Albert Barnes Commentary Hebrews 10:3

"But in those [sacrifices] there is a remembrance made of sins year by year." — Hebrews 10:3 (ASV)

But in those sacrifices there is a remembrance again made of sins every year. The reference here is to the sacrifices made on the great Day of Atonement. This occurred once a year. Of course, as often as a sacrifice was offered, it was an acknowledgment of guilt on the part of those for whom it was made.

As these sacrifices continued to be offered every year, those who made the offering were reminded of their guilt and their deserving of punishment. All the efficacy that could be claimed for those sacrifices was that they made expiation for the past year. Their efficacy did not extend into the future, nor did it embrace anyone except those who were engaged in offering them.

These sacrifices, therefore, could not make the atonement that humankind needed. They could not make the conscience easy; they could not be regarded as a sufficient expiation for the time to come, so that the sinner at any time could plead an offering that was already made as a ground of pardon, and they could not meet the needs of all people in all lands and at all times. These things are to be found only in that great sacrifice made by the Redeemer on the cross.