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From: Hebrews 10:11-18

Christ’s Offering of Himself Has Infinite Value (Continuation)

[11] And every priest stands daily at his service, offering repeatedly the same sa-
crifices, which can never take away sins. [12] But when Christ had offered for all
time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, [13] then to
wait until his enemies should be made a stool for his feet. [14] For by a single of-
fering he has perfected for all time those who are sanctified. [15] And the Holy
Spirit also bears witness to us; for after saying, [16] “This is the covenant that
I will make with them after those days, says the Lord: I will put my laws on their
hearts, and write them on their minds,” [17] then he adds, “I will remember their
sins and their misdeeds no more.” [18] Where there is forgiveness of these, there
is no longer any offering for sin.

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Commentary:

11-14. Teaching given elsewhere in the letter (8:5; 9:9-10, 12-13, 25; 10:14) is
now reiterated in order to show the universal efficacy of Christ’s sacrifice. However,
here it is expounded by comparing the posture of the Old Testament priests with
that of Christ. They did in fact have to STAND in the presence of Yahweh, offering
victims repeatedly. Standing was the correct posture for servants and employees.
The reference is to Old Testament priests who repeatedly, every day, went through
the same motions and offered the same sacrifices. By contrast, Christ, as is sta-
ted in Psalm 110:1, after his Ascension is seated at the right hand of God the
Father (see notes on Mt 16:19 and Heb 1:3). In addition to conveying the idea of
repose and rest, being seated would be equivalent to receiving royal investiture or
to exercising authority (cf. Heb 7:26; 8:1); also, a king’s chief minister or heir used
to sit on the right of the king, as in a place of special honor (cf. Mt 26:24; Mk 14:62;
Lk 26:69); and it might be pointed out that David pitched his tent to the right of the
tabernacle: cf. 2 Sam 7:18). What has happened is that by virtue of the efficacy of
his single sacrifice, Christ has taken possession of heaven for ever more and has
merited royal dignity; all that remains to happen, and it shall happen, is for all his
enemies to submit to him (cf. 1 Cor 15:25-28). So fruitful is his sacrifice that those
who take part in it, “those who have been sanctified”, are thereby perfected: they
obtain forgiveness of sins, purity of conscience, access to and union with God. In
other words, the source of holiness in men is the sacrifice of Calvary.

15-18. The last proof of the superiority of Christ’s sacrifice for the forgiveness of
sins is based on this passage of Jeremiah 31:33-34, already quoted in 8: 10-12.
The letter is insisting on the spiritual character of the New Covenant—ratified with
the blood of Christ—which is impressed on the hearts and minds of men. And it is
also emphasizing the effects of this Covenant—forgiveness of sins by God.

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Source: “The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries”. Biblical text from the
Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of
the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.

Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States.