Hebrews 9:16-28

¹⁶In the case of a will, it is necessary to prove the death of the one who made it^{, 17}because a will is in force only when somebody has died; it never takes effect while the one who made it is living. ¹⁸This is why even the first covenant was not put into effect without blood. ¹⁹When Moses had proclaimed every command of the law to all the people, he took the blood of calves, together with water, scarlet wool and branches of hyssop, and sprinkled the scroll and all the people. ²⁰He said, “This is the blood of the covenant, which God has commanded you to keep.” ²¹In the same way, he sprinkled with the blood both the tabernacle and everything used in its ceremonies. ²²In fact, the law requires that nearly everything be cleansed with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness. ²³It was necessary, then, for the copies of the heavenly things to be purified with these sacrifices, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. ²⁴For Christ did not enter a sanctuary made with human hands that was only a copy of the true one; he entered heaven itself, now to appear for us in God’s presence. ²⁵Nor did he enter heaven to offer himself again and again, the way the high priest enters the Most Holy Place every year with blood that is not his own. ²⁶Otherwise Christ would have had to suffer many times since the creation of the world. But he has appeared once for all at the culmination of the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of himself. ²⁷Just as people are destined to die once, and after that to face judgment, ²⁸so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him.

A Better Sacrifice

What a beautiful testimony of covenant grace is offered here! The apostle teaches us that all the dispensations – sacrifices, feasts and other ordinances – of the Mosaic covenant only served the purpose of pointing to Christ, who is always the pioneer and perfecter of our faith (Hebrews 12:2). Under the old covenant, and now especially so under the new, the same revelation of God's grace is presented to his people.

Indeed, the sacrifices of bulls and goats could never atone for sin (Hebrews 10:4), as the law in itself could never save (Romans 7:7-12). But they do in fact point to Christ as our sole salvation. John writes: “There are three that testify: the Spirit, the water and the blood." These three are prefigured in the Old Testament, the apostle effectively shows us that the parallel between the blood of calves (v 19) and the blood of Christ is evident, water too is mentioned (v 19). But what of the Spirit? Perhaps it is best signified by the cleansing hyssop branch, of which the Psalmist writes: “Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow” (Psalm 51:7). Therefore, these three symbolic purifiers of earthly things point directly to the full purification of the heavenly things with better sacrifices than these (v 22).

This is the purification of the Church, which in Christ is being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit (Ephesians 2:22). We, the Church, are the heirs to the promise of salvation by faith. And we the Church have Christ, our One High Priest, who serves in the sanctuary, the true tabernacle, set up by the Lord, and not by man (Hebrews 8:2)!

Let us then hold fast to our faith in Christ, and not the dead works of the law, for by him we obtain forgiveness, mercy, and grace to help in times of need.

Prayer: Almighty and most merciful Father, grant us pardon and remission of our sins, through the single perfect sacrifice of Christ, that we might not seek righteousness through dead works, but rather be renewed by the Holy Spirit. That we may increase in faith and attain your heavenly promises through the merits of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.