The Law gave us mercy; Jesus gave us grace.
Abraham’s covenant gave us a good hope; Jesus’ covenant gave us a better hope.
The oath made through King David introduced a better hope (Psalm 110:4). The oath – given even after the giving of the Law – promised that one of King David’s descendants would be a priest forever in the order of Melchizedek. Jesus is the guarantee of that better covenant – the New Covenant.
We didn’t need a priesthood that was weak and unprofitable as was Aaron’s priesthood. We discussed the end goal of the perfection or completion of our hope in the last section. God’s plan all along had been to restore the relationship lost by Adam and Eve in the garden. In order to restore it, or reach completion, we needed a priesthood that is “holy, innocent, undefiled, separated from sinners, and exalted above the heavens” (Hebrews 7:26).
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| Click picture for a printable handout for this section |
Our church is excitedly working toward this summer’s Vacation Bible School. Jungle Jim recently visited during a children’s event to invite all the kids to come. His visit started building the excitement and intensity of the promised week. Ok, really it was my husband in a costume but the kids know that once he announces VBS that they have a week of fun and excitement in their future. One little boy asks his mom every time they come to church, “Is today VBS day?” No, not yet, little guy. I overheard some other kids after Sunday morning worship, “Dad…daaaaad, you have to sign us up for VBS! We don’t want to miss it!” You see, Jungle Jim made those kids a promise that VBS is coming; the kids are living in hope of the coming event. Their hope will come to perfection or completion when they come later this summer and enjoy all their jungle expeditions.
This is the same process we studied in the last section of our Hebrews study and we’ll continue it in this one. God made us promises through Abraham and David; through the Law and through the New Covenant. We now live in the hope of those promises. We’re the little kids who wake up each morning hoping that today is the day. We’re the ones who can’t wait to sign up because we don’t want to miss out. We live in eager excitement of the realization of our hope – a completed and perfected relationship in God’s presence for all eternity.
We’ve recapped a little from Hebrews 7:26-28. I encourage you to look over it again and then continue by reading the passage for this section, Hebrews 8:1-6. Psalm 110 is also critical reading to fully understand this section.
It was good; Now it’s better
A promise is given; hope is lived until completion comes.
A better promise gives us a better covenant.
“But Jesus has now obtained a superior ministry, and to that degree He is the mediator of a better covenant, which has been legally enacted on better promises” (Hebrews 8:6). God made a promise to Abraham which was a good promise. Later, He made a promise to King David which was a better promise. That better promise is the legal foundation for the better covenant – the New Covenant.
A better hope gives us a better covenant.
“A better hope is introduced through which we draw near to God… [verses containing an explanation of the promise] …So Jesus has also become the guarantee of a better covenant” (Hebrews 7:19, 22). God gave us hope through Abraham which was a good hope. Later, though, He gave us hope through King David which was a better hope. That hope guarantees that one day we will draw near to God, into His very presence, through the better covenant – the New Covenant.
Three parts of a better covenant
The Old Testament priesthood which was based on the Law contained three parts: the who, the where, and the what. The priesthood of the New Covenant must contain these three parts as well. That’s not all, though. It must contain them in a better, more superior way. Otherwise, the New Covenant wouldn’t be better.
Who? (8:1-2)
We needed a priest like Melchizedek, not like Aaron. We needed a priest who was “holy, innocent, undefiled, separated from sinners, and exalted above the heavens” (Hebrews 7:26), not one who was “weak and unprofitable” (Hebrews 7:18). Chapter eight starts out by telling us that we have what we need! We have in Jesus the high priest that we need sitting at the right hand of God the Father.
A priest of Levi and Aaron’s line never sat down while performing his duties. Their actual job description even indicates they were “to stand before Yahweh to serve Him” (Deuteronomy 10:8). And yet, twelve times in the New Testament we read that our High Priest Jesus sits at the right hand of God. He sits because He completed His work. His intercession is complete; His atonement for sin has been made. The priests of Levi and Aaron could never say this of their own work; intercession and atonement were never complete. Only through Jesus is the work of the high priest complete; therefore, He sat down at God’s right hand.
Where? (8:2-5)
The priests of Levi and Aaron served in the moveable tabernacle and later in the Jerusalem temple. The tabernacle and even the temple in all its glory, however, were only copies of the real thing. They were “a copy and shadow of the heavenly things” built “according to a pattern that was shown to [Moses] on the mountain” (Hebrews 8:5).
Our High Priest Jesus, however, doesn’t serve in the copy. His location isn’t merely a shadow of what’s real. Jesus’ intercession and atonement took place in the real thing, in “the true tabernacle that was set up by the Lord and not man” (Hebrews 8:2). He’s not on earth and neither is the sanctuary in which He ministers; the real thing is in heaven. (Hebrews 8:4-5).
What? (8:3)
Here we get down to the heart of the matter. The key point on which all else hinges. Jesus is the holy, undefiled priest whom we all need so desperately. But that’s not all. He serves in the real, heavenly sanctuary, not the earthly copy. But that’s not all. He completed the third part of the priesthood – the sacrifice – with a superior sacrifice. He didn’t lay a goat, bull, or lamb on the altar, though. He laid Himself upon it. “He entered the Most Holy Place once for all, not by the blood of goats and calves, but by His own blood, having obtained eternal redemption. … He has appeared one time, at the end of the ages, for the removal of sin by the sacrifice of Himself” (Hebrews 9:12, 26 emphasis mine). But we’re getting ahead of ourselves. Chapter nine will come soon enough.
Why do we care?
We care because we can never sacrifice enough. Our sacrifices don't look like goats and calves anymore but we still lay all kinds of things on the altar... chocolate, coffee, time, relationships, wants, needs. We sacrifice them as we try to restore our relationship on our own merit. None of those sacrifices offer the atonement found only in Jesus' complete sacrifice.
We care because we have a great and unrestrained need – the forgiveness of our sin. Our sin knows no bounds and no end. We have no limit to the depth of our depravity. The sacrifices made by the old priesthood in the earthly shadow of heaven were insufficient. They would never complete the task of our eternal forgiveness and allow us to reach the completion of our hope – eternity in heaven with God.
We needed something better. We needed Someone better.
And that’s what we have in Jesus the Messiah. “We do have such a high priest” (Hebrews 8:1).
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