June 25 | Bible in a Year: Job 3–4; Acts 7:44–60

On His Head

We have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. Hebrews 10:10

READ Hebrews 10:1–14

Back in 1779, Charles Simeon’s interests were horses, games and fashion. But an upcoming communion service at his Cambridge college would lead to him considering God’s Word.

He discovered in the Old Testament that God’s people had placed their hands on sacrificial animals’ heads to transfer the guilt of their sin (see Leviticus 4:15; 16:21). The Holy Spirit showed him the connection between this action and Christ’s sacrifice. "May I transfer all my guilt to another?” he wondered. “Has God provided an offering for me, that I may lay my sins on his head?" That day he laid his sins “upon the sacred head of Jesus”.

The writer of Hebrews wants us to make this connection too. The sacrificial system was “only a shadow” of the salvation Christ would bring (Hebrews 10:1). In reality, “It is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins” (v. 4). But Jesus was born in a body prepared to bear the weight of our sin and guilt (vv. 5–7). “And by that will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all” (v. 10).

Real freedom from sin is found in laying every shameful thought, word and deed on the bowed head of Jesus hanging upon the cross. He did what no animal or human can do: He “offered for all time one sacrifice for sins” (v. 12).

By Chris Wale

How do you respond to the image of Christ bowing His head on the cross for you to lay your sin upon Him? Will you offer Him humble thanks and praise today?

Jesus, I humble myself before You in trembling awe. How incredible that You are not only my King, but my sacrifice for sin too.

SCRIPTURE INSIGHT

Because of severe persecution, Jewish believers in Jesus felt pressured to abandon their faith and revert to Judaism (Hebrews 10:32–36). The unnamed writer of the book of Hebrews encourages them to persevere, and affirms the absolute supremacy and sufficiency of Jesus as Saviour. He’s superior to the angels (chs. 1–2), to Moses (chs. 3–4), and to the Aaronic priesthood (chs. 5–7).

Chapters 8–10 describe Him as the perfect High Priest. The backdrop for this is the annual blood sacrifices offered by the high priest on the Day of Atonement (Leviticus 16). The writer compares the old covenant initiated by Moses requiring animal sacrifices (Hebrews 9:1–23) with the new covenant initiated by Jesus (v. 15; 9:24–10:18). As the perfect High Priest, Jesus offered the perfect sacrifice for sin—Himself ( 9:12–14; 10:11–12). “For by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy” (10:14).