In terms of the sacrifice to take away the power of sin, the author of Hebrews draws a sharp contrast. Jesus has offered a single, once-and-for-all sacrifice for our forgiveness (Hebrews 10:12), but within the levitical system in the temple, “Every priest stands day after day at his service, offering again and again the same sacrifices” (10:11).

We should pause and reflect about the way the author wrote this and many other sentences in the letter in the present tense. The phrase “stands day after day” is the way you would say it, when priests are standing there every day: that is, before the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD. After that, you would say something like, “The priests used to stand, day by day, at their service ….” This is a key piece of evidence, indicating that the book of Hebrews was written and in circulation by the late 60s. Indeed, after 70 AD we might expect the author to reframe the argument to declare that now that there is no more temple, nobody can offer daily sacrifices there any more.

But that’s not what we get. Instead, the author shows us the contrast between the Old Testament sacrificial system which the priests are following, on the one hand, where they keep on offering sacrifices to cover people’s sins, and on the other hand the global offering by Jesus of a single sacrifice effective throughout the ages for the forgiveness of sins: “by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are sanctified” (10:14). It is a sufficient, once-and-for-all offering because where there is forgiveness of sins, “there is no longer any offering for sin” (10:18).

Some have supposed that this reality would lead people to be slackers: why bother to be good if Jesus has already established the forgiveness of all our sins? But that’s not where Hebrews goes with this. “Since we have confidence to enter the sanctuary by the blood of Jesus … and since we have a great high priest over the house of God, let us approach with a true heart in full assurance of faith” (10:19-22). The point is that because of Jesus, we can now gather in the sanctuary of God Almighty.

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We come to you, O Lord: we dare to draw near, not because we have any claim of our own, but because Jesus has opened the way for sinners like us to be forgiven, and thus to stand in your presence. We give you thanks, for the power of your grace to establish us in faithfulness forever.