Hebrews 9:27

"or else he must have suffered often since the foundation of the world. But now once at the end of the ages, he has been revealed to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself."

Key Reflection

This passage contrasts the perpetual nature of sacrificial offerings in the Old Testament with the singular and definitive act of Christ's sacrifice. It underscores that since the beginning, continuous sacrifices would have been necessary had Jesus not come to bear sin once for all at the end of time.

From the Scholars: Barnes' Notes

Verse 27. And as it is appointed unto men once to die. Or, "since it is appointed unto men to die once only." The object of this is to illustrate the fact that Christ died but once for sin, and that is done by showing that the most important events pertaining to man occur but once. Thus it is with death. That does not, and cannot occur many times. It is the great law of our being, that men die but once, and hence the same thing was to be expected to occur in regard to him who made the atonement. It could not be supposed that this great law pertaining to man would be departed from in the case of him who died to make the atonement, and that he would repeatedly undergo the pains of death.

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