The book of Hebrews is perhaps the citadel of the standard evangelical story. According to that story, the atonement occurred at Jesus' death. However, I want to argue, borrowing ideas from David Moffitt's book, that the book of Hebrews locates the atonement after Jesus' resurrection. It was Jesus' "indestructible life" (Heb. 7:15) that qualified him to be the High Priest resembling Melchizedek. Furthermore, this resurrected/exalted life was possible because of Jesus' obedience unto death. Hebrew's use of Psalm 40 in chapter 10, I think, provides a devastating blow to the standard evangelical story and provides further proof of the christological interpretation of Habakkuk 2:4, which Hebrews quotes at the end of chapter 10!
Hebrews 10:5-7 (Psalm 40:6-8)
Therefore, entering the world he [Christ] says, "Sacrifice and offering you did not desire, but a body you prepared for me; whole burnt offerings and [offerings] for sin you did not take pleasure in. Then I said, 'Behold, I have come (in the scroll of the book it has been written concerning me) to do O God the will of you.'"What is interesting about this quote is that taken at face value it totally undermines the standard evangelical story, since atonement on that story consists in Jesus' death, which in turn is viewed essentially as the death of a sacrificial animal, the very thing this verse rails against. Another point is that the Old Testament has "to do your will, my God, I desire." However, in Hebrews, "to do your will" is the object of "I have come". So, in Hebrews Jesus came to do God's will, which the psalmist could only desire to do. This is consistent with how Hebrews views Jesus elsewhere (4:15).
Hebrews 10:10 (The offering of Jesus' body)
Moffitt asks:
...could it be that the author conceived of Jesus' body being offered in terms of his deliverance out of death rather than, as it is widely assumed, the event of his death per se...at what moment was God pleased by the offering of Jesus' body in a way that the other sacrifices and offerings did not please him? Was it when that body died? Or, could it be when Jesus entered the heavenly tabernacle and presented his body before God?Moffitt is referring to Hebrews 10:10 where it is claimed that "we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once and for all. He claims that when Jesus rose and ascended he became qualified to be High Priest and it was his sprinkling of his blood (which represents life and not death) that atones, which all happened in heaven and not at the cross on earth.
Jesus' Perfected
The references to Jesus being perfected (2:10; 5:9; 7:28) have to do with Jesus resurrection/exaltation. He was obedient to God in ways that Israel was not. He passed the tests and was resurrected as a result. This seems to be the thought of Hebrews 5:7-10.
Theological Upshot
It is Jesus' obedience that atones and it is obedience to God that Hebrews wants to instill in its audience.
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