Rethinking Atonement | David Moffit
Resumo
TLDRThis episode of "Messiah Podcast" features Dr. David Moffett, who delves into the complexities of Jesus' atonement, reconstructing the common understanding influenced by traditional Christian theology. Dr. Moffett, a New Testament scholar, critiques and re-evaluates long-held notions, particularly in relation to the Epistle to the Hebrews. He argues that the resurrection and ascension of Jesus are pivotal to the concept of atonement, often overshadowed by the emphasis on crucifixion. Through the lens of a post-supersessionist perspective, he challenges the interpretations that separate Christian and Jewish sacrificial practices. The conversation also touches on how the teachings of Hebrews and Leviticus can be harmonized, suggesting that the atonement is an ongoing process defined by Jesus' current priestly role in heaven, not just his death on the cross. Dr. Moffett is currently expanding on these ideas in a forthcoming book.
Conclusões
- 📖 The podcast challenges traditional Christian views on atonement.
- 🧠 Dr. Moffett emphasizes the importance of Jesus' resurrection in atonement.
- 🔍 Hebrews is re-evaluated to align with Jewish sacrificial logic.
- ✝️ Jesus' priesthood is examined in a broader religious context.
- 📜 The discussion includes interpretations of Jewish texts like Leviticus.
- 📚 Dr. Moffett's book offers new perspectives on these theological issues.
- 🔄 The atonement is seen as more than just the crucifixion, involving ascension.
- 💬 Discussions include how Christian and Jewish thoughts can harmonize.
- 🕊️ The podcast aims to circulate these ideas through the Messianic Jewish movement.
- 🔜 Dr. Moffett is working on further scholarly exploration of these topics.
Linha do tempo
- 00:00:00 - 00:05:00
The podcast introduces Dr. David Moffett, a New Testament scholar, who discusses the understanding of atonement and challenges traditional Christian theology related to Jesus' death and resurrection.
- 00:05:00 - 00:10:00
Dr. Moffett explains how his work is not necessarily post-supersessionist but is more about understanding New Testament texts historically. He shares how his interest in Hebrews led him to study Jesus' resurrection and sacrifice differently.
- 00:10:00 - 00:15:00
He details his realization that sacrifice in Hebrews involves more than just Jesus' death on the cross, exploring the significance of Jesus presenting himself to God post-resurrection, which led him to revisit Leviticus.
- 00:15:00 - 00:20:00
Moffett explains the process of atonement as detailed in Leviticus, emphasizing that atonement involves presenting an offering to God and not just the death of an animal. It's about the relationship and addressing relational issues with God.
- 00:20:00 - 00:25:00
He argues that the traditional Christian understanding often misinterprets Levitical sacrifice, noting that God's forgiveness follows the act of applying blood to the altar, highlighting the importance of cleansing rather than punishment.
- 00:25:00 - 00:30:00
Moffett discusses Hebrews and argues that the comparisons made with Moses aren't about deprecation but illustrating Jesus' greater access to the divine. He suggests Hebrews argues from a standpoint of confirming Jewish logic rather than replacing it.
- 00:30:00 - 00:35:00
The conversation shifts to the role of Melchizedek in Hebrews, where Moffett explains that Hebrews acknowledges two priesthoods and argues Jesus' priesthood parallels Melchizedek's, which is legitimate and eternal but not based on genealogy.
- 00:35:00 - 00:40:00
Moffett clarifies that Jesus' priesthood is legitimate due to his resurrection, qualifying him for Melchizedek’s priesthood, and explains how Hebrews shows respect for the law by acknowledging Jesus could not be a priest under Jewish law on Earth.
- 00:40:00 - 00:45:00
He further expounds that ascension, not the crucifixion, is when Jesus offers himself before God in the heavenly realm, showing Hebrews' focus on metaphorical presentation of Jesus' work rather than defining it by physical events alone.
- 00:45:00 - 00:50:00
Dr. Moffett announces his upcoming work, which will delve into New Testament interpretations of sacrifice, examining how early Christians understood sacrificial systems, both from Jewish and Greco-Roman perspectives, to further clarify these theological concepts.
- 00:50:00 - 00:57:49
The hosts share their enthusiasm for Dr. Moffett's insights, highlighting the depth and challenge his work presents to both traditional and modern interpretations of New Testament themes, concluding with an invitation to further discussions.
Mapa mental
Vídeo de perguntas e respostas
Who is Dr. David Moffett?
Dr. David Moffett is a New Testament scholar who offers a new perspective on atonement in his recent book.
What is the main topic of discussion in the podcast?
The podcast discusses atonement and re-evaluates traditional Christian theology regarding Jesus' death and resurrection.
What is the title of Dr. Moffett's new book?
Dr. Moffett's new book is titled "Rethinking the Atonement: New Perspectives on Jesus’ Death, Resurrection, and Ascension."
What perspective does Dr. Moffett challenge in the podcast?
He challenges traditional Christian views, specifically regarding the book of Hebrews and the concept of atonement.
What does Hebrews say about Jesus' atonement?
The podcast suggests that traditional interpretations of Hebrews may not fully capture the significance of Jesus' resurrection and atonement.
What is the relationship between atonement and sacrifice according to Dr. Moffett?
Dr. Moffett emphasizes the importance of Jesus' resurrection and ascension in the context of atonement, not just focusing on the crucifixion.
What is a major theme discussed regarding the book of Hebrews?
A major theme is the reevaluation of Jesus' atonement, taking into account Jewish sacrificial understandings.
What unique view does Dr. Moffett offer about the resurrection?
He proposes that the resurrection is critical for understanding the nature and mechanism of atonement.
How does Dr. Moffett interpret Jesus' priesthood compared to Moses'?
He argues that Jesus' priesthood should be seen in light of Jewish sacrificial logic, rather than superseding or replacing it.
What future work is Dr. Moffett pursuing?
He is working on a book exploring the details of sacrifice in ancient Jewish and early Christian contexts.
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- 00:00:00what is atonement what does it actually
- 00:00:03mean that Jesus died for our sins
- 00:00:06has traditional Christian theology given
- 00:00:08us the whole picture
- 00:00:10Our Guest today will wrestle with these
- 00:00:12questions for us Dr David Moffett is an
- 00:00:15erudite New Testament scholar and
- 00:00:16creative thinker who's not afraid to
- 00:00:18challenge the status quo
- 00:00:19[Music]
- 00:00:36Rabbi from the gallery
- 00:00:39[Music]
- 00:00:40[Applause]
- 00:00:42Messiah podcast is brought to you by
- 00:00:44first Fruits of Zion
- 00:00:47[Music]
- 00:00:51well welcome back to Messiah podcast
- 00:00:53where Jesus is Jewish and that changes
- 00:00:56everything I'm Stephanie Hammond here
- 00:00:58today with my co-host Jacob franzak how
- 00:01:01you doing Jacob oh what's up I'm okay
- 00:01:03how are you
- 00:01:05doing all right just really excited
- 00:01:08because we've got Dr Moffett here on on
- 00:01:11the podcast today and we've been really
- 00:01:14looking forward to introducing him to
- 00:01:16our listeners because Jacob you read his
- 00:01:18book I'm sure you realize he's the first
- 00:01:20strong academic voice at least that
- 00:01:22we've heard that supports our reading of
- 00:01:25the book of Hebrews yeah yeah Hebrews is
- 00:01:27a tough one there's a lot of stuff out
- 00:01:29there on Jesus a lot of stuff on Paul
- 00:01:31but Hebrews is is uh is it has some
- 00:01:35difficult uh passages in there
- 00:01:37certainly does and we're going to dive
- 00:01:39into it today but Dr moffett's new book
- 00:01:41just came out at the end of last year
- 00:01:43and it's titled rethinking the atonement
- 00:01:45New Perspectives on Jesus death
- 00:01:48resurrection and Ascension so obviously
- 00:01:51Jacob I mean it's important to
- 00:01:53understand atonement oh yeah it's
- 00:01:55essential for any follower yeah of Jesus
- 00:01:57well I mean it all I went to a couple
- 00:01:59different Christian colleges and uh
- 00:02:01you know if they if they were to ask you
- 00:02:03know uh how how is a person saved and
- 00:02:06you just said penal substitutionary
- 00:02:08atonement you'd probably you'd probably
- 00:02:10get at least like a 95 like that could
- 00:02:12your theory of the atonement gets you
- 00:02:14pretty much there right yeah I agreed
- 00:02:16but um what is it all actually mean and
- 00:02:19are we understanding it correctly and if
- 00:02:21that stuff comes into question I think
- 00:02:23it's really vital for believers to
- 00:02:25actually wrestle with so his book does
- 00:02:27just that and um we think it needs to be
- 00:02:30circulated through the entire Messianic
- 00:02:32Jewish movement so that's why we're
- 00:02:33talking about it today so we'll be
- 00:02:36speaking with Dr Moffett on today's
- 00:02:37episode of Messiah podcast and we're
- 00:02:40excited to welcome him all this and more
- 00:02:43coming right up
- 00:02:49well welcome Dr David moffat's a messiah
- 00:02:52podcast it's really really great to have
- 00:02:54you here yeah it's a pleasure to be here
- 00:02:56thank you for the invitation yeah we're
- 00:02:58we're excited about this one because
- 00:03:00it's not it's not often that we're able
- 00:03:02to have someone who has um
- 00:03:04written so extensively and meticulously
- 00:03:07and like academically from a post-super
- 00:03:10sessionist perspective now
- 00:03:14it's not the majority of Scholars I
- 00:03:16would say it's probably still a minority
- 00:03:17in the academy right the
- 00:03:18post-supercessionist uh perspective
- 00:03:20that's probably right and it's new
- 00:03:22enough it's new enough that like not a
- 00:03:25lot of us were born into it we didn't
- 00:03:26inherit this from uh necessarily from
- 00:03:29our our youth so I thought I would ask
- 00:03:32um how did you
- 00:03:34come to this position to to where you
- 00:03:37now have uh adopted a
- 00:03:39post-supercessionist perspective what
- 00:03:40convinced you
- 00:03:42uh right so I just have to say up front
- 00:03:44I don't view myself as doing
- 00:03:47post-supercessionist work I view myself
- 00:03:49as trying to do good historical work on
- 00:03:52New Testament texts I did my doctoral
- 00:03:55training at Duke University and uh
- 00:03:58people like EP Sanders and Richard Hayes
- 00:04:00and Joel Marcus many others were hugely
- 00:04:03influential on how I do the work I do
- 00:04:06and the ways that I think about what I'm
- 00:04:07doing
- 00:04:08prior to that though actually NT Wright
- 00:04:11had actually shown me when I was still
- 00:04:14just an undergraduate that the
- 00:04:16Christianity that I grew up with I
- 00:04:19started reading some of Tom's work he
- 00:04:21showed me that the Christianity I grew
- 00:04:23up with really didn't think very hard or
- 00:04:25seriously about the resurrection
- 00:04:28I just discovered that I had a
- 00:04:30Christianity that believed that Jesus
- 00:04:32rose from the dead but really didn't
- 00:04:34think it was that significant apart from
- 00:04:36maybe vindicating the work that he did
- 00:04:39on the cross as I moved into thinking
- 00:04:42about doing my doctoral work I knew that
- 00:04:44I wanted to do something with Hebrews
- 00:04:46this was a text that I could not wrap my
- 00:04:48head around it was not doing any of the
- 00:04:50things that I was told had heard from
- 00:04:54various pastors had heard from various
- 00:04:56Seminary professors like keevers broke
- 00:04:58all the rules like how do you read
- 00:04:59scripture this way that that for me was
- 00:05:02one of the driving questions as I got
- 00:05:04into it I saw an argument for Jesus
- 00:05:07resurrection being important for Hebrews
- 00:05:09and that put me right against much more
- 00:05:14traditional modern interpretations of
- 00:05:16Hebrews who tended to view the text as
- 00:05:20saying almost nothing or maybe even
- 00:05:23denying any notion of Jesus bodily
- 00:05:26Resurrection now you may be wondering
- 00:05:28where this is going in terms of your
- 00:05:30question but it's basically this as I've
- 00:05:33read Hebrews in and thought I saw more
- 00:05:36evidence for Jesus resurrection it put
- 00:05:39me face to face with an issue that had
- 00:05:42not anticipated at all and that was I
- 00:05:46couldn't make sense of how Hebrews was
- 00:05:48talking about Jesus sacrifice
- 00:05:50in light of the Resurrection being a
- 00:05:53part of the argument
- 00:05:55and where that ended up taking me was a
- 00:05:58realization that I just didn't even
- 00:06:01understand sacrifice with Jesus
- 00:06:03resurrection in Hebrews the language of
- 00:06:06Jesus passing through the heavens and
- 00:06:08presenting himself to the father
- 00:06:11appearing before the face of the father
- 00:06:13and offering himself as a sacrifice
- 00:06:16suddenly meant things that I couldn't
- 00:06:18figure out and that pushed me back to
- 00:06:21Leviticus I remember thinking like well
- 00:06:24if the resurrection is here then when
- 00:06:26the writer says Jesus passes through the
- 00:06:28heavens and then appears before the
- 00:06:30father he's got to be meaning something
- 00:06:32other than the cross is the sum total of
- 00:06:36Jesus offering himself the God as a
- 00:06:38sacrifice but that made no sense to me
- 00:06:40because sacrifice was killing something
- 00:06:43on an altar that's I knew that that's
- 00:06:45what sacrifice was and this thought then
- 00:06:48occurred to me like there's a lot more
- 00:06:51in Leviticus than simply killing an
- 00:06:53animal when that I thought occurred to
- 00:06:55me I literally went back that night and
- 00:06:58red Leviticus straight through in one
- 00:07:01sitting right and it was mainly looking
- 00:07:03at all the sacrificial stuff and I I
- 00:07:05asked just one question what did the
- 00:07:08death of the animal do and that change
- 00:07:11that's when the penny for me dropped
- 00:07:13because suddenly it was very clear at
- 00:07:16least I thought it was clear that
- 00:07:18Leviticus was pressuring me to think not
- 00:07:20so much about the death although that's
- 00:07:22part of a sacrifice but much more about
- 00:07:25presenting The Blood In the Flesh on an
- 00:07:28altar to God
- 00:07:30okay now I apologize I realized that was
- 00:07:33a bit of a lengthy introduction but
- 00:07:35that's the lead-in to answering your
- 00:07:37question because what I discovered was
- 00:07:40that the very sort of pressure that I
- 00:07:42thought Hebrews was putting on me in
- 00:07:44light of the Resurrection to view the
- 00:07:47focal point of Jesus sacrifice as his
- 00:07:50entering the Heavenly Tabernacle and
- 00:07:52presenting himself as a gift before God
- 00:07:55in the presence of God indeed in the
- 00:07:58Heavenly holy of holies suddenly I saw
- 00:08:01that Leviticus was pressuring me to
- 00:08:02think about sacrifice in very similar
- 00:08:05ways where the focal point was not on
- 00:08:08killing the animal but it was on
- 00:08:10bringing the blood in the flesh to The
- 00:08:12Altar and then in some cases even taking
- 00:08:14the blood into the Tabernacle and
- 00:08:17presenting it before God and that blew
- 00:08:20my mind because uh that was not a
- 00:08:22concept of sacrifice that I had ever
- 00:08:25thought about before it was not
- 00:08:27something that I was getting from my
- 00:08:28Christian tradition but it suddenly
- 00:08:30referred to me that Hebrews had taught
- 00:08:34me to be a better and more careful
- 00:08:36reader of Leviticus
- 00:08:38and that cut directly against sort of
- 00:08:41standard supersessionous accounts of
- 00:08:43Hebrews because if this was right and
- 00:08:46and this was something that that I felt
- 00:08:48like was not coming from anything I had
- 00:08:50thought before but actually the pressure
- 00:08:52of the text but if this was right then
- 00:08:55Hebrews
- 00:08:56understood Jewish sacrifice better than
- 00:08:59I did as a gentile 2000 years later
- 00:09:01never even having witnessed the
- 00:09:03sacrifice that quite literally is what
- 00:09:06set me on this course of saying maybe
- 00:09:09Hebrews is not uh throwing all of these
- 00:09:13Jewish ideas out the window and saying
- 00:09:16that there was something new maybe
- 00:09:18Hebrews is really working with deeply
- 00:09:20Jewish Logics deeply Jewish ideas on the
- 00:09:24one thing that everybody knows Hebrews
- 00:09:26rejects namely Jewish sacrifice and
- 00:09:29actually reading Jesus and Jesus
- 00:09:31sacrifice in ways that were highly
- 00:09:34analogous with Jewish sacrificial
- 00:09:36practice that's what set me on a course
- 00:09:39to to read Hebrews in ways that were not
- 00:09:41in my view fundamentally supersessionist
- 00:09:44that's incredible you've also answered
- 00:09:47my next seven questions no I'm kidding
- 00:09:49but I think just to contextualize what
- 00:09:52you've said for some of our listeners
- 00:09:53when you look at the the history of New
- 00:09:57Testament interpretation and sort of how
- 00:10:00we got here yeah how
- 00:10:03post-supercessionist thought came about
- 00:10:06you know you have back in the 1700s you
- 00:10:09have people saying well Jesus came to
- 00:10:10fulfill the eschatological expectations
- 00:10:13of the Jewish people you have people you
- 00:10:15have Jewish rabbis saying this like
- 00:10:16Jacob emden you have Roy Morris saying
- 00:10:19this and and maybe John toland a little
- 00:10:21bit and and so these ideas were there
- 00:10:23back then for Jesus and then in the
- 00:10:25academy it became sort of well what was
- 00:10:28Paul doing and so you have this whole
- 00:10:30thing of FC Bowers saying well Paul you
- 00:10:33know
- 00:10:34disagreed with the other Apostles and
- 00:10:36went on to do sort of something
- 00:10:38different right but then after like in
- 00:10:401977 you start finding people saying
- 00:10:42well actually maybe Paul is a good Jew
- 00:10:44too but then there was still just like
- 00:10:46it's still Hebrews is still there yeah
- 00:10:49right yeah and that's like the fight the
- 00:10:51final Domino for a lot of people to
- 00:10:53follow what do we do with Hebrews
- 00:10:55because it looks really super sessionist
- 00:10:57yeah and to hear that you're like entry
- 00:10:59into this way of of thinking was from
- 00:11:02from Reading Hebrews it's like you know
- 00:11:04you used to the video game
- 00:11:08of New Testament interpretation that's
- 00:11:10incredibly impressive to me that um that
- 00:11:13you were able to do that and just just
- 00:11:14from Reading Leviticus so major props
- 00:11:18um to you for that but I especially love
- 00:11:20the fact that you said you're not
- 00:11:22necessarily going into it oh I'm doing
- 00:11:24post-supercessionist work but just as a
- 00:11:26natural result of reading the text and
- 00:11:28and allowing that Jewish perspective in
- 00:11:30context you came to that conclusion I
- 00:11:32think that's really telling and
- 00:11:33wonderful let's get a taste of this
- 00:11:36process because because like you said a
- 00:11:39lot of people come to come to the Old
- 00:11:41Testament with what they think they know
- 00:11:42about the New Testament and everything
- 00:11:43gets sort of turned upside down what if
- 00:11:46we start with a basic idea because for I
- 00:11:49mean hopefully all of our listeners
- 00:11:50don't have a lot of personal experience
- 00:11:52with them with animal sacrifices
- 00:11:55um it's it's a ritual that we're not
- 00:11:57terribly familiar with in real life and
- 00:11:59not even really like no not even really
- 00:12:01familiar with it from a scriptural
- 00:12:02perspective that's right because well I
- 00:12:05don't know then this is going to sound
- 00:12:07pejorative but growing up Christian I
- 00:12:09feel like the story of the Bible was
- 00:12:11Genesis chapters one two and three and
- 00:12:15then like that The Passion of the Christ
- 00:12:17just comes after that
- 00:12:19um and there's a whole lot of stuff in
- 00:12:21the middle there that sort of gets
- 00:12:22glossed over and um indeed but we do
- 00:12:25find that when we start digging into the
- 00:12:28theology we find this Theology of for
- 00:12:29example the atonement has built on a lot
- 00:12:31of language that we do find in Leviticus
- 00:12:35however
- 00:12:37not really knowing that much about
- 00:12:40animal sacrifices
- 00:12:41you know in practice or even really in
- 00:12:43theory uh I think probably a lot of our
- 00:12:45listeners would be in that same boat so
- 00:12:47can you you know help us get into the
- 00:12:50mindset of an ancient person bringing an
- 00:12:53animal to the Tabernacle or to the
- 00:12:56temple
- 00:12:57what is what are we doing what is an
- 00:13:00animal sacrifice what does God want a
- 00:13:02dead goat for or does he and what is
- 00:13:06what what's the what's the significance
- 00:13:09of the act of of bringing an animal
- 00:13:12killing it putting the blood on the
- 00:13:15altar what does that accomplish what's
- 00:13:16it for
- 00:13:18well I mean this is a a huge uh question
- 00:13:21as I'm sure you're well aware I I think
- 00:13:24levitical sacrifice that's I think
- 00:13:27that's an important qualifier levitical
- 00:13:29sacrifice is uh something that functions
- 00:13:33within the context of the Mosaic
- 00:13:36Covenant you don't get levitical
- 00:13:38sacrifice before the Mosaic Covenant
- 00:13:41there's a couple of reasons for that at
- 00:13:43least the way it's presented in the
- 00:13:44pentateuch basically then levitical
- 00:13:47sacrifice at the Tabernacle this is all
- 00:13:50about worshiping God and negotiating the
- 00:13:53relationship in various respects between
- 00:13:56God and God's people who have been
- 00:13:59liberated from Egypt so that's sort of a
- 00:14:01big idea of what sacrifice is doing now
- 00:14:04within levitical sacrifice itself there
- 00:14:06are different kinds of sacrifices that
- 00:14:09one offers for very different kinds of
- 00:14:12reasons yeah and this is something that
- 00:14:14sometimes we tend to miss when we sort
- 00:14:17of mash up all all the sacrifices and
- 00:14:20imagine that it's all fulfilled simply
- 00:14:22by the death of Jesus the only time that
- 00:14:26the layperson gets to eat any of the
- 00:14:30sacrificial meat is when the layperson
- 00:14:32brings a peace offering
- 00:14:36and Passover which is almost certainly a
- 00:14:39subcategory of
- 00:14:41although Passover is a kind of liminal
- 00:14:43sacrifice that's the only time that an
- 00:14:46offer gets to participate in eating from
- 00:14:49the sacrifice and that sacrifice is not
- 00:14:53given to deal with any kind of sin
- 00:14:55problem it doesn't make atonement if we
- 00:14:58want to use that language now there are
- 00:15:01other sacrifices then which you might
- 00:15:03give freely or because you made a vow to
- 00:15:06the Lord that could include a zevac
- 00:15:09shalamim of certain kinds to give thanks
- 00:15:11to God but it could also include a whole
- 00:15:13burnt offering which is the very first
- 00:15:15sacrifice Leviticus discusses there's
- 00:15:19also a grain offering which can sort of
- 00:15:21function in different ways depending on
- 00:15:24on what's needed and there seems to be
- 00:15:27some recognition here that the poor for
- 00:15:30example are not going to be able to
- 00:15:32afford the cost of offering an animal so
- 00:15:36there are some cases in which they can
- 00:15:38offer grain and it will function in the
- 00:15:41same way that some of the animal
- 00:15:42offerings will function so then the sin
- 00:15:45offering and the guilt offering
- 00:15:47well these are sacrifices that are given
- 00:15:50because in the case of the sin offering
- 00:15:52there's been some kind of moral fault
- 00:15:55somebody has messed up and in the case
- 00:15:58of the sin offering didn't realize they
- 00:15:59messed up but then realized it and oh I
- 00:16:03need to take care of this because it
- 00:16:05creates a problem between myself and my
- 00:16:08God the guilt offering is is offered
- 00:16:11when you sort of you know you messed up
- 00:16:13you you knew before you even did it but
- 00:16:16of course it's not the animal that takes
- 00:16:17the punishment it's the offer who
- 00:16:20committed the sin okay all that is a way
- 00:16:23of saying that that these levitical
- 00:16:25sacrifices are deeply relational and the
- 00:16:29role that they seem to play is giving an
- 00:16:32opportunity to give thanks to God to
- 00:16:34praise God to tell God how much you love
- 00:16:36him to celebrate with God and with God's
- 00:16:39people or to fix certain problems that
- 00:16:42have occurred in the relationship based
- 00:16:44on sin and based on problems that are
- 00:16:47created by mortality and death which are
- 00:16:51threats both to to God's presence being
- 00:16:54willing to stay among his people and to
- 00:16:57the people's safety as they approach
- 00:16:59God's presence so that I think is a
- 00:17:02helpful way of reflecting on what
- 00:17:04levitical sacrifices are they they're
- 00:17:06gifts that you give to your God as a way
- 00:17:10of worshiping praising giving thanks and
- 00:17:13also as a way of trying to restore and
- 00:17:16heal or fix certain problems in the
- 00:17:18relationship
- 00:17:19so you mentioned that the animals
- 00:17:21they're not not the one being punished
- 00:17:23which I think right is
- 00:17:25I mean
- 00:17:27as a baby Christian like as a small
- 00:17:29child
- 00:17:30that's what it looked like it looks like
- 00:17:32oh somebody sinned so so you reassign
- 00:17:38the sin or the guilt onto this goat or
- 00:17:41or cow or whatever it is or innocent
- 00:17:43animal yeah yeah right right and then it
- 00:17:46has to die now
- 00:17:48if I had read it more closely I would
- 00:17:50have noticed it sometimes you bring
- 00:17:51cereal grains which exactly doesn't
- 00:17:54appear you know that the metaphor sort
- 00:17:57of falls apart at that point
- 00:17:58So within that context of a levitical
- 00:18:02sacrifice when you know the the blood
- 00:18:06um makes contact with the Altar and
- 00:18:08something called atonement happens yes
- 00:18:11right compare right what is what is that
- 00:18:13okay yeah um there are some interesting
- 00:18:16things that we should pay attention to
- 00:18:18with Leviticus not one time in the
- 00:18:21levitical sacrificial accounts is God
- 00:18:25ever the direct object of compare okay
- 00:18:30so God is never the one receiving or uh
- 00:18:34you know the action of whatever
- 00:18:35happening with compare now that is very
- 00:18:39strange if compare means to reconcile
- 00:18:42because you would expect that if compare
- 00:18:44meant to reconcile then God would be the
- 00:18:47object because he's the one with whom
- 00:18:49you're being reconciled right when we do
- 00:18:52have statements that involve some sort
- 00:18:54of conceptual notion of reconciliation
- 00:18:56they always are subsequent to the action
- 00:18:59of compare on the altar so it's after
- 00:19:02the compare on the altar that then God
- 00:19:05will forgive
- 00:19:06okay and forgiveness conceptually I
- 00:19:09can't see any reason why conceptually
- 00:19:11that's not a reconciling idea you're
- 00:19:14bringing people one offended party you
- 00:19:17know is willing to sort of let things go
- 00:19:18yeah but since God is not himself the
- 00:19:21direct object of compare in fact what we
- 00:19:24get in in the levitical system is that
- 00:19:27often the altar is the direct object or
- 00:19:30parts of the Tabernacle but but how on
- 00:19:33Earth are you reconciling yourself with
- 00:19:35the altar or with parts of the
- 00:19:37Tabernacle that doesn't make any sense
- 00:19:39there are several Hebrew Bible scholars
- 00:19:42uh some of whom are Jewish who have made
- 00:19:44the argument that this verb really has
- 00:19:46to do with some notion of purifying or
- 00:19:50removing some kind of thing that is
- 00:19:52attached to the altar into parts of the
- 00:19:55Tabernacle and that once you remove that
- 00:19:58then God is willing to say okay I will
- 00:20:02forgive now two quick points here
- 00:20:05the Jewish sacrificial system is is
- 00:20:08never about manipulating God the
- 00:20:10prophets are crystal clear on this point
- 00:20:12right so whatever's going on it's not
- 00:20:15like God's willingness to forgive is
- 00:20:17somehow limited by or manipulated by
- 00:20:21what's going on in the sacrificial
- 00:20:22system nevertheless God condescends to
- 00:20:27give the sacrificial system and the
- 00:20:29priesthood and the Tabernacle to his
- 00:20:31people as a way of of allowing for him
- 00:20:35to dwell together with them in their
- 00:20:37midst so there's something going on here
- 00:20:39that we should take seriously but in no
- 00:20:42way limits God's freedom to act nor does
- 00:20:46it manipulate this God yeah the second
- 00:20:48thing then is to say that well what's
- 00:20:50going on then if there's something being
- 00:20:53removed and we get different metaphors
- 00:20:55used but the idea of sin somehow
- 00:20:58bringing a a stain or reaching a
- 00:21:02relationship that some in some way
- 00:21:04something happens at God's house and
- 00:21:08especially around God's altar that
- 00:21:11creates something that's an offense to
- 00:21:14God and it needs to be removed and
- 00:21:18applying blood to the altar is one of
- 00:21:20the chief ways that that thing can be
- 00:21:23removed after which God condescends to
- 00:21:27forgive the offer that also is not a
- 00:21:31reductive account of what's going on uh
- 00:21:33the offer certainly has to bring
- 00:21:35repentance there are times especially
- 00:21:37with parts some of the guilt offering
- 00:21:39where confession is clear there's a lot
- 00:21:41more going on here but there is
- 00:21:43something that has to be removed from
- 00:21:46the altar by way of blood in a sense
- 00:21:49blood is like some kind of detergent
- 00:21:51here it is working to remove to purify
- 00:21:55to cleanse the space where God lives and
- 00:21:59the altar where his sacrifices are
- 00:22:01actually brought into his presence so
- 00:22:04that God's Wrath won't break out and so
- 00:22:07that God's people can approach God
- 00:22:10himself and the closest we get to an
- 00:22:13explanation for why blood can do this is
- 00:22:15Leviticus 17 11. where I think there's
- 00:22:18some sort of larger idea of blood being
- 00:22:21applied to the altar because blood is
- 00:22:24life
- 00:22:25and it's the life which is there in the
- 00:22:27blood which has the ability to remove
- 00:22:30whatever this problem is that compare is
- 00:22:32naming
- 00:22:33there's a there's a dense answer I know
- 00:22:36there's a lot going on there but that
- 00:22:38ultimately this language of atonement
- 00:22:39when it's applied to levitical sacrifice
- 00:22:42is translating this idea of compare and
- 00:22:46it mistakenly in my humble opinion
- 00:22:50substitutes the end result of the
- 00:22:54process
- 00:22:55with the actual mechanism which then
- 00:22:57gets sort of hidden because by making
- 00:23:00atonement you don't see this purifying
- 00:23:03mechanism where this removal mechanism
- 00:23:05you see then result uh that God and and
- 00:23:09the offer are somehow restored in their
- 00:23:11relationship but that's not in my view a
- 00:23:14helpful translation of of that verb let
- 00:23:17me use a certain kind of metaphor to
- 00:23:18illustrate this right or an analogy if I
- 00:23:22say to someone go lock the door well I
- 00:23:25think they'll understand exactly what
- 00:23:27I'm asking in terms of the final state
- 00:23:29of the door but there are all kinds of
- 00:23:31different locking mechanisms okay
- 00:23:34locking the door doesn't tell you the
- 00:23:36mechanism
- 00:23:38it tells you what the final state is
- 00:23:40supposed to be but if somebody's trying
- 00:23:42to tell you how you get to that state
- 00:23:45you need different language you need to
- 00:23:48say go turn the bolt or go put the key
- 00:23:51in or go apply the fob to the sensor and
- 00:23:54that will lock or unlock the door and so
- 00:23:57to say that atonement is going on in
- 00:24:00this the sort of bigger sense of
- 00:24:02reconciling parties is not wrong in
- 00:24:05terms of levitical sacrifice it's just
- 00:24:07that by translating compare with this
- 00:24:10language of atonement it obscures that
- 00:24:13mechanism so you don't see what's
- 00:24:16happening in the process to then give
- 00:24:19you the end result that's I think how
- 00:24:21I'd want to say it it's not the whole
- 00:24:23picture essentially yeah that's right
- 00:24:25it's something we we happen to come
- 00:24:26across a lot here on this podcast
- 00:24:28somehow we're not getting the whole
- 00:24:30picture in different aspects right yeah
- 00:24:32I think and maybe some of our listeners
- 00:24:34will agree with this so far it sounds
- 00:24:37like
- 00:24:38we might just be dealing with
- 00:24:40a technical distinction because once you
- 00:24:45know the mechanism
- 00:24:47lock you know lock it we we all knew we
- 00:24:50were going to get to locking or
- 00:24:51unlocking right right right at some at
- 00:24:54some point so what I what I thought we
- 00:24:56would do is dig into a few passages in
- 00:25:00Hebrews and kind of explore
- 00:25:03how we would come away from these
- 00:25:06passages
- 00:25:07with a different Viewpoint or how we
- 00:25:09might interpret these passages
- 00:25:10differently being armed for forewarned
- 00:25:14and forearmed with some of this more
- 00:25:16technical knowledge great and I wanted
- 00:25:18to start with Hebrews three three and
- 00:25:21fourth yeah which here it says for he
- 00:25:24has been counted Worthy is talking about
- 00:25:25Jesus for he has been counted worthy of
- 00:25:28more Glory than Moses
- 00:25:30by just so much as the builder of the
- 00:25:32house has more honor than the house for
- 00:25:34every house is built by someone
- 00:25:36but the Builder of all things has got
- 00:25:37this isn't the only place in Hebrews I
- 00:25:39think where um where it seems to be
- 00:25:42saying well Moses is down here or Moses
- 00:25:45is old and Moses is outdated or however
- 00:25:48you would would take away whatever verbs
- 00:25:50someone might use there yeah whereas
- 00:25:51Jesus is the new thing and the good
- 00:25:54thing
- 00:25:54and that the author of Hebrews is here
- 00:25:57now setting up an argument he's going to
- 00:25:59carry through the whole epistle which is
- 00:26:01that
- 00:26:03the little vehicle system is is being
- 00:26:06replaced right so what is what might he
- 00:26:09be if that's not the case what what
- 00:26:12value is there here in Hebrews 3 to
- 00:26:14seemingly deprecate Moses in favor of
- 00:26:18Jesus yeah okay so um yeah deprecate
- 00:26:21that's that's um you're absolutely right
- 00:26:24that many people will read Hebrews this
- 00:26:26way one of the problems uh I'm not
- 00:26:29saying all interpreters say this just to
- 00:26:31be clear but some will will argue that
- 00:26:34one of the problems is that you know the
- 00:26:36Jewish religion was so concerned with
- 00:26:39the body and so concerned with these
- 00:26:41material things and what Jesus really
- 00:26:44came to do was to show us that God
- 00:26:46doesn't really care about you know the
- 00:26:50Flesh of your foreskin uh he really
- 00:26:52cares about your heart and and by that
- 00:26:55then you can substitute ideas of spirit
- 00:26:58and even your body like the real goal
- 00:27:01for many people reading Hebrews is for
- 00:27:04you to sort of wander through this
- 00:27:06Earthly existence or or maybe slightly
- 00:27:09more positively you're a pilgrim who's
- 00:27:12moving through this Earthly existence to
- 00:27:14get to the point where you die and then
- 00:27:17your spirit is going to be taken into
- 00:27:20the Heavenly realm where Jesus already
- 00:27:22is and there you enter this platonic
- 00:27:24realm of you know Eternal Bliss and
- 00:27:27everything is hunky-dory
- 00:27:29um oh I read that book yeah right
- 00:27:31um so so then if you have that kind of
- 00:27:33as a background and you read a text like
- 00:27:36like Hebrews 3 3-4 it looks like what
- 00:27:39what the author might be saying is you
- 00:27:41know Jesus gets you to this heavenly
- 00:27:43reality Moses is still stuck on Earth
- 00:27:46and you know that's bad and oh by the
- 00:27:48way that's Jewish and we know that you
- 00:27:51shouldn't you shouldn't go back to
- 00:27:53Judaism you know however there are
- 00:27:56debates about this now there's a lot to
- 00:27:59say that I think pushes back on that
- 00:28:01again for me it all began with
- 00:28:03Resurrection because if bodily
- 00:28:06Resurrection a Jewish notion of
- 00:28:08Resurrection if that actually is there
- 00:28:11in this text then right away it calls
- 00:28:14into question this kind of dualism we
- 00:28:17have throughout Hebrews these
- 00:28:20comparisons between Jesus and well shall
- 00:28:24we say Jewish things okay so you've got
- 00:28:26Jesus is better than the Angels Jesus is
- 00:28:30better than Moses Jesus is better than
- 00:28:33Aaron and the levitical priesthood and
- 00:28:35Jesus sacrifice is better okay there is
- 00:28:38no denying that this language of better
- 00:28:41is a feature of the argumentation of
- 00:28:44Hebrews but
- 00:28:46we need to think hard about how that
- 00:28:49sort of comparison might actually be
- 00:28:51working because if you have that sort of
- 00:28:54background I was just discussing in mind
- 00:28:56it just becomes natural to read that
- 00:28:58comparison as better versus worse or
- 00:29:02maybe even better versus bad
- 00:29:04um so you have this good thing in Jesus
- 00:29:06in this bad thing in Moses because it's
- 00:29:09all about this world and materiality and
- 00:29:11bodies and we know that Jesus came to
- 00:29:14save us from all this material mess so
- 00:29:17that our Spirits could go and live in
- 00:29:19heaven but you know this is not actually
- 00:29:22a very sharp or bright or intelligent
- 00:29:25kind of comparison and when we look at
- 00:29:29some Greco-Roman texts we actually get
- 00:29:32some some um people who who wrote
- 00:29:35instruction manuals on how to make good
- 00:29:37arguments who make the point that you
- 00:29:40know anyone can compare a good thing and
- 00:29:42a bad thing that doesn't show that's not
- 00:29:43a very skillful argument the whole the
- 00:29:46real point of these compare of good
- 00:29:48comparative argument is to take two
- 00:29:50things that people otherwise would think
- 00:29:52are equal and nevertheless show how one
- 00:29:56is better so I I sometimes will try to
- 00:29:59illustrate it by saying you know which
- 00:30:01is better cake or ice cream well okay
- 00:30:04neither of these is being viewed as bad
- 00:30:09but nevertheless you might come up with
- 00:30:11arguments like well if it's a hot day uh
- 00:30:14ice cream is better because it can cool
- 00:30:16you down okay now I'm not saying that
- 00:30:19Hebrews is sort of that you know limited
- 00:30:22to to that sort of argument there there
- 00:30:24are things about Jesus which are far
- 00:30:27superior to anything which has come
- 00:30:29before not least the fact that he is the
- 00:30:32Eternal son of this God the father but
- 00:30:36nevertheless within the kind of
- 00:30:38arguments that Hebrews is pushing the
- 00:30:40whole force of the argument when you
- 00:30:42start to look at it this way begins to
- 00:30:44flip where what you see is it's not that
- 00:30:47Moses is bad it's precisely that Moses
- 00:30:50is so great how much greater is Jesus
- 00:30:54that's the kind of comparative argument
- 00:30:56that's being made here and when it comes
- 00:30:58to this idea of getting access to the
- 00:31:00Heavenly Tabernacle right what Hebrews
- 00:31:04is arguing is as good as these Earthly
- 00:31:06realities are you now have access to the
- 00:31:10very Heavenly reality that even Moses
- 00:31:12himself got to see but that that the law
- 00:31:16never actually brought you access to in
- 00:31:19the way that Jesus Does
- 00:31:21so that kind of of comparative argument
- 00:31:24is not saying that the law is bad uh
- 00:31:27it's saying that even though the law has
- 00:31:30certain things that are good it has
- 00:31:32limitations what Jesus brings is
- 00:31:35something that gets above the
- 00:31:36limitations that the law had and part of
- 00:31:40what the author is doing is and I think
- 00:31:42this is a very kind of Jewish
- 00:31:44apocalyptic way of thinking about these
- 00:31:46issues is then saying that
- 00:31:48the law is uh good for its time and
- 00:31:52place
- 00:31:53But ultimately wouldn't it be better if
- 00:31:56you could get to the realities that the
- 00:31:59law itself is contingent upon
- 00:32:01uh that the Tabernacle and then later
- 00:32:04the temple are themselves in some sense
- 00:32:07contingent upon if you could get access
- 00:32:09to that that would be better that's I
- 00:32:12think the argument of Hebrews when you
- 00:32:14talked about you know that comparison
- 00:32:16yeah and it reminds me at least of a
- 00:32:18rabbinical interpretation too called
- 00:32:20homer which basically says you know by
- 00:32:23extrapolation we know and then all the
- 00:32:25more so this so like see if Moses then
- 00:32:28Jesus if the temp if the temple then the
- 00:32:31Heavenly Temple you know and so it's
- 00:32:33definitely not pitting them against one
- 00:32:35another yes they're working together I
- 00:32:37think that's right I I'm personally not
- 00:32:40of the view that this author would have
- 00:32:42said yeah so now we shouldn't practice
- 00:32:44sacrifice at the temple I don't I don't
- 00:32:48think it would have been that obvious to
- 00:32:49him so one of the verses that appears to
- 00:32:52be more strongly um
- 00:32:55indicative of a of perhaps a super
- 00:32:57sessionist type of of thinking is in
- 00:33:01Hebrews seven yeah where we have this we
- 00:33:03have this language of uh it literally
- 00:33:06just says a change of priesthood a
- 00:33:08change of Law and we have invoked this
- 00:33:10character Melchizedek which you know
- 00:33:12growing up in the church always felt
- 00:33:14like this guy was super mysterious and
- 00:33:16like cool and fascinating like shows up
- 00:33:18for about 10 seconds in Genesis and then
- 00:33:20sort of reverberates throughout
- 00:33:23um the Psalms and then shows up here in
- 00:33:25Hebrews so he the author of Hebrews sort
- 00:33:28of picks this this uh this person out
- 00:33:31and develops this argument about one
- 00:33:34priesthood and another priesthood so we
- 00:33:36did Jesus and Moses and here we seem to
- 00:33:38be sort of maybe Jesus versus Aaron yeah
- 00:33:41and we have we have two two levels of
- 00:33:44priesthood in Hebrews seven so the
- 00:33:46priesthood changes in Hebrews 7 12 where
- 00:33:48the priesthood has changed the
- 00:33:50necessarily that takes a place in in the
- 00:33:52in the or that takes place of change in
- 00:33:54law also yeah and we have this um idea
- 00:33:58that the priesthood of Melchizedek again
- 00:34:00traditionally understood as being the
- 00:34:03real one of the better one the original
- 00:34:05one are we here saying again that this
- 00:34:08is more apples and oranges unless apples
- 00:34:12versus getting punched in the mouth
- 00:34:17can sort of work my way into Hebrews 7.
- 00:34:20I I would want to start by pointing at
- 00:34:22Hebrews 8 4 which says about the Son of
- 00:34:25God about Jesus if he were on Earth
- 00:34:29he would not even be a priest because
- 00:34:33there exists those who offer the gifts
- 00:34:37in accordance with the law
- 00:34:41now that if you stop and just think
- 00:34:44about the logic of that statement which
- 00:34:45is actually a sort of summary of the
- 00:34:47whole argument of Hebrews 7 or of key
- 00:34:49points in Hebrews 7. that is a shocking
- 00:34:52statement uh from the standpoint of
- 00:34:55Hebrews is about throwing the law under
- 00:34:57the bus because Hebrews 8 4 has just
- 00:35:00said that the law has so much Authority
- 00:35:04that the law prevents Jesus from being a
- 00:35:09priest on Earth
- 00:35:12I mean that's really that's what it's
- 00:35:14saying
- 00:35:15that's true no no uh that is not that is
- 00:35:18not a view that is
- 00:35:21anti-law as far as I can see if the
- 00:35:24author's argument was we don't need the
- 00:35:26law anymore just get rid of it then how
- 00:35:28easy would it be to just say the law
- 00:35:30doesn't matter Jesus can be a priest
- 00:35:32because uh because he's the son of God
- 00:35:35say although the author actually argues
- 00:35:37that it's although he is the son he
- 00:35:40learned obedience and became the source
- 00:35:42of Eternal salvation right so so the the
- 00:35:45author doesn't actually develop the
- 00:35:47Priestly idea from Jesus sonship he
- 00:35:50brings it together with Jesus sonship
- 00:35:52and that's exactly what the argument of
- 00:35:54Hebrews 7 is designed to do it's
- 00:35:57designed to show how that link is made
- 00:35:59and it's designed to show how Jesus can
- 00:36:03legitimately be confessed as high priest
- 00:36:06even though
- 00:36:08he's not from the tribe of Levi right
- 00:36:12yeah and that's where the whole point
- 00:36:14comes into play because the law says I
- 00:36:16mean Deuteronomy 18 1-5 is fairly clear
- 00:36:19on this that the priests come from from
- 00:36:22Levi
- 00:36:23the author of Hebrews knows that the
- 00:36:26Incarnation itself in all of its Jewish
- 00:36:30particularity put Jesus in the wrong
- 00:36:34tribe to be a priest yeah yeah exactly
- 00:36:38Jesus was born into the tribe of Judah
- 00:36:42which is great if you want to be Messiah
- 00:36:44but it's not so great if you're gonna
- 00:36:47say he's a priest
- 00:36:49and the reason it's not so great is
- 00:36:51because Moses slash the law said if
- 00:36:55you're gonna be a priest you've got to
- 00:36:57come from the tribe of Levi
- 00:36:59Hebrews 8 4 is just recognizing that
- 00:37:02that's what the law says that it has
- 00:37:04Authority and its Authority is so
- 00:37:07so strong on this sense that on Earth
- 00:37:11Jesus can't be a priest because he's
- 00:37:13from the wrong tribe
- 00:37:15but not to worry because Jesus has 414
- 00:37:19passed through the heavens as the great
- 00:37:23high priest Hebrews 8 1 the point of
- 00:37:25what we are saying is this we have this
- 00:37:28kind of high priest he's the one who now
- 00:37:30sits at the right hand of God in the
- 00:37:33Heavenly Realms which of course Hebrews
- 00:37:351 is already discussed with Jesus being
- 00:37:37invited with the sun being invited to
- 00:37:40sit at God's right hand echoing Psalm
- 00:37:42110. okay
- 00:37:44no that brings us back to Hebrews 7 and
- 00:37:47and this text that you've brought up
- 00:37:48what is going on with this argument and
- 00:37:51Melchizedek however one wants to
- 00:37:54interpret Melchizedek and there are lots
- 00:37:56of options out there Melchizedek is for
- 00:37:58the author of Hebrews an example of a
- 00:38:01legitimate priest of God most high
- 00:38:05that's right out of Genesis 14.
- 00:38:08priest of God most high
- 00:38:11but what Melchizedek doesn't have
- 00:38:14is a genealogy
- 00:38:16right and he says this in chapter 7
- 00:38:19verse 3 he is without father without
- 00:38:22mother without genealogy
- 00:38:25this is what the writer is picking up on
- 00:38:28with Melchizedek how could you be a
- 00:38:30legitimate priest of God without
- 00:38:33genealogy and what's more as he goes on
- 00:38:36to say
- 00:38:37Melchizedek must be pretty amazing
- 00:38:39because we all know how amazing Abraham
- 00:38:42is right there's no diminishing of
- 00:38:45Abraham here
- 00:38:46Abraham is amazing and yet
- 00:38:49you know it's Melchizedek who blesses
- 00:38:52Abraham uh and Abraham does something
- 00:38:54that you only do to the levitical
- 00:38:57priests he tithes to Melchizedek so
- 00:39:00here's not just someone that Genesis 14
- 00:39:03says is legitimately a priest of God
- 00:39:05most high he's a priest of God most high
- 00:39:08whom even Abraham respected and we all
- 00:39:11know how great Abraham is uh so there
- 00:39:14again is that it's not an argument
- 00:39:16against these Jewish things it's an
- 00:39:18argument working with them and then on
- 00:39:21top of that well actually Levi is a
- 00:39:24descendant of Abraham so so Melchizedek
- 00:39:27is a priest of God most high
- 00:39:29legitimately even before Levi is ever
- 00:39:32born
- 00:39:33what is the author of Hebrews doing he
- 00:39:36is finding another legitimate priesthood
- 00:39:40in the cosmos
- 00:39:43and arguing on Earth Jesus can't be a
- 00:39:46priest why because Moses said he can't
- 00:39:49be a priest
- 00:39:51and I fully respect that Moses had the
- 00:39:54authority to give the law and say he
- 00:39:57can't be a priest
- 00:39:59but what if there's another legitimate
- 00:40:02priesthood and what if Jesus could
- 00:40:05belong to that priesthood and what if
- 00:40:08that priesthood has nothing to do with
- 00:40:11genealogy
- 00:40:12well then Jesus being in the tribe of
- 00:40:15Judah is no longer something that
- 00:40:18prevents him from being a high priest
- 00:40:21it's just that he's not a high priest of
- 00:40:24the levitical order
- 00:40:26nor can he be because he comes from the
- 00:40:29tribe of Judah now in the midst of that
- 00:40:32argument I've argued that this is
- 00:40:35exactly one of the ways that the writer
- 00:40:37leans on the resurrection to make the
- 00:40:40case again no matter how you think of
- 00:40:43Melchizedek what the author finds in
- 00:40:45Melchizedek is someone who is presented
- 00:40:47in scripture as not dying
- 00:40:50someone who is who who continues to live
- 00:40:54and remain a priest of God most high and
- 00:40:57it's exactly the fact Hebrews knows full
- 00:41:00well that Jesus died I mean it's
- 00:41:02actually in Hebrews 2 which I think is
- 00:41:04an allusion to the Passover account the
- 00:41:07author knows that Jesus died
- 00:41:09so how can the author then say that
- 00:41:12Jesus is a high priest who remains
- 00:41:14forever
- 00:41:15well it's precisely because Jesus arises
- 00:41:19to an indestructible life he arises to a
- 00:41:24different set of categories that qualify
- 00:41:27him now for this different priesthood so
- 00:41:30it's precisely in the resurrection that
- 00:41:32the creaturely life of the Sun
- 00:41:35is like the creaturely life of
- 00:41:38Melchizedek and this becomes the way in
- 00:41:40which Jesus can be qualified to be a
- 00:41:43high priest
- 00:41:45but not in the Earthly sphere and not
- 00:41:48under the levitical strictures which
- 00:41:51still apply on Earth he is a high priest
- 00:41:55because he has this kind of Life which
- 00:41:58allows him to enter the Heavenly
- 00:42:00Tabernacle
- 00:42:01and to pass through that structure and
- 00:42:04enter the Heavenly holy of holies and
- 00:42:07now present himself as an offering and
- 00:42:10serve as a high priest who ministers
- 00:42:12before God in that space whatever that
- 00:42:16space whatever that space is whatever it
- 00:42:19looks like however it functions Jesus
- 00:42:21has gone there and that's where he's
- 00:42:23high priest and that's where he serves
- 00:42:25as high priest and that's why in Hebrews
- 00:42:277 25 the author will say that he is able
- 00:42:32to save his people completely because he
- 00:42:35always lives to intercede for them he is
- 00:42:37doing his high Priestly Ministry now
- 00:42:40before the father exactly along a model
- 00:42:44of what happens in Leviticus 16 with the
- 00:42:47high priest on the day of atonement who
- 00:42:49goes in now what does that all mean then
- 00:42:51for this question of the law in Hebrews
- 00:42:537 12. well there are two things that
- 00:42:56that I think are going on here and
- 00:42:58probably the most significant one is to
- 00:43:00recognize that the the writer can use
- 00:43:03this language of law in two different
- 00:43:05ways when he's talking about the law
- 00:43:07that is somehow changed what he's
- 00:43:10talking about is the law that applies to
- 00:43:12how you can be a legitimate priest
- 00:43:15and the law that applies on Earth to how
- 00:43:18you are a legitimate priest see Hebrews
- 00:43:218 4 is uh the law of Moses
- 00:43:24but if Jesus has changed this location
- 00:43:27and if he's able to do that not least
- 00:43:30because of the Resurrection which gives
- 00:43:31him a kind of life that looks in some
- 00:43:34way like Melchizedek well then there are
- 00:43:36a whole different set of categories that
- 00:43:39apply that's the change that's happening
- 00:43:41uh I think in Hebrews 7 12. he's there
- 00:43:45talking about a specific notion of the
- 00:43:48law that stipulates how you become a
- 00:43:50priest
- 00:43:52and on Earth it's genealogy
- 00:43:55but in heaven it's not and proof that
- 00:44:00there is a legitimate priesthood not
- 00:44:01based on genealogy comes right out of
- 00:44:04Jewish scripture itself in this figure
- 00:44:06of Melchizedek
- 00:44:08now he does back out and I think talk
- 00:44:10more broadly about the law and and say
- 00:44:13the law never actually was able to bring
- 00:44:17people into God's Heavenly presence the
- 00:44:20way Jesus can and in that sense I think
- 00:44:23he's making an argument that again many
- 00:44:25Jews I'm not saying that Jews of the
- 00:44:27time would have just agreed with this
- 00:44:29but there would be a sense in which
- 00:44:31especially if this is a kind of
- 00:44:32apocalyptic Jewish way of thinking what
- 00:44:35the author is saying is that right now
- 00:44:38you get access to something that's even
- 00:44:40greater than what uh the people in
- 00:44:44Jerusalem can get access to because
- 00:44:46right now through Jesus opening the way
- 00:44:49this is in Hebrews 10 in particular you
- 00:44:52get to go into the Heavenly holy of
- 00:44:54holies you get to approach the throne of
- 00:44:58grace which is I think language that
- 00:45:00Echoes the Ark of the Covenant in the
- 00:45:03holy of holies in the Tabernacle boldly
- 00:45:05you get to do that because of Jesus and
- 00:45:09that's better okay it's not against the
- 00:45:13Jewish stuff in Jerusalem but it is
- 00:45:16better because you're going again this
- 00:45:18is a place that Moses somehow saw but
- 00:45:21that Jesus has actually entered and
- 00:45:23what's more unlike Moses
- 00:45:26Jesus gets to stay there
- 00:45:29right he gets to sit at God's right hand
- 00:45:32and now perform his high Priestly
- 00:45:35Ministry
- 00:45:36in perpetuity and that for for the
- 00:45:40author of Hebrews that's better
- 00:45:43I hope that answers the question
- 00:45:45it answers it answers a lot of questions
- 00:45:48I feel like for a lot of people when
- 00:45:50they're reading Hebrews they're thinking
- 00:45:52that's when Hebrews talks about going
- 00:45:55into Heavenly places and offering
- 00:45:57himself or offering blood that
- 00:46:00that it's like a metaphor like yeah
- 00:46:02that's right and it's really just like
- 00:46:05he died for your sins that's right yeah
- 00:46:08don't try to over uh don't overthink
- 00:46:11whatever you do um don't overthink it
- 00:46:13yeah whereas what you're saying is
- 00:46:15actually the fact that Jesus came back
- 00:46:20from the dead literally and then
- 00:46:22literally entered into you know in
- 00:46:25Jewish cosmology it would be like a an
- 00:46:28actual heaven in which there's an actual
- 00:46:30sort of throne room or Temple or
- 00:46:32something like that and then that Jesus
- 00:46:34is there and that that that aspect of
- 00:46:39his ministry
- 00:46:42actually when talking about atonement we
- 00:46:45need to be looking more at that and not
- 00:46:48so much just that he died would that be
- 00:46:51accurate to say yeah that's exactly
- 00:46:53right and uh I think in a nutshell the
- 00:46:56way you just put it is one of the
- 00:46:58biggest reasons why many people have not
- 00:47:01seen the ways in which Jesus
- 00:47:03resurrection in Hebrews contributes to
- 00:47:05the argument because a bodily
- 00:47:08Resurrection a discrete event that is
- 00:47:10distinct from the death as opposed to a
- 00:47:13notion of Resurrection as just itself
- 00:47:15spiritual Ascent into God's Heavenly
- 00:47:17presence right that suddenly makes it
- 00:47:21very difficult to have a simple metaphor
- 00:47:25approach because the resurrection
- 00:47:27creates a a causal logical and temporal
- 00:47:32gap between Jesus dying on the cross
- 00:47:35and Jesus then offering himself to the
- 00:47:38Father in heaven
- 00:47:41if you put Resurrection in the metaphor
- 00:47:44suddenly begins to fall apart
- 00:47:46is precisely by not having the
- 00:47:48resurrection or by redefining
- 00:47:51Resurrection in terms of heavenly Ascent
- 00:47:53the spirit leaving the body is precisely
- 00:47:56by doing that that you can keep together
- 00:47:58much more closely the crucifixion with
- 00:48:02Jesus presentation of himself as an
- 00:48:05offering now the throw into the mix then
- 00:48:07certain misunderstandings that we today
- 00:48:09have about sacrifice like you kill
- 00:48:12animals on the altar well if you just
- 00:48:15know that you kill in levitical
- 00:48:16sacrifice you take an animal to the
- 00:48:18outer altar you kill it on the Altar and
- 00:48:21then you take the blood if you do into
- 00:48:23the Tabernacle you will find Hebrews
- 00:48:25commentators who who argue that this is
- 00:48:28what Hebrews is thinking
- 00:48:30well there's a fundamental problem with
- 00:48:32this argument and it's that no animals
- 00:48:35are ever killed on the Jewish altar
- 00:48:38yeah like this is just a
- 00:48:40misunderstanding that most of us have
- 00:48:42but if you actually look at Leviticus it
- 00:48:44is Crystal Clear
- 00:48:46Leviticus tells you in certain cases
- 00:48:48that you kill the animal in the
- 00:48:50forecourt you know or you kill it uh in
- 00:48:53a space a special space to the north
- 00:48:55side of the altar
- 00:48:57um yeah and what's more uh in Leviticus
- 00:49:00at least in the masoretic text it's the
- 00:49:02offer who typically kills who kills many
- 00:49:05of the at least the individual
- 00:49:06sacrifices but only the priest
- 00:49:10can approach the altar
- 00:49:12but so if the offer kills the animal but
- 00:49:15only a priest can approach the altar
- 00:49:17well you can't be killing the animal on
- 00:49:19the Altar and then the third thing is
- 00:49:21there's always a fire burning on the
- 00:49:24outer Altar and it's just not I mean try
- 00:49:28not to think too hard about like how
- 00:49:30would you put a live animal in the midst
- 00:49:32of the fire yeah slit its throat collect
- 00:49:35its blood you're reaching into the FI it
- 00:49:37doesn't make any sense at all no and yet
- 00:49:39we all assume that that's what happens
- 00:49:42okay now if Hebrews knows that that's
- 00:49:45not how sacrifice Works according to the
- 00:49:48levitical pattern the confusion between
- 00:49:50the cross and the altar that we assume
- 00:49:53is not going to be a natural thing for a
- 00:49:55second temple Jew to assume they're not
- 00:49:58going to just assume that you that the
- 00:50:00cross must be the altar because that's
- 00:50:01where Jesus died
- 00:50:03they're not going to assume that you
- 00:50:04kill things on the altar they're gonna
- 00:50:06know that you don't kill things on the
- 00:50:08altar rather wind sacrifice involves
- 00:50:11killing at all you kill it away from the
- 00:50:13Altar and then a priest brings it to the
- 00:50:16altar to offer it to God
- 00:50:19it's when you offer it to God that then
- 00:50:23compare in Hebrew you know but atonement
- 00:50:26ideas can happen and then especially on
- 00:50:29one time a year the day of atonement
- 00:50:31Leviticus 16.
- 00:50:33the animals are slaughtered their blood
- 00:50:37is then taken by the high priest into
- 00:50:40the holy of holies where it is offered
- 00:50:44to God Hebrews says this explicitly in
- 00:50:48Hebrews 9 verse 7.
- 00:50:50so Hebrews knows how sacrifice works and
- 00:50:53Hebrews knows how the day of atonement
- 00:50:55works and you know there is no killing
- 00:50:58of the animal on the altar uh and the
- 00:51:00focal point moreover is not on the
- 00:51:02killing of the animal but on bringing
- 00:51:05the elements of the animal into God's
- 00:51:08presence and so you know what I would
- 00:51:11want to argue on that point then is that
- 00:51:12this is exactly what the Ascension is
- 00:51:15doing and this is exactly again why the
- 00:51:18metaphor that you talked about set up
- 00:51:21this question doesn't work for Hebrews
- 00:51:23because the death is not metaphorically
- 00:51:26read as the offering it's rather the
- 00:51:30Ascension when Jesus enters the very
- 00:51:32place that the Jewish high priest
- 00:51:33entered to offer the blood as a
- 00:51:36sacrifice Jesus does that when he
- 00:51:39ascends into the Heavenly Tabernacle and
- 00:51:42then goes into the Heavenly holy of
- 00:51:44holies and offers himself
- 00:51:47if the bodily Resurrection is in that
- 00:51:50mix
- 00:51:51then there's no way to read this as some
- 00:51:54kind of simple metaphor to describe the
- 00:51:57cross as the self-offering it's
- 00:51:59precisely just like the high priest on
- 00:52:01the day of atonement Leviticus is
- 00:52:03precisely the direction of entering
- 00:52:06God's presence
- 00:52:07that's where Jesus offers himself
- 00:52:10wow
- 00:52:11good stuff
- 00:52:13well I have about 10 more questions
- 00:52:15which means we're we're probably going
- 00:52:17to have to pester you to come back for a
- 00:52:19future episode I think so I think that's
- 00:52:21what's going to happen but but before
- 00:52:23before we sign off I thought I'd give
- 00:52:25you the chance to um to tell us a little
- 00:52:27bit about what you're working on now
- 00:52:28your book rethinking the atonement came
- 00:52:30out last year from Baker academic and
- 00:52:32cloudy Grand Rapids Michigan but what's
- 00:52:35next for David Moffett
- 00:52:37um so I'm currently working on a a book
- 00:52:40that really tries to get into the
- 00:52:42nitty-gritty detail of sacrifice and it
- 00:52:45doesn't just look at Leviticus it looks
- 00:52:48at the way that Leviticus is being
- 00:52:49interpreted in second temple Jewish
- 00:52:53texts and practice insofar as we can get
- 00:52:56access to this
- 00:52:57um it might also dabble in some sort of
- 00:53:01Hellenistic or crack a Roman sacrificial
- 00:53:03ideas as well because these new
- 00:53:05testament texts eventually very quickly
- 00:53:08are going to be read primarily by
- 00:53:10Gentiles and they're not going to have
- 00:53:12the same kinds of categories so what
- 00:53:15sorts of things are they bringing as
- 00:53:16they imagine sacrifice it's very
- 00:53:18different in many respects from what a
- 00:53:21Jewish reader who had been to the temple
- 00:53:23and seen sacrifice happen assuming that
- 00:53:26kind of reader right they would
- 00:53:27understand sacrifice in a very different
- 00:53:29way what would people who knew the texts
- 00:53:33and maybe had been to Jerusalem and seen
- 00:53:35it happen what are they most likely to
- 00:53:37have assumed would be going on but then
- 00:53:40the point would be
- 00:53:41to then go to the New Testament and ask
- 00:53:45okay do we see places in the New
- 00:53:48Testament were some of these ideas which
- 00:53:51don't imagine that at the temple you
- 00:53:54killed animals on the Altar for example
- 00:53:56right which actually focus more on
- 00:53:58bringing a gift into the presence of God
- 00:54:01by actually taking it into his house are
- 00:54:04are there places where early other early
- 00:54:07Christian texts in addition to Hebrews
- 00:54:09might show evidence that they're
- 00:54:12thinking in similar ways but I do think
- 00:54:14there's actually more in the New
- 00:54:16Testament that suggests that early
- 00:54:19Christians thought seriously about the
- 00:54:23Ascension of Jesus
- 00:54:24as his bringing his offering into God's
- 00:54:28house into the Heavenly Temple and
- 00:54:32bringing it before God's presence that
- 00:54:35is Into The Heavenly throne room and
- 00:54:38then of course you know sitting at God's
- 00:54:40right hand
- 00:54:41will look Beyond Hebrews but hopefully
- 00:54:44we'll establish
- 00:54:45uh I hope with some Authority that we
- 00:54:49really don't understand sacrifice and
- 00:54:51that that we're just not right if we
- 00:54:53assume that it's about killing animals
- 00:54:55on an altar and that somehow the animal
- 00:54:58was burying your sin and these sorts of
- 00:55:02Concepts part of what I'd want to argue
- 00:55:04is that there's way more going on at
- 00:55:07various points in the story of Jesus
- 00:55:10Life Death Resurrection Ascension then
- 00:55:13just sacrifice okay but insofar as we
- 00:55:16want to think about sacrifice it's a
- 00:55:19mistake to conflate or confuse a lot of
- 00:55:22some of these other ideas with what's
- 00:55:24going on in sacrificial models of the
- 00:55:27particular work that Jesus does to save
- 00:55:30his people from their sins absolutely
- 00:55:32well I can't wait to read that one thank
- 00:55:35you so much this has just been a truly
- 00:55:37enlightening and really helpful
- 00:55:40conversation not just for us but for our
- 00:55:43listeners I think really bringing
- 00:55:44something new to consider and can't wait
- 00:55:46to read upcoming works from you thank
- 00:55:49you yeah well it's it's been a delight
- 00:55:52uh to have this conversation so we are
- 00:55:54so glad to have you here thank you
- 00:55:56absolutely yeah
- 00:56:01thank you
- 00:56:03foreign
- 00:56:04[Music]
- 00:56:08wow well what a privilege to be able to
- 00:56:10hear directly from Dr moffatt about all
- 00:56:13these themes in his book that are so
- 00:56:15vital to understanding the real work of
- 00:56:18the Messiah and how that impacts our
- 00:56:20perspective on our faith Jacob any
- 00:56:23takeaways oh it's always it's always a
- 00:56:25pleasure and like a thrill to find some
- 00:56:28a member of the academy a PhD whose
- 00:56:32interpretations resonate so clearly and
- 00:56:34so deeply with the with our uh our post
- 00:56:38supersessionist view of the New
- 00:56:40Testament and to be able to be able to
- 00:56:43have him here all the way from Scotland
- 00:56:45without having to pay however however
- 00:56:47much it costs to go to Saint Andrews
- 00:56:49myself and and uh undertake an education
- 00:56:53there you know it's a privilege that I'm
- 00:56:56very happy to share with our listeners
- 00:56:57today
- 00:56:58and here I couldn't agree more and I'm
- 00:57:00I'm looking forward to getting him in
- 00:57:02here for another conversation oh yeah
- 00:57:03sometime soon for sure well until then
- 00:57:06we've got lots of more ground to cover
- 00:57:08with this podcast so I hope all of our
- 00:57:10listeners will keep tuning in and don't
- 00:57:13forget to subscribe share with your
- 00:57:15friends and your family until next time
- 00:57:18I'm Stephanie Hammond and I'm Jacob
- 00:57:20fronzak
- 00:57:22shalom
- 00:57:24[Music]
- 00:57:34[Music]
- 00:57:41[Music]
- atonement
- Jesus
- resurrection
- Hebrews
- Christian theology
- sacrifice
- priesthood
- New Testament
- Leviticus
- post-supersessionism