Jesus - the Unique Sacrifice

Introduction

Have you ever wondered how many thousands of animals were killed as the Israelite priests offered those daily sacrifices to cover over the sin of the people?

Or what it must have been like - the noise, the sight, the smell - as those worshippers brought their offerings to God to receive his forgiveness and blessing.

It was necessary, it was something God had put in place but it was not enough.

Someone needed to be found, a servant, who could do something totally new, something that would be permanent, something that would have a world-changing impact.

And this is what Isaiah looks forward to - this is what the writer of Hebrews looks back on. That life-changing event when Jesus offered himself as that supremely unique sacrifice, an offering that never needed to be repeated.

From that moment, none of those daily sacrifices were needed, they could all stop as a greater, more meaningful, sacrifice had been offered. It’s not to say they did stop, they continued because the significance of the death of Jesus was not recognised and I’ll come back to that later.

The work of the Father and the Son

One of the interesting things about these two passages is they look at the sacrifice of Jesus from different perspectives.

In Isaiah, the focus is very much (although not exclusively) on God doing this to his servant:

punished by God

stricken by him

the Lord laying our iniquity on him

Yes, there is the recognition that humanity despised and rejected him as well but there is the clear message that this was something God was doing so that humanity could have its transgressions, its iniquities, its wounds dealt with and healed.

Whereas in Hebrews, the emphasis is on what Jesus himself willingly chose to do - that he offered a “once-for-all” sacrifice for sin with the previous chapter (Heb 9:26) making it clear that this sacrifice was of himself.

And this is a reality that is reinforced elsewhere with Paul, for example:

2 Corinthians 5:21 NIVUK (2011)

God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

and

Philippians 2:8 NIVUK (2011)

And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death—even death on a cross!

Both of these are true - and they demonstrate the depths of the love of God and of Jesus.

God prepared to sacrifice his Son so that we might live

Jesus willingly prepared to offer himself as that sacrifice, to accept all that it would involve, as the only way of bringing people back into a family relationship with God.

It is important for us to remember, to recognise all that has been made possible through the sacrificial death of Jesus - and also to recognise the enormous cost that was involved.

And we are challenged to recognise that the sacrifice of Jesus was to bring light and life to all people - he referred to this when talking with Nicodemus and spoke about drawing all people to himself.

And one of our responsibilities is to seek to ensure that those who are not aware of the implications of the sacrifice of Jesus hear this amazing story and have the opportunity to receive it for themselves.

Sacrifice for sin no longer required

But I want to come back to the truth that, because of the sacrifice of Jesus, it is no longer necessary to sacrifice animals in order to receive God’s forgiveness and covering for sin, which is probably a relief to us all!

Things have changed, the way to God is now only and exclusively through Jesus.

And I think it’s really significant that the author of Hebrews makes this point as so much of his reason for writing is to encourage Jewish Christians to continue to trust in Jesus as opposed to going back to their old ways and sacrifices.

He wants them to totally and fully understand that Jesus is superior to their old ways of doing things - however good and helpful they were at the time - and to not go back to something inferior.

And so he wants his readers to grasp the reality that, in Jesus, there was an “all time” “one sacrifice” for sin and nothing more needs to be done.

And he wants them to realise that as a consequence of that sacrifice he has made believers “perfect forever”. Which may be something we struggle with at times.

And my question is whether we really allow the sacrifice of Jesus to have the impact on our lives that it should, do we recognise the state that he has brought us into, do we understand what he did when he made us “perfect forever” or as in verse 10 when he made us holy?

This is speaking about our state before God, it is speaking about the privilege we have in being able to draw near into God’s presence because of the finished work of Jesus.

Yes, I know that Heb 10:14 ends by speaking about believers “being made holy” but there is a strong argument that this is still speaking about what Jesus has achieved in providing sanctification for us. Some Bibles, even, have this as “those who are sanctified”.

One of the things that can easily hold us back from the best that God has for us is a limited awareness of what the sacrifice of Jesus has accomplished and the reality that this deals with all our sins and failings and shortcomings. Please don’t get the idea that I’m suggesting we are all perfect - we are far from that and the Spirit continues to work in us to make us more like Jesus. We still sin, we still mess up, we still need to daily receive the forgiveness possible through Jesus.

But our status and standing in God is secure because of this amazing sacrifice Jesus offered on our account.

Do we really grasp the truth that God sees us in his Son and is pleased with us? Our sin and guilt has been dealt with and we can leave it behind.

Or even if we grasp that truth, are there times when we don’t allow ourselves to forgive ourselves for what we have done wrong - to recognise that just as God has forgiven us so we can let go of things that still cause us to have feelings of guilt that can keep us from living in the joy of our salvation?

The sacrifice of Jesus reaches all parts of our lives - do we really understand that? And even more than understanding it are we prepared to accept it in its entirety and enter into the good things that God has made possible for us through that unique sacrifice?