Jesus Christ is the great High Priest, the mediator of the New Covenant. By His death and resurrection, the economy of salvation which the earthly Jerusalem's temple, priesthood and sacrifices pointed to has been brought to perfection. This is the main thesis of the letter to the Hebrews. Hebrews 10:4-10 is part of a demonstration that shows how the temple sacrifices, incapable by themselves to sanctify, has now been replaced by the more perfect sacrifice of Christ, the High Priest. The author had already shown how the figure of Melchizedek points to Christ (c.7) who is the mediator of the New Covenant (c.
foretold by prophecy. By his suffering, death and glorification he has passed on into the Holy of Holies, God's abode itself (c.9) where he now intercedes for us perpetually. In chapter 10, the theme is the many sacrifices of the Old Covenant made perfect and rendered obsolete by the one sacrifice of Christ: "Indeed by one offering, he has made perfect forever those who are being sanctified" (Heb. 10:14).
Hebrews 10:4-10 can be outlined thus:
| vv. 4-5a | The intention to do away with the blood of bulls and goats | |
| vv. 5b-7 | The intention expressed (using Pssalm 40:6-8, LXX) | |
| vv. 8-9 | Interpretation of Psalm 40:6-8: the sacrifices and holocausts of the Old Covenant is rendered obsolete by the obedience of Christ | |
| v.10 | We are consecrated through the offering of the Body of Christ |
The author of "Hebrews" thus shows that the blood of animals used for the forgiveness of Israel's sins and their sanctification is now replaced by the more perfect sacrifice of Christ who was "obedient even unto death."
"...as he was coming into the world". The process by which the new way of sanctification and forgiveness of sins is established is linked to the Incarnation. The author here hints at pre-existence, something he already alluded to in Heb.7:3 where he describes Melchizedek as a type of Christ. The link to the Incarnation is made more explicit in the quotation of Psalm 40
"...a body you did prepare for me..." The quotation that the author uses here to express the intention to do away with the blood of animals is the Septuagint's Psalm 40:6-8 which differs slightly from the Hebrew text which goes:
Offerings and sacrifices do not please you
But my ears you have made ready to obey
holocausts and sin offerings you do not require
I said: "Behold, I come"
as it is written of me in the scroll
; to do your will is my pleasure, O God
The obvious difference here is the line which says: "My ears you have made ready for obedience". Literally it goes: "My ears you have dug up." God has unclogged the ear and so it is able to hear better and therefore to obey. Here the Greek text used by the author of "Hebrews" reads "a body you prepared for me." The theology of the letter to the Hebrews is nourished by this text, not the one from the Massoretic text. The sacrifice of Christ is associated with His Body that in the Eucharist is offered to God as a memorial. In addition, this text too recalls the self-emptying that Christ undergoes:
He emptied himself
and took the form of a slave
being born in the likeness of man
In Christ's suffering and death then, the plan for forgiveness and sanctification through blood reaches its full satisfaction.
"...He takes away the first..." The exegesis of Psalm 40:6-8 is purely rabbinic in method. The author is showing that the quotation points to the passing of the Old Covenant with all its institutions and its replacement by the New (Heb. 8:13).
"...we have been consecrated ... once and for all" The Christian's consecration to the "chosen race, the royal priesthood" has been effected through the Body of Christ offered up in sacrifice. But as Pauline theology also goes, "body of Christ" is also the Church (Col. 1:18). Thus the gift of forgiveness that the Old Covenant dispensation pointed to has been made actual and realized for those who have become the Body of Christ.
