§20 Christ and His Work: The Final Answer to Sin (Heb. 9:23–28)
This section summarizes the argument of the preceding sections in a succinct and climactic manner. The repetition of the main points is deliberate (compare v. 24 with v. 11, and vv. 25–26 with v. 12) and indicates their importance to the author. Here, indeed, we are at the very heart of the Epistle to the Hebrews. The stress is on what Christ has already done, once-and-for-all, rather than on what remains to occur. And yet the author can affirm the second advent of Christ as the event that will round out the salvation experienced by those who have received the good news.
9:23–24 / It was necessary for the copies of the heavenly things to be cleansed with these sacrifices (lit., “by these things”), namely, the rites described in the preceding section (vv. 19–22; cf. v. 13). This was God’s will for the Mosaic dispensation. And it was his intention that the levitical sacrifices foreshadow the sacrifice of Christ. For the heavenly things, the ultimate reality wherein final and complete atonement is accomplished, better sacrifices than these are necessary. The plural sacrifices here is caused by the generic contrast with the sacrifices of the old covenant. But from the present passage, as well as many others, we know that our author could easily have used the singular “sacrifice.” It is the “once-for-all” sacrifice of Christ that is the new covenant’s counterpart to the sacrifices of the old covenant. Christ himself is the reality to which the copies pointed. His sacrificial work thus was presented, so to speak, in heaven itself, and there he now continues in his high priestly ministry of intercession in God’s presence (cf. 6:20; 7:25; Rom. 8:34). This is what is meant by the statement that Christ did not enter a man-made (lit., “handmade”) sanctuary. This was but a copy (“anti-type”) of the true one (lit., “of the true things”). But in Christ the anticipated reality has come.
9:25–26 / NIV’s did he enter heaven is added to the original for clarity (cf. v. 24). By its very nature the work of the high priest involved the annually repeated sacrifice and entry into the Holy of Holies to make atonement (NIV correctly adds the word Most to the simple Holy Place of the text). On the Day of Atonement, the high priest accomplished his duties using blood that is not his own (lit., “of another”). But since in the supreme act of atonement Jesus took his own blood, and not that “of another,” it is impossible for him to repeat the act of atonement. For this would entail his repeated dying, and one might say even from the creation of the world, since atonement was needed from the time of the entry of sin into the world. But the central tenet of Christianity is that in the already inaugurated eschatological era, at the end of the ages (Barclay: “the consummation of history”), Christ has appeared once for all for the final removal of sin by the sacrifice of himself. It is precisely here that the contrast between Christ’s high priestly work and that of the levitical high priest is most startling and revealing. It is important to note the close connection that exists between the once-and-for-all character of Christ’s sacrifice and the fact that Christ’s sacrificial work depends upon his own blood (cf. 7:27; 9:12). Where sin has been definitively canceled, as it has in Christ, the aeons have reached a turning point (cf. 1:2; 1 Cor. 10:11).
9:27–28 / The author here draws a parallel between the experience of man (i.e., humankind) and that of Christ. In both instances, death can occur only once but is not the end of the story. After death human beings face judgment; after his death, Christ will return to bring salvation, i.e., to deliver his people from judgment. Whereas on the one hand judgment is a threat facing all, on the other, those who depend upon Christ’s atoning work receive deliverance from judgment with the result that salvation is finally and fully experienced by those who are waiting for him (cf. Phil. 3:20; 2 Tim. 4:8). Thus, in keeping with the finality of Christ’s sacrifice, the purpose of the second appearance of Christ does not have to do with the problem of sin but with the consummation of the eschatological age begun in his first advent. The possibility of eschatological salvation depends squarely upon the reality of Christ’s atonement for sin. Thus Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people. This last clause probably constitutes a conscious allusion to Isaiah 53:12, whence the expression many derives (see note). Christ was offered once and with that sacrificial work now accomplished, his future work will involve only the salvation and vindication of his people.
9:23–24 / The Greek word translated copies (hypodeigmata) occurs in a similar way in 8:5 (see note there). The same word, however, does not underlie copy in v. 24, where the Greek word is antitypos (which occurs in the rest of the NT only in 1 Pet. 3:21). “Anti-type” here refers to that which corresponds to the original as an impression to the die. The “anti-type” is thus contrasted with the “true things.” Elsewhere (as in 1 Pet. 3:21) the opposite is the case, namely, that “anti-type” is the reality to which a “type” points. For heavenly things, the author uses the word epouranios (see note on 3:1). Again, the “things” referred to here are not to be understood literally but as a way the author uses to speak of spiritual realities. (See discussion on 8:2, 5.) For this reason the “heavenly things” are here synonymous with the “true things” (cf. 8:2). The description of the earthly sanctuary as man-made stands in deliberate contrast to the description of the heavenly sanctuary as “not man-made” in v. 11. The verb for “purify” or “cleanse” (katharizō) is applied both to the conscience (in 9:14 and 10:2) and to ceremonial purification (as in 9:22 and here). See F. Hauck, TDNT, vol. 3, pp. 423–31. But do the heavenly things themselves need to be purified? Again, there is no need to understand this literally. Our author is drawing a contrast between the old and new that involves the use of parallel language for things that are similar but not equivalent. The point in the present passage is that just as sacrifices were necessary in the old covenant context (the copies), so also the reality of the new covenant (“the true things”) demands a superior—indeed, a definitive—sacrifice. And this is what Christ has accomplished for us. The verb for appear (emphanizō) occurs in Hebrews only here and in 11:14. On the question of the background of this passage and 8:5, see L. D. Hurst, “How ‘Platonic’ are Hebrews viii:5 and ix:23f.?” JTS 34 (1983), pp. 156–68.
9:25–26 / Since it is into the Holy of Holies that the high priest enters yearly to make atonement for the sins of the people, NIV is correct in specifying the Most Holy Place, although the Greek word (hagia) is the same as in the preceding verse, where NIV translates sanctuary. KJV, ASV, and RSV, however, retain the translation “the Holy Place.” The use of the present tense enters may well reflect the existence of the temple and its cultus at the time of the writing of the letter (but see note on 9:6–7). The verb offer (prospherō) is used repeatedly by our author. See note on 5:1. For blood, see note on 9:7. The word for “of another” occurs elsewhere in Hebrews only in 11:9, 34, where it has the connotation of “foreign.” The same contrast between the once for all character of Christ’s priestly work and the repeated (again and again) sacrifices of the levitical priesthood is found in 10:11f. (cf. 7:27). The word suffer (paschō) here, as in 13:12, is to be understood as “die,” as the context clearly indicates. It would have been possible for Christ to suffer repeatedly, but not to die repeatedly (everyone dies only “once,” v. 27). See W. Michaelis, TDNT, vol. 5 pp. 916–19.
The phrase since the creation (lit., “foundation”) of the world occurs also in 4:3 and is common in the NT. According to 1 Pet. 1:20, in a context that refers to the redeeming blood of Christ, “he was chosen before the creation of the world, but was revealed in these last times for your sake.” See F. Hauck, TDNT, vol. 3, pp. 620f. For the very great importance of the concept of once for all, see note on 7:27 (cf. 9:12). To do away with sin may connote the “annulment” or “cancellation” of sin. Athetēsis is the same word used in 7:18 (NIV “set aside”). (See note on 7:18.) The word for sacrifice (thysia) occurs frequently in Hebrews in describing the sacrificial ritual of the old covenant, but only here and in 10:12 is it used to refer to the sacrifice of Christ (cf. 9:23). See J. Swetnam, “Sacrifice and Revelation in the Epistle to the Hebrews: Observations and Surmises on Hebrews 9, 26,” CBQ 30 (1968), pp. 227–34.
9:27–28 / For destined to die, see Gen. 3:19. The noun “judgment” (krisis) is found only here and in 10:27 in Hebrews (the verb is found in 10:30 and 13:4; cf. 6:2), although the idea is often present (e.g., 2:3; 4:1, 13). See W. Schneider, NIDNTT, vol. 2, pp. 362–67. Yet again we encounter the important words once (hapax) and sacrificed (i.e., offered [prospherō] in sacrifice). For the former, see, in the immediate context, vv. 12, 26, 27, 28; 10:10; for the latter, see vv. 14, 25, 28 (cf. 10:14). The verb that NIV translates take away (anapherō) also means “to bear,” as does the Hebrew verb in Isa. 53:12. Cf. BAGD, p. 63: “he took upon himself the sins of many.” In a very similar passage, 1 Peter also makes use of the language of Isaiah: “He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree” (1 Pet. 2:24; cf. 3:18). Many is explained by the language of Isa. 53:12 and is probably to be understood as a Hebraic way of referring to all. Earlier in this epistle we have read that he died “for everyone” (2:9). Thus the “many” of Mark 10:45 is probably also to be explained in an inclusive sense as referring to all (see 2 Cor. 5:14f. and 1 Tim. 2:6). Compare too the “many” of Rom. 5:15 and 19 with the “all” of 5:18. See J. Jeremias, TDNT, vol. 6, pp. 540–45. NIV’s not to bear sin is an expansive translation of the literal “without sin” (chōris hamartias). The same expression occurs in 4:15, where it refers to Christ’s sinlessness. Here, however, the sense is different. Thus BAGD, p. 891: “without any relation to sin, i.e., not with the purpose of atoning for it.” Waiting (apekdechomai) occurs only here in Hebrews. For salvation (sōtēria), see note on 2:3. The idea of appearing a second time, after the accomplishment of atonement in the presence of God, is reminiscent of the reappearance of the high priest after he had accomplished his task in the Holy of Holies. The apprehensiveness of the crowd while the high priest was out of sight, followed by their great joy at his reappearance, receives eloquent witness in contemporary sources (e.g., Sirach 50:5–10). Only by means of an acceptable offering was salvation assured.