Hebrews 10:1-18 | What's happening (and who's involved)?
It Is That Drastic
The writer to the Hebrews draws some important distinctions between what Jesus offers and what the Old Covenant offered. Spoiler alert: it is drastic.
The Old Covenant, formed by the Laws given from God to His people, are related to simply being a shadow of the good things to come, and those things are found in Christ. To exemplify how drastic this comparison is, I invite you to simply consider your own shadow. What is the shadow? It is just evidence that you are there. What substance does a shadow have? Truly, nothing. The substance is yourself. Your shadow has no personality apart from you, has no existence without you, and does not live or function as a being in any capacity. The difference between the Old and New Covenants and Jesus and the Law are as drastic as a man and his shadow.
The theme that is revealed is that the law could never take away sins, but Jesus does. The prophets even highlight how the sacrifices that were offered were not truly pleasing to the Lord. It is an old theme that continues to stand out to me that God desires obedience. He desires mercy. That first law is removed that the second may be established. It was the will of God that we would be sanctified by the blood of Jesus instead of a continuous offering of bulls and goats that could never truly accomplish these things.
The sins that could not be washed away by the continuous sacrifices of the priests are now washed away in Jesus. Our lawless deeds are remembered no more. We are set free from them. The confession we have in Jesus presents something truly transformative. You status before God becomes forever changed. So the writer of Hebrews is encouraging the reader to hold fast to that fact. The old could never do what is done by the new.
What observations are you making in this passage?
The Old Covenant, formed by the Laws given from God to His people, are related to simply being a shadow of the good things to come, and those things are found in Christ. To exemplify how drastic this comparison is, I invite you to simply consider your own shadow. What is the shadow? It is just evidence that you are there. What substance does a shadow have? Truly, nothing. The substance is yourself. Your shadow has no personality apart from you, has no existence without you, and does not live or function as a being in any capacity. The difference between the Old and New Covenants and Jesus and the Law are as drastic as a man and his shadow.
The theme that is revealed is that the law could never take away sins, but Jesus does. The prophets even highlight how the sacrifices that were offered were not truly pleasing to the Lord. It is an old theme that continues to stand out to me that God desires obedience. He desires mercy. That first law is removed that the second may be established. It was the will of God that we would be sanctified by the blood of Jesus instead of a continuous offering of bulls and goats that could never truly accomplish these things.
The sins that could not be washed away by the continuous sacrifices of the priests are now washed away in Jesus. Our lawless deeds are remembered no more. We are set free from them. The confession we have in Jesus presents something truly transformative. You status before God becomes forever changed. So the writer of Hebrews is encouraging the reader to hold fast to that fact. The old could never do what is done by the new.
What observations are you making in this passage?
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2026
January
John 14:22-31 | What's the lesson for me today?John 14:22-31 | What am I going to do about it?John 14:22-31 | Prayer PromptsPassage of the Week: John 15:1-11John 15:1-11 | What's happening (and who's involved)?John 15:1-11 | What's the connection?John 15:1-11 | What's a lesson for the original audience?John 15:1-11 | What's the lesson for me today?John 15:1-11 | What am I going to do about it?John 15:1-11 | Prayer PromptsPassage of the Week: John 15:12-27John 15:12-27 | What's happening (and who's involved)?John 15:12-27 | What's the connection?John 15:12-27 | What's a lesson for the original audience?John 15:12-27 | What's the lesson for me today?John 15:12-27 | What am I going to do about it?John 15:12-27 | Prayer PromptsPassage of the Week: John 16:1-15John 16:1-15 | What's happening (and who's involved)?John 16:1-15 | What's the connection?John 16:1-15 | What’s a lesson for the original audience?John 16:1-15 | What's the lesson for me today?John 16:1-15 | What am I going to do about it?John 16:1-15 | Prayer PromptsPassage of the Week: John 16:16-33John 16:16-33 | What's happening (and who's involved)?John 16:16-33 | What's the connection?John 16:16-33 | What's a lesson for the original audience?John 16:16-33 | What's the lesson for me today?John 16:16-33 | What am I going to do about it?John 16:16-33 | Prayer Prompts
February
Passage of the Week: John 17John 17 | What's happening (and who's involved)?John 17 | What's the connection?John 17 | What's a lesson for the original audience?John 17 | What's the lesson for me today?John 17 | What am I going to do about it?John 17 | Prayer PromptsPassage of the Week: John 18:1-11John 18:1-11 | What's happening (and who's involved)?John 18:1-11 | What's the connection?John 18:1-11 | What's a lesson for the original audience?John 18:1-11 | What's the lesson for me today?John 18:1-11 | What am I going to do about it?John 18:1-11 | Prayer PromptsPassage of the Week: John 18:12-40John 18:12-40 | What's happening (and who's involved)?John 18:12-40 | What's the connection?John 18:12-40 | What's a lesson for the original audience?John 18:12-40 | What's the lesson for me today?John 18:12-40 | What am I going to do about it?John 18:12-40 | Prayer PromptsPassage of the Week: John 19John 19 | What's happening (and who's involved)?John 19 | What's the connection?John 19 | What's a lesson for the original audience?John 19 | What's the lesson for me today?John 19 | What am I going to do about it?John 19 | Prayer Prompts
March
Passage of the Week: John 20John 20 | What's happening (and who's involved)?John 20 | What's the connection?John 20 | What's a lesson for the original audience?John 20 | What's the lesson for me today?John 20 | What am I going to do about it?John 20 | Prayer PromptsJohn 21 | Prayer PromptsPassage of the Week: John 21John 21 | What's happening (and who's involved)?John 21 | What's the connection?John 21 | What's a lesson for the original audience?John 21 | What's the lesson for me today?John 21 | What am I going to do about it?Passage of the Week: Hebrews 1:1-4Hebrews 1:1-4 | What's happening (and who's involved)?Hebrews 1:1-4 | What's the connection?Hebrews 1:1-4 | What is a lesson for the original audience?Hebrews 1:1-4 | What's the lesson for me today?Hebrews 1:1-4 | What am I going to do about it?Hebrews 1:1-4 | Prayer PromptsPassage of the Week: Hebrews 1:5-14Hebrews 1:5-14 | What's happening (and who's involved)?Hebrews 1:5-14 | What's the connection?Hebrews 1:5-14 | What's a lesson for the original audience?Hebrews 1:5-14 | What's the lesson for me today?Hebrews 1:5-14 | What am I going to do about it?Hebrews 1:5-14 | Prayer PromptsPassage of the Week: Hebrews 2:1-4Hebrews 2:1-4 | What's happening (and who's involved)?Hebrews 2:1-4 | What's the connection?
April
Hebrews 2:1-4 | What's a lesson for the original audience?Hebrews 2:1-4 | What's the lesson for me today?Hebrews 2:1-4 | What am I going to do about it?Hebrews 2:1-4 | Prayer PromptsPassage of the Week: Hebrews 2:5-9Hebrews 2:5-9 | What's happening (and who's involved)?Hebrews 2:5-9 | What's the connection?Hebrews 2:5-9 | What's a lesson for the original audience?Hebrews 2:5-9 | What's the lesson for me today?Hebrews 2:5-9 | What am I going to do about it?
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