The Priest Who Sits
Read: Hebrews chapter 10
There is something significant about the fact that Jesus sat down. Hebrews 10 describes the priests of the old covenant standing day after day, offering the same sacrifices again and again. Their work was never finished. Those sacrifices could point to sin and provide a temporary covering, but they could never permanently take sin away. If another sacrifice was needed the next day, the work was not complete. Then Jesus came.
Hebrews 10:12 says that after offering one sacrifice for sins for all time, Jesus “sat down at the right hand of God.” He did not sit because the work was unimportant or because He was finished caring about His people. He sat because His sacrifice was complete. What we could never accomplish through our own effort, Jesus accomplished for us.
That changes everything. We do not have to spend our lives trying to earn God's forgiveness or prove that we are worthy of His love. Through Jesus, we have been forgiven and made holy. The New Covenant is not about repeating religious actions in the hope that we might finally do enough. It is about receiving what Christ has done and allowing His grace to change us from the inside out.
The notes for Hebrews 10 make an important point: if external actions could change internal motivations, they would have. We can do all the outwardly right things while our hearts remain unchanged. But the grace of Jesus goes deeper than behavior. It transforms our hearts—and transformed hearts begin to change how we live.
That brings us to the next part of the passage. Hebrews 10:19–25 gives us three invitations: draw near to God, hold firmly to the hope we profess, and consider how to spur one another on toward love and good deeds. The word translated “spur” carries the idea of provoking or stirring someone into action. We are not meant to follow Jesus in isolation. We are meant to encourage one another toward a faith that becomes visible.
And what does that visible faith look like? Throughout the Old Testament, God repeatedly tells His people to care about justice and the treatment of vulnerable people. Jeremiah 22:16 describes King Josiah defending the cause of the poor and needy, and then asks, “Is not this to know me?” Micah 6:8 calls God's people to do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with God. Isaiah 1:17 tells them to seek justice, correct oppression, and defend the fatherless and the widow.
These are not side issues in Scripture. God's concern for people who are poor, vulnerable, mistreated, or overlooked is woven throughout His Word. The old covenant revealed God's concern for justice. The New Covenant creates a people whose hearts are being transformed to reflect that concern.
Sometimes we think of righteousness only in terms of avoiding personal sin. That matters, but biblical obedience also includes how we treat other people. We cannot separate personal holiness from compassion, justice, and care for our neighbors. The grace that transforms us internally must also transform the way we live externally.
Hebrews gives a serious warning about deliberately and persistently rejecting God's revealed will. This is not a statement that we earn salvation by doing good things. It is a warning against treating Jesus' sacrifice as insignificant while knowingly refusing the life He calls us to live. Grace is not permission to ignore God. Grace is the gift that makes a transformed life possible.
The writer then reminds his readers of the ways they had already shown courage and compassion. They had stood alongside people who were being persecuted, suffered with those in prison, and accepted the loss of their possessions because they knew they had better and lasting possessions. They were called to persevere rather than shrink back.
Hebrews 13 makes that perseverance practical: keep loving one another, show hospitality to strangers, remember those in prison and those who are mistreated, do good, and share with others. These are ordinary actions, but they reveal what has taken root in a heart transformed by Jesus.
What might that look like for us today? It could mean volunteering through The Pantry or a local outreach ministry. It could mean helping feed the unhoused, becoming involved in foster care, visiting someone who is sick or imprisoned, offering a ride to an elderly neighbor, helping a single parent with a practical need, welcoming a stranger, or giving to help the church serve people in our neighborhoods and the nations.
Not everyone is called to do the same thing, and we cannot meet every need ourselves. But every one of us can ask God to show us where we can faithfully love the people He has placed in front of us. Sometimes the next step is a ministry commitment. Sometimes it is a conversation, a meal, a gift card, an open home, or the willingness to stand beside someone when doing so costs us something.
This is the beautiful movement of Hebrews 10: Christ has accomplished something for us, His grace is transforming us, and that transformation is expressed through us. We draw near to God because Jesus has made the way. We hold on to hope because God is faithful. We encourage one another because we are part of a people who belong to Him. And we stand up for others because we have received grace.
Jesus sat down because His sacrifice was complete. The work of His church, however, is still going. So, church, it is time to stand up.
There is something significant about the fact that Jesus sat down. Hebrews 10 describes the priests of the old covenant standing day after day, offering the same sacrifices again and again. Their work was never finished. Those sacrifices could point to sin and provide a temporary covering, but they could never permanently take sin away. If another sacrifice was needed the next day, the work was not complete. Then Jesus came.
Hebrews 10:12 says that after offering one sacrifice for sins for all time, Jesus “sat down at the right hand of God.” He did not sit because the work was unimportant or because He was finished caring about His people. He sat because His sacrifice was complete. What we could never accomplish through our own effort, Jesus accomplished for us.
That changes everything. We do not have to spend our lives trying to earn God's forgiveness or prove that we are worthy of His love. Through Jesus, we have been forgiven and made holy. The New Covenant is not about repeating religious actions in the hope that we might finally do enough. It is about receiving what Christ has done and allowing His grace to change us from the inside out.
The notes for Hebrews 10 make an important point: if external actions could change internal motivations, they would have. We can do all the outwardly right things while our hearts remain unchanged. But the grace of Jesus goes deeper than behavior. It transforms our hearts—and transformed hearts begin to change how we live.
That brings us to the next part of the passage. Hebrews 10:19–25 gives us three invitations: draw near to God, hold firmly to the hope we profess, and consider how to spur one another on toward love and good deeds. The word translated “spur” carries the idea of provoking or stirring someone into action. We are not meant to follow Jesus in isolation. We are meant to encourage one another toward a faith that becomes visible.
And what does that visible faith look like? Throughout the Old Testament, God repeatedly tells His people to care about justice and the treatment of vulnerable people. Jeremiah 22:16 describes King Josiah defending the cause of the poor and needy, and then asks, “Is not this to know me?” Micah 6:8 calls God's people to do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with God. Isaiah 1:17 tells them to seek justice, correct oppression, and defend the fatherless and the widow.
These are not side issues in Scripture. God's concern for people who are poor, vulnerable, mistreated, or overlooked is woven throughout His Word. The old covenant revealed God's concern for justice. The New Covenant creates a people whose hearts are being transformed to reflect that concern.
Sometimes we think of righteousness only in terms of avoiding personal sin. That matters, but biblical obedience also includes how we treat other people. We cannot separate personal holiness from compassion, justice, and care for our neighbors. The grace that transforms us internally must also transform the way we live externally.
Hebrews gives a serious warning about deliberately and persistently rejecting God's revealed will. This is not a statement that we earn salvation by doing good things. It is a warning against treating Jesus' sacrifice as insignificant while knowingly refusing the life He calls us to live. Grace is not permission to ignore God. Grace is the gift that makes a transformed life possible.
The writer then reminds his readers of the ways they had already shown courage and compassion. They had stood alongside people who were being persecuted, suffered with those in prison, and accepted the loss of their possessions because they knew they had better and lasting possessions. They were called to persevere rather than shrink back.
Hebrews 13 makes that perseverance practical: keep loving one another, show hospitality to strangers, remember those in prison and those who are mistreated, do good, and share with others. These are ordinary actions, but they reveal what has taken root in a heart transformed by Jesus.
What might that look like for us today? It could mean volunteering through The Pantry or a local outreach ministry. It could mean helping feed the unhoused, becoming involved in foster care, visiting someone who is sick or imprisoned, offering a ride to an elderly neighbor, helping a single parent with a practical need, welcoming a stranger, or giving to help the church serve people in our neighborhoods and the nations.
Not everyone is called to do the same thing, and we cannot meet every need ourselves. But every one of us can ask God to show us where we can faithfully love the people He has placed in front of us. Sometimes the next step is a ministry commitment. Sometimes it is a conversation, a meal, a gift card, an open home, or the willingness to stand beside someone when doing so costs us something.
This is the beautiful movement of Hebrews 10: Christ has accomplished something for us, His grace is transforming us, and that transformation is expressed through us. We draw near to God because Jesus has made the way. We hold on to hope because God is faithful. We encourage one another because we are part of a people who belong to Him. And we stand up for others because we have received grace.
Jesus sat down because His sacrifice was complete. The work of His church, however, is still going. So, church, it is time to stand up.
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