A study of Hebrews part 10 Part 1

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Author's note, because of sheer amount of time and energy it takes to write these, this will be have to be a two-parter

“ For the law having a shadow of the good things to come, not the very image of the things; but by the selfsame sacrifices which they offer continually every year, can never make comers thereof perfect. For then they would have ceased to be offered: because the worshippers once cleansed should have no conscience of sin any longer. ut in them there is made a commemoration of sins every year. For it is impossible that with the blood of oxen and goats sin should be taken away. Wherefore when he cometh into the world he saith: Sacrifice and oblation thou wouldest not: but a body thou hast fitted to me. Then said I: Behold I come; in the head of the book it is written of me; that I should do thy will, O God. n saying before, Sacrifices, and oblations, and holocausts for sin though wouldest not, neither are they pleasing to thee, which are offered according to the law. Then said I: Behold I come to do thy will, O God; he taketh away the first, that me may establish what followeth. In which will, we are sanctifieth by the oblation of the body of Jesus Christ once. And every priest indeed standeth daily ministering, and often offering the same sacrifices which can never take away sins. But this man offering one sacrifice for sins, for ever siteth on the right hand of God. From henceforth expecting, until his enemies be made his footstool. For by one oblation, he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified. And the Holy Ghost doth testify this to us. For after that he said: And this is the testament which I will make unto them after those days, saith the Lord. I will give my laws in their hearts, and on their minds will I write them: And their sins and iniquities I will remember no more. Now where there is a remission of these, there is no oblation for sin”. (Hebrews 10:1-18)
The last time, we talked about Hebrews 9, and how that could be tied to the sacrifice of the mass. Now, what's important is to remember, and I want to keep mentioning this, is that the sacrifice of the Mass is a re-presentation of what happened at Calvary. Not a representation, a re-presentation. That hyphen makes a difference.
But, what exactly did Jesus's one time sacrifice do? Well, in v. 1-2, it says, “For the law having a shadow of the good things to come, not the very image of the things; but by the selfsame sacrifices which they offer continually every year, can never make comers thereof perfect. For then they would have ceased to be offered: because the worshippers once cleansed should have no conscience of sin any longer”, and in v.3-4, it says “But in them there is made a commemoration of sins every year. For it is impossible that with the blood of oxen and goats sin should be taken away.”, so, it even tells us that it is impossible for the blood of of bulls and goats to take away sins, the sacrifices are to remind the Old Testament faithful of their sin every year.
By the way, since I know I'd be here until the end of time if I used exagesis on every single verse of this chapter (I already had to divide it into to parts), do remember that I said there was a Eucharistic element to this. Let's check out v.10, “In which will, we are sanctifieth by the oblation of the body of Jesus Christ once.”
But, what I find interesting is the previous verses, v.8 says, “In saying before, Sacrifices, and oblations, and holocausts for sin though wouldest not, neither are they pleasing to thee, which are offered according to the law”. So, the author of Hebrews (whom I believe Paul based on internal evidence) isn't saying that sacrifices are bad, since it's a quote from the Old Testament (in Bibles that don't use the Septuagint numbering, it's Psalm 51:16), and, in fact, the author even adds to modifier “which are added according to the law”.
Why does this matter? Because we're no longer under the Mosaic law. In fact, the author even says “He taketh away the first, that he may establish what followeth”. (v.9)
And then we put this together with the the following verses (write 11-18).
I think some people might trip up on v. 18. But, that doesn't say that sacrifices are bad, just that Christ's sacrifice is once and for all. In the Catholic and Eastern Orthodox view, the question is HOW is this applied. If you'd like to read more, I suggest reading The Didache or Iraneus. (Don't quote me on the spelling).  

*All verses are from the Douay Rheims version.

Adam Charles Hovey is the host of the Catholicism, news, and whatever community on Locals.  If you would like to help him out, go here