(ii.) The central function of priesthood is to offer sacrifice. If Christ be perfect Priest, what has He to ofi"er (8*) ? — The eternal Sacrifice which corre- sponds to the eternal Priesthood. Once more the idea is worked out by means of a contrast with Levitical institutions and the exposition of a verse from the Psalter. Levitical sacrifices were material and fre- quently repeated. Frequent repetition was neces- sary because they had no efficacy in the spiritual sphere ; they could not take away sin or cleanse the conscience (9* 10'"*). Long ago the Psalmist recognized their futility and indicated the nature of valid sacrifice. True sacrifice, he declared, is spiritual ; its essence consists in self-sacrifice — the complete surrender of the will in voluntary obedience to God (10'"^"). Christ's oblation was a sacrifice of self, the complete surrender of a per- fect self in willing obedience (1^ 9"). ' The days
of His tiesh' were one long period of self-dedication, and in the culminating moment on the Cross His sacrilice was made complete [o'- ^ 9^^ lO^"- *"). Self- sacrifice could be carried no further. Christ's perfect spiritual Sacrifice — the entire devotion of a perfect will — although its manifestation took place on earth, belongs in all its stages to the world of eternal realities (cf. did. weijfj.aTos aiuviov, 9^'*). It has the power ' to cleanse the conscience from dead works' (9") and 'to make perfect for ever them that are sanctified' (10"). Because it possesses eternal validity it can never be repeated (1'-^ 9^*^). The 'indissoluble life' (7^^) of the Priest-Victim is made available for all men by the one oflering. The new covenant-relation between God and man is established (9'-'^). Henceforth Christ sits en- throned in the heavenly sanctuary in token that His task is done, waiting until His enemies become His footstool (10'--i^).
{d) The Death of Christ. — The supposition that the death of Christ was a real stumbling-block to the first readers of the Epistle is justified by the evident pains taken by the writer to find reasons for that death. Firstly, Christ died ' by the grace of God ' (29) ; God willed that it should be so. Secondly, Christ died as true man. To die once and once only is part of the common lot of men (9^). Thirdlj^ Christ died as testator, that we might enter into the inheritance He has bequeathed to us (9^^). Fourthly, the death of Christ was the necessary climax of the experience of human sufiering which qualified Him to be 'captain of salvation' (2'"). Fifthly, Christ died to free us from the fear of death. From the time of the Fall, death was terrible because it was regarded as the penalty of human sin. Jesus Christ, by dying though He was sinless, broke the connexion be- tween death and sin, and so robbed death of its enslaving terrors (2^* ^). Finally, Christ's death was the foundation of the new covenant, the priestly act of self-sacrifice by which ' he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified' (9" 10"»).
That the voluntary laying down of Christ's life was a sacrificial act is regarded as self-evident, and no direct answer is given to the question, ' How does His sacrifice make perfect His followers ? ' Yet the WTiter provides the material for an answer when he dweUs on the principle of Christ's ' solid- arity with sinners.' ' He that sanctifieth and they that are to be sanctified are all of one' (2", sc. ' one piece, one whole ' ; cf. Davidson, Hebrews, p. 66, n. 2). Christ's High-Priestly acts were not the acts of an individual but of the representative man. It was human nature which in Him was perfected through obedience, entered the heavenly sanctuary, and sat down on the throne of majesty. What was actually effected in Him, was eftected potentially in those who follow Him (cf. 10^"). Christians 'are included in that purpose of love which Christ has realised ' (Westcott, Ep. to the Hebrews^, p. 314). The High Priest is also the irp6- Sponos (6^"), one of many sons who are being brought to glory (2'"), who becomes the cause of salvation to His human brethren because in Him the perfec- tion of human nature has been realized (5^).
(e) The Parousia. — The Epistle speaks of ' the day which is approaching ' ( 10^), when God ' will shake not the earth only but also the heavens ' (12^), and the glorified Christ ' shall appear unto salva- tion for them that await him ' (9-*). ' The day' is unquestionably the prophetic ' Day of Jahweh,' but the idea of the day intended by the writer seems to be that of the older OT prophets (cf. Am 5^^, Is 2^2), rather than that of the later apocalyp- tists. It is ' a coming ' rather than ' the Coming ' of the Christ. About the final Coming the Epistle has nothing to say. But a crisis is at hand ; the
538 HEBREWS, EPISTLE TO THE
HEBREWS, EPISTLE TO THE
readers can already see its approach. To the writer it is a real coming of Christ.
' The Master had said that He might come at even or at mid- night or at cock-crowing or in the morning (Mk 1335). Xo the writer of this letter the thought has occurred that those hours may be not merely alternative but successive. And now that the first of them has sounded warning, he bids his friends be ready ' (Nairne, The Epistle of Priesthood, p. 210).