Monday, September 28 –
We come to another week, and continue our reading through
the New Testament in Hebrews 8:1 – 13. After you’ve finished reading the text
of Scripture please come back and we’ll look at it again.
The Old Testament represents a Covenant God made with the nation of Israel. It
was established by God for a distinct group of people, and for a distinct
period of time. The passage reminds us that it was never meant to last forever.
The Old Testament itself made that clear, and in a quote from it, the author of
Hebrews reminds us that a New Covenant would one day replace the Old one. This
passage builds off the previous one reminding us that Jesus has become “the
guarantee of a better covenant” (7:22). It is a Covenant that is superior
to the Old in every way –
“Now the point in what we are saying is this: we have
such a high priest, one who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the
Majesty in heaven, a minister in the holy places, in the true tent that the
Lord set up, not man. For every high priest is appointed to offer gifts and
sacrifices; thus it is necessary for this priest also to have something to
offer. Now if he were on earth, he would not be a priest at all, since there
are priests who offer gifts according to the law. They serve a copy and shadow
of the heavenly things. For when Moses was about to erect the tent, he was
instructed by God, saying, “See that you make everything according to the
pattern that was shown you on the mountain.” But as it is, Christ has obtained
a ministry that is as much more excellent than the old as the covenant he
mediates is better, since it is enacted on better promises” (8:1-6).
The point that the writer is making is that Jesus’
qualifications and appointment as our Great High Priest is much more perfect
than any earthly High Priest. Jesus is a King-Priest, as was Melchizedek
(7:26), and now he tells us what he does in that role. He tells us that Jesus
is greater than the Old Covenant (8:1), and ministers in Heaven at the throne
of God (8:1-2). “The true Taberancle” doesn’t mean the one Israel had in the
desert was wrong, but rather it was a copy of another reality – that God was in
Heaven, and Jesus before the Father was ministering His grace, mercy and love
before something that was not a “shadow”, or “copy”, but the real thing. Jesus,
the Son of God, is the minister of a new Priestly work – in Heaven. The Old
Covenant Priests ministered in the Tabernacle in both time and space, but
Christ Jesus ministers in something that is not earthly, and not bound by time,
and will last forever. The focus of this passage is on Jesus’ heavenly priestly
ministry as the Son of God. It is “more excellent” than anything that was ever
accomplished on earth, because it is enacted through Jesus’ perfect sacrifice.
The earthly Tabernacle was a place that allowed God to live among His people,
but it was temporary and localized. Jesus’ priestly role is permanent and over
all the earth.
Jesus’ offering (8:3) is finished, and complete. Thus Jesus
“mediates” a New Covenant. A Mediator was a person who represented both
parties, and forged a new relationship between the two parties. Moses is
described as the mediator of the law (Galatian 3:9-20), but Christ Jesus is the
mediator of the New Covenant by offering Himself as the atoning sacrifice for
our Sin (9:14-15; 12:24). Thus, he is the fulfillment of a New Covenant
promised in the Old Testament prophet Jeremiah (31:31 – 34).
“For if that first covenant had been faultless, there
would have been no occasion to look for a second. For he finds fault with
them when he says: “Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will
establish a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, not
like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by
the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt. For they did not continue in
my covenant, and so I showed no concern for them, declares the Lord. For this is the covenant that I will make with
the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my laws
into their minds, and write them on their hearts, and I will be their God, and
they shall be my people. And they shall not teach, each one his neighbor and
each one his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they shall all know me, from
the least of them to the greatest. For I will be merciful toward their
iniquities, and I will remember their sins no more” (8:7-12).
The Covenant theme he introduces will go through chapter 10.
He already had said Jesus was the guarantor of a better Covenant, and now he
applies it through three specific reasons.
First, Jesus brings to God’s people a completely different
relationship. The children of Israel had a relationship with God built on
continued offerings and sacrifices – the outward duties of a system built on
Law. Jesus is the fulfillment of all the sacrifices of both the ceremonial and
priestly requirements of the Old Covenant. The Old Covenant was not
“faultless”. He is not saying God’s law – especially the Moral law – had flaws.
Instead, he is saying the ceremonial laws were never meant to last. The
ceremonial laws were a mere shadow of what Christ would fulfill in the
sacrificial offering of Himself.
Secondly, the Old Covenant was powerless to fulfill a
permanent solution for the Sins of a Fallen humanity. They could offer a
temporary solution, but not a permanent one. Thus, the Old Covenant was made
“obsolete” by Jesus’ permanent, complete sacrifice. His sacrifice accomplished
an inward change – a heart response – instead of an outward duty that did not
change the heart. The Old Covenant was external, written on stones; but the New
Covenant is internal, into our very heart and soul where now, God in Christ is
with us in a very personal way, and as well in a permanent way –
“I will be there God and they shall be my people… they
shall all know me…For I will be merciful toward their iniquities, and I will
remember their sins no more”(8:10-12).
Finally, Christ Jesus’ sacrifice went beyond the outward
sacrifice that was duty, and cleansed the inward part of us in conscience
(9:9-14). Before, those who came to the Temple were restricted, and everything
that was done was remote – impersonal – to their lives. They came, offered
their sacrifice, and left; but now, in Christ, we can know God personally.
Jesus, the Son of God, personally came to offer himself as our sacrifice, and
opened the door to God that we might know Him personally, and be assured of the
forgiveness of our sins. The Old Covenant was based on “If you do”, but
the New Covenant in Christ is based on “I will”. Our assurance is now
secure as Christ is the Mediator of a New Covenant by His own work and power.
Now, our response is based on trust, faith, hope built upon
the work of Christ Jesus. Instead of external “do’s and don’t’s, we are moved
by the heart to respond in love. Instead of distance, fear, and duty, we are
moved by closeness, intimacy and family (I will be their God).
There is now confident assurance instead of uncertainty and
insecurity (they shall know me). Now, forgiveness is permanent and complete (their
sins I will remember no more).
The Old Covenant had a purpose in binding the Children of
Israel together as a Nation; but it never could bring about the full redemption
that came through Christ Jesus. He is the mediator of a New Covenant, one that
is permanent, complete, and eternal. The bad news is that without Christ a
person is still in their Sin (Romans 3:23); but the good news is that in Christ
– in faith and trust in Christ – there is a permanent solution to our Sin.
The New Covenant gives to us a way to deal with our
failures, our weaknesses, and lack of strength in our religious works. Christ
Jesus is the guarantor of a better Covenant because He does not fail to deliver
the New Covenant, with all of it’s benefits to all who come to Him.
“And they shall not teach, each one his neighbor and each
one his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they shall all know me, from the
least of them to the greatest. For I will be merciful toward their iniquities,
and I will remember their sins no more.’ In speaking of a new covenant, he
makes the first one obsolete. And what is becoming obsolete and growing old is
ready to vanish away” (8:11-13).
We cannot come to God via duty, religion, various attempts
to be “good enough”. The system of works is obsolete, and has vanished away,
replaced by Christ who has paid it all for us. For all who would carry their
guilt, needing forgiveness for sins, needing mercy from God, look no further
than the cross of Jesus who has indeed “paid it all”.
Peace
Comments