An Open Ear

part two

Scripture Reading: Deuteronomy 15:12-17; Psalm 40:6-8; Hebrews 10:5-10

              The writer of Hebrews wasn’t writing an elaborate apologetic on the preexistence of Christ. He assumes as fact that Christ existed before His birth. He writes as if his readers already know, understand, and believe this to be true also. He quotes from Psalm 40 and applies it to Christ. He sees it as a Messianic Psalm, a prophetic word about that mysterious moment when the incarnation took place, and the Son of God became the Son of Man.

              If you read the text in Hebrews and the quoted passage from Psalms, you notice the two texts are slightly different. Hebrews says, “A body you have prepared for Me,” and Psalms reads, “You have given Me an open ear.” The reason for the different readings is likely due to the writer of Hebrews quoting from the Septuagint. The Septuagint (usually noted in English Bibles with an LXX) is a Greek translation of the Hebrew Old Testament. This is like reading a text from the New American Standard and then from the New International Version. There are usually some differences in wording.

              The meaning, though, is essentially the same. That meaning is made clear in both Hebrews and Psalms. They read, “I come to do your will, O God,” (Hebrews 10:7), and “I delight to do your will, O God,” (Psalm 40:8). The point, then, is that Jesus came into the world to do the will of God. So, Jesus, the preexistent Son of God, came into the world to do the will of God and he was delighted to do so. The Father’s will for His Son was centered around the offering of His body once for all (Hebrews 10:10) as a sacrifice for sin.

              This is the point.