Expositor's Bible Commentary Commentary Hebrews 9:28

"so Christ also, having been once offered to bear the sins of many, shall appear a second time, apart from sin, to them that wait for him, unto salvation." — Hebrews 9:28 (ASV)

“So” introduces a correspondence with the “just as” at the beginning of the previous verse. The passive “was sacrificed” is interesting because it is much more usual for the author to say that Christ offered himself (cf. v.26). Some see the thought here that Christ’s enemies were in a sense responsible for his death, but it seems more likely that the passive voice hints at the divine purpose in that death. Once more we have the adverb “once-for-all” (GK 562) applied to the death of Christ.

“To bear sin” is a concept found in the NT only here and in 1 Peter 2:24, but it is quite frequent in the OT, where it plainly means “to bear the penalty of sin.” For example, the Israelites were condemned to wander in the wilderness for forty years as the penalty for their failure to go up into the land of Canaan: “For forty years—one year for each of the forty days you explored the land—you will suffer for your sins” (Numbers 14:34; cf. Ezekiel 18:20; et al.). Many see here an echo of the fourth Servant Song: “He will bear their iniquities” (Isaiah 53:11); “he bore the sin of many” (Isaiah 53:12). So the author is saying that Christ took upon himself the consequences of the sins of the many (cf. Mark 10:45).

But this is not the whole story. Christ will come back a second time, and then he will not be concerned with sin. In other words, sin was dealt with finally at his first coming, and there is nothing more that he needs to do. The second time he will come “to bring salvation.” In one sense, salvation was brought about by Christ’s death. But there is another sense in which it will be brought to its consummation when he returns. Nothing is said about unbelievers. At this point the writer is concerned only with those who are Christ’s. They “are waiting for” (GK 587) him, eagerly looking for the Lord’s coming.