11 Day after day every priest stands and performs his religious duties; again and again he offers the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. 12 But when this priest had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, 13 and since that time he waits for his enemies to be made his footstool. 14 For by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy. … 18 And where these have been forgiven, sacrifice for sin is no longer necessary.
The second reading starts with a contrast between Jesus and the Jewish priesthood of the time, stressing the futility of the latter who offer sacrifice twice a day, every day. Each time, they would offer a lamb without any defect along with wine and some flour mixed with oil. But this could not, of course, really take away our sins. Jesus, on the other hand, offered himself, once and for all, to free us from sin. Note how the Eucharist echoes the older Jewish ceremony: Jesus, of course, is the true unblemished lamb and we also memorialize his sacrifice by offering bread and wine at the Mass.
Another important contrast is that the Levitical priest would stand every day offering sacrifice while Jesus “offered for all time one sacrifice” and then went to sit at God’s right hand. In ancient cultures, people normally worked standing up and sitting symbolized the end of work and thus rest. So Jesus has accomplished his goal with his sacrifice. But this does not mean that he is now just relaxing. Teachers also sat before their students as, of course, did kings on their thrones. So, he rules the universe and he also continues to teach us and communicate with us.
In verse 13, we learn that his victory is complete and that eventually every hostile power will give in to him. Note that Paul asserts that the last enemy to be destroyed is death. So, what this tells us is that we live in an in-between time: Jesus’ sacrifice has definitively defeated Satan but not everything yet is subject to Jesus (and will only be at the Second Coming). The idea of this in-between time is then applied to us in the next verse. We have been made perfect and yet obviously we still sin. However, we are all called to be priests (see “Lumen gentium”, document of Vatican II) and sharers in the divine life.
The reading closes on a very clear statement. God has given us, through Christ’s sacrifice, a once-and-for-all remedy for sin. We can add nothing to it, and even trying to do so (for example, by continuing the temple sacrifices) would be to put into question what God has already done and show a lack of belief. The only thing we can do is cherish what God has done for us and feel gratitude. We do not deserve what Jesus did but we benefit from his great love for us.
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