Commentary On: Hebrews 9:24-28

Context

The Epistle to the Hebrews is a mysterious letter. It was written anonymously to an unknown congregation, yet the beauty of its language and power of its theology assured it of a place in the canon. The letter can be divided into four major sections, each of which alternates between theological explorations and ethical exhortations that grow out of them. The four major sections are as follows:

1) Christ Greater Than Angels (1:5-2:18)

2) Christ Greater Than Moses (3:1-4:16)

3) Christ Greater Than Aaron (5:1-10:39)

4) Christ the Pioneer and Perfector of Faith (11:1-12:29)

The text for today comes from section 3 and summarizes many of the themes developed from 5:1 through 9:23.

Elements of Structure

The passage is structured in two ways. Both 9:24 and 9:25-26 are organized antithetically. So 9:24 reads, "For Christ did not enter ...but entered...," and 9:25-26 reads, "Nor was it to offer himself again and again...but he appeared once for all..." The second organizing element is the three-fold use of "appeared" (9:24, 26, 28).

The conjunction "for" in 9:24 indicates that the discussion in these verses is directly related to what has preceded. In particular, the antitheses continue the contrast drawn between "the sketches of heavenly things" and "the heavenly things themselves" (9:23).

Comments on 9:24-28

In a manner consistent with the entire argument of the epistle, the author here continues the habit of contrasting the old order and the new dispensation. He or she is contrasting the temple system centered in Jerusalem with the new accessibility to heaven made possible through the Risen Christ. Behind the argument is a view of the temple whose architecture and design was meant to provide an image of the cosmos. The outer courtyard was accessible to all, Jews and gentiles alike. It was also the least holy part of the temple. But the outer courtyard was divided from the temple precincts by a wall with gates. At each gate was an inscription informing visitors that gentiles or unclean Jews entered its precincts on pain of death. It was a capital crime to walk through the gate that separated Jew from gentile. The wall symbolized the chasm that separated clean Jew from unclean gentile. The temple precincts themselves continued to embody the hierarchy within Israel. The court of the women was separated from the court of the Israelite men, because men were holier than women, and the court of the men was distinguished from the court of the priests because priests were holier than laity. Only the high priest could enter the Holy of Holies and only on the Day of Atonement. The closer one got to God's presence, the more limited the access. By contrast (9:24b) Christ has entered into heaven itself to appear in God's own presence, not a room in a temple, and to intercede "on our behalf," not just for one elect ethnic group. The increasingly restrictive temple system has given way to universal access. The Risen Christ has appeared on behalf of Jew and Greek, male and female, slave and free (Galatians 3:28-29). His priesthood levels all distinctions.

But the issue is not just accessibility but efficacy (9:25-26a). The high priest must repeat his intercessory work each year at the Day of Atonement, and each year he carries the blood of sacrificial victims, but offers not a drop of his own. By contrast, the Lord has appeared "once for all," which means not only once for all time but once for all people. At this point, the author unites Jesus' ignominious death by crucifixion with his glorious ascension and reveals them to be two aspects of one saving work, two acts of the same drama.

The glimpse of the crucifixion is as dazzling as the view offered by the Fourth Gospel. "But as it is, he has appeared once for all at the coming together of the purpose of the ages to remove sin by the sacrifice of himself." (Author's translation) The cross is the crossroads of the ages, and where the purpose of all the ages converge, there is the cross, its larger purpose now revealed as "bearing the sins of many." The "many" is not used restrictively but is meant to focus on the many who have received this gift. It also contrasts with "the one" who has made this possible. It is available to all; it has already been appropriated by many.

Christ is not only high priest but high priest and sacrifice in one. He therefore does not need to repeat his intercession. It was teleios, appropriate in itself, unrepeatable and sufficient for all ages past and aeons to come.

But the christologian of Hebrews is not done. Christ first "appears" (9:24) as the eternal high priest. Then in a retrospective glance over his shoulder, the author glances at the one who "has appeared" at the convergence of the ages and in the "fullness of time" (Gal 4:4b) "to deal with sin." Now he lifts his eyes toward the future and discerns the One who "will appear" to "save those who eagerly are waiting for Him." The argument is remarkable. Christ has dealt with sin; the outcome is known long before the drama of human life reaches its last act. But the final redemption remains in the future. Between the "then" of dealing with sin and the "then" of realized salvation stands the "now" during which Jesus appears in God's presence interceding for us.

Relation to Gospel Lection (Mark 12:38-44)

The writer of Hebrews has portrayed the purpose of the portrayal of Jesus' entrance into the eternal Holy of Holies as our high priest, bearing himself as the sacrifice. What a contrast to the temple of Jesus' day! It is overrun by officious bureaucrats, scribes, whose job is to elaborate the red tape of the oral Torah which is used to make the Torah inaccessible to the people who need it most. The status system of the temple has turned human relationships upside down. Scribes contend for honor while they shamefully destroy widows by devouring their estates (houses). Widows were the very people that the Torah was supposed to protect. The temple is the source of oppression and exploitation (12:38-40).

No sooner has Jesus said this than his prophetic critique is illustrated by a poor widow. Rather than receiving her living from the temple's fund, she gives away her life to support it. She has given "her life." It is said only of Jesus and this widow that they gave "their life." But in the temple courtyard, apart from the widow, even the act of giving has been reduced to social competition and status display. The temple is for the rich who can afford to support it; it lives off of the lives of the widows whose houses it destroys.

In short, the temple system glimpsed here is the antithesis (or "antitype" to use a word from Hebrews) of the reality created through Jesus' crucifixion, resurrection and ascension.

William Herzog Rochester, NY