Christ Is Our High Priest
Hebrews 8:1-13
What are you best at forgetting: Names? Chores? Birthdays? Scripture references?
If your car develops chronic problems, are you the type to keep fixing it up, or to buy a new one? How do you decide it’s got to go?
The High Priest of a New Covenant
8 Now the main point of what we are saying is this: We do have such a high priest, who sat down at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in heaven, 2 and who serves in the sanctuary, the true tabernacle set up by the Lord, not by a mere human being.
3 Every high priest is appointed to offer both gifts and sacrifices, and so it was necessary for this one also to have something to offer. 4 If he were on earth, he would not be a priest, for there are already priests who offer the gifts prescribed by the law. 5 They serve at a sanctuary that is a copy and shadow of what is in heaven. This is why Moses was warned when he was about to build the tabernacle: “See to it that you make everything according to the pattern shown you on the mountain.” 6 But in fact the ministry Jesus has received is as superior to theirs as the covenant of which he is mediator is superior to the old one, since the new covenant is established on better promises.
7 For if there had been nothing wrong with that first covenant, no place would have been sought for another. 8 But God found fault with the people and said:
“The days are coming, declares the Lord,
when I will make a new covenant
with the people of Israel
and with the people of Judah.
9 It will not be like the covenant
I made with their ancestors
when I took them by the hand
to lead them out of Egypt,
because they did not remain faithful to my covenant,
and I turned away from them,
declares the Lord.
10 This is the covenant I will establish with the people of Israel
after that time, declares the Lord.
I will put my laws in their minds
and write them on their hearts.
I will be their God,
and they will be my people.
11 No longer will they teach their neighbor,
or say to one another, ‘Know the Lord,’
because they will all know me,
from the least of them to the greatest.
12 For I will forgive their wickedness
and will remember their sins no more.”
13 By calling this covenant “new,” he has made the first one obsolete; and what is obsolete and outdated will soon disappear.
Its Sanctuary Is Superior (8:1–2).
A. The place is better (8:1): It is located in the heavenly sanctuary.
B. The priest is better (8:2): Jesus himself ministers in this sanctuary.
Its Sacrifice Is Superior (8:3–4).
A. The Levitical priests offered up animals in the earthly sanctuary (8:4).
B. The Lamb of God offers up himself in the heavenly sanctuary (8:3).
Its Security Is Superior (8:5–13).
A. The old agreement was mediated by Moses (8:5, 7–8a).
1. It was ruined by Israel’s sin (8:7–8a).
2. It was written on dead stones (see Ex. 32:15).
B. The new agreement is mediated by Christ (8:6, 8b–13).
1. It is restored by Jesus’ sacrifice (8:6, 8b–9).
2. It is written on living hearts (8:10–13).
- God is ... What do we learn about God in this passage?
- We are ... What do we learn about people in this passage?
- What’s the point of the previous argument (vv. 1-2)? How would this offer a strong incentive not to turn away from Christianity, as some were considering?
- Contrast the location, nature and function of the two priesthoods (vv. 1-5; 5:14-15; 6:19-20; 7:23-38). How does an OT priest prefigure what Jesus would do?
- What is a covenant? What is the significance of the fact that God initiates and guarantees it? What is a mediator? Why is one needed?
- From Exodus 19:5-6, 20:1-17 and 29:35-41, what characterized the old covenant administered by priests? How does the new covenant mediated by Jesus differ (vv. 10-12)? What four promises does this new covenant involve?
- Why was a new covenant needed (vv. 7-9, 13)?
Hebrews 8:1 NIV - Now the main point of what we are saying is this: We do have such a high priest, who sat down at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in heaven,
- The final point is showing the superiority of Jesus' priesthood over the priesthood of the Levitical system. This is proved by showing that after Jesus had made one sacrifice good for all time for all mankind, he sat down at the right hand of God in heaven. Hebrews 10:11-14 is a good commentary on this verse. Jesus Christ is both Priest and King. He does this work throughout the entire Christian age without ever being replaced. He is so much superior to the Levitical priesthood; there is no comparison.
Hebrews 8:2 NIV - and who serves in the sanctuary, the true tabernacle set up by the Lord, not by a mere human being.
- “Minister” in some translations of this verse means priest. Jesus is the high priest in the true tabernacle. He is not offering himself for the sins of the world in heaven. He offered himself as the sacrifice for the sins of man once for all on the cross. His work as high priest is interceding for Christians and taking the prayers of the saints to God.
- Sanctuary is another name for heaven.
- True tabernacle is another name for heaven. True or real in contrast to those buildings made by man which were but a shadow of the real thing. True tabernacle is the same as the saints' everlasting rest in chapters three and four. It is the same as the better country and well-founded city of chapter 11:10, 19. It was made by God himself, not man; therefore, heaven is everlasting.
Hebrews 8:3 NIV - Every high priest is appointed to offer both gifts and sacrifices, and so it was necessary for this one also to have something to offer.
- The work of the high priest is to offer gifts and sacrifices; therefore, Jesus must do this. The writer does not define what Jesus offered; however, in Hebrews 7:27 he reveals that Jesus offered himself on the cross as the sacrifice for the sins of the world. Jesus does not continually offer sacrifices, he offered himself once for all.
Hebrews 8:4 NIV - If he were on earth, he would not be a priest, for there are already priests who offer the gifts prescribed by the law.
- Christ could not be a priest on earth under the Mosaic law because the priests were of the tribe of Levi and he was of the tribe of Judah (Numbers 18:1-7). However, Jesus is the High Priest in heaven, which is a superior priesthood. He is a priest after the order of Melchizedek who was both a king and high priest. Hebrews chapter seven proves this is a superior priesthood.
Hebrews 8:5 NIV - They serve at a sanctuary that is a copy and shadow of what is in heaven. This is why Moses was warned when he was about to build the tabernacle: "See to it that you make everything according to the pattern shown you on the mountain."
- The Levitical priest served as the copy or shadow of the real thing.
- Copy and shadow indicate the type and anti-type. These types were events, people, buildings or happenings in the Old Testament, which pointed to and resembled things in the New Testament, which are the real things. Just as a shadow is similar to that of which it is a shadow; however, it is vastly inferior to the real thing. Therefore, the Levitical priesthood and the tabernacle were a shadow of the real priesthood and real sanctuary.
- Moses was commanded to make it exactly according to the pattern so that it would correctly represent that to which it was a type or shadow. Moses built the tabernacle exactly as God commanded (Exodus 39:42-42) An understanding of the copies and shadows helps one to better understand the real thing. Without an understanding of the Levitical priesthood, one could hardly understand the priesthood of Christ.
Hebrews 8:6 NIV - But in fact the ministry Jesus has received is as superior to theirs as the covenant of which he is mediator is superior to the old one, since the new covenant is established on better promises.
- The priesthood of Jesus is far superior to that of the Levitical priesthood because it takes place in the heavenly realm. Jesus is the mediator of a better covenant which has better promises. The better covenant and better promises will be explained further in the following verses.
- A mediator is a go between, one who stands in the middle and is an arbitrator. He has to stand on neutral ground to bring the two parties together. In the Old Testament Moses was the mediator as seen in Galatians 3:19. Under the new covenant Jesus is the mediator. Since Jesus is far superior to Moses, he is a far superior mediator. Christ serves both as mediator and guarantor (7:22). He not only mediates the new covenant, he guarantees the fulfillment of it.
The Superiority Of The New Covenant Over The Old Covenant, 8:7-10:18
Hebrews 8:7 NIV - For if there had been nothing wrong with that first covenant, no place would have been sought for another.
- If the first covenant (the law of Moses) could have forgiven sinners and brought them into a right relationship with God, there would have been no need for a new covenant. However, it could not. The law of Moses showed men what sin was and brought them to a knowledge and sense of sin; however, it could not save them. It showed men they could not save themselves. Men needed a Savior. In this way, the old covenant brought men to Christ (Galatians 3:24).
Hebrews 8:8 NIV - But God found fault with the people and said: "The days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the people of Israel and with the people of Judah.
- The Israelites did not keep the covenant; therefore, a new covenant had to be made which would enable people to have the right relationship with God. The author of Hebrews now quotes from Jeremiah 31:31-34. The book of Jeremiah was written around 570 B.C. The Israelites were in Babylonian captivity because of their sins; however, God gave them hope. At this time the Northern Kingdom had been destroyed one hundred fifty years previously; however, God's new covenant is going to be for all mankind.
Hebrews 8:9 NIV - It will not be like the covenant I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt, because they did not remain faithful to my covenant, and I turned away from them, declares the Lord.
- In making a new covenant with his people, God said that it would not be like the law of Moses given at the time he led them out of Egypt. It will not be a warmed-over law of Moses, but a new covenant completely. Because they did not continue in his covenant, God rejected them.
- And I regarded them not is from the Septuagint translation of Jeremiah 31:32. The Hebrew text reads, although I was a husband unto them, saith Jehovah. The teaching is that God rejected them because they rejected him first.
Hebrews 8:10 NIV - This is the covenant I will establish with the people of Israel after that time, declares the Lord. I will put my laws in their minds and write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people.
- God will make a new covenant which will be inward and spiritual. Instead of tables of stones, the law would be in their hearts. The meaning of this is found in Ezekiel 11:19 where he says, he will give them a new heart. This does not mean they will just memorize the new law as they were told to do in the Old Testament (Deuteronomy 6:6-9).
- The promise that God will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people is true in the new covenant as it was in the old covenant (Exodus 6:7; Leviticus 26:12). This means God's people will have the power to obey the commands and overcome the sin with God's help.
Hebrews 8:11 NIV - No longer will they teach their neighbor, or say to one another, 'Know the Lord,' because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest.
- Under the old covenant, one was born into the Jewish nation. As the child grew up, he had the law taught to him. An Israelite became a child of God by physical birth. Under the new covenant, one is a child of God by spiritual birth. A person becomes child of God when he hears the gospel, believes the gospel and obeys the gospel (Mark 16:15-16). In the new covenant knowing about God and believing in him comes before one becomes a child of God; therefore, everyone who becomes a Christian shall know God. This does not mean there will be no more to learn. There is much more to learn. However, everyone in the family of God (the church) must know God and believe in his Son, Jesus Christ, before he can become a child of God. He is taught first and then added to the family when he obeys the gospel. After he becomes a child of God, he is to continue to study and grow in knowledge and faith.
Hebrews 8:12 NIV - For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more."
- God will forgive sinners of their sins when they believe in Jesus and obey the gospel. He will treat them as though they had never sinned (Romans 5:9). This forgiveness is possible because of the sacrifice of Jesus once for all on the cross. Those under the old covenant did not have these assurances.
Hebrews 8:13 NIV - By calling this covenant "new," he has made the first one obsolete; and what is obsolete and outdated will soon disappear.
- One cannot be under two laws. When the new covenant was given, the old covenant had been done away with. When Jeremiah wrote, the new covenant was in sight and the old covenant had its days numbered. The old covenant was nailed to the cross. Its external ordinances continued until the destruction of Jerusalem; however, it cannot be ascertain with certainty that this verse has any reference to the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple.
- Which aspect of the new covenant brings great joy to you, and why: (a) Having God’s law on your heart? (b) Being one of God’s people? (c) Knowing God? (d) Having your sins forgiven?
- Which aspect of the covenant do you wish to experience more? Why?
- Has your experience of these promises been sudden and dramatic, a gradual awareness, or both?
- The old covenant ended up focusing on the people’s ability (or inability) to measure up to God’s demands. How do you still try to come to God on that basis? What happens? What does it mean to you that the new covenant is based on God’s actions in Christ, and not on your efforts?
- I will ... What has the Holy Spirit revealed to us in this passage? How can I apply it to my life this week?
- You can ... Who do you know who needs to hear this? Feel free to share with others by social media links at the bottom of this.
Old and New
Justine Haupt may be a 34-year-old engineer, but she’s hardly a child of cell phone technology. She doesn’t text. She doesn’t spend much time on the web except when she’s on the job at Brookhaven National Laboratory. As an astronomy instrumentation engineer, she knows all about smartphone use—and hates it. She bought her mother a smartphone and set it up and even tried one for herself, but lasted less than a month before she went back to her flip phone. Even that didn’t suit her precisely, so she bought some parts, scrounged a dial from an old phone and created her own rotary-dial cell phone!
Oh, it still has a couple of speed dial buttons, for her mother and her husband. And a black and white display to show incoming numbers. But it has an external antenna and that old-style rotary dial on the front. When she described it and showed pictures on her blog (she’s really not opposed to technology!), the website crashed from so many people viewing and asking for information. Now she’s offering a kit for $170 but you have to find and repurpose your own dial. She expects soon to offer a full kit for sale; just insert a SIM card and you too, can have a cell phone that . . . makes phone calls. It’s a mixture of old and new that pleases Justine Haupt and strikes a nostalgic note in others.
“For if there had been nothing wrong with that first covenant, no place would have been sought for another. But God found fault with the people and said: ‘The time is coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah’” (Hebrews 8:7-8 NIV).
Six hundred years before Jesus, God promised a new covenant unlike the one He gave to Moses on Mount Sinai. This new covenant would be for all people, not just Israel. It would involve the forgiveness of sins. It would have no earthly Temple, no animal sacrifices, no special priesthood, no laws governing minutiae of food and clothing, and no commanded days of feasting and fasting. It would have different rules for worship: a different day, a special communion every Sunday, a common collection for helping the poor and preaching the good news, and an end to special priests, instruments of music, and the Sabbath. But some people long for the old days, the old covenant, and they want some of those things that seem so religious to them.
So, they include instruments in their worship, and they elevate certain people as priests, and they restrict certain foods, and they demand the observance of certain days. It’s a puzzling mixture of old covenant and new, without respect for God’s actual covenant terms. It’s personal preference instead of obedient submission. And it won’t work. We couldn’t tell the bank we would from now on use the interest rates from 2009. We couldn’t inform our doctor that we’d pay him what the insurance company paid him back in 1982. And we can’t tell God that we’ll covenant with Him on our terms. We’re responsible for the terms of the new covenant in Christ’s blood. It’s His way, not ours, and it’s our only hope for the forgiveness of our sins.
by Chris Stinnett
Years ago, a construction zone required the installation of some of those bright orange diamond-shaped temporary signs. For months we drove past one that announced in big black letters, “DETOUR AEHAD.” We laughed about that since it was prominently located directly in front of the local high school. That sign, at least, was temporary. The notice on Northwest 54th street in Doral, Florida, was professionally painted by a contractor. Warning motorists of the presence of children, the crosswalk was labeled in bright white letters, “SCOHOL.”
It wasn’t long before a sharp-eyed resident posted the picture to social media. From there, the photo and the location flared across the internet. People began stopping to take pictures with the offending sign and the media posts exploded around the world. The laughter finally reached the Doral city hall and the contractors were promptly dispatched to clean up the mistake. A television news crew showed up to film the erasure and repainting of the crosswalk and the reporter playfully asked the job foreman if he could spell, “school.” He laughed and correctly spelled the word—and so did the painters. So often our offenses are seen and scorned by what seems to be the whole world. We wish we could just erase that moment and do it right, before anybody noticed.
“This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after that time, declares the Lord. I will put my laws in their minds and write them on their hearts. I will be their God and they will be my people. No longer will a man teach his neighbor, or a man his brother, saying ‘Know the Lord,’ because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest. For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more” (Hebrews 8:10-12 NIV).
We are all undeniably guilty of sin. Some of our sins seem small and unimportant, some seem terrible and yet others seem disgusting and shameful. We may try to hide our offenses or deny them or somehow justify them as allowable, but they are certainly and truthfully known to God. Yet in His mercy, God has offered a lifeline to us, a way to escape the deserved punishment for our voluntary sins. He offers us a covenant, a binding agreement in which we give our lives to Him and He forgives our sins, erasing them from His own memory.
When we are forgiven by God and restored to righteousness, we learn from Him and live with Him and follow His direction for our lives—and we discover that our lives become richer than we could have imagined. More than merely escaping horrific punishment for our contemptible failures, God’s forgiveness opens the door to a way of life that is really life. We begin to live in freedom and joy and peace and goodness. Very quickly, we realize that everybody should live this way and we want everybody to know it! Far from cringing in anticipation of God’s eternal condemnation, we live each day expansively, realizing that He doesn’t choose to remember our offenses. They have been erased and now we can do it right, knowing God will notice!
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