New Priest = New Covenant

Today’s Text:              Hebrews 8

Introduction

We have reached the very heart of Hebrews.  There are two main points at the core of this letter, first that Jesus is our new High Priest (chapters 5-7) and our sacrifice (chapters 9-10).  These are the points that unify and comprise the New Covenant (chapter 8).  The “high water mark” of the letter is Hebrews 8:6.

1-5:                  This section sums and links the discussion of Jesus as our High Priest with the New Covenant which is discussed in the next section.  Verse one recalls the description of Melchizedek in the previous chapter when it mentions “throne” and “Majesty” by the use of these royal terms: Jesus (and Melchizedek) is both king and priest.  “Majesty in heaven” is a reference to God, thus we can draw from this that the very Master of the universe is also serving as mediator for His brothers.  Verses 2-5 make clear that while Jesus is doing the kinds of things that earthly priests did, He is doing so in a tabernacle that was made by God, not one made by men.  All of the work that the priests did under the Law was but a shadow or a preview of what was to come.  There was never an intention on God’s part for the Levitical priesthood to be permanent or everlasting; it was a preview… or like a “trailer” if you will.  Several months back, I saw a trailer for the move The King’s Speech”.  After having seen the trailer, I wanted to see the movie, and I still want to see it, but as of this date, I still haven’t seen it.  The Old Covenant; the Law, the nation of Israel… are like the trailer, but the New Covenant is the movie.

6:                     This is the very core of the letter; it is also the very core of the Christian faith.  This is a verse you should commit to memory!  In the first part, Jesus’ ministry is compared to that of the Levitical priests; it is superior to their ministry.  This is because Jesus is doing the real mediation that is to say that Jesus, unlike the old priests takes sin away instead of merely putting off the payment for sins.  Then, the covenants are compared.  Just as Jesus’ ministry is superior to that of the Levites, so also is His Covenant superior to theirs.  There is simply no comparison between the two that makes the Old Covenant look like something to hold on to when it is compared to the New! The New Covenant accomplishes God’s eternal purpose, the Old does not.  Finally, the New Covenant is based on better promises

7-12:                Verses 7 and 8 bring the matter to a head by pointing out that God found fault with the people under the Old Covenant… and that is what was wrong with it.  The Old Covenant contained outward regulations that were put in place to demonstrate the need for an eternal solution to the fundamental issue of rebellion.  The Old Covenant provided something like a truce in the conflict between God and Man, but as is the case in an earthly war a final peace treaty was needed to bring an end to hostilities: the New Covenant.  Verses 9-12 are from Jeremiah 31:31-34, and they demonstrate to anyone who cares to notice that God had informed His people centuries before that the Old Covenant would be replaced by the New. In this New Covenant, God would not send the people a written tablet of laws, but He would instead write His laws in their minds and on their hearts.  By doing this, God will finally be able to restore fellowship with His people.  With fellowship restored, people will not simply “learn about” God, but they will have God within them.  This does not mean that there will be no teaching within the community of believers, but that the people will be having a relationship with God on a personal level: fellowship!  There will be no spiritual elite, for all believers who have been regenerated (born again) spiritually will be “brothers”.

13:                   Here our author indicates that the coming of the New Covenant has rendered the Old Covenant obsolete, meaning that it has become useless.  He also points out that the Old Covenant will “soon disappear.”  It is quite interesting to note that since it was written in the time of Nero’s persecution (64-69 AD) the practice of the Old Covenant ceased a very short time after the writing of this letter in 70 AD.  When the temple was destroyed and the Jewish people dispersed at that time, the operation of the Old Covenant terminated entirely, and has not been resumed to this day 1,941 years later… and it never will be resumed, for that is not within God’s will or purpose.