NOTES for Heb 10:11-18

For many centuries people considered the language of sacrifice the most adequate means of communication with God (or the gods). The logic is simple: suppose God (or one of the gods) for some reason does not want to deal with me. But surely He (or he) wants something! Meat... or fruits of the earth... I give this, and communication is restored - until the next time. Of course, this logic is connected with the fact that a person constructs God and His needs "in his own likeness." At the same time, God for a time in some sense agrees to this way of communication and even describes in greatest detail (in the law of Moses) which sacrifices, how, and when to offer.

The point is that God always takes into account which relations a person is already capable of and which he is not yet capable of. And the language of sacrifice remains workable until the time of the New Covenant comes. All Old Testament sacrifices turn out to be prefigurations of the one sacrifice that Christ will offer on the cross.

Indeed, why does God not want to deal with man? Because man is in sin, that is, in opposition to the will of God. Old Testament sacrifices are aimed at appeasing God, at restoring communion with Him. But what does God actually want from us? Love, expressed in filial obedience (see Hos. 6:6; Matt. 9:13). This is exactly what Jesus brings to God on the cross in absolute degree, and therefore the appeasing of God, His forgiveness of sins, and the restoration of relations also take place in absolute degree. And this means that God no longer accepts any sacrifices, for He has already accepted the perfect sacrifice. This is what the apostle Paul writes about in our passage for today.