Once For All
The Letter to the Hebrews highlights several aspects of the Son of God, especially his priesthood and sacrificial death. In doing so, the stress falls on the permanence of his office, and the non-repeatable nature of his sacrifice. In his death, he “achieved the purification of sins.” Therefore, he now intercedes “forever” for his people as their faithful and sympathetic High Priest. His sacrifice dealt with sin “once-for-all.”
The Letter begins by stressing
that after he “achieved the purification of sins,” Jesus “sat down”
at the right hand of the “majesty in high places.” The wording of the passage
alludes to the first verse of Psalm 110 where God told the Messiah to “Sit at my right hand until I make
your foes your footstool.”
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[Photo by Austin Schmid on Unsplash] |
The Author intends for us to understand that the “Son” now occupies a permanent position in the presence of God. He “sat down” in the heavenly Tabernacle. He remains there to this day. This contrasts with the Aaronic High Priest who only entered the inner sanctum once each year, and he NEVER sat down.
The Letter introduces Psalm 110
which becomes a primary proof text for the “better” priesthood of Jesus.
It emphasizes his appointment as the High Priest of his people, the Assembly. The
fourth verse of the Psalm is also prominent in the Letter - “Yahweh has
sworn and will not repent, you shall be a priest forever after the order of
Melchizedek.”
The Letter bases its arguments on the priesthood and sacrifice of Jesus, and it discusses the “superior” New Covenant inaugurated by his non-repeatable sacrifice. His act that made the “former covenant… obsolete” – (Hebrews 8:13).
The
declaration that this new priesthood will endure “forever” is not
metaphysical speculation about the “eternal” nature or divine sonship of Jesus but
highlights the permanence of his priestly office.
This
again contrasts his priesthood and one-time sacrifice with the Aaronic priesthood
and its animal sacrifices that required an endless cycle of new priests and
repeated sacrifices due to humanity’s weakness and mortality, and the inability
of animal blood to purify sins and the human conscience.
The
“Son” occupies his office permanently because of his endless
resurrection life. In other words, his life and exalted status as our “High
Priest” endure because of his bodily resurrection. He will never die again.
ONLY ONCE
The
prophesied priesthood “after the order of Melchizedek” differs
significantly from the Aaronic priesthood. Rather than one generation of
priests after another, along with repeated animal sacrifices, this priesthood is
based on his once-for-all sacrifice and his endless resurrection
life.
Therefore,
he holds the priesthood as “unchangeable,” and “not transmissible.”
Unlike the Aaronic priesthood, the “Son” is the only High Priest “after
the order of Melchizedek.” There will never be another.
The
Letter emphasizes the one-time nature of his sacrifice and the permanence of
its effect by applying the Greek adverb ephapax several times when
describing his sacrifice, a term which means “at once, once only, once-for-all.”
For example:
- (Hebrews 7:23-27) – “And they indeed have been made priests many in number, since by death they are hindered from continuing, but he, because he abides forevermore, holds his priesthood un-transmittable. Wherefore also, he is able to save to the uttermost them that draw near to God through him, seeing he ever lives to make intercession for them. For such a high priest became us, holy, guileless, undefiled, separated from sinners, and made higher than the heavens; who needs not daily like those high priests to offer up sacrifices, first for his own sins, and then for the sins of the people: for this he did once-for-all [ephapax] when he offered himself.”
- (Hebrews 9:24-28) – “…but now, ONCE-FOR-ALL [ephapax], upon the conclusion of the ages, for a setting aside of sin through his sacrifice, has he been manifested, and since it is in store for men once-for-all [ephapax] to die, but after this judgment, thus, also, the Christ, having been offered once-for-all [ephapax] for the bearing of the sins of many, a second time, apart from sin, will appear to those who for him are ardently waiting for salvation.”
- (Hebrews 10:10) – “By which will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once-for-all [ephapax]”.
As
for the recipients of the Letter, why return to the “shadows” of the
former and impermanent system of endless priests and repeated animal sacrifices
since they now benefit from the permanent and glorious reality according
to the “Word of the Son”?
If
any man does so because of pressure or persecution, he may escape trials for the
present. However, he will not escape a far more severe punishment in the future
since he has rejected the “purification of sins” provided by God through
the “once-for-all” sacrifice of His Son and our High Priest.
RELATED POSTS:
- Purification of Sins - (Having achieved the purification of sins, Jesus sat down at the right hand of God to intercede for his people as their faithful High Priest)
- Then He Sat Down - (Jesus is the Son whom God appointed as our merciful and faithful High Priest after his suffering, death, and resurrection)
- His Priestly Qualifications - (Jesus qualified to become our high priest by participating fully in human suffering, weakness, and death)
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