THE PRESENTATION (The Priest). Hebrews 9:23-29. The sprinkling of blood achieved the cleansing or consecrating of those things that were "a pattern" of what was real. The consecrating of heavenly places required "better sacrifices." There must be some things in heaven besides our Lord Jesus Christ Himself, of which the Tabernacle was a picture. That final and entirely acceptable offering that satisfied a Righteous God is the blood of Christ.
The concluding part of this chapter summarizes its teachings and lays the groundwork for the first ten verses of chapter 10. The tabernacle, the law's ceremonies, and the Day of Atonement served as symbols, tokens, and copies of the true reality of Christ's finished work. They could not provide cleansing for heavenly things, nor could they accomplish what Christ has done.
Those “heavenly things” may include the “stars that are not pure in His sight,” or any cloud that separates us from God. Our transgressions are called a “thick cloud” that has been blotted out. The cleansing power of the “precious blood of Christ” has removed every barrier between God and us. Our Lord Jesus has “passed through the heavens” and appears before God's face on our behalf. The sacrifice He offered was Himself, not the blood of another, even though it was an innocent animal.
Now, He appears before God for us. He presents our service, needs, worship, and praise to God on our behalf. His work of salvation through His own blood is complete, so He is not there to remind God that we are forgiven. By His death for sin on our behalf, we do not have to die spiritually, even though physical death lies ahead. For a believer in Christ, physical death is a doorway through which we pass into heaven.
The high priest of the past had the names of Israel on his shoulders and on the breastplate. Our High Priest appears before God with our names engraved on His hand and our eternal redemption paid in full and for eternity. The sacrifice does not have to be repeated. His saving work for us does not have to be repeated, because He has dealt with our sin past, present, and future. His sacrifice for us was once for all. Only once has He been made visible as a man among men to offer this sacrifice because He put away once for all. He carried, "bore our sins" once for all. That was the purpose of His coming "in the end of the world," or "the culmination of the ages," when He fulfilled the Old Testament prophecies concerning Himself. The "end of the ages" will be completed when He comes again.
At Christ's return, there will be judgment. Although many are reluctant to accept that God will deal fairly with everyone and not overlook their sins because He is just. Judgment is certain for all who are not in Christ. For those whose sins He carried, there is no judgment but salvation. God's righteous judgment, which should have been upon us, was placed on Him when He "suffered, the just for the unjust to bring us to God." "There is therefore now no condemnation to them who are in Christ Jesus."
The highest court of appeal for an unsaved person is the cross. God's righteous judgment was satisfied there through human sin. Each person can either accept the gift of full and free salvation by trusting in the Lord Jesus Christ as their personal Savior without adding anything of their own effort to that "blood sprinkled way," or refuse to come on God's terms of salvation "by grace through faith" and be condemned because of their inability to please God and meet His righteous standards.
The main idea of this passage in Hebrews is that Jesus, dying as a sinless sacrifice once and for all, eliminates the need for any further sacrifices to remove sin. Our Lord Jesus Christ has achieved this. The power of sin has been broken, and all people can be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth. The self-sacrifice of our Lord addressed the deepest root of sin—self! Rejecting Him is the same as rejecting God to please oneself.
When a person stops, turns in repentance to God for their sins, and personally accepts Christ as their Savior, all self-efforts come to an end. By Himself, our Lord Jesus Christ, has taken away our sins. It is no longer about what we try to do, but about Him who grants forgiveness and peace in our souls. The contrasts and similarities between the Day of Atonement and the “appearance” of our Lord in the presence of God for us as our Great High Priest are very significant. The high priest of Israel would appear at the altar in front of the tabernacle, kill a goat as a sin offering for the people, catch its blood in a basin, and then enter the tabernacle to go behind the second curtain. There, in the presence of God, he would sprinkle the blood on the mercy seat. If the Lord accepted the sacrifice, the people and the priest would live. If it were rejected, both the priest and the people would die.
The people would wait anxiously, and if the priest came out, they would likely all breathe a sigh of relief. Then he would take the second goat, lay the sins of the nation on its head, confess them, and then it would be led outside the camp into the wilderness and driven far from the people, symbolizing that the people's sins were forgiven.
The Lord Jesus Christ “appeared” to remove sin through His sacrifice once and for all. This occurred openly before the people, God, and demons when He was on the cross. It will never need to be done again. There are three "looks" at "Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, today, and forever" [13:8] in Hebrews chapter nine.
The first is A LOOK UP at THE LIVING SAVIOR who is OUR PRIEST: [Heb. 9:24]. “He appears in the presence (“shining”) of God for us.” At this present time, our Lord who "ever liveth" [7:25] for us is working on our behalf as the high priest we need. His present life assures us that because He lives, we shall live also, and He is "alive forevermore" [Rev.1:18]. He promised shortly before He died that those who believe in Him shall "see Me" [Jn. 14:19]. At this present time, "we see Jesus" [Heb. 2:9], who is "the Apostle and High Priest of our Profession" [Heb. 3:1]. It is well for us to "consider Him" [Heb. 12:3] and keep "looking unto Jesus" [Heb. 12:2].
The second is A LOOK BACK (manifest) at the CROSS: [Heb. 9:26]. “He appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself.” It was there that He was once offered to bear the sins of many. Similar to Aaron the priest, who, in Leviticus 16:21, dealt with all the people's sins through blood, though that was temporary. Now, according to Romans 5:12, "By one man, sin entered into the world and death by sin," so grace, by one man, Jesus Christ, has abounded to many." This has happened, as John the Baptist declared in John 1:29, "Behold, the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world,”
There is also a third look, A LOOK FORWARD to THE COMING ONE: [Heb. 9:28]. “He shall appear the second time without sin unto salvation.” We look forward to the future and appreciate His promise in John 14:3, "I will come again and receive you unto Myself." Messengers from heaven told the disciples at the time of His ascent into heaven that "He will come again in like manner as ye have seen Him go" [Acts 1:10]. Now we are daily "looking for that blessed hope" [Titus 2:13]. In Philippians 3:20, "We look for the Savior, the Lord Jesus." What a joy it will be when we see Him. “Thine eyes shall see the King in His beauty: they shall behold the land that is far extended.” Isa.33:17