Let's not mistake our fatigue with this section as commentary on its worthiness, though.  Although it may seem like these texts have said virtually the same thing every week, in reality there has been a great deal of movement and development in our author's purpose.  As a result of the ground work already loosely laid, this week we find a fairly tightly constructed section that helps us understand the once and for all nature of Jesus' work for us.

One last note about timing.  The material at hand for this week is oddly silent about the resurrection as an independent event, even though the two events that immediately precede and follow the resurrection are critical focal points.  Some of you may wish to use your class time this week, which may include visitors for the Easter holiday, to discuss that seasonal theme.  If so, it seems to me that one way to do that would be to speak about how the resurrection is the bridge between the two events so critical to the theology of this section, namely the death of Christ and his enthronement in heaven as high priest.  Without the resurrection, Christ's death is not proven to be the meaningful sacrifice of the Son of God.  You may spend time discussing how the resurrection provides meaning to the sacrifice of christ.  We don't often speak about the connection between Christ's death and his resurrection, and so a discussion that connects the theological meaning of the two events could be quite engaging.  Also, without the resurrection Christ cannot meaningfully be enthroned in heaven and act as mediator of the covenant and our high priest before God, so the resurrection has a word to say about the work that christ is presently engaged in.  Ultimately, though the resurrection may be unmentioned in this text, it is undoubtably a critical factor in the realities this text addresses.

Understanding the Text

This section of Hebrews demonstrates a transitional understanding of how God's people relate to God through sacrifice.  The old sacrifices of the levitical code served their purpose, but are now obsolete in the face of Christ's relied on animal sacrifices to allow God's people to approach God as ceremonially clean.    Hebrews argues that this did not actually change the condition of the people's heart before God, but gave them an outward holiness.  Perhaps we might think of it as God's way of giving the people a representation of the forgiveness he was offering as an act of grace.  They could not buy or afford forgiveness, could not pay the cost, but he provided a means by which they could experience that forgiveness through the ceremonies of sacrifice.    The ceremony then provides the opportunity for God's extension of grace, but does not actually bring about any change in the sinful character of the heart.  The inward person is not made clean. 

But Jesus' blood, on the other hand, is not from an animal but from a human.  It's from the son of God who lived an unblemished life.  The sacrifice of such perfection, from the obedient Son, allows Jesus to bring about eternal redemption.  The value isn't ceremonial, designed for the experience of the worshipper, but is actually redemptive.  It fundamentally changes the way that God relates to us.  It doesn't just symbolize forgiveness, but enacts forgiveness.  Because of the difference in value (from ceremonial/symbolic to redemptive/actual) There is no need for the sacrifice to be repeated.  The effect is lasting and eternal.  The theological point the author is making in this section is the finality of the sacrifice.

The reason all of this is important is that it is critical to our own faithfulness.  One of the barriers to our ongoing faithfulness can be an awareness of our own sin, especially when it recurs years after we have become disciples.  For someone living under the Mosaic covenant, that problem was provided for by a system of continual sacrifices that helped the people perceive God's grace to them, the forgiveness they were receiving.  But now, we see our sin, we receive forgiveness from God because of Christ, and then live on.  Despite our best intentions, we still succumb to temptation, and are left wondering what to do.  Do we have to perform some ritual, like baptism, again?  Is there some ceremony that we need to accomplish to gain forgiveness again? 

No!  The forgiveness we receive in Christ does not merely cover our sins up until the point of our baptism, it is thankfully a gift of ongoing forgiveness and grace.  While to some that may seem to provide license for disobedience, in reality it can help us become more faithful disciples by removing the guilt in our consciences that some of us unnecessarily carry around constantly.  Those who are tempted to give up because of the awareness of their own sin may be encouraged by the knowledge that Christ has definitively provided for the forgiveness of those sins.  Note the phrasing of 10:14, “For by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy.”  We are “being made holy”, so in one sense, we are still in the process of changing, of God forming us to be like him.  But at the same time, we have already been “made perfect forever”.  Christ sacrifice brings about our forgiveness and allows for us to be brought into a process by which we can be made holy.  The forgiveness we receive makes it possible for us to press on towards holiness without being derailed by every sin we commit. 

This is God's will.  Not that we would be continually be bringing him sacrifices, but that we would be made holy.  The Old Covenant provided for a measure of holiness, but Christ's work  puts us on the path of being holy inside and out.  He has truly done away with sin. 

What we can take away

I think there are a couple of things to stress as take-aways from this week's text.  First and most obviously would be the encouragement of being finally forgiven.  Your class might have some fruitful discussion about how guilt can take over our minds, hearts, and lives.  What does guilt do to us?  How can guilt destroy us?  How have we reacted to the awareness of our own sins?  Are we even aware? 

The other side of those questions can ask about how it feels to be forgiven.  How can forgiveness empower faithfulness?  Is it true that awareness of our own forgiveness can make us more holy in the future?