The case continues (but it will finally come to a firm point in chapter 10). Again, the law wasn’t ever the final deal, it was a hint, a shadow of what was to come. Part of the evidence of this the need to continually do things, remembering their sins as the need for the sacrifice. Basically, the nature of the sacrifice falls short of total elimination as the very root of it necessitates remembering the sin so that it could be sacrificed for.
So, of course, Jesus does this better. He sacrifices once and for all, doing away with the old because the new has come (what it was pointing to arrived, there is no longer a need for the road map once you’ve reached the destiny.) Through the entire argument that has been made over the last few chapters, for heaven’s sake do not miss the broad point: “And by that will we have been sanctified (made holy, pure) through the offering of the body of Jesus ONCE FOR ALL.” The argument that has been happening is to make sure there is nothing that is distracting from this point. Instead of the law being a stumbling block for the Hebrews, it provides the right context to ultimately understand what Jesus has done. He is the greater sacrifice, the permanent solution, the greater law, the ultimate answer. The Hebrew writer weeds through all of this stuff to make way for the good news, and we’ve come to it.
The thought continues in v.11, reiterating that Jesus has done the thing once and for all in fulfillment of Psalm 110 (which he quotes again in v. 16). Where there is forgiveness of sins, there is no longer any offering for sin. In fact, that’s what follows in v.19. Because of all we now should know concerning who Jesus is and what he has done, we should have confidence to draw near to God. (You have that? It seems tough, right, to balance the thought of drawing near in confidence with entering in relationship with a Holy God? But that’s us. Perhaps we don’t fully grasp what Jesus has done where we are hesitant to draw near in confidence.)
In case we’re struggling with that, it is even clearer in description. We draw near “full of assurance”, hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and bodies washed with pure water. Often we’re not feeling it, but it’s the truth. It’s weird to think that, seasoned Jesus’ folk you might be, we may still very well not fully believe Jesus accomplished what he did when we cannot draw near in confidence. Get in on it because He who promised is faithful.
What is the outpouring of all that? Encourage, “stir up” one another to love the way Jesus loves and do the good work he set out for us. Also, get together, and you know what? Encourage each even more.
Well crap, another quarrelsome passage (similar issue we ran into in chapter 6). Don’t overdue it, it sits in the context of Hebrews (which assumes we needed the sacrifice for sins) and the rest of Scripture (which seems to acknowledge that we are not perfect, no not one.) That said, it puts our service of sin into stark contrast and reloads what we may be tempted to diminish, which is God’s hatred of sin and the impact of it on our ultimate relationship with Jesus. If we know what we know about Jesus and what he has done and basically spit in his face, you’ve basically opted out of the Kingdom (outside of which there is no sacrifice for sins).
We’ve talked about this before but the long and short of it is that you can’t act like you live in Jesus’ Kingdom and then completely ignore how the King commands that folks in His Kingdom behave. This section of Hebrews is representing someone who moves into Jesus’ Kingdom, expects all the rights of a citizen, and then basically tries to Vatican City himself on the grounds by setting up his own sovereignty and space in Jesus’ Kingdom. That’s deliberate and consistent disobedience. You may not think you’re doing that, but if Jesus says you need to stop doing things and you flat out refuse, that’s what you’re up to. Now, this isn’t representing a point of no return, but it is putting it plainly that you can’t just do whatever you freakin’ want when you claim to be in submission to Jesus.
Now we return to evidences of faith (assurances, really). Their hearts aren’t oriented to deliberate disobedience, they’ve endured struggles for Jesus, been publicly mistreated, had compassion on those they were supposed to that no one else did, accepted with joy as folks stole from them in retaliation, since they had the right perspective in the long run. As such, stay confident, keep the faith, and receive what is promised.