HEBREWS 7:26-28

FOR SEVERAL WEEKS NOW WE HAVE BEEN CONCLUDING THE FINAL VERSES OF THE VERY IMPORTANT CHAPTER 7. AT THE SAME TIME, WE ARE ENTERING INTO – IN MY OPINION – AN EVEN MORE IMPORTANT CHAPTER – IF SUCH A THING CAN BE SAID OF SACRED SCRIPTURE: CHAPTER 8. THESE FINAL COMMENTS, THEREFORE, ARE CONFLUENTLY CHAPTER 7’S CONCLUSION AND CHAPTER 8’S INTRODUCTION.

THE OVERALL CONTEXT FOR THIS WEEK’S FINAL STUDY…

^NAS  Hebrews 7:20-28 And inasmuch as it was not without an oath  ²¹ (for they indeed became priests without an oath, but He with an oath through the One who said to Him, “The Lord has sworn And will not change His mind, ‘Thou art a priest forever’ “); ²² so much the more also Jesus has become the guarantee of a better covenant. ²³ And the former priests, on the one hand, existed in greater numbers, because they were prevented by death from continuing, ²⁴ but He, on the other hand, because He abides forever, holds His priesthood permanently. ²⁵ Hence, also, He is able to save forever those who draw near to God through Him, since always lives to make intercession for them. ²⁶ For it was fitting that we should have such a high priest, holy, innocent, undefiled, separated from sinners and exalted above the heavens; ²⁷ who does not need daily, like those high priests, to offer up sacrifices, first for His own sins, and then for the sins of the people, because this He did once for all when He offered up Himself.  ²⁸ For the Law appoints men as high priests who are weak, but the word of the oath, which came after the Law, appoints a Son, made perfect forever.

IN HEBREWS 7:27, THE AUTHOR INTRODUCES THE SUBJECT OF SACRIFICES, OF WHICH HE HAS NOT SPOKEN SO FAR IN THIS SECTION, THAT IS WHOLLY DEDICATED TO THE GLORIOUS ASPECT OF THE PRIESTHOOD. IN THIS WAY HE PREPARES THE NEXT SECTION (8-9).

I PERSONALLY FOUND THE STUDY OF THE ANCILLARY PASSAGES TO VERSE 27 PARTICULARLY ILLUMINATING, OWING TO MY MANY YEARS OF STUDYING AND TEACHING BIBLICAL HEBREW, I FOUND THE WORDS “OFFERED UP HIMSELF” THE MOST CAPTIVATING.

JESUS SACRIFICED HIMSELF; HE WAS, IN FACT, A SIN OFFERING. When we think of sacrifice and offering, we are drawn irrevocably to the Old Testament. I suggest this ultimately extends to a profound consideration to Isaiah 53 and then to Isaiah 53:10…

^NAS  Isaiah 53:10 But the LORD was pleased To crush Him, putting Him to grief; If He would render Himself as a guilt offering, He will see His offspring, He will prolong His days, And the good pleasure of the LORD will prosper in His hand. (Isa 53:10 NAS)

“THE AUTHOR STRIKINGLY CONTRASTS THE SACRIFICE OF CHRIST, WHICH WAS OFFERED ‘ONCE FOR ALL’ AND THAT CONSISTED IN OFFERING HIMSELF,’ AND THE NEED FOR THE HIGH PRIESTS OF THE OLD TESTAMENT TO OFFER SACRIFICES ‘EVERY DAY,’ FIRST FOR THEIR OWN SINS, THEN FOR THOSE OF THE PEOPLE…

^NAS  Hebrews 7:27 who does not need daily, like those high priests, to offer up sacrifices, first for His own sins, and then for the sins of the people, because this He did once for all when He offered up Himself.

“TO TELL THE TRUTH, THAT DOUBLE INTENTION OF EXPIATION (ATONEMENT – TAR) IS NOT ATTACHED TO THE TWO DAILY HOLOCAUSTS PRESCRIBED IN EXODUS 29:38-39…

^NAS  Exodus 29:38-39 “Now this is what you shall offer on the altar: two one year old lambs each day, continuously. ³⁹ “The one lamb you shall offer in the morning, and the other lamb you shall offer at twilight;

“AND NUMBERS 28:3-4…

^NAS  Numbers 28:3 “And you shall say to them, ‘This is the offering by fire which you shall offer to the LORD; two male lambs one year old without defect as a continual burnt offering every day. ⁴ ‘You shall offer the one lamb in the morning, and the other lamb you shall offer at twilight;

“BUT ONLY TO THE SACRIFICES OF EXPIATION ON THE GREAT DAY OF EXPIATIONS: AARON MUST FIRST OFFER A BULL IN SACRIFICE ‘FOR HIS OWN SIN’…

^NAS  Leviticus 16:11 “Then Aaron shall offer the bull of the sin offering which is for himself, and make atonement for himself and for his household, and he shall slaughter the bull of the sin offering which is for himself.

“AND THEN A GOAT ‘FOR THE SIN OF THE PEOPLE’…

^NAS  Leviticus 16:15 “Then he shall slaughter the goat of the sin offering which is for the people, and bring its blood inside the veil, and do with its blood as he did with the blood of the bull, and sprinkle it on the mercy seat and in front of the mercy seat.

“MOREOVER, IN THE STATEMENT CONCERNING THE NEW HIGH PRIEST, ‘THIS, IN FACT, HE DOES ONCE AND FOR ALL,’ THE MEANING OF THE ‘THIS’ IS NOT CLEAR: TO WHAT DOES IT REFER? At first sight, the impression given is that it refers to the whole expression ‘to offer first for his own sins, then for the sins of the people,’ but it must be remembered that in Heb 4:15 the author explicitly excluded any sin on the part of our high priest and that he has just proclaimed him ‘innocent’; the ‘THIS CAN THEREFORE ONLY REFER TO ‘TO OFFER FOR THE SINS OF THE PEOPLE’ (7:27 above).

“THE CONCLUDING SENTENCE, 7:28, REINTRODUCES ‘THE LAW,’ which had been lost from sight since verse 19, and it contrasts it with ‘the word of the taking of an oath,’ that is to say verse 4 of Ps 110. The author makes it clear that this oath taking came ‘after the Law’ and shows that it abrogates the Law, because it institutes a priesthood infinitely superior to the one the Law established. The Law established as high priests men who have weakness’ and that their consecration in no way frees from their weakness, for the Law has made nothing perfect…

^NAS  Hebrews 7:19 (for the Law made nothing perfect), and on the other hand there is a bringing in of a better hope, through which we draw near to God.

“’THE WORD OF THE TAKING OF AN OATH,’ FOR ITS PART, DOES NOT ESTABLISH AS HIGH PRIEST ANYONE WHO IS SIMPLY A MAN, BUT SOMEONE WHO IS A SON…

  ^NAS  Hebrews 7:28 For the Law appoints men as high priests who are weak, but the word of the oath, which came after the Law, appoints a Son, made perfect forever.

^NAS  Hebrews 1:2 in these last days has spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the world.

“…THE SON OF GOD…

^NAS  Hebrews 4:14 Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession.

^NAS  Hebrews 7:3 Without father, without mother, without genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but made like the Son of God, he abides a priest perpetually.

“…AND HE HAS BEEN MADE PERFECT…

  ^NAS  Hebrews 7:28 For the Law appoints men as high priests who are weak, but the word of the oath, which came after the Law, appoints a Son, made perfect forever.

“BY HIS SACRIFICE.

“THE AUTHOR THUS COMPLETES THE ANSWER TO THE QUESTION HE ASKED IN 7:11, THE QUESTION ABOUT PRIESTLY ‘PERFECTION’

^NAS  Hebrews 7:11 Now if perfection was through the Levitical priesthood (for on the basis of it the people received the Law), what further need was there for another priest to arise according to the order of Melchizedek, and not be designated according to the order of Aaron?

“AT FIRST, IN 7:19, HE GAVE A NEGATIVE ANSWER: ‘THE LAW HAS NOT MADE ANYTHING PERFECT.’ HE NOW GIVES A POSITIVE ANSWER: THE SON HAS BEEN ‘MADE PERFECT.’” – Vanhoye

THE PRESSING QUESTION TO ME – MAYBE THE SAME AS YOU – WAS HOW EXACTLY WAS JESUS CHRIST, WHO IS GOD HIMSELF, MADE PERFECT?

“’HAVING BEEN PERFECTED FOREVER’ REQUIRES FURTHER COMMENT. We have already said much about this term in relation to 2:10; 5:8-9; and 7:11, 19. The pastor will make its meaning even clearer in the following chapters. It stands here in direct contrast to the sinfulness of humanity implied by the term ‘human weakness.’ THE ETERNAL SON, HOWEVER, ‘HAS BEEN PERFECTED’ AS OUR SAVIOR BY OFFERING HIS LIFE OF COMPLETE OBEDIENCE TO GOD ON THE CROSS (4:15; 5:8-9; ESP. 10:5-10) RESULTING IN HIS EXALTATION.

“WEISS CORRECTLY SEES HIS ‘HAVING BEEN PERFECTED’ AS TAKING PLACE AT THE EXALTATION (5:8-9); HOWEVER, IT CANNOT BE SEPARATED FROM HIS SACRIFICE BY WHICH IT WAS ACCOMPLISHED. IT MIGHT BE BETTER TO SAY THAT HIS ‘HAVING BEEN PERFECTED’ WAS COMPLETED AT HIS EXALTATION.                                                               

“THE EFFECT OF THAT SELF-OFFERING CONTINUES IN HIS PERSON EQUIPPING HIM AS THE ALL-SUFFICIENT SAVIOR. By His sacrifice He is consecrated and remains the only High Priest able to cleanse sins and thus bring God’s people into His presence. This understanding implies no deficiency in the eternal Son. Yet by His having been perfected as the Savior of God’s people through His incarnate obedience, He has fulfilled what was inherent in His sonship and provided the ultimate revelation of God (1:1-4). Thus THE PHRASE ‘A SON PERFECTED FOREVER’ AFFIRMS HIS ETERNAL SONSHIP, INCARNATION, HUMAN OBEDIENCE, SELF-OFFERING, EXALTATION, AND PRESENT SESSION AT GOD’S RIGHT HAND AS THE ‘SOURCE OF ETERNAL SALVATION’ (5:9).

“IT IS AS THE ‘SON PERFECTED FOREVER’ THAT HE IS A HIGH PRIEST SO FOR HIS PEOPLE’S NEEDS.

“IT IS BY HIS SELF-OFFERING THAT HE HAS ‘BEEN PERFECTED FOREVER’ AS THE SAVIOR OF GOD’S PEOPLE. HIS SUFFICIENT IS THE MEANS BY WHICH WE, AS THE PEOPLE OF GOD, ARE ENABLED AND INSPIRED TO PERSEVERE IN OBEDIENCE.” – Cockerill

ISN’T THAT MAGNIFICENT?! ISN’T ALL OF CHAPTER 7 MAGNIFICENT?                                                     

AS MENTIONED LAST WEEK, THIS FINAL PASSAGE IN CHAPTER 7 SAYS LITTLE THAT IS NOT DEVELOPED ELSEWHERE IN THE EPISTLE, BUT IT DOES OFFER AN INTENSE CONCENTRATION OF THEMES PAST AND PRESENT. AND, I THINK YOU’LL AGREE, THAT IS MOST HELPFUL IN A KIND OF CLARIFYING REALITY.

NEXT WEEK: “BEGINNING CHAPTER 8.”

– Professor Thomas A. Rohm