For as in painting, so long as one only draws the outlines, it is a sort of “shadow,” but when one has added the bright paints and laid in the colors, then it becomes an “image.” Something of this kind also was the law. —John Chrysostom

Though estimates vary, most scholars identify around 613 commandments in the Hebrew Bible. For the apostles, the question of how to regard all these laws loomed large as they set about establishing communities of Christ-followers around the Mediterranean. Some Christians clung to these laws, enforcing them pharisaically. Others ignored the bulk of the laws, leaning into their Gentile origins instead. Still others found their communities facing internal tension over the issue. Even Paul and Peter famously debated the Jewishness of Christianity, with their confrontations recorded in Acts 15 and Galatians 2.

(On a side note, I’ve always found it strangely comforting how Christians have been fighting about our faith since its very inception. It puts today’s debates into perspective and reminds us the arguments between today’s Christian factions are nothing new.)

The author of Hebrews offers a nuanced take on this issue in chapter 10: while the Law of Moses isn’t evil, it’s also not perfect. The author calls it a “shadow,” an imitation of a more perfect relationship established through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. When the author describes the high priest standing in the Temple and offering sacrifices day after day (a process William Barclay describes as “the priestly treadmill of sacrifice”), the whole scene is a shadow. Rather than wiping away sins, these sacrifices perpetually remind us of our shortcomings and only hint at a true forgiveness still ahead. Jesus practices a different priesthood and offers a different sacrifice, not only forgiving the sins, but wiping them from memory. And at the end of this sacrifice, instead of standing like the earthly priests, Jesus sits down to mark the work complete.

While still respecting the Law, the author of Hebrews rejoices that we’re not judged by it, concluding this section of chapter 10 by stating, “sacrifice for sin is no longer necessary.” The Law points out our shortcomings, but Jesus remedies them. As Chrysostom writes, the Law gives us only the vaguest idea of what’s still to come. Jesus brings in the colors and shows us a more complete picture. And with this sacrifice delivering a finishing blow to sin and death, a journey toward holiness begins.