Where, How, Why Hebrews 10:1-18
One of the things I like a lot is musical theater. Gershwin, Sondheim, Porter, and my favorite, Andrew Lloyd Webber. I’ve seen his Phantom of the Opera multiple times, it hurt when it closed on Broadway.
Aside from Phantom, one of my favorite plays is Webber’s “Jesus Christ Superstar.” I have a copy of the movie version and I remember my boys would watch it over and over. In the play when Jesus is in Gethsemane, he is asking God to spare him. In the song Jesus declares he’s not as sure as when they started and that God is not forthcoming with a full explanation of everything. One line goes, “You’re good at the where and how, but not so hot on why!”
We know the where, Luke 23:33, “When they came to the place called The Skull (which is called in Hebrew, Golgotha) they crucified him there along with the criminals – one his right, the other on his left.”
We know the how, each of the four gospels tell us he was crucified, and Roman crucifixion involved tying or nailing of the hands and feet to a wooden cross and being left to die.
Before I go on I want to address something. Many people say none of this happened because it’s only recorded in the Bible, not true. In AD 73 Mara Bar-Sarapion’s letter written to his son refers to the retributions following the unjust treatment of three great and wise men; Socrates, Pythagoras, and the wise King of the Jews. Many scholars see little doubt that this reference is to the crucifixion of Jesus.
The historian Josephus wrote in his Testimonium Flavianum about the execution of Jesus by Pilate. And the greatest of the Roman historians Tactitus wrote in his work the Annal in AD 116, “Christus, from whom the (Christian) name has its origin, suffered the extreme penalty during reign of Tiberius at the hands of one of our procurators, Pontius Pilate.”
So we know the where and the how; how are we on the why? Today’s scripture addresses the why. Verse 1, “The law is only a shadow of the good things that are coming…”
The law, the Ten Commandments are not just rules about how we are to live now, they are a description of what our existence will be in heaven. “You shall have no other gods before me.” We will exist forever in the presence of the one and only creator of the universe. We will bow and worship only him. Other Commandments show us we will honor God and each other. They tell us we will not feel the envy or jealousy that causes men to murder or steal or covet or give false witness.
Verse 1 again, “The law is only a shadow of the good things that are coming – not the realities themselves.” The law gives us a glimpse of heaven and gives us something to look forward to, but they also point out we can never live up to the law perfectly and therefore
not be able to gain the realities of heaven on our own. As we say each week, God never turned his back on us. He gave men a way to atone for our sins.
Imperfection and sin cannot stand before a perfect and holy God. So as sin needs to punished, God gave men a system to accomplish this, the Old Testament’s sacrificial system. This system allowed men to atone for their sin and allowed men to enter the presence of God. The first seven chapters of Leviticus describe the various sacrifices needed.
The question now is, if we were given this system, why did God send Jesus? The answer to that is in the next sentence. “For this reason it can never, by the same sacrifices repeated endlessly…make perfect those who draw near to worship.”
Imperfect man making sacrifices for sin using earthly animals and mortal blood could never make a perfect sacrifice no matter how many times it’s repeated. How do we know this? Verses 2 through 4, “Otherwise, would they not have stopped being offered? For the worshippers would have been cleansed once and for all and would no longer have felt guilty for their sins. But those sacrifices are an annual reminder of sins. It is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.”
People today think, I live a good life, I’m sure they did 2000 years ago too. The sacrifices were meant to remind us that as good as we think we are, we still sin. No matter how often, nor how many, the sacrifices could not remove the sin from men’s hearts and from God’s vision.
Verse 6, “Sacrifices and offerings…you did not desire, nor were you pleased with them – though they were offered in accordance with the law.”
We’ve talked about how mankind missed the spirit of the Law; mankind also missed the spirit of the sacrifices. They were not intended to be used to circumvent our sin, they were meant to remind us of our sin, and to lead us to repentance, and to God.
It is true this sacrificial system came from God; therefore, the spirit of this system is perfect. Imperfect man made the system imperfect. It’s because of this that God had to send a new system; a system perfect in spirit and perfect in practice. This system could only be performed by one who is perfect, verse 9, “Here I am, I have come to do your will. He set aside the first to establish the second.” God sent his son to do what we could not. Jesus replaces the system of imperfect sacrifices with the perfect sacrifice of holy blood. Through Jesus and the cross God sets aside the old system of reminding men of their sin to lead them to repentance and replaces it with a new system based solely on Jesus actions.
Verse 11-12, “Day after day every priest stands and performs his religious duties, again and again…But when this priest had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God.”
Our work, our religious work, is always imperfect. Therefore, every time we sin we must work at making ourselves again right with God. This creates a life of stress and torment, a life of uncertainty. This creates a barrier so high between us and God that many people simply give up.
Through Jesus and the cross our sins are forgiven and we no longer need to be burdened with continuous work to be right with God, In that regard we can rest; Matthew 11:28, “Then Jesus said, ‘Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.’”
Our readings verse 14, “For by one sacrifice he made perfect forever those who are being made holy.” By the one perfect sacrifice of God’s own flesh and blood, He made perfect forever; not for a day, not for a year, we are glorified, redeemed, and forgiven for how long? Perfect forever.
He has made perfect forever those who are being made holy, those who accept and follow Jesus. 1 John 1:9, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” Through the sacrifice of the Son the Father redeems us and the Spirit lives in us,
Verses 15 & 16, “The Holy Spirit also testifies to us about this…I will put my laws in their hearts and I will write them on their minds.” For those who accept and follow Jesus, the Holy Spirit will move us closer and closer to the life God asks us to live.
And then next we come to the most uplifting and wonderful scripture, verse 17, “Their sins and lawless acts I will remember no more.”
When we forgive someone we move on, but we remember. Bob, I forgive you. Bob, I forgive you. Bob, I forgive you. Bob, I can’t keep doing this, you don’t seem to learn, I’m done.
We accept Jesus and we still sin. But as the justified, not only does God forgive us, he forgets we did it. And as a perfect God, when he says he will remember no more, our sin never again enters his mind, not even for a nanosecond.
We know where Jesus was sacrificed, outside the walls of Jerusalem on the hill of Golgotha. We know how Jesus was sacrificed, nailed to a cross in Roman crucifixion. Now we know why Jesus was sacrificed. It is because we cannot gain the promises of eternal life as described in the Ten Commandments on our own. It is because no matter how hard we try not to; we still sin against God. It is because God never intended the animal sacrifices to become a “get out of jail free” card. It is because the first system, though from God and therefore perfect was made imperfect by men so God replaced it with a system reliant exclusively on the perfection of Jesus. It is because through our faith in Jesus, now the Holy Spirit can move our lives in alignment with God. It is because through Jesus sacrifice and our faith in him, God never looks back at our sin, we are forever free of it.
As I was working on these verses this week, I came to see that Hebrews 10 verses 1-18 are some of the best verses to refer to when discussing our faith. For these verses simply inform mankind why Jesus came to earth and what was achieved for us by his sacrifice.
God Bless,
Amen.