The liturgy for the 33rd Sunday of OT (B) offers for our consideration Hebrews 10:11-14.18. The selection should be understood within the context formed by 10:1-18 in which the author argues for the excellence of the once-for-all sacrifice offered by Christ on the Cross.
Outline of the Section
Hebrews 10:1-18 can be outlined as follows:
- 10:1-3 The law being a shadow of things to come, the sacrifices offered yearly cannot take away sins
- 10:4-10 The sacrifices according to the law are abolished in favor of the once-and-for-all sacrifice through obedience
- 10:4 the blood of bulls and goats are ineffectual
- 10:5-10 Christ's sacrifice of obedience
- 5-7. Psalm 40:6-8 (LXX)
- 8-10. Exegesis of Ps. 40:6-8
- 10:11-14. Christ enthroned replaces the priests who stand
- 10:15-18. The once-and-for-all-sacrifice is sufficient as the Spirit testifies
- 10:15-16. Under the new covenant, the law will be written in hearts and minds
- 10:17. Sins shall no longer be remembered
- 10:18. Conclusion. No offering for sin where there is already forgiveness.
The chiastic structure is again evident here with the central elements constituted by 10:4-10 and 10:11-14 and the outer elements by 10:1-3 and 10:15-18.
We have already shown how the author argued that the institutions established under the old covenant are powerless (9:1-10) to take away sins while those of the new covenant are efficacious (9:11-14). This was due to the provisional and figurative nature of the old worship (8:1-6;7-13) while that of the new worship -- being heavenly and grounded in the new covenant -- is perfect and lasting (9:15-23;24-28). Here, the author focuses on the figure of Christ and the kind of sacrifice he offered: it is a sacrifice done in obedience. Using Scriptural passages from Psalm 40 and the prophets, the author shows that according to the Spirit's witness itself, God intended that the blood of the obedient Son is sufficient for the forgiveness of sins.
Psalm 40:6-8
The author quotes at length Psalm 40:6-8 as found in the Septuagint. The author puts the verses in the lips of Christ in a way that makes us understand that these were words he uttered before the Incarnation. Thus, the "body" prepared for Christ is the "body" (10:5b) he receives in the Incarnation and the same that was offered on the Cross in an act of obedience to God's will (10:7). The author underlines the significance of this sacrifice of obedience in 10:9b-10:
He abolishes the first (sacrifices of blood of animals)
in order the establish the second (Christ's sacrifice).
And it is by God's will that we have been sanctified
through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ
once and for all.
New Covenant, Jer. 31:31
The author links to the Body offered in sacrifice a modified version of Jer. 31:31 which he already cited in 8:10. Here, he replaces "house of Israel" with the phrase "with them". He follows this up with Jer. 31:34b (cited in 8:12) modified with the addition of "and their lawless deeds". With these modifications, the author widens the scope of the prophecy beyond the house of Israel and allows forgiveness to cover not only sins but also lawless deeds1. The connection between Body and the New Covenant is an allussion to the Eucharist where both the Body of Christ and the Blood of the New Covenant are offered in memorial of Christ's once-and-for-all-sacrifice.
Christ Enthroned
The liturgy for the 33rd Sunday of Ordinary Time (B) emphasizes verses 11-14 and 18. In 10:11-14, the author contrasts the priests who stand day by day in the offering of their sacrifice and Christ finally enthroned, that is, sitting. The passage recalls 2:9
We see him who for awhile was made lower than the angels,
crowned with glory and honor because of suffering and death
so that by the grace of God, he might taste death for everyone.
He has sat down, the author writes, because he no longer needs to offer sacrifice. Instead, he now waits until all are subjected to his feet (10:13; cfr. 2:
. His sacrifice has ended all sacrifices. "For by a single offering" the author says, "he has perfected for all time those who are sanctified" (10:14)2. Verse 18 concludes the section. The efficacy of Christ's sacrifice has procured forgiveness in such a way that no future sacrifices for sins will be required.
- 1. One can also argue that the author was quoting freely from Jer. 31:34. "Lawless deeds" is the equivalent of "iniquities" in the original text of Jer. 31:34, the object of "I will have mercy". Here the author puts sins and lawless deeds as the object of "I will not remember."
- 2. The Catechism cites this verse in par. 1544:
Everything that the priesthood of the Old Covenant prefigured finds its fulfillment in Christ Jesus, the "one mediator between God and men.(1 Tim. 2:5)" The Christian tradition considers Melchizedek, "priest of God Most High," as a prefiguration of the priesthood of Christ, the unique "high priest after the order of Melchizedek" (Heb. 5:10; cf. 6:20; Gen. 14:18); "holy, blameless, unstained," (Heb. 7:26) "by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are sanctified," (Heb. 10:14) that is, by the unique sacrifice of the cross.
