Day 313

Ezekiel 20:1-49; Hebrews 9:11-28; Psalm 107:1-43; Proverbs 27:11

AS WE DISCUSSED a couple of days ago, the book of Hebrews must be understood through the Jewish story. And within this context, Hebrews presented the Good News of the gospel. However, if we don’t understand the context, we can’t see how revolutionary the message was.

In Hebrews today, we read, “With his own blood —not the blood of goats and calves —he entered the Most Holy Place once for all time and secured our redemption forever” (Hebrews 9:12).

Read that again, and pretend you have no knowledge of Jewish worship from the Old Testament. The references to the blood of goats and calves and the Most Holy Place wouldn’t make any sense. Even having the knowledge that we do, we still might miss the magnitude of what is being said.

The sacrificial system had been in place within Hebrew culture for millenia. This system of worship included a temple, a Most Holy Place, a high priest, and sacrifices —and the writer of Hebrews was announcing that the final sacrifice had been made! A new covenant had begun, and once, for all time, redemption had been secured through Jesus.

This would have been incredibly good (and disruptive) news —the kind that would have been hard to believe. The law had been fulfilled. It had been accomplished. It was finished —which is exactly what Jesus announced moments before His death.

For a devout first-century Hebrew, this message invited a phenomenal paradigm shift —one that had been foretold but that challenged entire understandings of God. These words would have evoked skepticism and fear, because the entire system of worship had been built to atone for sin and to focus devotion on faithfulness to God. A Jewish reader would have struggled to recalibrate and accept the idea that sacrifice was no longer necessary because all sin, for all time, had been removed for those who accepted this new covenant. The rituals could be set aside in favor of an actual relationship —firsthand, first person —with God, through Jesus and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.

On the other hand, the Jewish people had been hoping for a redeemer. The reality that the final sacrifice had been made, and that through that sacrifice, sin could be eliminated once and for all meant that righteousness before God was possible. The writer of Hebrews said it this way:

Christ was offered once for all time as a sacrifice to take away the sins of many people. He will come again, not to deal with our sins, but to bring salvation to all who are eagerly waiting for him.

What a relief this message would have been for those who embraced it. What remarkably good news this is for those of us who have accepted it. Even though we understand these fundamental truths as Christians, looking at the Good News through Hebrew eyes should make us all the more awestruck that God not only grafted us into His family but also invited us to come close. No longer are we required to make any sacrifice other than the living sacrifice of a devoted life.

What a relief the Good News of the gospel is. Let’s not forget that.

MEDITATION:

Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good! His faithful love endures forever. Has the LORD redeemed you? Then speak out! Tell others he has redeemed you from your enemies.