Hebrews 8 (with OT quotes in italics)
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. 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,
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 towards 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 And what is obsolete and growing old will soon disappear.
Reflection
‘We have such a high priest’ (v.1). This opening verse gathers threads from earlier in the letter: Jesus is ascended to heaven (1:3, 13); he is a ‘merciful and faithful priest’ who knows our human condition (2:17); people can approach him with confidence (4:16). Now Hebrews wants to fill in some detail. As high priest, what sort of sacrifice does Jesus offer? Has he a holy place to serve in? And what scriptural warrant is there for starting afresh in this way, within Israel’s heritage but with a new sort of priest, a different sacrifice and a ‘sanctuary in the heavens’ (vv.1, 2, 5)?
The themes of sacrifice and sanctuary – what Jesus offers, and where – occupy much of chapters nine and ten. And to frame that lengthy explanation, Hebrews draws on the prophet Jeremiah’s hope of ‘a new covenant’ (Jeremiah 31:31-34, quoted in 8:8-12 and 10:16-17). This is the scriptural basis for expecting God to work in a new way.
Jeremiah lived in a time when the covenant people’s relationship with God seemed to have run into the ground (8:9). Yet he looked beyond frustration and spoke of renewal, of a fresh touch of God reaching deep into the human personality, attuning the heart to God and consigning guilt and shame to the past (8:10-12). Here would be inner power, and lasting pardon. For Hebrews – as we shall read – these hopes are realised through Jesus and his cross.
‘I will be their God and they shall be my people’ (8:10). Words of belonging run right through the Bible – assuring Abraham (Genesis 17:7), calling Moses (Exodus 6:7), focusing Jeremiah’s hope, and gathering the nations at the end (Revelation 21:3). God relishes human company. Hebrews shows how important Jesus is, in making this relationship lively and secure.
For prayer
What does it mean to you to be personally linked to God?
Is this a delight, a burden, a responsibility, a resource?
How much does it affect your moods, your plans, your reactions?
What is the best thing, for you, about belonging to God?