A Covenant Upgrade
Notes
Transcript
Have you ever gotten an upgrade? Perhaps the most common I’ve heard about is when friends have been on vacation and for whatever reason they got bumped to first class. That’s an upgrade. They have gushed about the service they got up there compared to most of the rest of us in the cattle car of coach. I’ve never received such an upgrade on any flight I’ve been on.
I did once receive an upgrade from an economy car to a mid-size! That was exciting. (My bar for what is exciting is pretty low).
We’ve been on this journey through the book of Hebrews for the past 8 weeks, and we’re in week 9 with chapter 8. We’ve seen a lot of “Therefore's” as the author builds up his argument for elevating Christ and our recognition of who He is, and what it means for us. Now as we get to chapter 8 we get this mini summary of what he is saying.
I remember years ago sitting with a mentor in worship and the pastor was doing a children’s sermon. At that church the children’s sermon was often a take on the central point of the sermon we were about to hear. My mentor leans over and whispers, “I always enjoy the children’s sermon because then I know what he’s talking about in the sermon.” I laughed.
The great part is right here the author of this letter tells us what he is talking about:
Hebrews 8:1 (ESV)
Now the point in what we are saying is this…
For the past 7 chapters we have seen Jesus is…
…greater than the angels.
…greater than the Law.
…greater than Moses.
…greater than the earthly high priests.
…greater than the heavens.
We ended last chapter speaking of the deficiencies of the Levitical law, among which were the mortality of the ministering priests and the necessity of repeated sacrifices for sins, both of the priests and the people.
What was needed was a greater high priest and we learned that Jesus, is he:
For it was indeed fitting that we should have such a high priest, holy, innocent, unstained, separated from sinners, and exalted above the heavens.
And so now we get to what is the point of this so far:
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.
Again, the author is pointing to the failure of the Levitical priesthood. Remember the earthly tabernacle. In our read through the Bible you may remember how God gave very specific instructions on exactly how the earthly tabernacle was to be constructed, and then how the temple was to be constructed. Every detail was laid out so that it would reflect what we’re told the heavenly tabernacle is like. But its less than. The earthly tabernacle is less than what is in heaven.
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.”
Then, in our reading we come to that wonderful contrarian conjunction…”but”, let’s look at verse 6.
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.
He goes on to tell us that there was need for a second covenant because the first one had faults. He even quotes the Old testament as saying this summarizing Jeremiah’s message in Jeremiah 31:31-34. The author of Hebrews quotes it here in chapter 8, Heb 8:8-12
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.”
For you and I as Christians this is a great hope. And we need to take a closer look, because unfortunately there are many who falsely see Christianity as now displacing Judaism. That is NOT what the author of Hebrews is saying. This is further confused when we read the last verse of this chapter:
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.
So let’s back up a bit and consider again what the author has said. He quotes from Jeremiah to make his point, and within that quote we read: Heb 8:10
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.
The first thing of which we, as Christians, must take note is the people with whom God claimed, through the prophet Jeremiah and now through the author of Hebrews, to make this covenant. It’s the house of Israel!
The author of this epistle goes on to quote the prophet, “I will put my laws into their minds, and write them on their hearts.” To what laws should we imagine the author is referring? Obviously, both the author and Jeremiah are referring to God’s laws.
As we in the 21st century read these words of the author of Hebrews and Jeremiah even earlier, we MUST be careful NOT to try and build an argument of what the author is not saying.
NO ROOM FOR ANTI-SEMITISM
NO ROOM FOR ANTI-SEMITISM
Anti-semitism is contrary to the most basic tenets of Christian doctrine. The author of Hebrews is writing to people of Jewish descent - it is not an Anti-Semetic epistle!
The election of the Jewish people finds its ultimate fulfillment in the person of Jesus Christ!
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.
What does he mean by obsolete? Do the 10 commandments no longer apply? Do the promises of God no longer apply? What does he mean?
Jesus himself said the laws are not null and void when he said: Mt 5:17
“Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.
So in context with Jesus’ teaching we really have to be careful what we say here. There are Christians who believe the Old Testament no longer matters, and perhaps much of that is because of the epistle to the Hebrews.
Yet, clearly that is not what the author is saying. He has spent so much time reminding the people of the promises and covenants of the Old Testament and elevating Jesus at the same time as the fulfillment of those covenants.
It seems to me that the obsoleteness of the previous covenant is because God and Jesus spoke of a new covenant.
What is a covenant? No doubt you’ve had covenants in your home owners associations, or perhaps in your small groups. My small group has a covenant that whatever personal is spoken in that group remains in that group. We don’t share what others have shared in that confidence.
Over the years I’ve be taught that a covenant differs from a contract in that if one party breaks the covenant the other party is still held liable for their part.