The entire book of Hebrews is about Jesus, and in particular, Hebrews 1 focuses upon who Jesus is. And as we saw last week, this early part of Hebrews makes it clear to us that Jesus is the son of God. And, as the Son of God, the revelation of God in and through Christ is greater than that of prophets or angels. Jesus is the heir of all things. Everything was created to be his possession, and everything belongs to him.

Jesus was God's agent in creation. Everything was made through him. God the Father spoke the command, and Jesus, the eternal son of God, performed the action. And, although we didn't look at it, we read that Jesus is the one who sustains, who maintains all of creation by his powerful word.

In Hebrews 1 we see that Jesus is the radiance of God, just like the light in the sky is the "radiance" of the sun, and also that Jesus is the exact representation of God. Everything that God is, Jesus is. To look at Jesus, to see Jesus, is to see what God is like. And all of these things taken together show to us that Jesus is God become a human being.

But what we looked at last week tended to focus upon who Jesus is. Upon his identity and his person. But as we continue to read Hebrews 1:3 we notice that the next statement by the author focusses not on who Jesus is, but upon what Jesus did. Hebrews 1:3 says that:

He is the reflection of God’s glory and the exact imprint of God’s very being, and he sustains all things by his powerful word. When he had made purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high.

And this verse tells us two more things about Jesus. Two things that Jesus did.

• Firstly, it tells us that Jesus made "purification for sins".
• And then it tells us that Jesus "sat down".

As you recall, Hebrews was written to a group of Jewish Christians. They had been raised in the Jewish faith, but when the Gospel was proclaimed to them they came to faith in Jesus Christ.

Hebrews was written to a group of believers who knew their Bible, that is, the Old Testament, and it was written to a group of people who knew the purpose of the sacrificial system, particularly the meaning of the sacrifices that were made on the Day of Atonement. In fact, this letter was written because they were beginning to think that they should return to the temple and the sacrificial system that the Old Testament describes.

And as they read the Greek translation of the Old Testament, which is what our author and his readers were most probably using, they would have read in Exodus 30:10:

And Aaron will make atonement upon its horns [that is, on the horns of the alter] once in the year. By means of the blood of the purification of sins, the atonement, once in the year he will purify it for their generations. It is holy of holies to the Lord.[1]

They would have also read the Greek translation of Leviticus 16:30 where it speaks about the Day of Atonement, saying:

For on this day he shall make atonement for you, to cleanse you from all your sins before the Lord, and you shall be clean.

And they would have read in Leviticus 14:19, which talked about the ceremony that a leper needed to go through when he was freed from his leprosy:

The priest . . . shall make atonement for the one being cleansed from his sin.

And as they read through the law of Moses they would have realised that the primary function of a priest was to offer a sacrifices which would bring atonement, sometimes translated as "propitiate", or "turn aside the wrath" of God, and they would have realised that the sacrifice that had been offered would bring the individual "cleansing from sin".

And here in Hebrews 1:3 the writer of Hebrews tells them that what they have been looking for in and through the temple; what they were thinking of hoping to gain by going back to the temple and its sacrifices, this "cleansing from sin" has already been given to them in Jesus.

One of the main purposes of the entire sacrificial system, as discussed in both Exodus and Leviticus was to deal with the "uncleanness" that the people found themselves in.

In Leviticus this uncleanness sometimes came about as a result of "sin", by violating the commands of God. But often people became "unclean" simply through the course of daily living. By sinning, of course, but eating the wrong food would make a person "unclean". Touching a dead animal would make a person "unclean". Infections. Leprosy, that is, "skin diseases". Childbirth. All of these things would make a person "unclean", and they all needed to be "cleansed".

But whatever the cause, a person's uncleanness prevented that person from approaching God, and their "uncleanness" separated them from God and from the community. And in order to be restored to the fellowship of the community, in order to be restored to fellowship with God, and in order to have access to God through the worship in the Tabernacle or the Temple, the person needed to be "cleansed".

Sometimes, this cleansing came through a simple "washing". Basically, they would take a bath and become "clean". However, there were times when cleansing had to come through a sacrifice. But either way, those who had been "unclean" needed to be made "clean", they needed to be "cleansed", and it was only through the "cleansing" of those things that had made them "unclean" was the individual again allowed into the presence of God. Without the "making clean", they were isolated, cut off from God. But through being "made clean", they could come to God.

And the Day of Atonement, which we read about in Exodus 30 and Leviticus 16, the Day of Atonement was that one day per year where "all of the uncleanness" of Israel was dealt with, and the entire community became clean and could approach God.

However, the "making clean" on the Day of Atonement was always through the agency of the death of an animal, the shedding of blood. And so, in writing to Jewish Christians, who knew the Law and the requirements of Law and who were contemplating returning to the Law and its sacrifices, this opening comment shows that it is through Jesus that we gain this cleansing that we need, and as later verses will show, this cleansing brings with it “eternal redemption”,[2] “eternal salvation”,[3] and an “eternal inheritance”,[4] because the blood of the new covenant in Christ is an “eternal covenant”.[5]

Now, at about this point, someone in this Jewish Christian group might say:

Then what difference does it make? After all, if the sacrifices on the Day of Atonement bring us cleansing, and the sacrifice of Jesus brings us cleansing, then it doesn't really make any difference if we go back to the temple and its sacrifices. After all, both of them will bring us "cleansing from sin.

And it is against this type of question that the author of the book spends almost all of the book, showing us how and why the sacrifice of Jesus, the cleansing that Jesus brings, is "better". And in showing us how and why the sacrifice of Jesus is "better", he makes it clear that to try and return to the temple, the priests, and the animal sacrifices set down in the law of Moses, is foolish, for in Christ Jesus and in his sacrifice which was made to cleanse us from sin, we have something that is "better". He says in Hebrews 7:27:

Unlike the other high priests, he [that is Jesus], he has no need to offer sacrifices day after day, first for his own sins, and then for those of the people; this he did once for all when he offered himself.

We see here first of all that Jesus, unlike the priests within the tabernacle and the temple, Jesus never had to make a sacrifice for his own sin, because he was "without sin":

For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who in every respect has been tested as we are, yet without sin.[6]

And being "without sin", Jesus, unlike the priests in the temple, Jesus never needed to offer a sacrifice for his own sin or failings.

Leviticus 4 talks about what happens when a priest sins, and how the priest must bring a sin offering, that is, a "purification offering", to the Lord. In Leviticus 9, when Aaron and his sons were consecrated to the priesthood, they had to offer a "sin offering" and a "burnt offering" in order to deal with their own sins and alienation from God.

In Leviticus 16, on the Day of Atonement, before Aaron could make atonement for the people, he first had to bring his "sin offering" and his "burnt offering" to the Lord. He first had to deal with his own uncleanness. His own sin. His own alienation from God, before he could deal with the sins and uncleanness of the people.

But what we read in Hebrews 4:15 is that Jesus was "without sin", and again in Hebrews 7:27, that Jesus did not have to sacrifice for his own sin and alienation because he had none. Instead, Jesus offered one sacrifice to deal with the sins of the people.

Unlike the High priests in the Temple who could be alienated from God through their own actions or circumstances, Jesus never was. And as such, the sacrifice of himself for the sins of the people was "better".

Going on, we read in Hebrews 9:7-9:

But only the high priest goes into the second,

that is, the “most holy place,” or “holy of holies” in the tabernacle or temple.

Only the high priest goes into the second, and he but once a year, and not without taking the blood that he offers for himself and for the sins committed unintentionally by the people. By this the Holy Spirit indicates that the way into the sanctuary has not yet been disclosed as long as the first tent is still standing. This is a symbol of the present time, during which gifts and sacrifices are offered that cannot perfect the conscience of the worshiper,

And what the writer is saying here is that, even though the sacrifices have always happened:

• Every morning, and every evening.
• Every Sabbath day and every new moon festival.
• Every Passover and every Day of Atonement.
• Every Feast of Tabernacles and every Feast of Firstfruits.
• Day in and day out. 365 days per year.

They made no ultimate difference.

Yes, it could deal with my current situation, but that is all. My sacrifice of a sheep this morning could deal with my problems of yesterday. But my sacrifice of a sheep this morning, cannot deal with my sin of tomorrow.

One act of cleansing on this year's Day of Atonement can only, ever, deal with the sins of the past year, they can do absolutely nothing about the sins, uncleanness, and failures of next year.

In fact, it is quite possible that I can walk out of the Tabernacle "clean", and then touch a dead animal and become "unclean" before I even made it back home again. And if I did, then that sacrifice which I had just offered had no power at all to deal with this new uncleanness. I am unclean all over again and need to go through it all over again.

And that, says the writer of Hebrews, is the fundamental weakness with the Old Testament sacrificial system. It was never going to be "good enough". It will always need to be done again, and again, and again, as he says in Hebrews 9:9:

This is a symbol of the present time, during which gifts and sacrifices are offered that cannot perfect the conscience of the worshiper.

However, we read in Hebrews 9:11-12:

But when Christ came as a high priest of the good things that have come, then through the greater and perfect tent (not made with hands, that is, not of this creation), he entered once for all time[7] into the Holy Place, not with the blood of goats and calves, but with his own blood, thus obtaining eternal redemption.

And notice what he says. The sacrifice of Christ is "once for all time” and never needs to be repeated. The redemption that Jesus brings is "eternal" not "temporary". The redemption Jesus brings is through his self-sacrifice on the cross, not through the death of a sheep or bull.

And for all of these reasons, what Jesus has done is "better". It is "better" because the sacrifice of Jesus deals not simply with our past, but with our all the time. It deals not only with one act of rebellion or one act of alienation, it instead deals with every act of rebellion and alienation. It is better because it is one sacrifice for sins, forever, as he continues in Hebrews 9:25-28:

Nor was it to offer himself again and again, as the high priest enters the Holy Place year after year with blood that is not his own; for then he would have had to suffer again and again since the foundation of the world. But as it is, he has appeared once for all at the end of the age to remove sin by the sacrifice of himself. And just as it is appointed for mortals to die once, and after that the judgment, so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin, but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him.

The sacrifice of Jesus, the death of Jesus on the cross is a once for all time event which never needs to be repeated, for in his once for all time sacrifice of himself, Jesus has dealt with all sin, for all time.

Then, as the author continues to build his case that the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross is "better" than the sacrifices in the temple, and being better, why would we ever want to go back to animal sacrifices, he says in Hebrews 10:1-4:

Since the law has only a shadow of the good things to come and not the true form of these realities, it can never, by the same sacrifices that are continually offered year after year, make perfect those who approach. Otherwise, would they not have ceased being offered, since the worshipers, cleansed once for all, would no longer have any consciousness of sin? But in these sacrifices there is a reminder of sin year after year. For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.

Under the law, every time you came to sacrifice you were reminded that you were unclean, alienated from God. Every time you came to sacrifice you were reminded that God is separated from you. Every time, year in and year out, the sacrifices in the Tabernacle were never going to be good enough.

No matter how hard the priest worked. No matter how often he proclaimed the person "clean". No matter how many blessings he gave, it was never going to be good enough, because it could only deal with the external things, it could never deal with the reality of the human heart, as Hebrews 10:11 says:

And every priest stands day after day at his service, offering again and again the same sacrifices that can never take away sins.

And having shown the weakness of the Temple and Tabernacle sacrificial systems; having shown that the Law with its requirements was never going to be good enough to save us, he says in Hebrews 10:12-14:

But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, “he sat down at the right hand of God,” and since then has been waiting “until his enemies would be made a footstool for his feet.” For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are sanctified.

He encourages us to faithfulness to Christ and holiness by assuring us that the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross is a "better" sacrifice because it is a once for all time sacrifice. An eternal sacrifice which brings eternal forgiveness. Eternal redemption. Eternal cleansing. Eternal holiness.

Of course, knowing the Bible as they did, I'm sure that someone could object and say:

But wait! Weren't the sacrifices the command of God? Didn't God tell us to do this?

And that is true. This was the command of God to the people. But there was also a promise. A promise of something "better" to come. And so, quoting Jeremiah the prophet, the writer talks about that "better" which was to come, saying in Hebrews 10:15-17:

And the Holy Spirit also testifies to us, for after saying,

“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,”

he also adds,

“I will remember their sins and their lawless deeds no more.”

On the one hand, the law, written on tablets of stone with all of its sacrifices and rituals was never going to be good enough, because the problem wasn't the law. The problem was us, sinners. We failed. We sinned. We rebelled against God, his will, and his ways.

And so the law, as good as it was, was never going to be good enough to deal with the problem of "us". And because the law was never going to be good enough, God made the promise of a "new covenant". A "new agreement" between himself and humanity. A new way of living in a real and lasting relationship with God that overcomes sin, and that does away with the need for an ongoing sacrifice.

And that way was the once for all time sacrifice of Jesus on the cross. And as a result of the once for all time sacrifice of Jesus on the cross, bearing the sins of the entire world, there is now eternal forgiveness, redemption, and cleansing, and as a result Hebrews 10:18 says:

Where there is forgiveness of these, there is no longer any offering for sin.

Where the eternal forgiveness of sins is gained. Where eternal cleansing is provided. Where eternal redemption is guaranteed: another sacrifice is no longer needed, because it has already been accomplished. And that, he says, is what Jesus has done for us.

And to prove that it is accomplished, he says in Hebrews 1:3b:

When he had made purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high.

And here he is referring to Psalm 110:1:

The LORD says to my lord, “Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies your footstool.”

Jesus quoted this Psalm in the Gospels as proof that he is the Son of God.[8] It was quoted by Peter on the Day of Pentecost in speaking of the exaltation of Jesus after his resurrection.[9]

But here in Hebrews 1:3 he is quoting this Psalm to prove that the sacrificial work of Jesus is "complete". It is "finished". In fact, he refers to this particular Psalm on five separate occasions in his letter.[10]

In Hebrews 1:13 he refers to Psalm 110 to show that Jesus is superior to the angels, but on the other four occasions he refers to Psalm 110, "sit at my right hand", to indicate that the sacrificial, work of Jesus, who died for our sins, was raised to life, this same Jesus is now exalted to the right hand of God, and this work is completed. Finished.

Hebrews 8:1 says that we have a high priest who "sat down". Hebrews 10:12 says that we have a priest who, once he made his sacrifice, "sat down". And in Hebrews 12:2, we have a great high priest who, having:

endured the cross, disregarding its shame, has taken his seat at the right hand of the throne of God.

In the Tabernacle, and then later on in the Temple, there were various pieces of furniture. An altar for burnt offerings. An altar for incense. A table for bread. A bowl for washing. A lamp. And the ark of the covenant.

But one thing was missing in all of this. A chair. The tabernacle, and later on the temple of Solomon, provided no place to "sit down" because the task was ongoing. It never stopped. Listen to what happened during the Passover in 2 Chronicles 35:14:

Afterward [the Levites] made preparations for themselves and for the priests because the priests, the descendants of Aaron, were occupied in offering the burnt offerings and the fat parts until night.

The priests were so busy that they had no chance to stop, and so the Levites had to do some of their minor tasks so that the priests could continue making the sacrifices. The priests were just too busy to "sit down".

There was always a sacrifice to be made. Blood. Burning. Cleansing. Blessing. Pronouncing. Checking "clean" or "unclean". Sacrifices every day. Sacrifices every Sabbath. Sacrifices every feast day. Sacrifices for every person, even at the birth of a child. Constantly. Ongoing. Never stopping.

To "sit down" implies a completed work. Finished. No more. And Jesus, having made one sacrifice for sins, "sat down", because the task was done. And because the task was done, we have cleansing. Redemption. Forgiveness.

This forms part of the major theme of all of Hebrews. The sacrifice of Jesus is "better” because it is finished. The sacrifice of Jesus is "better” because it never needs to be done again. The sacrifice of Jesus is better:

Therefore, we must pay greater attention to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away from it.[11]

And what we notice here, as we look at Hebrews 1:2-3, is:

• The one who created us, is the one who redeemed us.
• The one who sustains us by his word, is the one who cleansed us.
• The one who is the heir of all things, is the one who came to seek and to save the things that are his.
• The one who is a son, became the servant of us all.
• The one who is the "radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of God's nature", is the one who came to restore in us the "image of God" which was corrupted when we sinned.

The Apostle Paul talked about this as well when he said in Philippians 2:6-11:

Though [Jesus] was in the form of God, he did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited, but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness.

And being found in human form, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death— even death on a cross.

Therefore, God also highly exalted him and gave him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bend, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

 

 

[1] All references to the LXX are from A New English Translation of the Septuagint.

[2] Hebrews 9:12

[3] Hebrews 5;9

[4] Hebrews 9:15

[5] Hebrews 13:20

[6] Hebrews 4:15

[7] ἅπαξ

[8] Matthew 22:44; Mark 12:36; Luke 20:42

[9] Acts 2:34

[10] Hebrews 1:3; 1:13; 8:1; 10:12; 12:2

[11] Hebrews 2:1