“And every priest stands ministering daily and offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But this Man, after He had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of God, from that time waiting till His enemies are made His footstool” (Hebrews 10:11-13).
Much like a teacher who seeks to reinforce a lesson in the minds of his or her students, the author of Hebrews returned to supplement an earlier teaching in the passage quoted above. Consider this excerpt from Hebrews 10:12: “…after He had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of God.” Unlike an Old Testament priest who stood to conduct the various sacrificial offerings, Jesus finished His sacrificial work as evidenced by His seated position at the right hand of God.
We find this same imagery in several other portions of this epistle…
“…when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high” (Hebrews 1:3 KJV).
“But to which of the angels has He ever said: ‘Sit at My right hand, Till I make Your enemies Your footstool’?” (Hebrews 1:13).
“Now this is the main point of the things we are saying: We have such a High Priest, who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens” (Hebrews 8:1).
These passages convey the idea of Jesus’ completed work, as well as His exalted position. In fact, this word-picture is so important that our author will return to it once again in Hebrews 12:2. The following commentary prompts us to consider the significance of this imagery and helps explain why our author has returned to it so often…
“Christ’s work is contrasted with the work of the Jewish priests. The priests’ work was never finished, so they had to stand day after day and offer sacrifices; Christ’s sacrifice (dying in our place) is finished, so he is seated. The priests repeated the sacrifices often; Christ sacrificed once for all. The sacrifice system couldn’t completely remove sin; Christ’s sacrifice effectively cleansed us.” (1)
Another source adds a practical application in reminding us that we can do nothing to secure God’s favor apart from what Christ has done on our behalf: “If you feel like you’re in a rut, doing the same things every day to try to impress God, you’re under the old system. And like the priests of old, your work is never done.” (2)
(1) Life Application Study Bible NKJV [Hebrews 10:11-12] Copyright © 1988, 1989, 1991, 1993, 1996, 2004 by Tyndale House Publishers Inc., all rights reserved.
(2) Courson, J. (2003). Jon Courson’s Application Commentary (p. 1489). Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson.