Exploring Hebrews 9 – Discover the three profound appearances of Jesus and their timeless impact. ✨📖
Good morning. Would you take out your Bible, please, and turn to Hebrews chapter 9. Hebrews chapter 9, and we'll begin reading in verse 24, here in just a moment. Hebrews chapter 9, beginning in verse 24. And there are some young men that are getting up that have handouts for the lesson this morning. If you did not receive one of those handouts, then you would like one of those.
If you'll raise your hand, they'll get one of those to you. And that might be helpful to you as we go through today's lesson. What the Hebrew writer has to say in Hebrews chapter 9 this morning. Hebrews chapter 9, and we'll start reading verse 24 here in just a second. I grew up in a very small town in West Texas.
I was born in Luskin, but raised there. And as I got older my, my dad kind of raised up through the ranks of the local school district where we were, until eventually he was the superintendent. Now this was a, a small farming and ranching community, as many of you know, and it was the kind of small West Texas town where Like 90 percent of the people would have been at a football game on Friday night.
The school was just kind of the hub for everything else that was happening in the town. And so throughout the year there were various various things that were going on, both school sponsored and non school sponsored, that it was kind of expected that my dad as the superintendent was going to go to these various functions.
And I remember being old enough not that he and my mom were arguing necessarily, but my, my mom was a little put out sometimes by, by those sorts of things. You know, it's family time, it's the weekend, and he's having to go to, to this get together, whatever it is. And I remember a phrase that my dad would use to try and, you know, smooth things over, placate her just a little bit.
He would say, I'm just making an appearance. I'm just making an appearance. And you know what he meant by that, right? Listen, I'm not heavily involved. I'm not running anything. I'm not going to stay the whole time. People need to see me there. It's important that I'm seen that I make an appearance. an appearance.
And that phrase, I'm making an appearance, is a phrase that kind of carries with it different connotations depending on the context, right? Let me give you a few examples, and I just want you to see what your reaction is if somebody were to say, I'm making an appearance in these different contexts. You ready?
I'm making an appearance at a work event. Well, that's kind of neutral, right? Okay, well, great. I don't care. Make an appearance, don't make an appearance. It's a work event. Do what you want to do. How about this one? I'm making an appearance at my kid's birthday party. Ooh, what? You're just making an appearance at your kid's birthday party?
How about this one? I'm making an appearance on a TV show. Wow, that's really cool. That's neat that you get to do that. How about this one? I'm making an appearance before a judge in a courtroom. Oh no, that's not good, right? And so we see that idea of, of making an appearance, depending on the context, who's making the appearance, where they're making the appearance, and before whom they're making the appearance, it changes the, the idea of what that appearance is and what that appearance is seeking to accomplish.
So with that in mind, The Bible says that Jesus has made appearances to us, and He has made appearances for us. And these appearances are in different contexts, too. Three such appearances are found in our text in Hebrews chapter 9, beginning in verse 24. Will you read those with me? Hebrews chapter 9, beginning in verse 24.
Now, the Hebrew writer has been talking about the tabernacle and the priest going into the holy place and most holy place. And now he ties that to Jesus and says in verse 24, For Christ has not entered the holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us.
Not that he should offer himself often, as the high priest enters the most holy place every year with the blood of another, Then he would have had to suffer often since the foundation of the world. But now, once, at the end of the ages, he has appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. And it is appointed for men to die once, but after this, the judgment, so Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many.
To those who eagerly wait for him, he will appear a second time, apart from sin, for salvation. Now I want you to notice especially verse 28 there. So Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many. To those who eagerly wait for him he will appear a second time apart from sin for salvation. That verse emphasizes to us that that Jesus has made multiple appearances.
He will appear multiple times. And that these appearances provide salvation for us and to us in, in a number of different ways because of how each of these appearances deal with and impact sin in different ways. So Christ has appeared and he has appeared so that we might have salvation in different ways because of how Christ appears to deal with sin.
So I want you to consider with me for a few minutes this morning, the three appearances of Jesus that are found there in Hebrews chapter 9. He has appeared in the past, in verse 26. He now appears in the present, in verse 24. And He will appear again in the future, In verse 28, that meant something, something important and powerful to the Hebrew readers, and it should mean something important and powerful for us today.
I'm glad you're here. Whether you're a regular member or you're a visitor, we, we appreciate very much you're present. And I hope that this will be helpful to us as we strive to see Jesus and to see what Jesus has done for us. So there on your handout you have this little chart and so we see those three appearances that he has appeared, that he now appears, and that he will appear, past, present, and future.
Let's consider those three appearances of Jesus together. And the first of those is found in verses 25 and 26. Read that with me. Not that he should offer himself often, as the high priest enters the most holy place every year with the blood of another. He then would have had to suffer often since the foundation of the world.
But now, once, at the end of the ages, he has appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. So Jesus has appeared in the past for salvation and justification at the end of the ages. So the patriarchal age has ended. The Jewish age is past, and now we are in the Christian age. We're in the age of Christ and His church where salvation is available in Jesus.
For the Christian, this describes our past salvation in justification, which removes the penalty of sin for us. That's the impact that Jesus made by coming and appearing on earth. And finally, dying on a cross for our sins. He removes the penalty of sin, which is death and separation from God. Now, it's interesting to me, something that stood out and part of the reason why I wanted to preach this lesson is that there are actually three different Greek words that are used here in these verses.
We see three appearances of Jesus, and the word for appear or appeared or appears is three different Greek words. Now, now that's interesting. It's interesting to me maybe because I'm a nerd. I don't know. But it's interesting, but it doesn't always mean something when we see different synonyms for the same word used in a close context.
And so we have to mine a little deeper to say, is there a distinction that's really intended by the biblical author? And on this occasion, I believe that there is. I, I think there's, There's a slight difference between these words that emphasizes certain aspects of Jesus appearing. And it's not just that these three words are used.
Those same three words, each of them is found one other place in the book of Hebrews that kind of gives us a definition of what that word for appearing actually is. Does that make sense? So this first word that is used there in what he has done in the past in verses 25 and 26, The Greek word is phonero.
Phonero. And that means to be revealed. To be exposed publicly in one's true character. Now, God is great. And God is all knowing. And so it's interesting to me that for each of these three words, I don't know if God said, you know, sometime in the future, 2000 years from now, Reagan McQuinney is going to preach a lesson on this.
And it would be really helpful if these words had English words that went with them. I don't know if God thought that he might have, but it is interesting to me that for each of these words, we have an English word that comes from the Greek word that, that kind of tells us what this word was all about.
So you see this word, where'd it go? Where'd it go? Phanero, right there. Phanero. What, what do you see right there at the beginning? We have an English word, phantom, right? Phantom. So we think about a phantom as something that you can't see well and, and it has to be revealed to you to see what it really is.
Think about Scooby Doo. And even if you're not old enough to remember the Scooby Doo cartoons, you've probably seen this meme on social media, right? So there's the phantom and we don't know what it is until it's revealed. And it's revealed in its true character that this is what the phantom was all along.
And so this Greek word speaks of Christ in that same way. That Christ is revealed with his true character that was always there, but was somewhat obscured in the past until he appeared in this way. That same Greek word is found just earlier in the chapter in Hebrews chapter 9 and verse 8, which again gives us some insight into how it's being used.
The Holy Spirit indicating this, that the way into the holiest of all, was not yet made manifest. It hadn't yet appeared. While the first tabernacle was still standing. So the way into heaven wasn't revealed yet. While that first tabernacle was still standing. It wasn't revealed as it truly was until Jesus came along.
But now Jesus has been revealed to us. We see God as He truly is in Jesus Christ. We see God in the flesh so that we can see Him and understand Him. Because He was tempted at all points as we are yet without sin in Jesus. It's interesting that each of these three appearances are found in the book of 1 John.
They're found in a lot of places in our Bible, but if you'll mark your spot there in Hebrews chapter 9, and then turn over to 1 John, we see these same three appearances. And maybe it's helpful to us to see it from John's perspective and not just the Hebrew writers. John begins his letter in this way. 1 John 1, verse 1.
That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, Which we have looked upon and our hands have handled concerning the word of life that life was Manifested, you know what word that is and that life appeared so he's talking about seeing it and we've looked on it It was manifested and we have seen and bear witness and declare to you that eternal life Which was with the father and was manifested to us.
So jesus was with the father now He has been shown manifested to us that which we have seen and heard we declare to you fellowship with us, and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus
that your joy may be full. John and the Hebrew writer both say Jesus shows us God's true character. Jesus shows us who God really is. We see God revealed to us in the person of Jesus Christ and we see it, perhaps not as we expected. The mask comes off and Jesus is not seen in all of his power and might and dominion and judgment, although those things are true.
The mass comes off in Jesus Christ and we see him in his humility and his grace and his mercy and his desire to save in his faithfulness. And yes, in his holiness that allowed him to become the sacrifice And this is where our joy should be found in knowing that we can have eternal life through this past appearance of Jesus Christ in the flesh.
In Hebrews chapter 9, Jesus is made manifest, revealed to us and all other created beings as a sacrifice for the sins of the world when he appeared on the earth in the incarnation. It is not just that he appeared as a man, although that's true, but that he appeared to be made that sacrifice. He appears in the flesh as god's only begotten son to put away the guilt of sin for us Because he's the only one who had the power to make that sacrifice And this is why christ came the first time to deal with sin to be offered for and put and to put away sin to bear the sins of many So that we might be able to stand before God, justified, made right in His sight.
So, Jesus has appeared. But Jesus also now appears, presently, for our salvation in intercession. Go back to Hebrews chapter 9 if you would, Hebrews chapter 9. Let's go back there to verses 23 and 24. Therefore, it was necessary that the copies of these things in the heavens should be purified with these, you know, the blood of bulls and goats and those sorts of things.
But the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. For Christ has not entered the holy places made with hands, which are copies of the truth. He wouldn't have been able to even do that because he was not of the priestly tribe. Instead, Jesus enters into heaven itself. Now, ultimately, he's getting to this idea of he made this sacrifice and enters heaven itself, but as an aside, he says, to now appear, now to appear in the presence of God for us.
So he now appears presently before God to provide salvation and intercession. He removes the power of sin. The power of sin to still leave us condemned if we go back into that sin. The Greek word that is used here in this second appearing of Jesus, where he now is, it's the Greek word emphonizo, emphonizo.
That's where we get the word emphasis, right? So you see that there, emphonizo, emphasis? We emphasize something, it's made clear to us, it's made bright to us. Man, I'm just nerding out this morning on some stuff, I guess. I've always been interested with advertisements. That's, that's a nerdy thing, right?
Advertising has always been super fascinating to me. The idea of how you can communicate a message to someone in a way, not just that they understand, but in a way that motivates them to do something that says, this product is worth buying, or whatever the case might be. And so I follow on social media a few accounts that go through different ads and what makes an effective ad and all those sorts of things.
The most effective print ad that I've ever seen was this one. You've heard the phrase, you can't find a needle in a haystack. Have you heard that phrase? Thumbs up if you've heard that phrase before. Yeah, we've all heard that phrase. I want you to find the needle in the haystack. Okay, you ready?
This all says, hey, where's the needle? You can't even read it. It's too small. But everybody knows where the needle is. Because it's highlighted. Emphasized. It's there. You could have seen it all along, but now it is made clear. It is emphasized to us so that we can see it clearly. And that's the word that is being used here of Jesus.
as he appears before God. If you look there in Hebrews chapter 11 and verse 14, just a page or two over, we see the same root of this word used in 11 and verse 14.
This is referring to those people who were looking for the city whose builder and maker was God. And it says in verse 14, for those who say such things declare plainly That's our word for appears. Declare plainly that they seek a homeland. Declare plainly, they make it clear, the English Standard Version says.
There's no confusion. There's no ambiguity. It appears clearly to us. And so Jesus appears in the presence of God for us. He appears on our behalf, the English Version says again. He is the mediator, the intercessor by which we can continue to deal with sin. And so Jesus appears before God to emphasize our needs to Him, to emphasize our confessions of sin before our God.
And we need our prayers to be seen by God, and Jesus is the one who ensures that they are. He emphasizes those things, makes those things appear before God. Himself. Have you ever been in a situation where you, you need something to get done and it is only when you got the right person making that need visible to those in power to do something about it, that it actually did get done where somebody said to you, I can take care of this.
They took it to the right authorities, whatever those were, and it was taken care of. Have, have you ever had that experience? At camp every year there's one of the counselors that we work with by the name of Chuck Boyd. And Chuck is like the fixer of camp. You know, if you need something done, you go to Chuck.
And Chuck always knows a guy, right? He knows the right person that he can go to to see that this thing gets done. You need industrial grade foam for the slip and slide? Tell Chuck, because Chuck knows a guy, and lo and behold, it shows up at camp. You want for, for USA day on camp, you want something cool?
Well, Chuck knows a guy who can fly in a Blackhawk helicopter and land it on the soccer field. He can get it done. You accidentally set off all the fire alarms because the fog machine had too much fog coming out of it? Chuck knows the, the chief of the fire department and can give him a call and say, don't come to camp.
Because it's a false alarm. Chuck is the guy you go to when you need to get something done because he can take it to the right person who can actually get that thing done. That's Jesus role as our intercessor. We take our needs. We take our sins. We take our sorrows. We take them to Jesus because he can take them to the Father and emphasize them where what needs to get done will get done.
And as it relates to our sin, it removes the power of sin over us in those situations. Christ appears with just that reason. It is only because Jesus appears before the Father that we can continue to be saved. He appeared in the past to save us, but now we continue to be saved because He is before the Father.
Ongoing sanctification is required. Without this holiness, without this sanctification, Ongoing sanctification. We won't ultimately see the Lord. Chapter 12 and verse 14. And so what Christ's appearance at the right hand of God does is remove the power of sin to condemn us again after we become a Christian.
I love what Romans chapter 8 and verse 34 says. Who is to condemn? Jesus Christ is the one who died. More than that, who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. Who can condemn us if Jesus is the one who appears before God interceding on our behalf? Now don't misunderstand me.
There is something required of us if this power of sin is to be removed in our life. We must confess and repent. And that's what 1 John tells us. If you turn back to 1 John, this time to chapter 1 and verse 7. 1 John chapter 1 and verse 7.
But if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin. How? If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. It's not just some like automatic thing we don't have to worry about. So, if we confess our sins, on the other hand, verse 9, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
If we say we have not sinned, we make Him a liar and His word is not in us. My little children, these things I write to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone sins, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins. Not for ours only, but also for the whole world.
This confession means something because Jesus appears before God with it. And then finally, if we go back to Hebrews chapter nine and read verses 27 and 28, we see that Jesus will appear in the future to provide salvation with our exaltation, where we get to go and be with him eternally. Verse 27 and as is, as it is appointed for men to die once.
But after this the judgment. So Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many. That's that first appearing. To those who eagerly wait for Him, He will appear a second time. apart from sin for salvation. So he appears in the future to remove the presence of sin. The English Standard Version again says, not to deal with sin, but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him.
When Jesus comes again, it is not now to deal with sin like he did the first time. Instead, it is to bring into judgment and say, save those who have, who have been made right by his first appearance. The Greek word that is used here is osthesitai, osthesitai. It means to be seen with the eye, osthesitai, to be seen with the eye.
Do you see an English word there? Daniel, do you see an English word there? That's where we get our English word optometrist, right? So this is an eye doctor who helps you to see. To be seen with the eye. And the same root is found in chapter 12 and verse 14 of the book of Hebrews. Chapter 12 and verse 14.
Pursue peace with all people and holiness without which no one will see the Lord. We see with our eyes the Lord when He comes again. That's what this word communicates. Celebrity sightings are always kind of fun when you see a celebrity. Raise your hand if you've ever seen like a big time celebrity or who you thought was a big time celebrity.
That's kind of fun to get to see that person in person, right? I saw with my own eyes so and so and we can tell the story. My favorite is, I saw Lee Trevino on a Southwest flight, and that was really cool. He's just a few rows up from me. Another guy who had a golf hat on, we looked at each other and we said, Is that him?
He's like, Yeah, I think that's him. Raise your hand if you have no idea who Lee Trevino is. See, to you, that means nothing, right? To you, that means nothing. And so, this might be fun, but if we don't know who that person is, if they're not that big of a deal, it doesn't mean much to us to see them. Maybe we've seen them on TV or on ads hundreds of times, but to see them personally is extra special, but we have to know who that person is.
They have to be a big enough deal, I guess, to see them in person in this way. Yesterday, my friend Andy Adams sent me this picture of his wife, Sheila, at the Texas football game. You know Andy, so you know Andy did not take this picture. It would have been much better if Andy had taken it. But Sheila took a picture because she saw this person.
Now, raise your hand if you know who this person is. Very few hands are up. So, it's not a big deal. But, what if I told you that this was Ricky Williams? Does that make any difference at all? Maybe that still doesn't mean anything to you. Well, Ricky Williams is one of the greatest football players who's ever lived.
He was a two time unanimous All American and won the 1998 Heisman Trophy. He broke the NCAA records for career rushing yards and all purpose yards during his time at Texas. He was taken fifth overall in the NFL Draft and he led the league in rushing in 2002. And if you're not a football fan, it's still not cool for me to tell you all those things.
It doesn't mean anything to you. Well, we And everyone else will see Jesus descend from the heavens. And it will mean something to everyone when we see Him, because it is the Son of God coming in His glory. It will mean something. Though He was always with us, even now He is with us. Then we will see Him.
personally. In the future, Jesus will actually really appear again, and we will see him with our eyes. And when we see him with our eyes that way, when he appears in that way, that is when he can remove us from the presence of sin. In heaven, there will be no more temptations, no pressure to choose what is wrong.
We won't have to deal with sin anymore. And what a relief it is What a relief it is when Jesus comes. That's, that's us seeing the finish line. To know that we're going to make it and to know that we are right with Him because of those first two appearings. That He appeared to take away our sin and He appears before God now as intercessor for our sin.
Turn to 1 John chapter 2. The last time we'll turn there. 1 John chapter 2. And
now little children abide in Him. That when he appears, we may have confidence and not be ashamed before him at his coming. He will appear, but we have confidence when he does. So, so what? Hopefully this is helpful to you. You understand these verses better, but Why did the Hebrew Christians need to hear this?
And maybe just as importantly for our purposes this morning, why do we need to hear and know these three appearings of Jesus? Well, just two applications. My girls got on to me the other day, they said, applications are just more points. And maybe they're right, but they are different kinds of points, right?
Different kinds of points. Two points, two applications of the three appearances of Jesus. Number one. Isn't it clear, based on these verses, and Jesus is appearing, that Jesus is the only one who can deal with sin and offer true salvation in every possible way? For the Hebrews, in their context, they were being pressured by family members to go back into the old law, to go back into the law of Moses, to not just ethnically be Jews, but to culturally and religiously be Jews Hebrews write a point is, well, you can do that if you want to.
But, but that's not going to deal with sin, and it's not going to provide salvation, because only Jesus can do that. And Jesus was so powerful that it wasn't like he offered millions of sacrifices over thousands of years. No, he appeared one time in the flesh, made one sacrifice, and all sins that have ever been committed can be forgiven by that one sacrifice, by that one appearing.
And it is only because Jesus ascended to the right hand of God that That our sins can now be forgiven even as Christians. That we can go in confession and repentance. And Jesus says, I take those to the Father, and He promises to forgive you of all sin.
And maybe you say, Reagan, why are you so passionate about that? We're not worried about going back to the old law, and maybe that's true. But likewise, not Baal, not Buddha, not Muhammad, and not ourselves can provide these two things for us. It's what the world claims to provide, but they are empty promises.
How, how can we go back? How can we go back to the world when we've been forgiven? Why would we want to go back to the world where we aren't forgiven, where we can't make things right, and we have no hope in the future? There is no justification, only guilt. There's no intercession, only regret. And there is certainly no exaltation, only the fearful expectation of judgment.
And yet, that's the way some people are living. That's the way some former Christians are living. And I wonder if they ever really saw the appearances of Jesus, ignoring the reality that Jesus has appeared, that He really lived and really rose from the dead, ignoring the reality that He does appear, that heaven is a real place and the throne of God is there, and ignoring the reality that Jesus will appear.
And we all must face Him in judgment, which is our second application. That we will all experience the future appearance of Christ that is described in verse 27, and how we feel about that appearance, our reaction to that appearance, we might say, is determined by whether we experience the first two appearances of Jesus.
To us, will He appear to deal with sin? Not in the sense of making a sacrifice for sin, He's already done that the first time. Will He appear to deal with our sin in justice and judgment? Because sin has to be dealt with one way or another. Or, praise God, will He be appearing to save us eternally? Are we eagerly waiting for Him?
Are you eagerly waiting for Him to appear? Or are you dreading the thought of His appearing? You know, unlike my dad at those local events growing up, Jesus isn't just making an appearance. He's not just showing up to be seen. He's not slipping in the back door to be there for a little bit. He's not coming just to say that He showed up at some point.
No, He has appeared as God in the flesh. He now appears as Mediator in Heaven, and He will appear in the clouds to take us to judgment. All will see Him. How will you be able to react when you do? Well, you must start by being justified by the blood of Jesus Christ, where Jesus removes the penalty of sin, death and destruction and separation from God.
That's the penalty for sin. But Jesus replaces it with life and peace and fellowship with the Father. And so if you need to come and respond to His appearing, even this morning, come now, while together we stand and while we sing. Universal
Savior