ESTUDIO DEL VERSÍCULO
Hebrews 10:19-25 — Drawing Near Through Christ's Blood
Because the blood of Jesus opens a new and living way into God's presence, believers are urged to draw near in faith, hold fast their hope, and gather together to encourage love and good works.
Escritura
- 19.Así que, hermanos, teniendo libertad para entrar en el Lugar Santísimo por la sangre de Jesucristo,Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holy place by the blood of Jesus,
- 20.por el camino nuevo y vivo que él nos abrió a través del velo, esto es, de su carne,by the way which he dedicated for us, a new and living way, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh;
- 21.y teniendo un gran sacerdote sobre la casa de Dios,and having a great priest over the house of God;
- 22.acerquémonos con corazón sincero, en plena certidumbre de fe, purificados los corazones de mala conciencia, y lavados los cuerpos con agua pura.let us draw near with a true heart in fulness of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience: and having our body washed with pure water,
- 23.Mantengamos firme, sin fluctuar, la profesión de nuestra esperanza, porque fiel es el que prometió.let us hold fast the confession of our hope that it waver not; for he is faithful that promised:
- 24.Y considerémonos unos a otros para estimularnos al amor y a las buenas obras;and let us consider one another to provoke unto love and good works;
- 25.no dejando de congregarnos, como algunos tienen por costumbre, sino exhortándonos; y tanto más, cuanto veis que aquel día se acerca.not forsaking our own assembling together, as the custom of some is, but exhorting one another; and so much the more, as ye see the day drawing nigh.
Qué significa este pasaje
The passage opens with the basis for what follows: believers have boldness to enter the holy place by the blood of Jesus, who has dedicated a new and living way for them through the veil — identified as his flesh. A great priest is set over the house of God. These three grounds (the opened way, the new and living nature of that way, and the priestly presence over God's house) precede the exhortations in verses 22-25.
Verses 22-25 give a chain of mutual encouragements tied to that basis. The first readers are called to draw near with a true heart in fulness of faith, having been cleansed inwardly (hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience) and outwardly (body washed with pure water). They are to hold fast the confession of their hope without wavering because the one who promised is faithful. They are to consider one another to provoke unto love and good works, and not to forsake assembling together as some were doing, but to exhort one another — and to do this all the more as they see the day drawing nigh.
Read as a whole, the passage moves from doctrine to practice: the finished priestly work of Christ creates access to God; that access carries an obligation to approach sincerely; the sincerity of approach is shown by steady hope; steady hope is sustained within a community that meets, watches, and spurs one another on. Forsaking the assembly is therefore not a private matter but a visible breakdown of the mutual encouragement the passage demands.
Contexto
Verses 19-25 sit in a chapter that argues Christ's single offering has perfected believers forever (vv. 10, 14) and that there is no more offering for sin (v. 18). Immediately before the target passage, the writer quotes the new-covenant promise that God's laws will be written on the heart and that sins will be remembered no more (vv. 16-17), then draws the conclusion in verse 18: where there is forgiveness, there is no longer an offering for sin.
Immediately after the target passage, the warning resumes in verse 26: if we sin wilfully after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there remains no more a sacrifice for sins. The surrounding chapter frames the call to draw near, hold fast, and meet together against the seriousness of apostasy and the certainty of coming judgment (vv. 26-31).
Preguntas frecuentes
Why does Hebrews 10:19-25 call Jesus' flesh a veil?
The passage says the new and living way is through the veil, and identifies the veil as his flesh. In the chapter's argument, Christ's flesh — his embodied, sacrificial life — is the curtain that was opened so that believers can now approach God. The wording is figurative, but the point is concrete: access is grounded in his crucified and living humanity, not in any human ritual.
What does 'let us draw near' mean in verse 22?
Drawing near describes the privileged access that verse 19 already established by the blood of Jesus. The verse qualifies how that access is to be used: with a true heart, in fulness of faith, hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and body washed with pure water. It is worship-like access — coming to God himself — rather than ordinary daily approach.
What is 'the day drawing nigh' in verse 25?
The passage itself does not define the phrase beyond calling it a day that approaches the more time passes. Within the chapter's argument — where Christ's enemies are yet to be made his footstool (v. 13) and the one who comes will come without tarrying (v. 37) — 'the day' refers to the coming of the Lord as a known future event whose imminence intensifies the present call to gather, encourage, and not shrink back.