Hebrews 9, A Sacrifice Once and For All

We now enter an in-depth look at how Jesus completes the old covenant, created by the Mosaic law.

9:1-5

Now the first covenant had regulations for worship and also an earthly sanctuary.  A tabernacle was set up. In its first room were the lampstand, the table and the consecrated bread; this was called the Holy Place.  Behind the second curtain was a room called the Most Holy Place,  which had the golden altar of incense and the gold-covered ark of the covenant. This ark contained the gold jar of manna, Aaron's staff that had budded, and the stone tablets of the covenant.  Above the ark were the cherubim of the Glory, overshadowing the atonement cover. But we cannot discuss these things in detail now.

The earthly tabernacle was described and constructed in the book of Exodus as the Israelites fled into the desert of the Sinai peninsula. It represented God present, living among this young nation-tribe.   In this passage the details of the inner sanctuary are described, based on the temple (present tense?!) and the past tabernacle.

9:6-7

When everything had been arranged like this, the priests entered regularly into the outer room to carry on their ministry.  But only the high priest entered the inner room, and that only once a year, and never without blood, which he offered for himself and for the sins the people had committed in ignorance.

But the high priest went into an even more holy sanctuary, a dangerous and scary place!  The Holy of Holies was where God was physically manifested and could only be entered once a year.  The was a very serious thing.  Leviticus 16 gives specific details to Aaron, after two of his sons died for entering the Holy of Holies.  There is a legend, probably fictitious (see here) that claims that the high priest would have a rope tied around one ankle, for if God struck the high priest down, the worshipers would need a way to pull out his body!  This legend persists because it summarizes the fear created by the idea of entering into such a supernatural, holy, special place.

9:8-10
The Holy Spirit was showing by this that the way into the Most Holy Place had not yet been disclosed as long as the first tabernacle was still standing.  This is an illustration for the present time, indicating that the gifts and sacrifices being offered were not able to clear the conscience of the worshiper.  They are only a matter of food and drink and various ceremonial washings--external regulations applying until the time of the new order.

The Old Covenant was all outward actions without necessarily changing the inward heart.  It was a metaphor, a symbol of things to come.

9:11-13
When Christ came as high priest of the good things that are already here, he went through the greater and more perfect tabernacle that is not man-made, that is to say, not a part of this creation.  He did not enter by means of the blood of goats and calves; but he entered the Most Holy Place once for all by his own blood, having obtained eternal redemption.  The blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkled on those who are ceremonially unclean sanctify them so that they are outwardly clean.

So Christ is our new high priest.  Which holy sanctuary did Christ enter?  The inner one, and that in heaven, not here in the Shadowlands.

9:14-15
How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God!   For this reason Christ is the mediator of a new covenant, that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance--now that he has died as a ransom to set them free from the sins committed under the first covenant.

The phrase "from acts that lead to death" could also be "from useless rituals".

The Lamb of the New Covenant replaces all the sacrifices of the old!  The writer's tone rises with excitement and enthusiasm, as we are members of the right kingdom!

9:16-18
In the case of a will, it is necessary to prove the death of the one who made it, because a will is in force only when somebody has died; it never takes effect while the one who made it is living.  This is why even the first covenant was not put into effect without blood.

In verses 16 and 17, the same Greek word is used, one meaning both covenant (contract) and testament (will.)  But here we have that strange use of covenant as "testament", as in "last will and testament."   Here the concept of a "will" or "last testament" is more meaningful since a person's will is not put into effect until after their death.

9:19-22
When Moses had proclaimed every commandment of the law to all the people, he took the blood of calves, together with water, scarlet wool and branches of hyssop, and sprinkled the scroll and all the people.  He said, "This is the blood of the covenant, which God has commanded you to keep."  In the same way, he sprinkled with the blood both the tabernacle and everything used in its ceremonies.  In fact, the law requires that nearly everything be cleansed with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.

The quote in verse 20 is from Exodus 24:8.  In the Old Testament sacrificial system, there was no forgiveness without the replacement death of an animal.  (The Old Testament sacrificial system was quite gruesome!)

9:23-26
It was necessary, then, for the copies of the heavenly things to be purified with these sacrifices, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these.  For Christ did not enter a man-made sanctuary that was only a copy of the true one; he entered heaven itself, now to appear for us in God's presence.  Nor did he enter heaven to offer himself again and again, the way the high priest enters the Most Holy Place every year with blood that is not his own.  Then Christ would have had to suffer many times since the creation of the world. But now he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of himself.

The heavenly tabernacle is the real one....

"Once for all".  A simple and deep concept.  We resist it, as it is not human....

9:27-28
Just as man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment, so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him.

And then this Messiah will come again!

Hebrews 8, High Priest of a New Covenant

In the previous chapter we digressed to discuss an ancient high priest, Melchizedek, who (at least according to Jewish tradition) was an individual superior to Abraham.  Some traditions even equated him with the archangel, Michael.

8:1-2
The point of what we are saying is this: We do have such a high priest, who sat down at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in heaven, and who serves in the sanctuary, the true tabernacle set up by the Lord, not by man.

There is a Platonic view here -- there is a real sanctuary in heaven; the one on earth was just a shadow.  Our high priest, Jesus, is even better than Melchizedek since he is the priest of the heavenly sanctuary.

8:3-5
Every high priest is appointed to offer both gifts and sacrifices, and so it was necessary for this one also to have something to offer.  If he were on earth, he would not be a priest, for there are already men who offer the gifts prescribed by the law.  They serve at a sanctuary that is a copy and shadow of what is in heaven. This is why Moses was warned when he was about to build the tabernacle: "See to it that you make everything according to the pattern shown you on the mountain."

The tabernacle of Moses is merely a shadow of the heavenly tabernacle.  This is very reminiscent of Plato's shadows and forms, described in Plato's allegory of the cave, in his Republic.  In that allegory, things we see on earth might be described as shadows cast on a cave wall; we see only the shadows, not the real, true objects.

The quote in verse 5 is from Exodus 25:40.

8:6-7
But the ministry Jesus has received is as superior to theirs as the covenant of which he is mediator is superior to the old one, and it is founded on better promises.  For if there had been nothing wrong with that first covenant, no place would have been sought for another.

The covenant offered by Jesus is a superior covenant.  The word "covenant" here was translated "testament" in the King James Version and is the source of the terms "Old Testament, New Testament" for the two portions of the Bible.

8:8-9
But God found fault with the people and said: "The time is coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah. It will not be like the covenant I made with their forefathers when I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt, because they did not remain faithful to my covenant, and I turned away from them, declares the Lord.

The new covenant (New Testament) is deeper, more profound, final.

In verse 8, an alternate translation to "God found fault with the people and said," is "God found fault and said to the people".

8:10-12
This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after that time, declares the Lord. I will put my laws in their minds and write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people.  No longer will a man teach his neighbor, or a man his brother, saying, `Know the Lord,' because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest.  For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more."

The quote in verses 9-12 is from Jer. 31:31-34.  Read that ancient passage for a beautiful Old Testament description of the new covenant.   This New Covenant has the Holy Spirit teaching us, from within our hearts.

8:13
By calling this covenant "new," he has made the first one obsolete; and what is obsolete and aging will soon disappear.

And so, the author argues to the Jewish readers, move on to the final, new covenant!  It is silly to stay behind!

A short 13 verses, serving as a hinge between Melchizedek and a detailed description in chapters 9 and 10, of the role Jesus plays as high priest.

Hebrews 5, The Role of the High Priest

We continue the discussion of the Jewish high priest, one sympathetic with our human frailties, yet divinely appointed to stand for us.

5:1-3

Every high priest is selected from among men and is appointed to represent them in matters related to God, to offer gifts and sacrifices for sins.  He is able to deal gently with those who are ignorant and are going astray, since he himself is subject to weakness.  This is why he has to offer sacrifices for his own sins, as well as for the sins of the people.

The high priest is human, sympathetic to humans.  Like us, he is Frail (by Jars of Clay).

5:4-10
No one takes this honor upon himself; he must be called by God, just as Aaron was.  So Christ also did not take upon himself the glory of becoming a high priest. But God said to him, "You are my Son; today I have become your Father."  And he says in another place, "You are a priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek."

The position of high priest, given to a frail human being, required a divine appointment.  This, too, Jesus had.

The Bible passages are from Psalm 2, verse 7, and Psalm 110, verse 4.  Both psalms are messianic passage about the coronation of David and David's line.

During the days of Jesus' life on earth, he offered up prayers and petitions with loud cries and tears to the one who could save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission.  Although he was a son, he learned obedience from what he suffered and, once made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him and was designated by God to be high priest in the order of Melchizedek.

So Jesus is both the Son and a human high priest, both savior and sympathetic brother.  The author is apparently alluding to events in Jesus's life when he prayed with "loud cries and tears".  It is not clear to which events the author is thinking, but the prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane comes to mind.  If so, the author provides that as evidence of Jesus's submission and process of being "made perfect."

Once again, Melchizedek is mentioned.  But the discussion of Melchizedek must wait, for the writer of this letter has a serous concern.

5:11-14
We have much to say about this, but it is hard to explain because you are slow to learn.  In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God's word all over again. You need milk, not solid food!  Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness.  But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil.

The author of Hebrews digresses to chide his readers for their lack of maturity. They have been Christians for some time....

This passage ends with a note of frustration.  The frustration builds throughout the next chapter, to become a serious scolding.

Hebrews 2, Our Suffering Brother

The writer of Hebrews has spent the first chapter emphasizing that the Jewish messiah, Jesus, is the exact imprint of God, creating the universe.  This Jesus is greater than the angels.  Why is this important?  Jewish tradition (and the Septuagint translation) has the angels giving the law to Moses.  So the angels are the agents through which the Law was passed down.  But if Jesus is even greater... then we must take Jesus very seriously!

2:1-4 
We must pay more careful attention, therefore, to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away.  For if the message spoken by angels was binding, and every violation and disobedience received its just punishment,   how shall we escape if we ignore such a great salvation? This salvation, which was first announced by the Lord, was confirmed to us by those who heard him.  God also testified to it by signs, wonders and various miracles, and gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to his will.

The salvation offered by Jesus has been passed on by those followers who personally saw and heard Him.  Unlike Paul, the writer of Hebrews appears to have received this message from one of those followers.

Like the miracles of the Exodus, this message has been confirmed by similar miracles in Jesus's day, including the gifts and confirmation of the Holy Spirit.

2:5-8a 
It is not to angels that he has subjected the world to come, about which we are speaking.  But there is a place where someone has testified: "What is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him?  You made him a little lower than the angels; you crowned him with glory and honor  and put everything under his feet." In putting everything under him, God left nothing that is not subject to him.

"It is said somewhere".  The writer knows the passage (from Psalms 8:4-6) and knows that his (her?) readers know the passage also.  There is no need to mention David.  The Davidic passage appears to be talking about mankind but the writer interprets it as speaking of the Son of Man, the Messiah.

Here we are reminded that although Jesus is superior to all angels, he stooped to become a man, for just a time lower even than the angels.

2:8b-10
Yet at present we do not see everything subject to him.  But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, now crowned with glory and honor because he suffered death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone.  In bringing many sons to glory, it was fitting that God, for whom and through whom everything exists, should make the author of their salvation perfect through suffering.

The suffering Messiah (of Isaiah 53) was, just for a time, lower than the angels, in order to lift mankind up.  So we too are (eventually) even superior to angels, as we are lifted up by the Messiah.

In the next passage, we are told that Jesus is both "brother" and "high priest".

2:11-13
Both the one who makes men holy and those who are made holy are of the same family. So Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers.  He says, "I will declare your name to my brothers; in the presence of the congregation I will sing your praises." And again, "I will put my trust in him." And again he says, "Here am I, and the children God has given me." 

These passages are from the messianic Psalm 22 (verse 22) and from Isaiah 8:17-18.

2:14-18
Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might destroy him who holds the power of death--that is, the devil-- and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death.  For surely it is not angels he helps, but Abraham's descendants.  For this reason he had to be made like his brothers in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people.  Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.

This passage has a theme we will hear a number of times.  Jesus, the exact imprint of God (verse 1:3, at the beginning of this letter) was also human, so that he might be a sympathetic representative for us.

Note that final verse, Hebrews 2:18.  Don't pass it by.  We have a "brother" who has been tempted and suffered as we have.  As his brothers and sisters, we have One who wants to help.

In the next passage, the writer will move away from angels and compare Jesus to Moses, that ancient hero who brought the divine Law to the people of Israel.

Hebrews 1:5-14, Jesus, Better than Angels!

The author of Hebrews ends our first chapter with a flurry of Old Testament references to prove that the Jewish Messiah is greater than angels.

1:5-9 - Jesus greater than the angels
For to which of the angels did God ever say, "You are my Son; today I have become your Father"?  Or again, "I will be his Father, and he will be my Son"?  

These two quotes are from Psalm 2:7 and 2 Samuel 7:13-14, part of God's promise to David and his descendants.  (A passage parallel to 2 Samuel 7:13-14 is 1 Chronicles 17:13.)

And again, when God brings his firstborn into the world, he says, "Let all God's angels worship him."

This quotation is an interesting one, for it is from the Pentateuch, from Deuteronomy 32:43.  Modern translations like the NIV, based on the Masoretic text, don't mention angels, but the Septuagint does, and the Septuagint was the Greek version of the Old Testament available for Greek readers of that day.  The Jewish readers would have been familiar with this quotation.

In speaking of the angels he says, "He makes his angels winds, his servants flames of fire."

But about the Son he says, "Your throne, O God, will last for ever and ever, and righteousness will be the scepter of your kingdom.  You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness; therefore God, your God, has set you above your companions by anointing you with the oil of joy."

These two quotations are from the psalms, first Psalm 104:4 and then Psalm 45:6-7.

1:10-12  Jesus -- from the beginning
He also says, "In the beginning, O Lord, you laid the foundations of the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands. They will perish, but you remain; they will all wear out like a garment. You will roll them up like a robe; like a garment they will be changed. But you remain the same, and your years will never end."

This beautiful cosmological scene is from Psalm 102:25-27. 

1:13-14 Angels are different
To which of the angels did God ever say, "Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet"? Are not all angels ministering spirits sent to serve those who will inherit salvation?

The final Old Testament quote in this passage is from Psalm 110:1.  Clearly the psalter and the book of Moses were well known to the readers.  The psalms will be used as references throughout the letter.

Why, suddenly, this essay on angels?  There are two reasons the writer pauses to compare Jesus and the angels.  

First, the Jewish reader of that time would believe (of course) that there is only one God.  But he/she might also believe in other divine beings between God and man, that is, spirits or "angels" or "sons of God" (such as those who showed up in Old Testament episodes with Abraham or Daniel.)  Jewish followers of Jesus might be tempted to believe that Jesus was a spiritual hero, a divine spirit, therefore relegating Him to angelic status.  The author of Hebrews wants the readers to understand that this demotion is unacceptable.  Jesus is far above the angels!  This is intended (with verse 3) to be a clear statement about Jesus's divinity: Jesus IS God.

There is a second reason the author of this letter want to compare Jesus with angels.  That will become clear in the next chapter of the letter.  

I hope to post of Hebrews 2 on Wednesday.

Hebrews 1:1-4, Representation Theory

The letter to the Hebrews opens with an eloquent statement for the Jewish readers.

1:1-3  The Final Representation of God.  
In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he made the universe. 

This is a clear statement claiming that "the Son" is the fulfillment of the Judaic plan of God ... and that this has been part of that plan from the beginning.   Jesus is both an heir at the end of history and the creator of the universe at the beginning of history.

The Son is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. 

In my mathematical research area, a representation is a mapping that takes a very abstract idea, one hard to understand, and creates a concrete example of the idea, an example where one can do precise mathematical computations, where understanding is achieved by "concreteness."  (Yes, there is a whole mathematical theory of this -- I have books on "representation theory" in my office!)  A representation is "faithful" if it carries all the properties of that difficult abstract idea.

When we humans ask about the abstract, strange, scary idea of "God" and want to understand who God is, we have been offered the "exact representation" of God, that is, God in human form (Jesus), as a concrete example.  If you wish to understand God, look at Jesus.

After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven.

The first two verses could be understood by Greek philosophers.  But this concluding sentence returns to God's work in the Jewish nation, for "the Son" is indeed the Jewish Messiah, the Jewish sacrificial Lamb, the Savior of all mankind.

1:4  Better than angels  

So he became as much superior to the angels as the name he has inherited is superior to theirs. 

After a strong thematic opening on the identity of "the Son", we have a transition to a lengthy passage about angels.  Of course, if "the Son" is the exact representation of God and was involved in Creation then this Messiah is above all created things, including angels.  But the author wants to dwell on that a bit... and that will be the next half of chapter 1.

I hope to post on Hebrews 1:5-14 tomorrow.

The Epistle to the Hebrews

Towards the end of the New Testament one finds a fascinating little book often called "The Epistle to the Hebrews".  It consists of 13 short chapters.  It is absent an "addressee" and it is absent a claim of authorship.  Indeed, like the book of James (which follows it in the English Bible), it reads more like a sermon.

Its authorship is a mystery.  But the audience is most like Jewish Christians in the first century who, probably under persecution, were beginning to drift back to Judaism and away from following the teachings of this Messiah named Jesus.

The book gives some of the clearest statements about the role of Jesus as the Jewish messiah, as the both the perfect Lamb of God and as a High Priest serving mankind.  The letter has some strong statements about commitment to Christ and about thinking longterm about our pilgrimage as Christians.  It also includes some strange passages, emphasizing Melchizedek (who is he?!) and a number of passages about "falling away" and what that might mean.

It has a "boot camp" emphasis about getting back on track and being serious about being Jesus's disciple.  That theme got the letter in trouble with Martin Luther, who did not like its emphasis on "works".  Luther was uncomfortable with this "works" emphasis in both the letter to the Hebrews and the letter of James.  I understand Luther's frustration with the letter of James but the beauty of Hebrews, as it describes Jesus's priesthood, gives us important insight to the Jewish-ness of the gospel.  Every Christian should spend some time meditating on this book!

And so, in the fall semester of 2015, I will be leading a Bible study in the Epistle to the Hebrews at Elkins Lake Baptist Church on Wednesday nights, 6:30 – 7:30 PM (Room 203.)  If you live in Huntsville, Texas, feel free to come join us.  (The church has a meal at 5:45; I think it is free to college students; if not, I'll treat!)  The first meeting is Wednesday, Sept 2.

In my next post I will discuss the authorship of the book of Hebrews.