Unlike the other high priests, he does not need to offer sacrifices day after day, first for his own sins, and then for the sins of the people. He sacrificed for their sins once for all when he offered himself.
Hebrews 7:27
There are so very few things in this life that are dependable. Things that we can totally hang onto. When commercials boast about networks that are available 95.7%, we worry about the other 4.3%. We absolutely freak out when our cell phones tell us that there’s no signal.
We joke about how the only things that we can trust in are death and taxes. But I wonder if this comes from a deep desire and longing for something that we can depend on. That no matter what, it will be there for us.
On August 13, 2004, Hurricane Charlie came to town. With winds topping out at 114 mph, it sounded like a freight train was running at full speed over our house. When we went outside that next morning, the streets and lawns were covered with a thick carpet from the leaves that had been stripped off every tree. Many trees were down, some of them falling against houses. A few houses lost their roof.
We lost power in the middle of that night. As we began the cleanup the next morning, we hoped that power would be restored quickly. We had come to depend on electricity to power our refrigerators. Heat our water. Wash our clothes.
That dependable electricity was lost for a few hours. Hours turned into half-days. Which turned into days. Six and a half days later, our power was restored. We came online early not because of anything we did, but because we live on the same power line as a hospital. And we were one of the more fortunate ones. Some neighbors just up the street from us waited 14 days till their power was back on line.
And while having reliable electricity service is important, there’s nothing in this world more important than dependable priests. Their being on the job, day after day, offering sacrifices that forgive sin. Keep us clean and connected with God. What could be more important than that?
You see, if they fall down on the job and fail to offer sacrifices for their own sins, then they can’t even get to the part that helps us. If they’re still covered in sin, then they can’t make the sacrifice that will take sin off of us.
The writer is bringing this very important point to a head. He’s making it really personal. For their forgiveness before a holy God, they must depend on people who are as sinful as they are. As flawed as everyone else is.
So, how can they have any assurance that their sins are forgiven? How could the Hebrews really know for certain that the priest wasn’t totally forgiven of their own sins? How could they know that the priests didn’t mess up when they offered sacrifices for sin?
The short answer is that they couldn’t. There was no assurance that the flawed, sinful priests did all the sacrificing perfectly for the forgiveness of sin. And even if the priests did everything with no errors, sin was forgiven but only for a short time. People were without sin only till they sinned again. And for someone like me, that wasn’t long at all.
I personally know exactly how this feels. I grew up going to church. And when it came to getting forgiveness, I knew what to do. I knew who to see and did what I was told. I did everything that was “in the manual.” I prayed the prayers I had memorized from childhood.
As I walked back from doing everything I was told to do, I had this nagging thought in my head. The words that flashed in my mind, the words that I whispered to myself were, “That didn’t work.” All those sins that controlled my life were still there. The guilt and shame didn’t budge an inch.
This is exactly where Jesus is so wildly different from every other priest. And his sacrifice is so much greater and more powerful. His once-and-for-all offering of himself on the cross as a sacrifice for sin, is so different from the daily offerings. All other priests have to repeat sacrifices over and over. And even that doesn’t really take care of sin. Here are two things to really noodle on.
Once For All. Jesus’ one-time sacrifice for sin covered all sin. Past. Present. And future.
Once And for All. Jesus’ one-time sacrifice for sin covered all sin for everyone who would believe.
No other religion, no other priest, no other faith, no other belief system makes this kind of claim. They all require sins to be paid for over and over. And over. And over. Their priests also have to make sacrifices for their own sins before they can try to do anything for anyone else. Jesus is the only one who claims that he and his sacrifice is not just dependable, but completely dependable. We can put the full weight of all our sins on him. Everyone else says that we’ve got to keep sacrificing over and over. That’s why Jesus says to come to him and him alone. Now that’s someone who’s dependable!
Noodling Questions
How dependable of a person are you? Give examples.
If priests and sacrifices weren’t dependable, what make Jesus so different?
What’s the process of putting the full weight of our sins on Jesus?
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