We have much to say about this, but it is hard to make it clear to you because you no longer try to understand.
Hebrews 5:11
We all like to be heard. We all have opinions that are just busting to get out. If there’s any question about this, just look at the unbelievable explosion of social media growth. Today, Facebook has 3 billion people that use it at least monthly. That’s about 37% of the world’s population. It’s estimated that by 2027, Facebook will reach 75% of the world’s population[1].
And why are all these people spending all their time on social media? Because they want to say something. They want to tell the world what they’re thinking. They want to post pictures and videos of cats and anything else they can think of. Deep down in their hearts they believe that they have a voice and a right to be heard.
It’s like that scene in The King’s Speech where future King George VI and his speech therapist, Lionel Logue, are practicing the coronation speech. Lionel asks why he or anyone else should listen to him. The future King yells, “I have a voice[2]!
Yes, everyone today wants to say something. And they want people to listen. But not just one or two people. No, they want hundreds and thousands of people to follow. To listen. To like their every comment. To forward every picture. To applaud at every video.
But the opposite is not true today. Who likes to listen? Really, think about it. Don’t we all just skim our emails and social media feeds? We quickly delete the things that don’t look interesting. We skip over anything and everything that won’t get our numbers of likes up. Or won’t increase our following.
That’s where we find some of these Hebrews. They’ve heard about Jesus and his payment for all sins. This great message grabbed their attention. They got all excited and clicked on the thumbs-up button of life. They even forwarded the message to all their friends and family, commenting about it.
But now, things are not just different, they’re way different. They’ve moved from listening to and being excited about Jesus on the cross and now they’re going back to the way things were. They’re headed back to the temple to offer sacrifices for sin. They’re looking forward to Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, when the high priest will offer a sacrifice for everyone’s sin.
Wow! What a turnaround. They’ve jumped from the idea of Jesus dying for their sins once and for all to needing to offer more sacrifices. They’ve saw the goodness of God shown through Jesus paying for their forgiveness, and now they’re trying to earn their own forgiveness.
Before they heard of Jesus, they were still in their sins. They heard of Jesus and thought about the idea that their sins could be forgiven. They weren’t so dull. And now, instead of trusting the payment of Jesus, they’re going back to paying for sin by themselves. Now they’re really dull.
Our writer is saying that the Hebrews at one time in the past were sensitive to the truth that Jesus had died once-and-for-all. All sin: past, present, and future had been paid for when Jesus died on the cross. So, the logic goes something like this: since Jesus died as the sacrifice for all sin, then no more sacrifices for sin are needed.
It’s like baking a cake. First thing you do is turn the oven on to get it hot. Then you mix all the ingredients together, put it in a cake pan, and put it in the oven. After about 45 minutes to an hour, the cake is baked. Period. That’s it. It’s done. There’s no more need to bake the cake again. Baking a cake is a once-and-for-all time thing.
Some of the Hebrews who were reading this letter had hear the good news. Total forgiveness by God was now available through Jesus. He had paid our debt once and for all. So, why go back to offering more sacrifices? There’s absolutely no need to keep on sacrificing in the temple.
And yet, that’s exactly what some of the Hebrews were doing. They played around with the idea that the Jesus and his one-time New Testament truth and sacrifice totally replaced the Old Testament offerings. It was a great concept to be totally forgiven and received as one of his children. But they never personally accepted it for themselves.
The writer is warning the Hebrews not to try and bake that cake again. It was baked once and for all. There’s no looking back. There’s no going back. Anyone who knows anything about cakes will never try and bake it a second time.
But isn’t that something we also try? We hear the words and truth that Jesus has paid it all. That his death was more than enough to pay for all our sin. That we can be adopted by God as his sons and daughters. And yet, instead of trusting him for our life, don’t we try to manipulate God to do what we want? What we think is best?
Unfortunately, the short answer is yes. But when we sin, we can run to God through that one-time payment for all sin. He’s faithful and just to forgive our sins and cleans us from all unrighteousness. No more trying to re-bake that cake. It’s done.
Noodling Questions
What do you have to say that’s important?
How is total forgiveness a wildly strange idea?
If sin is really taken care of once-and-for-all, how will that change our lives?
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