Daily Devotion – December 20, 2021 – Dr. Pat Taylor Ellison
Hebrews 10:5-10
10:5 Consequently, when Christ came into the world, he said, “Sacrifices and offerings you have not desired, but a body you have prepared for me;
10:6 in burnt offerings and sin offerings you have taken no pleasure.
10:7 Then I said, ‘See, God, I have come to do your will, O God’ (in the scroll of the book it is written of me).”
10:8 When he said above, “You have neither desired nor taken pleasure in sacrifices and offerings and burnt offerings and sin offerings” (these are offered according to the law),
10:9 then he added, “See, I have come to do your will.” He abolishes the first in order to establish the second.
10:10 And it is by God’s will that we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.
How do you get a close-knit group of people to stop doing a traditional thing in favor of new instructions? Have you ever tried to make that happen? It is nearly impossible. Why? Because we are humans and we get thoroughly vested in what we have become rather good at over the years. Get a veteran sugar cookie baker to go to spritz? Or make no cookies at all and instead have fun with Chex Mix? Nope.
In this passage, the author of the book of Hebrews is writing to Hebrews, of course. And that author is trying to help these Children of Israel see that God, who neither desired nor takes pleasure in animal sacrifices, has asked his people through the prophets to show their love for God by taking care of widows and orphans and by being good to one another. The Hebrew people did not get the new instruction, somehow, and kept up the animal sacrifices while being stingy with one another.
The author then says Jesus showed up and followed the new instructions to the letter – he was good to people and preached caring for one another, and even threw a little chaos into the lives of those keeping up the ancient sacrifice traditions. When the authorities got fed up with Jesus trying to overturn things, they sacrificed HIM. But even in this, Jesus was following God’s new instructions. He was giving himself on behalf of caring for others. He has, the author of Hebrews says, abolished an old order and established a new one. In this act, and through his sacrifice, WE have been saved. If Jesus had not thrown out the old and taken up the new, we would still be waiting for a savior.
Gracious God, Thank you for loving us. Thank you for changing the order of things. Thank you for insisting we care for one another. Help us to follow new calls into mission to our neighbors who might not know you yet. Help us to let go of clinging to old ways we know better and to follow your new urging in order to tune into the world that you love. Amen.
