Hebrews 10 explained: One Sacrifice, and Holding On

Shadows, not the real thing (vv. 1-4)

The writer calls the sacrifices of the law given through Moses a shadow of better things to come, not the real thing. Because they were repeated year after year, notably on the Day of Atonement when the high priest made offerings for the whole nation, he says they kept reminding people of sin, since animal blood cannot remove it (vv. 3-4).

A body offered willingly (vv. 5-10)

The writer reads Psalm 40 as Christ speaking to God: God wanted not more animal offerings but someone ready to do his will. The Hebrew psalm speaks of God opening the speaker's ears, while the Greek version quoted here speaks of God preparing a body for him, which the writer takes as Jesus offering his own body once for all (v. 10).

One sacrifice, then seated (vv. 11-18)

Priests stood day after day repeating the same offerings, but Jesus made one offering and then sat down at God's right hand, the place of honour, which the writer treats as a sign the work is complete (vv. 11-14). He then cites Jeremiah's promise of a new covenant, a new agreement in which God writes his laws on people's hearts and forgets their sins, and concludes that no further offering for sin is needed (vv. 15-18).

Come near and hold together (vv. 19-25)

Only the high priest could pass the curtain into the innermost room of the sanctuary, and only once a year, but the writer says Jesus' death has opened that way to all his readers, linking the curtain to Jesus' own body (vv. 19-21). So he urges them to come near to God, hold on to their hope, and keep meeting to encourage one another as the Day, usually understood as Christ's return, draws near (vv. 22-25).

A stern warning (vv. 26-31)

For anyone who deliberately keeps on sinning after knowing the truth, the writer says no sacrifice is left, only a judgment worse than the death penalty that Moses' law set for rejecting that law (vv. 26-29). Many read this as settled rejection of Christ rather than everyday failure, and Christians differ on it: Reformed Christians often say true believers never fall this way, while Catholic, Orthodox and many Methodist Christians see it as a real danger for believers.

Remember, and keep going (vv. 32-39)

The writer reminds readers how, soon after coming to faith, they were publicly insulted, stood by fellow believers in prison, and accepted the seizure of their property with joy (vv. 32-34). He urges them not to give up now, quoting Habakkuk that the coming one will not be late and that God's righteous one lives by faith (vv. 35-39).

Key verse: Hebrews 10:14

Where Christians differ

Catholic and Orthodox Christians hold that the Eucharist, or Communion, makes Christ's one sacrifice present without repeating it, while many Protestants read the "once for all" of verses 10 to 14 as ruling out any continuing sacrificial offering.

Something to think about

When you have done something wrong, what actually helps the guilt go away, and what only keeps reminding you of it?