, and I will write them on their minds." The Greek philosophical tradition that influenced the Hellenistic world clearly shapes the second passage. To the non-Hellenistic Jew, the heart was the seat of both emotion and understanding, and so there would have been no need to differentiate the head and the heart. This new covenant God has not written in stone and stored in an ark but has inscribed it on our minds and deposited in our hearts. The wording in these verses is not exactly like the Hebrew Scriptures or the Septuagint, but the meaning is the same: God has promised to establish a new covenant with the people. Jeremiah 31:34 17 also adds by stating, "I will remember their sins and their lawless deeds no more." The author repeats the same logic used regarding Psalm 40 (quoted in Hebrews 10:5-7), to argue that because the forgiveness of sins follows upon the alteration of our hearts, there is no longer any need to make repeated offerings for sin. That which he stated last describes the condition that prevails. God changes human hearts, certainly, and in that change, God not only forgives sin, but forgets as well. The text also differs from the wording of the Hebrew Scriptures and stresses the accomplishment of Christ's atonement: God remembers our sins no more. This new covenant is a full and final forgiveness and the entire pardon of sins. It destroys every barrier for us and enables us to realize full communion with God. There is no need for further offerings of sacrifice; God has unconditionally cancelled our sin. The Septuagint Jeremiah notes that God will make the new covenant with "them" - not, as in the Hebrew Jeremiah, with the "house of Israel." The broader term "them" is useful in that by the end of the first century, Christian faith has established itself more fully in the Gentile world than in the Jewish world. Thus, 18 where there is forgiveness of these, there is no longer any offering for sin.
The focus of Hebrews has been on Jesus the great high priest, his sharing of our human temptations and sufferings, and the eternal power of his death. Unlike the letters addressed "to the Corinthians," the author does not address Hebrews to any specific geographical locale. The author does not use limiting words, such as "Jews" or "Christians," but indicates that his readers are people of faith, whose original enthusiasm may be faint or sluggish. The author warns the readers that they are in danger of losing all they had gained in confessing their faith, so they need to open their ears and hearts to the word by which they should be living.
The theology of Hebrews is interesting and fully developed. The fully formed atonement theology that is at once an adaptation of Jewish tradition and a complete divergence from it is the product of years of reflection on the relationship between the Christian church and its parent religion. One cannot doubt that Hebrews is a true child of Judaism. Only one with an extreme devotion to Israelite traditions would go to such lengths trying to explain how Christ could be both sacrificial victim and sacrificing priest. Only someone dedicated to the idea of Christ as part of the eternal pre-existent Trinity would write as if all the writings of the Old Testament were simply transcripts of the words of Jesus as the second Person of the Godhead (Hebrews 2:12-13; 10:5-8).
The author has concluded the didactic portion. The author challenges us as readers to compare the daily sacrifice performed in the temple ritual to the priesthood of Christ. Because of the sacrifice or offering of the life of Jesus for us, one no longer needs the Levitical offerings and the Law. Throughout he has related the doctrine to ethical demands. That is the focus of the concluding section, to which we now turn.
Hebrews 1:1-10:18 is dogmatic, upholding a unique set of Christian beliefs. A practical section, 10:19-13:25, instructs believers on how and why they are to live in the world.
An additional challenge of this portion of Hebrews lies in its translation. When translating the Greek into English, one takes the Greek as it comes. One carries the sequence over more or less into the translation. Portions of this text are a translation challenge, especially regarding references to Old Testament passages, which are neither "direct" translations of the Hebrew, nor quotes from the Septuagint. Better to accept the work of the author.
The theme of 10:19-25 is exhortation to faithfulness, based on the preceding argument. The passage applies the previous doctrinal teaching to their own behavior. The author since 7:1 has related doctrinal matters, such as Jesus being the true high priest and belonging to a superior priesthood, offering a superior sacrifice, functioning in a superior temple, offering forgiveness that is more effective, and introduces a superior covenant. The author will relate doctrine to ethical demands.
In the Greek, verses 19-25 are a compactly constructed sentence. Having reached the apex of his argument regarding priesthood of Jesus, the author moves on to offer a word of exhortation (10:19-25). In this paragraph, he initially rehearses several themes previously discussed or alluded to in the letter, builds on the service of Jesus as “a great high priest,” and finally attempts to encourage his readers to persevere.
10: 19-21 is a premise of the exhortation that summarizes what the author has already established. 19 Therefore, my friends, the first time since the third chapter he addresses his readers this way, since we have confidence, mentioned in 9:24-26 and 10:10-12. The boldness comes from their special status. It has parallels in other New Testament statements. Paul encourages believers to boast in their hope of sharing in the glory of God (Romans 5:2). God chose us to be holy and blameless before God in love (Ephesians 1:4). We have access to the Father through the Spirit (Ephesians 2:18). We have access to God in boldness and confidence through faith in Christ (Ephesians 3:12). We are holy, blameless, and irreproachable before God through the death of Christ (Colossians 1:22).[1] We have confidence to enter, by sheer grace, the sanctuary. Jesus dedicated and opened the heavenly sanctuary for our use. In contrast to any humanly constructed tabernacle, the sanctuary that Jesus entered and thus the one that believers can approach with boldness is the heavenly one, for which see 8:1-5a; 9:1, 11-12, 24). Entering the heavenly sanctuary is by the blood of Jesus. Having vibrantly described Christ's entrance into the heavenly sanctuary, he now focuses on the consequence for the community. They enter the heavenly sanctuary 20 by the new and living way, reminding us of the well-known statement that Jesus is the way, truth, and life (John 14:6). He defines the way as that which he opened for us through the curtain. This reminds us of the story that at the crucifixion God tore the curtain of the temple two, from top to bottom (Mark 15:38). Christ has done this through his flesh, 21 and he affirms that we have a great priest over the house of God. He is not dead like the countless victims of animal sacrifice in Jerusalem. Rather, his blood purified us to stand in the presence of the most high God. His flesh, like a curtain veiling the inner sanctum of the temple, the Father has pulled aside, providing access to God's presence for all eternity. To say it succinctly, Jesus is both the sacrifice and the high priest. No longer do we need a priestly intermediary to represent us before God because Christ is our high priest. Since God has established the new inclusive covenant through Jesus with Jew and Gentile, and since God has forgiven sin once and for all, then human beings have no reason to continue to offer a sin-offering sacrifice. He is both victim and priest. He is both offering and officiant. No longer must we continually appease God with animal sacrifices. Christ has completed that task for us, and just as the blood of sin offerings sprinkled on the altar of sacrifice served to purify the sanctuary after each occasion of sin (Leviticus 4:7, 17-18), Christ’s blood has been “sprinkled” on us — adding a peculiarly sacrificial form of purification to that already effected for us by the waters of baptism. The believer no longer needs to worry about his or her relationship with the Almighty, because in heart and mind God has made them righteous. Hence, liturgical precision no longer shapes the spiritual energy of a believer. Rather, what shapes the believer is living in community and service. Moreover, no longer is the sanctuary a specific place of mystery, open only for the properly initiated that alone could go through the curtain into the inner sanctum. Now, every believer in whatever location enters God's presence because of the blood sacrifice of Jesus. Jesus' flesh becomes the curtain that is now eternally drawn. It is a matter of the heart, not of the hearth. The believer's proximity to God is actual, real, and efficacious, unlike the old way that was, to the author of Hebrews, a mere shadow of reality. Given these realities, the author therefore extends three exhortations. As the text winds to its climactic close, practical consequences come forth from spiritual facts.
Since all of this is true, then, 22 let us approach with a true heart. The author uses the basic Greek term for heart here and may reflect, as well as the basic Greek meaning, the original Jewish idea that the heart (Hebrew lev), is the seat of both thinking and feeling.
We can approach in full assurance first of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience, which only brings self-condemnation. Such an ethical exhortation is consistent with the prophet Ezekiel, who promises that the Lord will sprinkle clean water upon the people, cleansing them from uncleanness and idols. The Lord will give them a new spirit, removing the heart of stone and giving them a heart of flesh (Ezekiel 36:25-26).[2] The evil “conscience” referred to here, however, has a more involved meaning. In Hebrews 10:2, the author ponders why those who believed that God expiated their sins by animal sacrifice would have retained a “consciousness” of sin after their sacrifices were completed. One must assume it is because this animal sacrifice was not powerful enough to effect the type of heart purification promised by God in Jeremiah 31:33. Here God promises to erase from the human heart the ignorance of the law that produces sin. Similarly, the blood of Christ erases evil from the consciousness of the believer, thus leaving them with a conscience freed from evil. Historically, the Greek term is a part of the development of our own two-pronged understanding of the concept of conscience, meaning both the innate understanding of what is moral, and the simple fact of being a sentient being. We have the assurance that God will wash our bodies with pure water. The symbol has its basis in the Old Testament. Aaron and his sons shall wash their hands and feet before entering the tent of meeting, or they will die (Exodus 30:19-21). Moses washes Aaron and his sons (Leviticus 8:6). The Lord will sprinkle clean water upon them, cleansing them from uncleanness and idols (Ezekiel 36:25).[3] The author is consistent with Paul, who urges us to cleanse ourselves from all defilement of body and spirit (II Corinthians 7:1). He is also consistent with Peter, who viewed baptism as an appeal to God for a good conscience (I Peter 3:21).[4] In short, we have properly prepared mind and body, heart and flesh to enter the heavenly sanctuary, since God is transforming the profane into the holy. Baptism is a washing away of sin. The author is more demanding than Psalm 24. Not only must those who enter the sanctuary have clean hands, but they must also have clean hearts. The author has a propensity to show that each Christian rite has superseded a previous Jewish rite. Therefore, behind the comment of the author may be the well-known Jewish ritual bath of cleansing in the mikveh (bath). To restore ritual cleanliness, a Jew would bathe. The bath was a repeated event. For the author of Hebrews, the cleansing for the Christian is eternal and complete. 23 Let us hold fast, for their enthusiasm is waning. If the community is caring for each other, they will have less time to become discouraged.
They are to hold fast to the confession of second, our hope without wavering, for he who has promised is faithful. This is possible because Jesus is a faithful and merciful high priest. In addition, God made both made and fulfilled divine promises to Jesus: “You are my Son; today I have begotten you” [1:5; 5:5] and “You are a priest forever, according to the order of Melchizedek” [1:13; 5:6]). Therefore, God is also faithful to us (10:23; cf. 2:17-18; 4:14-15).]
Further, 24 let us consider how to provoke one another third to love and good deeds. We have now seen how this author weaves together the well-known triad of "faith, hope and love," reminding the careful reader of Paul's threefold expression of the most excellent gifts (I Corinthians 13:13).[5] They will show this love by 25 not neglecting (ἐγκαταλείποντες) to meet together
Further, 24 let us consider how to provoke one another third to love and good deeds. We have now seen how this author weaves together the well-known triad of "faith, hope and love," reminding the careful reader of Paul's threefold expression of the most excellent gifts (I Corinthians 13:13).[6] They will show this love by 25 not neglecting (ἐγκαταλείποντες) in a strong action as forsaking or abandoning would suggest, to meet together. Even though Paul and his team experience persecution, God has not forsaken them (II Corinthians 4:9). Demas has deserted Paul (II Timothy 4:10). Everyone deserted Paul at his first defense (II Timothy 4:16).[7] The author admits that such forsaking is as the habit of some. Whether this came about from political danger, social liability or overconfidence in one's own sense of superiority is not part of this discussion. However, the author points the community towards the future and talks about the newness of life and the need to encourage one another in the faith. Some who had lost hope neglected congregational meetings. The author reminds the readers that he expects them to lead a full life of doing virtuous deeds, such as a life experiencing the love and fellowship of their community. It is not too far-fetched to consider that the provocation to honorable deeds implies that what was being provoked in the community was just the opposite. Rather than abandoning the fellowship, they are to encourage one another. Whatever the actual situation in the churches that first received and read this epistle, what is unquestionably at stake is the vital importance of Jesus Christ and his priestly function of bridging the gap, sealing the covenant and fulfilling the final sacrifice. Since God invites the believer into the proximity of divine glory, the author encourages her or him to express this new relationship not in division, but with loving and peaceful fellowship. He clinches the argument by reminding them that they should do all this all the more as you see the Day approaching. This echoes many other passages throughout the New Testament. Paul shared this concern when he encourages his readers that God will strengthen them to the end, so that they may be blameless on the day of the Lord (I Corinthians 1:8).[8] Thus, this expectation for the approaching Day does not justify suspending or abandoning mundane activities.
In sum, Hebrews 10:11-25 sets out a classic “how much more” argument regarding Jesus’ priesthood so that Christians who are tempted to give up or abandon their faith will be lifted up and energized to press on. 10:16-25 shows how the death of Jesus replaced the sacrificial system of Ancient Israel, and in fact, surpassed it, because unlike animal sacrifice, which did not serve to nullify sin, Jesus’ death does. In fact, the dominant theme in Hebrews is that through Jesus Christ, who has become the perfect high priest, the believer now has complete access to God, knowing how to worship God fully and authentically. The Jewish system of sacrifice and worship is now, according to the author, obsolete. Christ has superseded the worship patterns of the Levitical priests. God, the Almighty, is still transcendent and in many ways remote - but Jesus Christ has bridged the gap between Creator and creature.
One of the concepts within Hinduism is that of karma. Alicia Keys’ song, “Karma” has this phrase:
“It’s called karma, baby … and it goes around. What goes around comes around. What goes up must come down.”
Karma is a way for the Hindu religion to speak of what happens in the world. Karma is doing bad things, and bad coming back, while doing good makes good come back. It makes the world balanced.
Karma may describe part of reality. Grace invites us down a different path than that of karma. Grace invites us to view the world in a separate way.
I realize this passage uses difficult images. This passage reminds us that God gives us grace for the journey. That grace comes in several forms. We need each form of grace if we are to follow Jesus.
First, Grace comes in the form of forgiveness. Jesus came to put an end to religion. Religion makes us weary. Religion wants us to get everything right. There are uptight, terribly difficult to get right religions like golf. The harder you try, the more conscientious you are, and the more often you are impressed with how you get it wrong. The good news is that Jesus Christ has done for us that which we cannot do for ourselves; namely, make us right with God.
If we must make ourselves right with God, we will forever focus upon the external manipulation of our words and actions. This passage forces us to deal with our theology of forgiveness. It uses the images of sacrifice in the Jewish temple in Jerusalem. The people of God would bring animals to the temple. The death of the animal, in a symbolic way, took away the death penalty that sin placed upon the one who offered the sacrifice. The priest remained standing throughout this process, for he never completed his task. New sin required new sacrifices (v. 12).
The sacrifice of Jesus was different. It was final. God would not need to repeat it. “For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are sanctified” (v.14). For that reason, the Son could sit at the right hand of the Father. His task of being the sacrifice itself, as well as his task of being the priest who offers the sacrifice, has reached its completion. The curtain that separated priest from people no longer separates. We have the privilege of freely entering the presence of God. The follower of Jesus has no offering to make, for Jesus has made it. He has offered Himself for all time, and for you and me. Of course, we have sinned. We will sin again – today. Yet, God has already forgiven us, fully and completely. We cannot undo bad things by doing good things. We have no way to earn more grace than we have already received.
Second, Grace comes in the form of process. “Let us hold fast to the confession of our hope without wavering” (v. 23). The readers of this letter may have longed for their old ways. They may have felt the pressure of persecution. They wanted a smaller dose of Jesus. The grace of God is present in the process of holding on, committed to the Lordship of Christ in our lives, even amid difficult circumstances. If we truly follow Christ, we grow. We change. God transforms us. We are in process. In fact, verse 23 goes on to say that God “who has promised is faithful.” We will fall short. God will not. God is not done with you, so do not be willing to be done with yourself. God’s grace is divine patience and partnership in our process and perseverance.
Third, Grace comes in the form of community. We “provoke one another to love and good deeds, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another” (Hebrews 10:24). The word “provoke,” means pester, deeply disturb, and distress. Has a sermon ever provoked you? Has a sermon provoked you to love?
Our transformation is a corporate partnership between each other and God. John Lennon reminds us — “I get by with a little help from my friends.” God has given us each other for this journey.
Everyone in the church should have their spiritual story and journey of transformation known by other people. Somebody else needs to know your gifts and know your vices. Somebody else needs to ask you hard questions and grant you kind words. Remain unknown and you will remain unchanged. The grace of God is in such provoking and encouraging words, leading us to practice the Lordship of Christ in every area of our lives.
Our theology reminds us that God continually offers us grace through forgiveness, through process, and through community.
[1] …. through whom we have obtained access to this grace in which we stand; and we boast in our hope of sharing the glory of God. (Romans 5:2)
… just as he chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world to be holy and blameless before him in love. (Ephesians 1:4)
for through him both of us have access in one Spirit to the Father. (Ephesians 2:18)
… in whom we have access to God in boldness and confidence through faith in him. (Ephesians 3:12)
… he has now reconciled in his fleshly body through death, so as to present you holy and blameless and irreproachable before him— (Colossians 1:22)
[2] 25 I will sprinkle clean water upon you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. 26 A new heart I will give you, and a new spirit I will put within you; and I will remove from your body the heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.” (Ezekiel 36:25-26).
[3] “19 with the water Aaron and his sons shall wash their hands and their feet. 20 When they go into the tent of meeting, or when they come near the altar to minister, to make an offering by fire to the Lord, they shall wash with water, so that they may not die. 21 They shall wash their hands and their feet, so that they may not die: it shall be a perpetual ordinance for them, for him and for his descendants throughout their generations.” (Exodus 30:19-21)
Then Moses brought Aaron and his sons forward, and washed them with water. (Leviticus 8:6)
I will sprinkle clean water upon you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. (Ezekiel 36:25)
[4] Since we have these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body and of spirit, making holiness perfect in the fear of God. (II Corinthians 7:1)
And baptism, which this prefigured, now saves you—not as a removal of dirt from the body, but as an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, (I Peter 3:21)
[5] Yet, to suggest that this offers evidence of a direct Pauline hand is not correct.
[6] Yet, to suggest that this offers evidence of a direct Pauline hand is not correct.
[7] persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; (II Corinthians 4:9)
for Demas, in love with this present world, has deserted me and gone to Thessalonica; Crescens has gone to Galatia, Titus to Dalmatia. (II Timothy 4:10)
At my first defense no one came to my support, but all deserted me. May it not be counted against them! (II Timothy 4:16)
[8] He will also strengthen you to the end, so that you may be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. (I Corinthians 1:8)
[9] Bono: In Conversation, inspired some of these reflections on karma and grace.
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