Once and for All

The promise of a New Covenant finds its fulfillment in the once-for-all sacrifice of Jesus and his superior priesthood.

The Letter to the Hebrews highlights key aspects of Christ’s ministry and reign, especially his priesthood and sacrificial death. The Letter stresses the non-repeatable nature of his sacrifice for sin and the permanence of his priestly office. He “achieved the purification of sins” that no animal sacrifice ever could.

Jesus Christ now intercedes “forever” for his people as their faithful and sympathetic High Priest. His sacrifice dealt with sin “once-for-all” for his saints.

[Photo by Samuel Ferrara on Unsplash]

After he “achieved the purification of sins,” Jesus “sat down” at the right hand of the “majesty in high places.” The passage alludes to the first verse of Psalm 110 where God commanded the Messiah, “Sit at my right hand until I make your foes your footstool.”

The “Son” occupies a permanent position in God’s presence. He “sat down” in the Heavenly Tabernacle where he remains. This contrasts with the Levitical High Priest who only entered the inner sanctum once each year and never sat down.

Psalm 110 is the primary text of the Letter for establishing the “better” priesthood of Jesus, emphasizing his appointment as the High Priest of his people. The Psalm’s fourth verse is also prominent - “Yahweh has sworn and will not repent, you shall be a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.”

The Letter bases its arguments on Christ’s high priesthood and sacrificial death and discusses the “superior” New Covenant inaugurated by his non-repeatable sacrifice. His one-time act made the “former covenant… obsolete” – (Hebrews 8:13).

The declaration that this new priesthood will endure “forever” is not metaphysical speculation about Christ’s “eternal” nature or divine sonship but highlights the permanence of his priestly office.

This again contrasts his priesthood and one-time sacrifice with the Levitical priesthood and its animal sacrifices necessitating 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:

• “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… By which will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once-for-all” - (Hebrews 9:24-28, also Hebrews 7:23-27, 10:10).

Why return to the “shadows” of the former and impermanent system of endless priests and repeated animal sacrifices since we 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.

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SEE ALSO:

• 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)