Unlike the other high priests, he has no need
to offer sacrifices day after day, first for his own sins, and then for those
of the people; this he did once for all when he offered himself. (Heb 7:27
NRSV)
Based on
this passage, some (including some Christadelphians who believe it was for the “sin”
of being human) have argued that Jesus offered up a sacrifice for himself, not just for everyone else.
Refuting this, Arland Hultgren wrote:
. .
this is not possible. First, the author affirms that Jesus was without sin
(4:15). Second, the author’s point in 7:27 is to make a contrast: The priests
of the old covenant made sacrifices daily
(for their own ins, and then for the sins of others), but Christ made a
sacrifice “once for all” (ephapax). Buchanan [the author Arland is
responding to] refers also to the passages in which Christ is spoken of as “perfected”
(2:10; 5:8-9; 7:28). But the “perfection” of the Son has to do with his having
been consecrated a priest by God through his suffering and return to God . . . (Arland
J. Hultgren, Christ and His Benefits:
Christology and Redemption in the New Testament [Philadelphia: Fortress
Press, 1987], 249 n. 131)
