Hebrews Chapter 8
Notes
Transcript
Jesus Christ is God’s superior High Priest. He ministers on the basis of a better covenant, in a better sanctuary and because He is a better sacrifice. Chapter 8 focuses on the better covenant. The writer of Hebrews presents three evidences for the superiority of this covenant.
Ministered by a Superior High Priest
Ministered by a Superior High Priest
The first evidence is this covenant is ministered by a superior High Priest.
Lets begin with Hebrews 8:1-2
1 Now the main point in what has been said is this: we have such a high priest, who has taken His seat at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens, 2 a minister in the sanctuary and in the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, not man.
Our writer is emphasizing what he told us in Chapter 7. Jesus Christ is morally perfect, yet He identified with us in our needs and temptations , as no High Priest before or since could do.
Also, the Lord has ‘taken His seat”. There were no chairs in the temple, because the work of sacrifice was never completed. Jesus completed the work. In the Temple service there were continual sacrifices because the blood of bulls and goats could never atone for the sins of men.
Indeed, He is seated “at the right hand of the Throne “. Where He is seated adds glory to His person. He is seated at the right hand of God. This fulfills what was written in Psalm 110:1
1 The Lord says to my Lord: “Sit at My right hand Until I make Your enemies a footstool for Your feet.”
Jesus Christ is exalted above all others. We must always remember as Paul writes in Ephesians:
17 that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of Him. 18 I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you will know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, 19 and what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe. These are in accordance with the working of the strength of His might 20 which He brought about in Christ, when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, 21 far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. 22 And He put all things in subjection under His feet, and gave Him as head over all things to the church, 23 which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.
and in Philippians:
5 Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, 6 who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. 8 Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. 9 For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
It is evident from these arguments that Jesus Christ ministers on the basis of a superior covenant. Do you know any other high priest (or minister) who is without sin? Could any other minister from Completed Work? Can there be any higher exaltation that one could minister from? Could this happen through a covenant that requires continual sacrifice? No! The presence of a superior High Priest ministering from Heaven demands a superior covenant if He is to minister effectively!
Ministered in a Better Place
Ministered in a Better Place
In Hebrews 8:3-5 our writer expands on the ministry of Jesus Christ in the Heavenly Sanctuary. It might be easy for a new believer want to go back to temple worship when Hebrews was written. The temple was still operating in Jerusalem. Had anyone seen Jesus ministering in Heaven? How do we know that He there is doing so?
Let’s continue:
3 For every high priest is appointed to offer both gifts and sacrifices; so it is necessary that this high priest also have something to offer. 4 Now if He were on earth, He would not be a priest at all, since there are those who offer the gifts according to the Law; 5 who serve a copy and shadow of the heavenly things, just as Moses was warned by God when he was about to erect the tabernacle; for, “See,” He says, “that you make all things according to the pattern which was shown you on the mountain.”
All high priests offer sacrifices and as a high priest, Jesus Christ offered a sacrifice. But the place of this offering happens in God’s appointed place.
13 “Be careful that you do not offer your burnt offerings in every cultic place you see, 14 but in the place which the Lord chooses in one of your tribes, there you shall offer your burnt offerings, and there you shall do all that I command you.
The place of offering is the Sanctuary. Since Jesus Christ is a High Priest, the place where He offers gifts and sacrifices is a sanctuary. Since He is in Heaven, then Heaven is the perfect sanctuary, since everything there is perfect.
However, sacrifices are no longer required under the new covenant. He offered the perfect sacrifice on Cavalry that finished things once and for all. He lives! He is our living sacrifice in Heaven.
Also, His human genealogy is through the tribe of Judah, not Levi. God promised the Messiah King would come from the tribe of Judah .
10 “The scepter shall not depart from Judah, Nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, Until Shiloh comes, And to him shall be the obedience of the peoples.
Jesus, were He on earth under the old covenant, could serve as King but not as High Priest. But David predicted the Messiah would be a priest:
4 The Lord has sworn and will not change His mind, “You are a priest forever According to the order of Melchizedek.”
He would not be accepted as a priest in the earthly sanctuary, so He must serve in the Heavenly sanctuary.
Also, the priests under the old covenant were serving in a “copy” of the perfect sanctuary.
Exodus chapter 25-26 describes the sanctuary and everything within it
8 “Let them construct a sanctuary for Me, that I may dwell among them. 9 “According to all that I am going to show you, as the pattern of the tabernacle and the pattern of all its furniture, just so you shall construct it.
It is clearly a copy :
40 “See that you make them after the pattern for them, which was shown to you on the mountain.
The true and perfect Sanctuary is in Heaven. What could be constructed on Earth could never match what is in Heaven, but they could construct something that God would accept in preparation for the time when it would no longer be required.
The old covenant was only a shadow fo what was to come. The earthly priesthood and sanctuary were copies of the true. Why go back to mere copies when we have the true sanctuary and perfect High Priest?
Revelations gives us a glimpse of the Heavenly sanctuary.
19 And the temple of God which is in heaven was opened; and the ark of His covenant appeared in His temple, and there were flashes of lightning and sounds and peals of thunder and an earthquake and a great hailstorm.
22 I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb are its temple.
3 Another angel came and stood at the altar, holding a golden censer; and much incense was given to him, so that he might add it to the prayers of all the saints on the golden altar which was before the throne. 4 And the smoke of the incense, with the prayers of the saints, went up before God out of the angel’s hand.
6 and before the throne there was something like a sea of glass, like crystal; and in the center and around the throne, four living creatures full of eyes in front and behind.
Since Jesus Christ is ministering in the original sanctuary and not a copy, He is ministering in a better place. Why go back to a copy?
Founded on Better Promises
Founded on Better Promises
And now our writer finishes the arguments for the superiority of the new covenant : it is founded on better promises. Lets finish our reading of Hebrews 8:6-13
6 But now He has obtained a more excellent ministry, by as much as He is also the mediator of a better covenant, which has been enacted on better promises. 7 For if that first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no occasion sought for a second. 8 For finding fault with them, He says, “Behold, days are coming, says the Lord, When I will effect a new covenant With the house of Israel and with the house of Judah; 9 Not like the covenant which I made with their fathers On the day when I took them by the hand To lead them out of the land of Egypt; For they did not continue in My covenant, And I did not care for them, says the Lord. 10 “For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel After those days, says the Lord: I will put My laws into their minds, And I will write them on their hearts. And I will be their God, And they shall be My people. 11 “And they shall not teach everyone his fellow citizen, And everyone his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ For all will know Me, From the least to the greatest of them. 12 “For I will be merciful to their iniquities, And I will remember their sins no more.” 13 When He said, “A new covenant,” He has made the first obsolete. But whatever is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to disappear.
Moses was the mediator of the Old Covenant in the giving of the Law. The people of Israel was so frightened at Mt Sinai that they begged Moses to speak for them so they would not have to hear the voice of God.
18 All the people perceived the thunder and the lightning flashes and the sound of the trumpet and the mountain smoking; and when the people saw it, they trembled and stood at a distance. 19 Then they said to Moses, “Speak to us yourself and we will listen; but let not God speak to us, or we will die.” 20 Moses said to the people, “Do not be afraid; for God has come in order to test you, and in order that the fear of Him may remain with you, so that you may not sin.” 21 So the people stood at a distance, while Moses approached the thick cloud where God was.
Unfortunately, the “fear of Him” did not last long and they soon departed from His law they promised to obey. But, we know they could not follow the Law - it was given so that we could see the need for a savior. Paul writes in Galatians:
19 Why the Law then? It was added because of transgressions, having been ordained through angels by the agency of a mediator, until the seed would come to whom the promise had been made. 20 Now a mediator is not for one party only; whereas God is only one. 21 Is the Law then contrary to the promises of God? May it never be! For if a law had been given which was able to impart life, then righteousness would indeed have been based on law. 22 But the Scripture has shut up everyone under sin, so that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe. 23 But before faith came, we were kept in custody under the law, being shut up to the faith which was later to be revealed. 24 Therefore the Law has become our tutor to lead us to Christ, so that we may be justified by faith. 25 But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor.
The only mediator of the New Covenant is Jesus Christ.
5 For there is one God, and one mediator also between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, 6 who gave Himself as a ransom for all, the testimony given at the proper time.
Indeed Jesus told His disciples:
6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.
This New Covenant was announced by the Prophet Jeremiah and quoted by our writer in Hebrews 8:8-12.
31 “Behold, days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, 32 not like the covenant which I made with their fathers in the day I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, although I was a husband to them,” declares the Lord. 33 “But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days,” declares the Lord, “I will put My law within them and on their heart I will write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. 34 “They will not teach again, each man his neighbor and each man his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they will all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them,” declares the Lord, “for I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.”
Jesus instituted the Lord’s Supper, the New Covenant. In his gospel, Mark writes:
22 While they were eating, He took some bread, and after a blessing He broke it, and gave it to them, and said, “Take it; this is My body.” 23 And when He had taken a cup and given thanks, He gave it to them, and they all drank from it. 24 And He said to them, “This is My blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many.
The writer of Hebrews will confirm this in Chapters 9 and 12:
15 For this reason He is the mediator of a new covenant, so that, since a death has taken place for the redemption of the transgressions that were committed under the first covenant, those who have been called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance.
24 and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood, which speaks better than the blood of Abel.
Understand, the Old Covenant had a purpose. Had the people of Israel obeyed the terms of the Old Covenant, God would have blessed them and they would have been prepared for their Messiah.
Even though the New Covenant of Grace brings freedom from the Law of Moses, it does not bring freedom to sin and disobey God. God still desires that the righteousness of the Law be fulfilled in us through the ministry of the Holy Spirit. Paul writes in Romans 8:1-4
1 Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. 2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death. 3 For what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did: sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh, 4 so that the requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.
This new covenant promises:
God’s grace (vv 7-9)
Internal Change (v 10)
Forgiveness for all (vv 11-12)
Eternal Blessing (v 13)
The Old Covenant was still governing Israel at the time this letter was written. The Temple was still standing and sacrifices were still being made. However, the temple was destroyed in AD 70 and the Jews no longer had a temple or a priesthood to serve them ever since.
The Prophet Hosea wrote:
4 For the sons of Israel will remain for many days without king or prince, without sacrifice or sacred pillar and without ephod or household idols. 5 Afterward the sons of Israel will return and seek the Lord their God and David their king; and they will come trembling to the Lord and to His goodness in the last days.
The New Covenant through Jesus Christ brings eternal blessings. Jesus Christ is the author of eternal salvation and eternal redemption.
The New Covenant can never get old or disappear. It is of such quality that it will never need to be replaced.
We are partakers in this New Covenant. Jesus dies so that we could live and partake of the new nature and wonderful life that onoy Christ can give.
This is Memorial Day weekend. We remember those who gave their life so we could be free here on earth.
I have a short video to commemorate those who gave all, after which we will pray.
Let us pray