But *he*, having offered one sacrifice for sins, sat down in perpetuity at [the] right hand of God,
Hebrews 10:12 sets one figure against another: the priest who never stops working, and the Man who has sat down. Everything turns on that seat: what it says about His work, where it puts Him, and what it settles for us.
One commentator starts with the furniture of the old sanctuary, and with what is missing from it:
Samuel RidoutUnder the law, the priest stood. There was in the tabernacle a table, a lampstand, an altar; but there was no seat. The priest stood all the time, because his work was never finished — always doing, never done. Much of the work we see today is like that: the soul gets no rest. There is provision for doing, but never for knowing that a work is done for ever. In contrast with that, our Lord, after He had offered one sacrifice for sins, sat down. We know He is at work for us — praying for His people's needs, and all that. But as for the sacrifice, He has offered it — it is finished. What could add to the value of that sacrifice? He offered one sacrifice for sins; there it stands alone in its grandeur, and nothing can add to it.
The ESV joins the words "for all time" to the offering. Older translations read "for ever," and join it to the sitting instead. One commentator says the placement matters:
Samuel Ridout"After He had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever sat down." Remove the comma, if it is in your Bible. It does not say He offered a sacrifice for ever, because that would suggest an offering that never ends. It says that when He had offered it once, then He for ever sat down. His seat is eternal, as far as His work goes.
The word does more than stretch into eternity. It also rules out any break, and one writer links our conscience to the unbroken seat of Christ:
J. N. Darby"By one offering He has perfected for ever those who are sanctified." That phrase "for ever" means more than eternally; it means without a break. It carries permanence before God, with no interruption. It is not the word that speaks of eternity, though of course it is that too; but it is permanently perfect before God. Christ is always sitting at the right hand of God — "always" here is the same word — and so our conscience is for ever perfect. Scripture uses it in Hebrews 10:12 to show He has nothing more to do.
If the offering is perfect, so is what it produces:
H. J. VineThe offering made to God on the cross was such that God can say of those who come to Him, "I will remember their sins and their lawless deeds no more." And the One who made that offering for us pleases God so much that He is now sitting at God's right hand. As for the sacrifice, He has "sat down in perpetuity": there is no repeating it. And as for those He made that perfect offering for, Scripture says, "By one offering He has perfected in perpetuity the sanctified." The sacrifice is perfect, and so is the result. The worshippers, once purged, can stand before a holy God with no more conscience of sins. In this way they honour the work of Christ, and show their faith in what God says about it.
One writer puts the consequence plainly:
C. Stanley"For ever perfected." No man who understands this can talk of fresh applications of the blood of Christ, or of repeated or continued sacrifices for sins. This takes away the whole system of repetitions and fresh applications. This one sacrifice stands alone, and for ever perfects.
He is not saying we never fail. A believer "may be conscious of sin and failure, and there will surely be repentance and confession." But the question of conscience is settled.
Hebrews mentions this seat more than once, and each mention gives its own reason for it:
An Outline of Sound WordsIn Hebrews 1:3 the Son has set Himself down "at the right hand of the Majesty on high" because of who He is as Son of God. He did this after having "by Himself" made purification for sins. In Hebrews 10:12 the Lord Jesus again sets Himself down "at the right hand of God." This time it is because of the greatness of His finished work, in that He "offered one sacrifice for sins." That sacrifice never needs repeating, because its effect is infinite and eternal.
- One — one sacrifice for sins, offered once; it stands alone, and nothing can add to it.
- Seated — the tabernacle had no chair, because that work was never done; Christ sat down because His was.
- For ever — one writer ties the phrase to the sitting rather than the offering; it means without a break as much as without end.
- Perfected — while He stays seated, the believer's conscience stays perfect before God.
- Finished — no repeats, no fresh applications of the blood; that whole system is gone.
waiting from henceforth until his enemies be set [for the] footstool of his feet.
The verse hangs on one small word: after the offering, the Man at God's right hand is waiting. What He waits for tells us what is still ahead. What He no longer waits for tells us what is already finished.
The whole force of the picture comes from comparing two postures. One priest never sits; this One does.
The Bible TreasuryThe contrast in priesthood is also very striking. The high priest descended from Aaron was weak himself. He needed a sacrifice for himself. He always stood and could never sit down, because he could never present to God a finished work. But the holy, innocent, unstained Son of God offered one sacrifice for sins and sat down — and that forever — at the right hand of God. He has nothing more to do about atonement for sins. He is only "waiting from that time until His enemies should be made a footstool for His feet."
His waiting is not leftover business from the cross. It concerns a different group of people.
William KellyHebrews 10 uses His seat at God's right hand to show that the work is perfect and finished. It is not always in progress, as with the Jewish priest. If anything, it proves that Christ is not ruling among His enemies. He is waiting until His enemies are made His footstool. In Hebrews 10 He has completed His offering for His friends. From now on He waits for another thing: vengeance on His enemies. "The kingdom," in the full and literal sense of the word, will witness that.
The word "until" sets a limit. The state of the world shows that the limit still stands.
J. N. DarbyChrist is not yet sitting on His own throne. When He had finished the work on the cross, God said to Him, "Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool." But the day is coming when He will put down His enemies and sit on His throne. According to the Scriptures, the present state of things is this: Christ is sitting at the right hand of God — until He makes His enemies His footstool. Look at all the wars and uproar and misery and wretchedness and superstition around us. Do you think that Christ is sitting on His throne?
Notice where this line falls in the chapter, and which throne it points to.
The Bible TreasuryIn Hebrews 10:13 we find a remarkable break in the flow. Verse 12 gives the work of the Lord Jesus and its effect, and verse 14 gives the glories of His work in contrast with the many sacrifices of the law. But in between come these words about waiting. ... "Sit at my right hand." Scripture does not present the Lord as now sitting on His own throne, but soon He will. He is now on the Father's throne, but when He sits on His own throne we shall sit with Him (Revelation 3:21, and see Matthew 25:31).
The gap between the finished sacrifice and the subdued enemies is not empty time.
J. N. DarbyAnd the Lord Jesus Christ, rejected by man, is sitting at God's right hand as Man, waiting until His enemies are made His footstool. Patient grace is working in the meantime to call sinners to the knowledge of the salvation He has accomplished.
The world's condition proves the point, and it shows what God is doing instead.
J. N. DarbyThey are not made His footstool yet. If they were, He would not allow matters to go on in the world as they do now. It is another thing that God is doing now. He is gathering out His joint-heirs, and, having this purpose, He says, Sit at my right hand until the time when your enemies shall be made your footstool.
His posture sets the terms for His people.
J. N. DarbyWe may well wait if Christ is waiting; but we wait in suffering and conflict. He is waiting to reign. Then He will cause full blessing to flow out for His own, whether in heaven or on earth, and He will banish evil from both.
This shapes what a believer expects from the world now.
J. N. DarbyChrist is waiting until His enemies are made His footstool. We must wait for it, to see the world set right... The idea that goodness is to have its rights in this world is to forget the cross and Christ. We cannot have our rights until He has His, for we have none except His.
- Finished — A priest with unfinished work never sat down. Christ offered one sacrifice and sat down.
- Waiting — The offering for His friends is over. What is left is the subduing of His enemies.
- Until — The word sets a limit no one has reached yet. Wars and misery show He is not yet ruling from His own throne.
- Meanwhile — Patient grace calls sinners and gathers joint-heirs who will share the throne He is yet to take.
- Together — Because He waits, His people wait in suffering and conflict. We claim no rights in this world before He receives His own.