What Scripture Means by “the Body”
The previous chapter identified four references in Hebrews 9 to “those who serve the living God.” This chapter clarifies what Scripture means when it speaks of these people collectively as “the body.”
When Scripture speaks of “the body,” it is not describing Christ in isolation, nor is it speaking only of believers as a separate group. The consistent biblical pattern is a shared body, made up of Christ and those joined to Him, operating together to carry out the will of the Father. This understanding is essential if Hebrews 10 is to be read correctly.
Christ as Willing Servant
The quotation used in Hebrews comes from Psalm 40, where the speaker presents himself as a willing servant:
Sacrifice and offering thou didst not desire; mine ears hast thou opened: burnt offering and sin offering hast thou not required. Psalm 40:6
This language references the Hebrew practice where a servant who chose to remain with his master had his ear pierced as a sign of voluntary lifelong service (Exodus 21:5-6). The language is not about ownership or ritual, but about voluntary obedience. The servant chooses lifelong service, not compulsion.
Hebrews 10:5 renders this passage differently: “Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not, but a body hast thou prepared me.” The shift from “ears opened” to “a body prepared” is significant. If the explanation in this chapter is correct, the reason for this change should make sense. Once again, there appears to be a hidden message here, a point being made. The body is not just Christ alone, but Christ and those joined to Him in willing, lifelong service.
Christ willingly took this role upon Himself, becoming a servant in order to perform the will of the Father.
This immediately establishes an important truth: Christ does not stand apart from the category of “servant.” He enters it. He becomes the first to do what others will later be called to do. His obedience is not merely exemplary. It is foundational.
By the Which Will We Are Sanctified
Hebrews 10 then makes a critical connection: “By the which will we are sanctified.”
Sanctification is not attributed to sacrifice alone, but to alignment with the will that Christ first carried out. We are not sanctified merely by the death of Christ, but by being joined to His mission, doing the same will He came to do. Christ says, “I come to do thy will,” and those who follow Him are sanctified by that same will, not by a different one. The objective is shared.
This saying is a real linchpin that mainstream commentators do not deal with adequately. It will be expanded further in the next chapter on Hebrews 10.
The Melchizedek Order: Collective by Definition
This is where the concept of an Order becomes unavoidable. Scripture does not describe Christ as a lone High Priest acting independently of others. It describes a priesthood, the Melchizedek Order, with Christ as its Head. An order, by definition, is collective. It has structure, continuity, and purpose beyond a single individual.
Mainstream theology often acknowledges Christ as High Priest, but quietly strips the title of its implications by denying the existence of an operating Order. They speak of the priesthood of Christ while denying He has a priesthood to lead, a logical contradiction.
Hebrews does the opposite. It repeatedly speaks of a house, brethren, many sons, and those being perfected together.
Christ is the first to enter this Order in full authority, but He is not the last. He is the forerunner.
The Firstfruits Imagery
This pattern is reinforced by the firstfruits imagery found throughout Scripture. Christ is described as “the firstfruits of them that slept” (1 Corinthians 15:20). Under the law, the firstfruits offering began with the wave sheaf (Leviticus 23:10-11). That sheaf was brought before God and accepted on behalf of the harvest that followed. The acceptance of the wave sheaf did not complete the harvest. It guaranteed it.
This sheds light on the words of Christ after His resurrection: “Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father” (John 20:17). He had risen, but the presentation was not yet complete. Like the wave sheaf, He was to be accepted for others, not for Himself alone. His acceptance opened the way for the rest of the firstfruits to follow in due course.
Scripture later speaks of a firstfruit resurrection, not a single individual event, but a collective one. “But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ’s at his coming” (1 Corinthians 15:23). “Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years” (Revelation 20:6).
Christ is the first of the firstfruits. Those joined to Him complete the first harvest. Together, they constitute the body.
Christ Waiting for Completion
This joint-body understanding also explains why Hebrews says Christ sat down and is waiting. Waiting implies unfinished business. The sacrifice is complete, but the objective is not yet fully realized. What remains is the bringing to completion of those who are being sanctified, perfected, and prepared to carry out the same will.
In His final prayer, recorded in John 17, Christ defined His completed work not as His death, but as the gathering, keeping, and sanctifying of those given to Him. He speaks of unity, shared glory, and shared purpose. He does not detach Himself from them. He binds Himself to them.
As thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world. John 17:18
That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. John 17:21
The Full Meaning of the Body
This reveals the full meaning of the body. It is Christ and His saints together, one Head, many members, functioning as a single obedient body within the Melchizedek Order. Christ initiates, qualifies, and leads. The saints follow, complete, and continue. The will of the Father is the objective, and the body, in its completed form, is the means by which that will is finally carried out.
The aim of God has never been sacrifice for its own sake. Sacrifice was the means to restore alignment. The true goal is a people who willingly do His will, just as Christ did. That is what Scripture means by “the body.”
When Hebrews 10 speaks of “the body,” it is speaking of this: Christ and His saints, united in purpose, carrying out the will of the Father together through the Melchizedek Order.