Hebrews 10:1-10

September 9, 2018

 

Forty years ago this summer, I had just graduated from high school, and less than a month later, made my way to Colorado Springs for basic training at a military academy.  It was a challenging summer, but by the end of August, we had made it through, and were starting school.  Labor Day weekend was known as parent’s weekend – the first time we could see our parents, and in fact, leave the academy grounds.

Having been raised in a Christian home, one of the first things we did was find a church to attend that Sunday.  It’s interesting, that very Sunday, forty years ago, was the same Sunday this church was planted.  Well, hopefully we would find a church that would be my home during my cadet years.  We found a little independent Baptist church and attended.  My parents liked it well enough and asked the pastor if I could get a ride each Sunday to church.

Well of course the pastor would arrange a ride for me.  He called on his music director, Rod Rogers, to pick me up.  He was a sports guy like me – and quite a likeable guy, so we soon established a good friendship.  In fact, he began inviting me out to dinner each week before taking me back to school.  Which was fine by me.  You see, he had a daughter with whom I was soon smitten.  She was a senior in high school – but, alas, she was already dating another guy.  So we developed a friendship – I in love, she dating that rascal.

At some point during her senior year, her senior pictures were taken, and she gave me one.  Oh, how I adored that picture.  I looked for it this weekend – and found it!  I had that picture in my dorm room, and gazed at it often.  Did I mention, I was smitten.

Let me tell you the rest of the story.  As it happened, she broke up with that other guy in early March, right before her 18th birthday.  She told me so in passing at church that Sunday.  My response?  Oh, that’s too bad – do you want to go out this weekend?  Not kidding – and she said yes.  She was 17, I was 18 – and that was it for me.  The next week was her 18th birthday – I sent her a dozen, long stem red roses – and now, forty years later, the rest is history.  I left the academy, went to Bible college, asked her to marry me, and we were, just over a year later.

Why do I tell that story?  I was in Missouri going to Bible college – she was still in Colorado.  We wanted to be together – and I still had the picture on top of my dresser.  So we planned a wedding, and got married on June 6, 1980.  She was beautiful – and still is.  But can you imagine, after her father reluctantly walked her down the aisle and answered the question, “Who gives this woman to this man,” with, “her mother and I.”  And we took our vows, and she became mine.  Can you imagine me going home to our little efficiency, one-room apartment on campus, and staying committed…to the picture?  To hold the picture, gaze at the picture, love the picture – when sitting across our little apartment, I had the real thing?  Why would I want the portrait, the shadow, when I had the real thing?  She was mine, and I, hers.

That’s exactly what some were considering doing with Jesus.  The author of Hebrews was writing to a group of Jewish believers.  We don’t know who the author was – nor do we know exactly who the original readers were.  For lots of reasons I won’t rehearse, it’s generally agreed this was small church, perhaps a house church in Italy, composed of Jews who had converted to Christianity – who had accepted Jesus as their Messiah.  As a result, they were facing hardship, opposition, even persecution.  For example, chapter 10:32-34 says:

32 But remember the former days, when, after being enlightened, you endured a great conflict of sufferings,

33 partly by being made a public spectacle through reproaches and tribulations, and partly by becoming sharers with those who were so treated.

34 For you showed sympathy to the prisoners and accepted joyfully the seizure of your property, knowing that you have for yourselves a better possession and a lasting one.

So persecution had resulted in great sufferings, public reproaches and tribulations, even imprisonment and seizure of property.  Further, chapter 12:4 leaves open the distinct possibility martyrdom was coming, “You have not yet resisted to the point of shedding blood in your striving against sin” – the implication being, shedding of blood was coming.

So the author of Hebrews writes to this suffering church which was frankly, scared to death.  Some had begun avoiding contact with outsiders.  Some, as we’ll see later in chapter 10, had stopped attending their corporate gatherings. Some, most devastatingly, were considering returning to Judaism – perhaps some had already done so. After all, they were asking themselves, what’s going on?  Where is God?  Where is Jesus?  Is this worth it?  We weren’t facing this kind of opposition in our old religion, Judaism. Maybe we should just go back.

During these challenges, word came that a letter written especially to and for them had arrived.  They gather in this small church to hear it read.  The author was likely well-known to them, a leader in this new Christian movement.  He’s obviously well-versed in the OT, and somehow knows well the situation at the church.  He writes this pastoral letter to love them – to both encourage and warn them.  You see, from the author’s perspective – this quitting Jesus and returning to Moses – leaving the New Covenant for the Old Covenant – was like to loving the picture more than the real thing – with disastrous consequences.  Do you think my wife and I would have stayed married if I said, thanks for saying I do, but I’m good with the picture?

Why would you do that?  So he spends much of the heart of the letter demonstrating how Jesus was better in every way.  He’s better than Moses.  His Melchizedekian priesthood is better than the Levitical priesthood.  His high priesthood is better than Aaron’s.  His sacrifice is better than the Levitical sacrifices.  His blood is better than that of animals. His one-time offering is better than their incessant yearly offerings. His heavenly tabernacle is better than the earthly tabernacle.

How so?  Because all of the OT is simply a picture, a shadow of the good things to come in Christ.  Not that there was anything wrong with the Old Covenant, the Law of Moses, the Levitical priesthood and the sacrifices.  Far from it – they were given by God.  But they were always intended to be a type – a shadow – a picture pointing forward to Christ and His gospel.  And now, since the gospel and the New Covenant through the sacrifice and blood of Jesus has come – you can’t hold onto the picture.  You can’t go back to the picture.  You have become part of the church – the bride of Christ.  Why hold onto the picture when you have Christ Himself?  You have the real thing, there’s nothing to go back to.  Bringing us to our text today, Hebrews 10:1-10.

I’ve said over and over this author says things over and over.  Because, not only are they incredibly important to him, but he brings our every nuance of the truth.  Like a diamond, he examines each facet of the same glorious truth from a little different perspective.  And it is our responsibility, as students of the Word to study and discover these great nuances of each eternal truth.  So, the outline of the text will look familiar, with two simple points:

The Shadow (or the picture) of the Old Covenant (1-4)
The Fulfillment (or the real thing) of the New Covenant (5-10)

I’ll try to pick out the nuances upon which the author focuses in each of these points, starting with, the Shadow of the Old Covenant.  Verse 1 says, for the Law – that’s obviously speaking of the Law of Moses. We remember the Old Covenant had both the Law of Moses and the Levitical Priesthood and the sacrificial system and the Tabernacle for those offerings of worship and repentance when the Law was broken.  That’s all included in the Old Covenant.  But here, the author simply says, the Law, has only the shadow of the good things to come.  And we remember the Old Covenant was temporary and typological – it was a temporary picture pointing forward to something much better to come – namely Jesus, His Gospel and the New Covenant.

So it was a shadow. The word speaks of a sketch or outline or likeness. So, for example, a painter may sketch what will be a beautiful painting on a canvas.  The sketch is not the painting –it simply outlines what will be the painting.  But even the painting, for example the Mona Lisa, is just a painting of the real thing.  It was not the real thing – but a likeness of it, and pointed to it.  So also, the Law was a sketch, a shadow pointing to better things to come.  Notice, it was not the very form or the very image of the thing.  Think of it this way – it’s was just a two-dimensional outline, not the multi-dimensional reality. It wasn’t the actual sunset – just a picture of a beautiful sunset.  Have you ever noticed that – you’re standing at the beach taking a picture of a glorious sunrise or sunset, only to be later disappointed.  It never captures the glory of the real thing.

And therefore, his conclusion, it could never, by the same sacrifices offered continually year by year – a reference to the Day of Atonement – it could never make perfect those who draw near.  And yet, that’s the point of religion, is it not?  To make imperfect people perfect, so they can draw near to God.  But as we’ve seen, the Old Covenant practices never cleansed or purified or perfected the consciences of the people so they could draw near.  The whole setup was such that they could come close, but only so close.  They could not ultimately draw near to God.  They were kept, unclean as they were, at a distance.

Verse 2 – otherwise, if those OT sacrifices had worked, would they not have ceased to be offered?  How many goats do you have to kill?  Why a Day of Atonement every year, year after year, if they removed sin and purified the sinner of sin and corresponding guilt?  Wouldn’t the people cease to be conscious of their sins?  But in fact, verse 3, those annual, never-ending sacrifices did not remove sin – they simply reminded the worshipper of their sin – and made a promise of something better to come.  Every year the sacrifice was offered, reminding the people, they had sins, ongoing sins, that needed perpetual sacrifice.  And so the Day of Atonement was actually a somewhat sad day – it reminded people they were sinners, still guilty sinners needing ongoing atonement.

For, verse 4 – the author says something stunning – more than stunning, actually astonishing, offensive, shocking, outrageous.  For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats – those were the animals offered on the Day of Atonement – impossible for their blood to take away sins.  I thought that’s why we did it.  That’s preposterous.  Pious Jews would have fought to their death defending that idea.  Isn’t that the truth of the Old Covenant?

The author’s argument has been, those sacrifices were simply types, shadows that could never take away sin, could never perfect the sinner – that is, make him or her holy – could never make them fit to draw near to God.  There was only One who could do that.  And I want to say in the same way – no amount of being good, no amount of sincerity, no amount of faithfully following the tenants of this or that religion will ever do.  None of that will ever take away sin.  Think about it – what are the ways we – humankind tries to deal with our wrong and guilt?

We deny sin or deny guilt – it’s just a human construct we need to eliminate.
Well, we say, no one’s perfect – true enough.
We might commit to never do that again – but we often do. Or something else.
We might apologize and try to make things right. But how do you make things right with a holy God?
We invent religions to make things right – all the while ignoring the way of grace God Himself has provided as the only way.

If all that blood of all those animals didn’t ultimately work, how do we make it right?  Point two – the Fulfillment of the New Covenant, verses 5-10 – the fulfillment we find in Jesus alone.  Verse 5, therefore – because the Old Covenant will never take away sins – therefore, when He comes into the world, He says, stop right there.  Two things to notice: first, when He comes into the world is speaking of the incarnation of Jesus – when He took on flesh and became the God-man.  Second, notice He came into the world, and this conversation took place a thousand before the incarnation – it speaks of His preexistence.  He came into the world from somewhere.  In other words, Jesus existed before He was born of Mary.  He has always existed – He, like His Father and the Holy Spirit, are co-eternal.

And from there, the author quotes Psalm 40 and applies it to Jesus – a conversation, if you will, between Jesus and His Father.  No one else in the NT does that.  This was never seen as a messianic prophecy, until Hebrews.  But here’s a point I want you to catch:  the entire Bible is about Jesus – Old and New Testaments.  And we must read the OT in view of the coming of Christ.  Meaning, in some way, everything in the OT is about Jesus.  Remember, on the road to Emmaus, Jesus appeared to two of His disciples who were perplexed about His death and resurrection.  And starting with Moses and all the prophets – that’s all the OT – Jesus explained how they all pointed to Him.  So when we read the OT, we look for Christ – He’s everywhere.

Well, here, the author quotes this Psalm of David, and applies it to Jesus.  And Jesus basically says three things:

First, the OT Sacrifices do not ultimately work – they are not what You, Father, have desired.  Verse 6 – in burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin You have taken no pleasure.  But, you say, I thought God was the one who instituted the Old Covenant.  I thought He gave the sacrificial system?

He did.  But it has always been an issue of the heart.  Get this – He’s never wanted blood alone.  No, He’s wants the hearts of the worshippers who se in the sacrifice – ultimately the sacrifice of Christ – a recognition of their own sinfulness, their need of repentance, and their need of a Savior.  God has always wanted the hearts of His people – a heart of repentance leading to obedience made possible by the work of Christ.  That’s why we needed a new covenant – because the old one left us in our sinful states – with hearts of stone and no ability to obey.  It’s always been a matter of the heart.  Consider these familiar OT passages:

 

In 1 Samuel 15:22, after Saul violated the Law and offered a sacrifice to God.  “Samuel said to Saul, ‘Has the LORD as much delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices As in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, And to heed than the fat of rams.’”

 

In Psalm 51:16-17, David’s prayer of confession after his sin with Bathsheba,  “For You do not delight in sacrifice, otherwise I would give it; You are not pleased with burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; A broken and a contrite heart, O God, You will not despise.”

 

Another familiar passage in Micah 6:6-8, “With what shall I come to the LORD And bow myself before the God on high? Shall I come to Him with burnt offerings, With yearling calves? Does the LORD take delight in thousands of rams, In ten thousand rivers of oil? Shall I present my firstborn for my rebellious acts, The fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? He has told you, O man, what is good; And what does the LORD require of you But to do justice, to love kindness, And to walk humbly with your God?”  It’s always been a matter of the heart.

 

A long passage that illustrates the outward obedience of the Jews – the people of God – apart from the heart, Isaiah 1:11-16 11“What are your multiplied sacrifices to Me?” Says the LORD. “I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams And the fat of fed cattle; And I take no pleasure in the blood of bulls, lambs or goats.

12 “When you come to appear before Me, Who requires of you this trampling of My courts?

13 “Bring your worthless offerings no longer, Incense is an abomination to Me. New moon and sabbath, the calling of assemblies – I cannot endure iniquity and the solemn assembly.

14 “I hate your new moon festivals and your appointed feasts, They have become a burden to Me; I am weary of bearing them.

15 “So when you spread out your hands in prayer, I will hide My eyes from you; Yes, even though you multiply prayers, I will not listen. Your hands are covered with blood.

16 “Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean; Remove the evil of your deeds from My sight. Cease to do evil…”  But I can’t – exactly.

 

And then of course our passage.  The idea is this: Jesus said to the Father, You didn’t send Me, as the great High Priest, to offers the sacrifices of animals.  No, You prepared a body for Me; because, in burnt offerings and sacrifices You have taken no pleasure.

 

So what does that mean for us?  Because you say, I’m not relying on the blood of bulls and goats – never have.  But I’m relying on the blood of Jesus.  Good – really, that’s good.  But have you just gone through the motions of praying a prayer, saying the right words, but have never truly given your heart to Jesus Christ.  Never truly repented of your sins.  Never truly made Him the Lord of your life.  You’re simply using His sacrifice as a fire escape out of hell, so you can live how you want?  That is legalistic belief that does not result in conversion.  I know the right things, I believe the right things – but there has never been a surrender of your life to the One, and only One, who can save you from your sin, and change your heart.

 

Here’s what I’m trying to say.  God has always wanted obedient children.  Saved by grace through faith, yes, but then given new hearts, recognizing God to be your greatest love and treasure, and a heart to know, worship, love and serve Him.  It’s about making much of Him, and bringing Him greatest glory – and getting greatest joy in return.  To be clear, I am not saying obedience saves you.  That is bought by the finished work of Christ on His cross.  But having been saved, we find in Christ greatest joy in loving and obeying God.

 

Notice verse 8, After saying above, Sacrifices and offerings and whole burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin you have not desired, nor have You taken pleasure in them, which are offered according to the Law.  Do you see – these sacrifices were offered according to the Law of Moses – according to the Old Covenant.  But they were not what God ultimately desired.  He desired the sacrifice which would result in sins forgiven and taken away, and cleansed hearts and minds that worship freely.

 

Quickly, the second and third things Jesus says to the Father are found in verses 7 and 9, “Behold I have come (In the scroll of the book it is written of Me) – stop right there.  The second thing Jesus says is all that He carried out in His coming was written about in the scroll – likely referring to the OT.  Everything that He did was prophesied – further, according to God’s plan.

 

Which leads to the third thing, “I have come to do Your will, Oh God.”  Most point out this is quite different from those dumb animal sacrifices.  They neither knew what they were doing, nor did they do so willingly.  Jesus, conversely, did both – He knew what He was doing, and did so willingly, obeying the will of the Father.

 

We find over and over in the NT Jesus was perfectly obedient to the Father, carrying out His will in the redemption of God’s people.  Look at the end of verse 9 and verse 10 as we prepare to close.  Jesus came to do the will of the Father, and by doing so, He takes away the first – the first what?  The first covenant, the Old Covenant.  In order to establish the second covenant, the New Covenant.  By this will – carried out by the Son, we have been sanctified – made positionally holy right now – saved through the offering of Jesus Christ – and he says it again, once for all.

 

So as we close, what’s the main point – what’s the big idea today?  This fulfillment of the Old Covenant by the New Covenant has always been God’s plan.  It was prophesied way back in Psalm 40 – a thousand years before Jesus was born.  Jesus coming in a body – taking on flesh – to do the will of God by dying for the sins of the His people – has always been God’s plan.  The Old Testament, the Old Covenant, has always been a shadow, a picture, pointing to Jesus, His  Gospel, and the New Covenant – the good things to come.  The first covenant always presupposed a second.  And the second, New Covenant is forever established, Christ having died once for all – for all His people, for all their sin, never to be repeated again.  So, if you are looking for ways to make things right to God, to be right before God, to find forgiveness, to deal with your guilt – look no longer.