“He Sat Down” [Matt's Messages] ~ Matt Mitchell

“He Sat Down”

Fixing Our Eyes on Jesus

The Letter to the Hebrews

Lanse Evangelical Free Church

August 30, 2026 :: Hebrews 10:1-18

Jesus Christ is so wonderful. And what Jesus has done for us is so wonderful, too! We cannot think about it enough.

I really struggled to know how to explain and expound this passage for today. A lot of what we’re going to see today is stuff we’ve already seen and stuff we already know and stuff we already believe.

But it’s also very complicated in how the author gets us there. He’s a very careful thinker who knew and loved His Old Testament so much! He’s studied it deeply so that he’s going to pull from Psalm 40, and Psalm 110, and Jeremiah 31 all over again and take us on a twisty path through them to make his then familiar points.

And it’s kind of easy to lose the forest for the trees. So whenever I get to complicated passages like this one, it’s helpful for me to pull back and try to get a sense of the big picture, so that the details fall into place. And the big picture is that Jesus Christ is wonderful, and what He has done for us is wonderful, too. And it makes all the difference.

If it wasn’t true, we would be lost and hopeless, and just as the Hebrews needed to hear it for what they were dealing with back then, we need to hear it again for our lives today.

Long story short: There was a big big problem, and Jesus solved it.

There are going to be a lot of words in this passage because the author is laboring to show us something important. But keep your eyes on Jesus because this is all about exalting Him and His sacrifice for us.

There are a lot of precious words in these eighteen verses that I could have used as the title for this message. I almost named it, “Once For All” because those three key words (we’ve seen several times before) show up again here twice, and are very important, especially in verse 10.

But the three words I did end up choosing for the title I pulled from verse 12, and they are, “He Sat Down.” Talking about our Lord Jesus, the writer to the Hebrews says, “He sat down.” And those three words are incredibly important to you and me. The writer included them in the very first paragraph of the very first chapter of this letter (1:3). And he says it again here.

“He Sat Down.” What does that mean, and why is it so important?

A few weeks ago (it was the Sunday we didn’t have electricity), we were studying chapter 8 together, and he said it again there, that Jesus had sat down (8:1). And I asked you then why it was important that Jesus had sat down. I didn’t give you time to answer, and I told you that I wasn’t going to tell you then why it was important! You’d have to wait until we got to chapter 10. Well, here we are.

“He sat down.” Jesus sat down, and it was very important that He did. Let’s see why.

To do that, we’ll have back up and start in verse 1.

In the first part of this chapter, we begin to get a better sense of what the big big problem was. This section is the conclusion, really the culmination, of the central argument of the book of Hebrews. We’ve said that from chapter 4 to chapter 10 is arguably all about how Jesus is our great high priest. Our greater high priest and how His sacrificial offering is superior and sufficient.

Hebrews has been arguing that Jesus’ sacrifice is greater than the Old Covenant sacrifices prescribed in the Mosaic Law and is completely sufficient for our eternal salvation. And he’s going to say it again here but with some different words.

At the end of this chapter, he’s going to start getting very practical and show what all of this means for the Hebrews and for us today. But first he’s going to take one more bite at convincing the Hebrews (and therefore us) that Jesus’ sacrifice is superior and sufficient.

He starts by calling the old covenant sacrifices “a shadow.” Look at v.1.

“The law is only a shadow of the good things that are coming–not the realities themselves. For this reason it can never, by the same sacrifices repeated endlessly year after year, make perfect those who draw near to worship. If it could, would they not have stopped being offered? For the worshipers would have been cleansed once for all, and would no longer have felt guilty for their sins. But those sacrifices are an annual reminder of sins, because it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.”

Now, stop there for a second. You get a sense of the big big problem, right?

The big big problem is sin. It’s a problem the ancient Israelites had, and it’s one we have, too.And the Hebrews might have thought that the answer to the problem of sin was the sacrificial system in the Law of God.

Why would they think that? Because God had given it to them, right?

Was the Law good or bad? It was good!

Were the sacrifices good or bad? They were good! They were from God.

The daily sacrifices, the annual sacrifices, all of the blood of bulls and goats and calves and lambs poured out on the altars in the tabernacle were coverings for sins. Dealing with the big big problem of sin.

They were good! But there were not good enough. They were insufficient. They were inadequate. They were ineffective. They were just a shadow.

Now, a shadow is often a good thing. Have ever gone for a walk with a friend, and the friend had to stop and take a call? And you keep walking and the sun is behind you, and you can hear your friend coming up behind you, their call is finishing, and then you can see their shadow come up beside you. [I am grateful to Amy Peeler for this analogy.]

It’s an anticipatory shadow. How do you feel about that shadow? Good! It’s not a scary shadow. You’re going to be walking with your friend again. But how do you feel about the shadow when your friend catches up with you? Do you feel disappointed? “I was so enjoying your shadow. Now, I’ve got to deal with you.” No, you forget about the shadow because you have what the shadow was anticipating.

The Hebrews were in danger of staying in love with the shadow! They had to be reminded that Jesus was the reality the shadow was anticipating. The writer says that this should have been obvious from the design of the old covenant sacrifices themselves. You see what he says in verse 2?

They could “never, by the same sacrifices repeated endlessly year after year, make perfect those who draw near to worship. If [they] could, would they not have stopped being offered?”

The old covenant sacrifices were obviously designed to be insufficient. If they could perfect worshippers, why didn’t they?

And by “perfect,” it means “bring to completion.” To be fully cleansed to worship God fully forgiven forever and ever. Once for all! But that’s not how the Old Testament sacrifices worked. They were not once for all.

They were once for today. Or once for the year. Or once for each sin.

Lather. Rinse. Repeat.

Sacrifice. Sacrifice. Sacrifice.

Offering. Offering. Offering.

Blood. Blood. Blood.

And tomorrow? Blood. Blood. Blood.

And next year? Blood. Blood. Blood.

Verse 3 says that these sacrifices (on the Day of Atonement especially) were annual reminders that the Israel had an unsolved sin problem. They were not forgiven once for all. (At least, not by these sacrifices. They were forgiven by what these sacrifices pre-figured, but that’s his point, too. They were a shadow!)

Why were these sacrifices so ineffective and insufficient? Look again at verse 4.

“...because it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.”

It’s impossible! That’s a strong word. We’ve learned recently that it takes innocent sacrificial blood for sinners to reach a holy God. Hebrews 9:22 “...without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.”

But this says that it takes a different kind of innocent blood than merely animal blood for our sins to be truly, finally taken away.

A bull is not good enough.

A goat is not good enough.

A lamb is not good enough.

Even if they were perfectly blameless.

They could not volunteer. No bull ever woke up in the time of the Tabernacle and said, “Let me go in the place of my master. Sacrifice me.” They were never willing.

And they were never human. They could show how terrible sin was. They could show how sinful sin was. How devastating and worthy of death. But they could not take a human’s place so that the sin was anything more than merely covered temporarily and symbolically.

They were the wrong “blood-type” for perfect salvation. [I'm grateful to Amy Peeler for this way of phrasing it.]

“...it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.”

That’s the big big problem!

But, church, here’s the good good news–Jesus solved it!

Now, I would never make the same next move that this pastor does when he writes verse 5. I would never think to because I’ve never studied Psalm 40 like this guy has. [Read or listen to this message from D.A. Carson if you want to go deeper in Psalm 40.]

I never actually preached Psalm 40 yet. I almost did today so that Hebrews 10 would make more sense to us. But I didn’t want to leave Hebrews again, so I just asked Hannah to read it for us, so that can we can just dip into it like Hebrews does.

This pastor wants to convince these Jewish Christians that this has always been the plan. So he takes them to Psalm 40, and he shows them how Jesus fulfills what King David wrote there. Look at verse 5.

“...it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins. Therefore, when Christ came into the world, he said: ‘Sacrifice and offering you did not desire, but a body you prepared for me; with burnt offerings and sin offerings you were not pleased. Then I said, 'Here I am–it is written about me in the scroll–I have come to do your will, O God.'’”

Now that could be really confusing especially if you don’t know that he’s quoting Psalm 40.

He’s read Psalm 40 over and over again and noticed some things.

It was written by King David. And King David is a type King Jesus. Whenever King David is at his best, he shows the world what King Jesus was going to be like. He was like a pattern for his greatest descendent. King Jesus sang the Psalms and fulfilled the Psalms. I’m sure that the Challenge Group learned about that this summer at their conference. Jesus fulfills the Psalms.

So Hebrews actually puts this Psalm in Jesus’ mouth!

“When Christ came into the world, He said...”

Psalm 40, verse 6, “Sacrifice and offering you did not desire...With burnt offerings and sacrifices you were not pleased.”

Wait a second! Didn’t God say that He was pleased with sacrifices in the Old Testament? Yes, He did. When offered in faith, they were pleasing to Him. He did require them! They were His idea. But they are not His ultimate idea.

Let me ask you this question, “Does God love all this bloodshed?” Does God love all of this sacrifice? Is God bloodthirsty? Which is better to God, sacrifice or obedience? Is God secretly pleased that there is so much disobedience so that there could be so much bloodshed sacrifice?

No, the Old Testament is clear, “to obey is better than sacrifice.” (See 1 Samuel 15:22.)

And there are all kinds of Scriptures that say that God does not ultimately love all of the blood shed. Read Hosea 6:6; read Psalm 50:12-16; read Isaiah 1:11-17; read Jeremiah 7:22-23; read Micah 6:6-8.

God is not bloodthirsty. He is just. He is wrathful. He is holy.

But what He wants more than anything is people who love and obey Him!

That’s the point of Psalm 40.

In the original Hebrew, which is well translated by the NIV that Hannah read, it says, “Sacrifice and offering you did not desire, but my ears you have pierced...” like one of the Old Testament servants who signed up to be a permanent slave because they were so happy in a household. They wanted to their master’s will.

Or some of your versions bring out the idea of “ears” that are “dug” or “opened.” In other words, God wants people who listen to Him much more than He wants sacrifices.

He doesn’t want people who just go off and disobey and then run to Him with a sacrifice. Like some people run to the confessional booth. They live like the devil and then try to get their sins cleaned off through confession. And then they go back and live like the devil because they’ll just apply another sacrifice.

God wants people with an open ear to Him.

And the Greek translators of the Hebrew Bible took that word “ear” and expanded it very freely to the whole “body.” God wants obedient followers who obey not just with their ears but with all of themselves. Like Romans 12:1, offering our whole bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God.

So the Greek translation that the writer to the Hebrews is quoting from has that Greek word for “body” in it (LXX). “A body you have prepared for me” to obey You.

That’s what You want. You want obedience!

“And that’s what I’m going to do,” Christ says as He sings Psalm 40. Verse 7 again.

“Then I said, 'Here I am–it is written about me in the scroll–I have come to do your will, O God.'’

That’s what David said, and it’s what great David’s greatest Son Jesus said.

He said, “I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me. And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all that he has given me, but raise them up at the last day. For my Father's will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day” (John 6:38-40).

Jesus was fulfilling Psalm 40. Verse 8.

“First he said, ‘Sacrifices and offerings, burnt offerings and sin offerings you did not desire, nor were you pleased with them’ (although the law required them to be made). Then he said, ‘Here I am, I have come to do your will.’ He sets aside the first [sacrifices] to establish the second [obedience to God’s will]. And by that will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all” (vv.8-10).

Do you see what he’s saying? It’s a little hard for us to follow because we don’t think like this–so deeply and so Old Testamenty.

He’s saying that even in the Old Testament, the sacrifices were obviously going to be temporary. They were, at some point, going to be set aside. The Old Covenant was going away. The New Covenant was coming. The sacrifices weren’t enough. Something else must come that is enough.

And now that something else has come. And it involves a body doing God’s will. Verse 10 again.

“And by that will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all” (vv.8-10).

Once for all. That’s the fifth time that he’s used those words to describe what Jesus did for us.

There was a big big problem, and Jesus solved it once for all.

It’s talking about the Cross. He offered His body as a sacrifice on the killing tree. “Here am I! I’m the One the Scroll predicted. I have come to do your will, O God.”

And it is Your will to crush me.

It is Your will to have me pierced.

It is Your will to see me sacrificed.

But! Not again and again. But once for all.

That’s where he goes with in verse 11. And this is so precious. Look at verse 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.”

Now feel that. Once again, he’s contrasting the Old Covenant sacrifices with Jesus’.

He’s comparing the Old Covenant priests–the sons of Levi, the sons of Aaron who are the priests–with the different kind of priest that Jesus is. In the order of Melchizedek. Team Aaron versus Team Melchizedek one more time. Verse 11.

“Day after day [Team Aaron] stands and performs his religious duties; again and again he offers the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins.”

Because they are the wrong blood type!

They go every day to work. And it’s the same thing every day. Not just every year with the Day of Atonement, but every day with the burnt offerings morning and evening.

Every day they get up and say, “Hi ho, hi ho, it’s off to work I go.”

“Time to make the donuts.”

“Time to sacrifice the animals.”

“Blood, blood, blood, blood.”

And it never does anything. And they always stand as they do it.

Did you ever notice that there are no chairs in the Tabernacle? There are no chairs for the priests. There is only one seat in the Tabernacle, and it’s the Mercy Seat. It’s the Atonement Cover. It’s in the Holy of Holies, and stands for the very throne of God Himself.

“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. But [!] when this priest had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God” (vv.11-12)!

Isn’t Jesus wonderful?! Isn’t what Jesus did wonderful?! He sat down!

I don’t know if that is literal because I don’t know if the Tabernacle in heaven is literal or not. We’re dealing with almost unimaginable realities here. Certainly He went to heaven in His physically resurrected body, so it’s quite possible He literally sat down. Regardless, He did what that means.

He sat down!

I’ve got three points this morning, about why He sat down and what it means for you and me today. Here’s number one. He sat down because:

#1. HE HAD FINISHED THE JOB!

This priest had completed the work. Our great high priest had offered “for all time one sacrifice for sins,” and that’s all it took! There wasn’t any more dying for sins that needed to happen. It was finished. It was over. It was complete.

I often sit down to do my work. Yesterday, as I was writing this. I kept telling myself. “Stay in your chair. Stay seating. Keep writing.” But Jesus sat down because His work was finished. There wasn’t anything left for Him to do. He is the perfect High Priest. Because His sacrifice did the thing in one go!

This must have been eye-opening for the Hebrews. They were so used to the Levitical priests doing their thing day after day after day.

But this priest did it once for all time time. And so, He could sit down, and put His feet up.

What did He accomplish? The passage goes on to emphasize this decisive accomplishment. Keep going in verse 13.

“Since that time he waits for his enemies to be made his footstool, because by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy.”

Wow! What a sentence that is!

How effective His sacrifice was! How adequate! How sufficient!

By one sacrifice (not many, not even a few, but one sacrifice) Jesus has made perfect (what the law could never do (v.1)) forever those who are being made holy.

Now, that’s interesting thing to think about. Are we made holy or being made holy? It’s both, right? Jesus has made us perfect (that is positionally, we are perfected, we are forgiven, we are cleansed, we are completely presentable to God and welcome in His presence forever), but we are also being made holy (we’re becoming in real time what we are forever).

The theological words for that are “positional sanctification” and “progressive sanctification.” Both are accomplished, not by our own work, but by the one sacrifice of our great high priest, Jesus the Son of God. We still need to change, but that change is not to be saved but because we are saved. We have been made perfect forever and are being made holy. Praise God!

Jesus finished the job. What a great job He did! Isn’t He wonderful?!

In verses 15 through 18, the author wants to really bring that home, so he brings back up Jeremiah 31. Look at verse 15.

“The Holy Spirit also testifies to us about this. First he says: ‘This is the covenant I will make with them after that time, says the Lord. I will put my laws in their hearts, and I will write them on their minds.’ [That’s Jeremiah 31:33.] Then he adds: ‘Their sins and lawless acts I will remember no more.’ And where these have been forgiven, there is no longer any sacrifice for sin” (vv.15-18).

And that’s a good thing! Because we don’t need another one. We don’t need another sacrifice for sin, because they are all forgiven.

Church, they are all forgiven. Jesus’s death embedded the law of God on the hearts of all of His New Covenant people. God wants people who will obey Him? Jesus did it perfectly, and He’s guaranteed that His people will do it increasingly and ultimately.

And Jesus’ death has caused God to forget some things! “There sins and lawless acts I will remember no more.” Which is another way of saying that they are forgiven. Not that God has amnesia, but He’s deciding to not remember those sins against us.

Church, God does not remember your sins against you because of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ.

He did that! And it was so effective it does not ever have to be repeated. And it will never wear off. The job was done. Jesus solved the big big problem. So He could sit down.

But that’s not all. That would be enough, but there’s more to Jesus’ sitting than just His perfect sacrifice. Look back up at verse 12.

Church, where is Jesus sitting? Verse 12. “[H]e sat down at the right hand of God.” Point number two. He sat down because:

#2. HE HAD EVERY RIGHT!

Jesus sat down because He belonged there. He sat down because He was invited. Right? Hebrews is quoting Psalm 110 yet again. He loves that Psalm.

“The LORD [Yahweh] says to my Lord [The Messiah]: “Sit at my right hand...”

“Come on up here. You are welcome. You deserve it. This is the place for You!” Who sits in the presence of God?!!! Only the Son of God.

If Aaron and his sons had tried to sit on the Ark of the Covenant, they would have died right then and there. But Jesus is a special kind of priest. He’s a priest and a king. Together like Melchizedek.

Our Great High Priest King Jesus died on the Cross, was resurrected, went to heaven to plead the merits of His blood, and when He got there...He sat down!

He is exalted!

He is worthy!

He is glorious!

He is reigning!

It isn’t that He was so worn out by His CrossWork that He falls into His seat in exhaustion. “Oh what I have gone through. Let me have a seat?”

No, no, no. He is in His resurrection glory, taking His seat on His throne at the most exalted place in the universe, at the very right hand of the Majesty on High. And the angels are going wild!

That’s where He belongs. By right and by reward. Jesus has earned this. He is worthy of it just because He is Him, and because of what He has done. He sat down to receive worship and to reign.

And one more. He sat down, number three, because:

#3. HE HAD TO WAIT.

He wasn’t allowed to just run back to Earth. He is called to stay on that throne until it’s time. Look at verse 13.

“...he sat down at the right hand of God. Since that time he waits for his enemies to be made his footstool...”

I have never noticed that before in all of the times I’ve read the book of Hebrews.

Jesus waits. Just like last week in 9:28, we are waiting for His return. He is waiting for His return.

It’s exactly what Psalm 110 says, “The LORD says to my Lord: ‘Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet.’”

That time hasn’t come yet. It’s coming. Only God knows when. Don’t believe anyone else who says they know. But when the Father says, “Okay, it’s time. The gospel has been preached to all nations. The full number of the chosen have come in. It’s time to subdue your enemies once and for all,” then and only then Jesus will return.

Not to bear sin (9:28). But to bring salvation “the good things that are coming” (v.1) to those who are waiting for Him.

That’s why He sat down. ...

Now, how do we apply this to our lives in September of 2026? I’m glad you asked. Because that’s what we’re going to talk about for all of September of 2026. That’s what the writer to Hebrews is going to jump into in the very next few verses. All of the “therefores.”

But let me give you three quick things to think about 1-2-3 to press this truth home to your life this week. First...

- REST IN JESUS’ FINISHED WORK.

Jesus did what the law couldn’t do so that you and I don’t have to do it either. We don’t have to save ourselves. We don’t have to just try harder and harder. We don’t have to worry if we have done enough. We don’t have to perform. We do have to change, but we don’t have to do that our own. And we don’t have to clean ourselves up first to come to Him. He has cleaned us up once and for all to come to Him. And then He sat down.

Rest in his finished work. His blood is enough. His sacrifice is superior and sufficient. You don’t have to get on the merry-go-round of good works and earning your salvation. You’ve got a great high priest whose name is “Love” whoever lives and pleads for you.

Don’t listen to Satan. When tempts to to despair and tells you of the guilt within. No. Say, “He sat down, Satan. He made an end to all my sin. I’m safe. I’m secure from all alarms."

“Because the sinless Savioir died

My sinful soul is counted free

For God the Just is satisfied

To look on Him and pardon me”

Charitie Lees Bancroft

Once for all. Second...

- REJOICE IN JESUS’ EXALTATION!

Praise God that Jesus is sitting on His rightful throne. Amen? Be happy that He’s there. Worship Him, for He is worthy. Everything is right in the world. Jesus is right where He is supposed to be. Follow Him as exalted King. What He says goes. And eagerly wait for His return. Because He’s not slow in coming, but He is waiting for a bit. And one day, we will see Him face to face. Are you ready?

Lastly...

- RIVET YOUR EYES ON JESUS.

“Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess.”

Don’t let go. Don’t take your eyes off Him. Don’t fall in love with the shadow. Fall in love and stay in love with what the shadow anticipated. Fall in love with the Reality. He’s so wonderful!

Fix your eyes on Jesus. Because He sat down.

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