If a billboard were posted for the first section of Hebrews it could read; “Jesus is the Greatest!” A subtext could be “Greater than angels, Moses, and High Priests”. Maybe an endorsement would read…’this message comes to you through the line of Melchizedek.’
Such is the picture of Jesus being developed in Hebrews. In our last session we delved deeply into the theological implications of Jesus being both a King and Priest and saw how, using the figure of Melchizedek the writer seeks to explain how the priestly line of Jesus was that of the mysterious Melchizedek rather than a line traced back through the Levites.
Along the way there have been three warnings, firstly that we should listen, secondly that we should watch out that we don’t miss out through unbelief and thirdly that we need to pay attention because we’re going deep!
In this session there will be a lot of scripture. Similar ground is covered that we have already walked through.
From verse 11 –19 of chapter 7 the argument of the supremacy of the Melchizedek priesthood over that of the Levitical priesthood continues. The passage we will read begins by pointing out that the system of law under the Levitical system failed to perfect the people. It was a flawed system that required repeated sacrifices. With the arrival of Jesus, ‘a priest after the order of Melchizedek’ the entire system under which Israel lived would change. As verse 19 explains in Christ we see ‘the introduction of a better hope, through which we approach God’.
Hebrews 7:11 1 Now if perfection had been attainable through the levitical priesthood-- for the people received the law under this priesthood-- what further need would there have been to speak of another priest arising according to the order of Melchizedek, rather than one according to the order of Aaron? 12 For when there is a change in the priesthood, there is necessarily a change in the law as well. 13 Now the one of whom these things are spoken belonged to another tribe, from which no one has ever served at the altar. 14 For it is evident that our Lord was descended from Judah, and in connection with that tribe Moses said nothing about priests. 15 It is even more obvious when another priest arises, resembling Melchizedek, 16 one who has become a priest, not through a legal requirement concerning physical descent, but through the power of an indestructible life. 17 For it is attested of him, "You are a priest forever, according to the order of Melchizedek." 18 There is, on the one hand, the abrogation of an earlier commandment because it was weak and ineffectual 19 (for the law made nothing perfect); there is, on the other hand, the introduction of a better hope, through which we approach God.
Verses 20 –24 repeat two arguments we have already encountered, firstly that Melchizedek was a greater priest than the Levitical priests because God told him, or as the passage phrases it ‘confirmed with an oath’ that he was a priest for ever, and secondly that it was a superior priesthood because Levitical priests were ‘prevented by death from continuing in office.’
20 This was confirmed with an oath; for others who became priests took their office without an oath, 21 but this one became a priest with an oath, because of the one who said to him, "The Lord has sworn and will not change his mind, 'You are a priest forever'"-- 22 accordingly Jesus has also become the guarantee of a better covenant. 23 Furthermore, the former priests were many in number, because they were prevented by death from continuing in office; 24 but he holds his priesthood permanently, because he continues forever.
Our third passage draws out the implications for believers in having a Savior who is of the line of Melchizedek.
25 Consequently he is able for all time to save those who approach God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them. 26 For it was fitting that we should have such a high priest, holy, blameless, undefiled, separated from sinners, and exalted above the heavens. 27 Unlike the other high priests, he has no need to offer sacrifices day after day, first for his own sins, and then for those of the people; this he did once for all when he offered himself. 28 For the law appoints as high priests those who are subject to weakness, but the word of the oath, which came later than the law, appoints a Son who has been made perfect forever.
Jesus is unlike other high priests who offer sacrifices repeatedly and have to offer a sacrifice for their own sins. He made one sacrifice once and for all and being without sin, He had no need to offer a sacrifice for Himself.
Jesus is therefore uniquely positioned to offer us the gift of salvation. Under the Old covenant people approached God through the many priests who served in the tabernacle and temple. Our approach to God is through the One priest of the New Covenant, Jesus Christ ‘exalted above the heavens’. Jesus, as Son of God, did away with the whole priestly system. This conveniently brings us to our next section.
The Superior Ministry of Jesus (1-6)
Hebrews 8:1 Now the main 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 the heavens, 2 a minister in the sanctuary and the true tent that the Lord, and not any mortal, has set up. 3 For every high priest is appointed to offer gifts and sacrifices; hence it is necessary for this priest also to have something to offer. 4 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. 5 They offer worship in a sanctuary that is a sketch and shadow of the heavenly one; for Moses, when he was about to erect the tent, was warned, "See that you make everything according to the pattern that was shown you on the mountain." 6 But Jesus has now obtained a more excellent ministry, and to that degree he is the mediator of a better covenant, which has been enacted through better promises.
In verse 2 a reference is made to ‘the true tent that the Lord, and not any mortal, has set up.’ What is being referred to here is the tent that Moses set up in the wilderness that became the meeting place between the people and their God. This tent (or tabernacle) was never meant to be a permanent fixture but was a ‘shadow’ of what was to come. When the priest offered the sacrifice in that tabernacle, it was simply a foretaste of what Jesus would offer. So we are told in verse 5 ‘They offer worship in a sanctuary that is a sketch and shadow of the heavenly one’.
The point being made here is that Jesus had a superior ministry because the place He occupied was a superior place than that of the earthly tabernacle. As verse 1 tells us ‘We have a high priest, one who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens’.
The priest was a minister of the old covenant, but Jesus was a minister of the new covenant, a covenant that had come into being because the old covenant did not fulfill all that God wanted. It was flawed, partly because it didn’t go far enough, but also because the people failed to live by it.
The Superior Covenant (7-13)
7 For if that first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no need to look for a second one. 8 God finds fault with them when he says: "The days are surely coming, says the Lord, when I will establish a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah; 9 not like the covenant that I made with their ancestors, 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 so I had no concern for them, says the Lord. 10 This is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put my laws in their minds, and write them on their hearts, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 11 And they shall not teach one another or say to each other, 'Know the Lord,' for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest. 12 For I will be merciful toward their iniquities, and I will remember their sins no more." 13 In speaking of "a new covenant," he has made the first one obsolete. And what is obsolete and growing old will soon disappear.
Just as Jesus Christ is greater in His person and ministry than all those who came before Him, so the new covenant is superior to the old. To prove his point in verse 10 the writer quotes from Jeremiah 31:31-34. "This is the (new) covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put my laws in their minds, and write them on their hearts, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people." The coming of the new rendered the old obsolete.
Chapter 9 begins by describing the tabernacle that Moses erected in the wilderness. (See picture below). In particular the items within the innermost sanctum are spoken of.
Within the Holy of Holies, shielded from the eye of the common man, was one piece of furniture comprising two parts, the Ark of the Covenant and the atonement cover (or “mercy seat”) on top of it. The ark was a chest made of acacia wood, overlaid with pure gold inside and out. It was 3 feet, 9 inches long and 2 feet, 3 inches wide and high. God commanded Moses to put in the ark three items: a golden pot of manna, Aaron’s staff that had budded, and the two stone tablets on which the Ten Commandments were written.
The atonement cover was the lid for the ark. On top of it stood two cherubim (angels) at the two ends, facing each other. The cherubim, symbols of God’s divine presence and power, were facing downward toward the ark with outstretched wings that covered the atonement cover. The whole structure was beaten out of one piece of pure gold. The atonement cover was God’s dwelling place in the tabernacle. It was His throne, flanked by angels.
NRS Hebrews 9:1 Now even the first covenant had regulations for worship and an earthly sanctuary. 2 For a tent was constructed, the first one, in which were the lampstand, the table, and the bread of the Presence; this is called the Holy Place. 3 Behind the second curtain was a tent called the Holy of Holies. 4 In it stood the golden altar of incense and the ark of the covenant overlaid on all sides with gold, in which there were a golden urn holding the manna, and Aaron's rod that budded, and the tablets of the covenant; 5 above it were the cherubim of glory overshadowing the mercy seat. Of these things we cannot speak now in detail. 6 Such preparations having been made, the priests go continually into the first tent to carry out their ritual duties; 7 but only the high priest goes into the second, and he but once a year, and not without taking the blood that he offers for himself and for the sins committed unintentionally by the people.
8 By this the Holy Spirit indicates that the way into the sanctuary has not yet been disclosed as long as the first tent is still standing. 9 This is a symbol of the present time, during which gifts and sacrifices are offered that cannot perfect the conscience of the worshiper, 10 but deal only with food and drink and various baptisms, regulations for the body imposed until the time comes to set things right. 11 But when Christ came as a high priest of the good things that have come, then through the greater and perfect tent (not made with hands, that is, not of this creation), 12 he entered once for all into the Holy Place, not with the blood of goats and calves, but with his own blood, thus obtaining eternal redemption. 13 For if the blood of goats and bulls, with the sprinkling of the ashes of a heifer, sanctifies those who have been defiled so that their flesh is purified, 14 how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to worship the living God! 15 For this reason he is the mediator of a new covenant, so that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance, because a death has occurred that redeems them from the transgressions under the first covenant.
The writer contrasts the work of the priests under the old covenant to Christ’s work under the new covenant. Christ’s personal sacrifice brought healing to the broken relationship and eternal salvation to mankind. Christ’s tabernacle is superior to the earthly one of the old covenant. He offered a better sacrifice. Christ’s blood was superior to the blood of animals, and His sacrifice did not need to be repeated as did the sacrifices of the old covenant. Such is the argument that takes us all the way to Chapter 10 verse 18.
Verses 6-28 of chapter 9 speak of the role of the shedding of blood in the old covenant and how Jesus has offered the ultimate sacrifice in shedding His blood for our sins. Verses 27-28 speak of a final judgment that believers need not fear, because their sins have been dealt with through Christ’s death.
6 Where a will is involved, the death of the one who made it must be established. 17 For a will takes effect only at death, since it is not in force as long as the one who made it is alive. 18 Hence not even the first covenant was inaugurated without blood. 19 For when every commandment had been told to all the people by Moses in accordance with the law, he took the blood of calves and goats, with water and scarlet wool and hyssop, and sprinkled both the scroll itself and all the people, 20 saying, "This is the blood of the covenant that God has ordained for you." 21 And in the same way he sprinkled with the blood both the tent and all the vessels used in worship. 22 Indeed, under the law almost everything is purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins. 23 Thus it was necessary for the sketches of the heavenly things to be purified with these rites, but the heavenly things themselves need better sacrifices than these. 24 For Christ did not enter a sanctuary made by human hands, a mere copy of the true one, but he entered into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God on our behalf. 25 Nor was it to offer himself again and again, as the high priest enters the Holy Place year after year with blood that is not his own; 26 for then he would have had to suffer again and again since the foundation of the world. But as it is, he has appeared once for all at the end of the age to remove sin by the sacrifice of himself. 27 And just as it is appointed for mortals to die once, and after that the judgment, 28 so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin, but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him.
The writer speaks of how a will is not enacted until a death has taken place. So the New Covenant could only come into effect once Jesus had died. Much is made of how the rituals, and even the furnishings, associated with worship, were but shadows of things that would be fulfilled through the coming of Jesus Christ into our world. The importance of blood in religious ritual is highlighted as foreshadowing of the blood sacrifice Jesus offered through His death upon the cross, something we recall around the communion table.
Finally, in this study, (which as I promised covers a lot of scripture reading!) our writer expounds on how the sacrificial system from the start was never meant to be permanent. The blood of bulls and goats was a reminder that sin exacted a deadly price. Such death and suffering never pleased God, but was meant to be a way of helping us understand both the enormity of the price sin exacted and something that pointed to us the higher goal of seeking to do the will of God.
Doing God’s will was what God truly required all along. Pursuing peace and justice was always a higher priority than covering the tracks of wrong doing. But until the past was dealt with and acknowledged as being wrong it was hare to move forward!
Now Jesus had come, and something glorious had taken place. Jesus had made a once and for all offering for sin on the cross of Calvary. The way was clear for God to write His love on our hearts as the prophets has predicted of old. Jesus is at the right hand of God and intercedes on our behalf. Through repentance and worship and service, under this new covenant we are set free to serve!
Ultimately Jesus will have the victory. His enemies will become His footstool. Glory will go to the God to whom glory rightly belongs! God will remember sin no more and we are bid to daily live lives that are being sanctified by the work of God’s Holy Spirit.
Such is my version of the verses that follow… but for now allow the author of Hebrews to put all that in the context of the message that He is bringing to us, the message of the greatness of Jesus Christ and the superiority of His Melchizedek like Kingly/Priesthood over all that had come before!
Hebrews 10:1-18 Since the law has only a shadow of the good things to come and not the true form of these realities, it can never, by the same sacrifices that are continually offered year after year, make perfect those who approach. 2 Otherwise, would they not have ceased being offered, since the worshipers, cleansed once for all, would no longer have any consciousness of sin? 3 But in these sacrifices there is a reminder of sin year after year. 4 For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins. 5 Consequently, when Christ came into the world, he said, "Sacrifices and offerings you have not desired, but a body you have prepared for me; 6 in burnt offerings and sin offerings you have taken no pleasure. 7 Then I said, 'See, God, I have come to do your will, O God' (in the scroll of the book it is written of me)." 8 When he said above, "You have neither desired nor taken pleasure in sacrifices and offerings and burnt offerings and sin offerings" (these are offered according to the law), 9 then he added, "See, I have come to do your will." He abolishes the first in order to establish the second. 10 And it is by God's will that we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. 11 And every priest stands day after day at his service, offering again and again the same sacrifices that can never take away sins. 12 But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, "he sat down at the right hand of God," 13 and since then has been waiting "until his enemies would be made a footstool for his feet." 14 For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are sanctified. 15 And the Holy Spirit also testifies to us, for after saying, 16 "This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, says the Lord: I will put my laws in their hearts, and I will write them on their minds," 17 he also adds, "I will remember their sins and their lawless deeds no more." 18 Where there is forgiveness of these, there is no longer any offering for sin.
Having now completed the first section of Hebrews, (the section that outlines the greatness of Jesus Christ) we will proceed to the second section which asks ‘So what does it all mean? And how can this be applied to our lives?’ I know you can hardly wait!
So till next time… God bless!