Hebrews 9
By Pastor Jerry
A NEW COVENANT – HIS BLOOD SHED FOR YOU
It is always a dangerous thing to read someone else’s mail. You never quite get all that is being said. Hebrews is an open letter written to Jewish people and so parts of it are hard for us to understand. The hope of the author is that they will be convinced that Jesus is their promised messiah. If you aren’t familiar with temple worship, a lot of what’s happening in Chapter 9 will be a mystery to you. Verses 1-10 give you a brief overview of the how and why of Hebrew worship. The writer’s argument is simply that temple worship with all of its sacrifices and ritual is only an “illustration” of what has become real in Christ. While the temple was pretty impressive, it is only a small scale copy of the more perfect one that is constructed of spiritual material.
All of the sacrificial language seems really strange to us as well. The author says that “without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.” If you don’t take sin seriously the idea that death is required for forgiveness is tough to “wrap your head around.” Taking sin seriously is exactly what the scriptures require us to do. If you think about it, willful, self-centered living really is death. Verse 14 says, “How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God!”
Here’s the thing. If a temple in Jerusalem were still the only place where the presence of God was accessible, it would be out of reach for nearly everyone in the world. And even if you could get there, only the High Priest was allowed to experience the glory of God. Jesus is our High Priest and the Holy of Holies is our hearts – “Christ in us the hope of glory.”
I love the last sentence in Chapter 9. It tells us that Jesus is coming again and going to bring salvation to all of us who are waiting for him. So, all the time, whatever else I’m doing, I’m also waiting – waiting for him.
