We Have an Altar

We Have an Altar

Hebrews 13:10-16

For a final time, the writer is going to remind the Hebrews of the surpassing greatness of the New Covenant. The privilege of this covenant should not be neglected. In very simple terms he is going to explain to them why they should not return to Judaism.

V. 10 “We have an altar”

“We” refers to the Christians. Some might ask “Where is the altar?” Jews were used to having an altar. An altar was where sacrifices were made, and sin was atoned for.

In the mind of many:

No altar, no worship

No altar, no sacrifice

No altar, no forgiveness

What would they do when they came to worship?

The writer corrects their thinking. He tells them “We have an altar!”

He says “Thos who serve the tent have no right to eat” of this altar.

“Those who serve the tent” were the priests and others who worked in the Temple. Remember, the Temple was still standing at this time.

“no right” To enjoy the benefits of the sacrifice of Christ they would have to leave Judaism. They would have to come to Christ.

John 1:12 says:

But to all who did receive Him, who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God.

God had given the people a visible sign that the Temple was no longer needed. When Jesus died the veil that divided the Holy Place from the Holy of Holies was split in two.

What is the believer’s altar? It is the cross. It is the sacrifice of Christ for our sins. We have nor do we need another altar.

To “eat” at this altar means to appropriate the work of Christ into our lives. By faith Christ enters us. We therefore enjoy the benefits of this altar. Parts of worship in the Temple involved at times the worshippers eating a portion of the offering. These offerings were a shadow of the sacrifice of Christ. But the people ministering in the Temple did not benefit from them because they had no faith in Christ. If they did have faith in Christ, they would have left the Temple system and embraced Christ Himself.

As Christians, we do have an altar.

As Christians, we do have a sacrifice.

Our sacrifice was laid on our altar once and for all. For the Christian there is no more sacrifice for our sins. Because there will not be another sacrifice for our sins, we do not need a physical altar to lay our sacrifices upon.

v.11 The writer gives us details of what happened on The Day of Atonement. I’ll explain in a little more in depth than he does here. His audience would have known a lot more about this special day than we do.

There were five animals involved (Leviticus 16).

A bull and a ram. This bull was a sacrifice for the sins of the High Priest and priests.

Two male goats. One of the goats was sacrificed. The other was the scape goat. The High Priest confessed the sins of the nation over it. It was taken to the wilderness and released.

Another ram was offered as a burnt offering for the people.

The blood of the animals that were sacrificed was placed upon the altar. The bodies of the animals that were killed were taken outside the camp and burned (Lev.16:27). This symbolized a removal of sin from the nation.

v.12 We might wonder why this matters. The writer is going to show us how Christ fulfills the offerings on the Day of Atonement.

When Christ was killed, He was taken outside of Jerusalem. He was killed on a hill called Golgotha. It was not by accident that the sacrifice for our sins did not occur in Jerusalem. His sacrifice outside the city symbolized that He was cursed for our sins. This is how He sanctifies us. He bears the punishment for our sins. Notice it is His own blood that sanctifies us. Under the Old Covenant the High Priest never offered his own blood. It was the blood of animals. Christ offers Himself for us.

He who knew no sin became sin that we might become the righteousness of God (2 Cor. 5:21).

In the same way that the sacrifices on the Day of Atonement were taken outside of the city, so was Christ. Galatians 3:13 says Christ became a curse for us. His removal from the city symbolized that.

Do you see why this matters? It gives us confidence in the Scriptures and in the Person of Christ. Through history God has been slowly revealing Himself. Even the Ot offerings were teaching us about Jesus. The Hebrew Christians could trust that they were not turning their back on the God of their ancestors by coming to Christ.

v. 13 The writer encourages us to go outside the camp and to Christ. Because Christ has done such a wonderful thing for us in bearing our sins we should go to Christ.

“outside the gate” They would have to leave Judaism. The Old Covenant would have to be left behind. In doing so they would:

“bear the reproach” There was a stigma attached to those jews who became Christians. We see that type of thing today with groups like Muslims and other religions. Christianity is respected but if a person leaves their religion for Christianity they are looked down upon.

In some areas Jews in that day would have experienced more persecution than Gentile converts. But notice it is the reproach “He endured”. To suffer for Christ is to identify with Him. If we want to be like Christ, we should be willing to suffer. Christ suffered.

Acts 5:41 says the early believers were “rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the Name.”

When we come to Christ we always leave something. What we leave may taunt us, ridicule us, or even persecute us. We should expect that. The cross is a symbol of death and torture. It is our symbol because that is where our Savior died. Embracing Christ means embracing suffering for His name.

v.14 “For here we have no lasting city”

The truth is no one does. This world is not going to last. Most people don’t slow down long enough to think of that. As Christians we know we don’t belong in this world.

“We seek the city that is yet to come” We are looking for heaven. We often think of heaven and mention our mansion. Let me challenge you a little. Scripture describes heaven as a city more often than it does a mansion. I say that because if we are not careful heaven becomes very small to us. It is about us individually. One of the wonderful things about heaven is the togetherness of God and His people.

It’s not me looking for a mansion. We are looking for a city! The parents are happiest when all the children are home. In heaven we are all together.

Are you seeking this?

Do you think about it often?

Do you live in such a way that people recognize this in your life?

Do you love the people at church?

v. 15 Now we move to the sacrifices the Christian makes. We have an altar. Christ has been sacrificed on that altar for us. We no longer need to make an atonement for our sins. So what do our sacrifices look like?

First, they come through Christ. “Through Him” We need no priest. We have Christ.

United to Christ

We are qualified to worship and serve the Lord only because we are in Christ. We are only worthy to worship the Lord because of what Jesus has done for us and in us.

We pray in His name.

We serve in His name.

We give in His name.

We sing in His name.

“A sacrifice of praise to God” We are to praise God privately and publicly for all we have in Christ.

“Acknowledge His name” Make sure people know what God you are worshipping. Worship is the only proper response for our salvation.

Do you worship Him in the name of Christ privately?

Do you worship Him in the name of Christ publicly?

This is our duty. This is the sacrifice we are to give- praise to God!

v. 16 Now we see another sacrifice we are to offer the Lord.

“Do good and share what you have” Our sacrifices are not only to be in words. They are to be in deeds as well.

The context here suggests helping people in need.

“Share what you have” We don’t all have the same things.

Some have money they can use to help others.

Some have skills and abilities they can use to help others.

Some have spiritual gifts they can use to help others.

We all have something. Share what you have with others who can benefit from what you have.

The gift of Christ has been laid on the altar for us. We respond with:

The sacrifice of praise

Life of service