NIV 365-Day Devotional Plan (2017)Sample

Herod’s Temple

Reconstruction of the altar of burnt offering at Herod’s Temple. Unlike other priests, Jesus “does not need to offer sacrifices day after day” (Hebrews 7:27).

(Hebrews 7:26 – 27) One final quality in verses 7:26-28 sets Jesus off as superior to the old covenant high priests: he is “holy, blameless, pure, set apart from sinners” (Hebrews 7:26; see Hebrews 4:15 and 9:14) in contrast to their “weakness” (Hebrews 7:28) and their need to offer sacrifices “first for [their] own sins, and then for the sins of the people” (Hebrews 7:27; compare Hebrews 5:2-3 and Hebrews 9:7). That Jesus is “exalted above the heavens” (Hebrews 7:26) prepares the way for the topic of chapters 9-10: he is the heavenly high priest of a new order. In addition to his complete holiness, in which he is “unlike the other high priests” (Hebrews 7:27), Jesus “does not need to offer sacrifices day after day” (Hebrews 7:27). His single sacrifice is completely effective: “once for all… he offered himself” (verse 27; compare Hebrews 7:23– 24). The phrase “once for all” denotes “once for all time, never to be repeated,” not “once for all people.”

Taken from NIV Zondervan Study Bible