The Perfect Sacrifice.. Once and For all

The passage of the Epistle to the Hebrews that I need to exegete on and produce an exegetical paper is Hebrews 10:1-18

Basically, this passage is talking about the sacrifice of Christ, once and for all, that is trying to say, that we should not feel guilty, even for the sins or mistakes that we have done, because Christ has taken away our sins and guilt by his Sacrifice once and for all on the cross, two thousand years ago

the following is the outline that I come out with, quite original, because, I have yet to look at any outline that other commentaries has to say about this passage.

A 10:1 The Imperfect sacrifice and continuous need for offering

B 10:2-4 The Imperfect sacrifice and the testimony of the people

C 10:5-7 The imperfect sacrifice requires replacement to fulfill God’s will

D 10:8-9 The replacement of the imperfect sacrifice, the establishment of the new sacrifice

C’ 10:10-14 The perfect sacrifice as the replacement for the imperfect sacrifice

C’.1 10:10 the perfect sacrifice and its efficiency (1)

C’.2 10:11-13 The perfect sacrifice and its supremacy over the old system

C’.3 10:14 the perfect sacrifice and its efficiency (2)

B’ 10:15-17 the perfect sacrifice, and the testimony of the holy spirit

A’ 10:18 the perfect sacrifice and no more need for offering

Quite obviously, this is a chiastic structure, with the turning point being the replacement of the old covenant to the new covenant, by the coming of Christ, and his sacrifice, once and for all, by the perfect high priest of the order of Melchizedek. Because of this act, what was probably not possible, has become possible.

In the previous chapters, the arguments basically established the role of Jesus as the high priest of the order of Melchizedek. This point, hence, need not to be covered in this paper. This passage focus more on the very act of the sacrifice itself, which is a 'done deal'.

As a result of this sacrificial act of Jesus, what happens to the lives of the believers? quite simply, it is what is presented in the following passage of the same letter. Believers can now approach God, without fear, because the veil is torn, the veil that separates the people from the Holy of the Holiest is torn the moment the sacrifice of Jesus is accepted once and for all. People can now worship God, directly, without the need to feel unworthy, guilty or sinful.

Well, typing this blog is very helpful. I wish I can type this fast in my exact paper. Probably because of the tension, and serious tone of the words 'exegetical paper' I cannot express myself freely. Now, after I typed all these above in less than 5 minutes, my thoughts are more organized and I roughly know how to proceed.

impending deadlines:
3rd May: exegetical paper
27th April: word study paper on Isaiah: The Holy One of Israel
26th April: Worship policy Paper: requested to postpone until 3rd May
27th April: second sermon

Tomorrow: have to preach my sermon on work ethics. Need to touch up and fine tunes on this.

overall mood: very tense and stressful...
for wedding:
tomorrow: pass invitation cards to sbc and ex-company
wednesday: send invitation cards to relative, friends and all who has not received the cards
continuous monitoring of the RSVP progress...