Hebrews 8

Notes

Ver. 1. Now all that I have said, in comparing Christ to Melchisedec and the Aaronic priests, may be summed up in this—that in him we have a transcendently more glorious High-priest, who, after offering himself as a sacrifice of infinite value and efficacy, is, in virtue thereof, advanced to the most glorious state of rest, dignity, power, and authority in heaven; 2. That there, in the heavenly sanctuary, and in the tabernacle of his own manhood, both of which were framed, not by human influence, but by the immediate operation of God himself, he may for ever carry on the intercessory work of his priesthood for the gracious promoting and securing of our eternal salvation. 3. For the special business of every high-priest, for which he is appointed and authorized of God, is to present oblations and sacrifices of atonement, which must be slain and offered before he carry the blood into the most holy place, and in order to his carrying it in: it was therefore absolutely necessary that Jesus, our great gospel High-priest, should have a sacrifice to offer answerable to the dignity of his person and the glory of his exalted state in heaven, where it must be presented before the throne of God. 4. For if Christ had continued still upon earth, he could not have executed that most glorious part of his priestly work which was to be performed in the sanctuary; since, according to the Jewish law, none could be admitted to present oblations in their holy of holies but the Aaronic high-priests; 5. Who, as ministers thereof, perform the whole service of that tabernacle and sanctuary, which were intended but as a typical draught of that true sanctuary and tabernacle in which our Lord Jesus now officiates as our interceding High-priest—as was obscurely intimated in God's giving Moses a heavenly model of it, and charging him to form everything, even the most minute, exactly according to that model. 6. But now our blessed Lord, in his exalted state, is, by virtue of his Father's compassion, actually engaged in a far more excellent, honourable, and beneficial ministration than ever any was before him—in proportion to the incomparably greater excellency and advantage of the spiritual dispensation, of which he is the only Mediator; for, taking away all differences between God and the people, and securing all its spiritual and eternal blessings for them, by his sacrifice of himself, and ratifying and securing to them all its promises and blessings, and helping them to accept of it, and yield up themselves to God, according to the tenor of it. And this covenant was authoritatively established upon more spiritual, advantageous, heavenly, and absolute promises, than were contained in the law or legal dispensation appointed at Sinai. 7. For if God's covenant of peculiar relation to the Israelites, or the legal dispensation of the covenant of grace which they there received, had been every way sufficient in light, grace, and efficacy, for perfecting the state of the church on earth or in heaven, there had never been any ground for God to contrive or establish, or his people to desire, another more spiritual and complete administration of the covenant of grace on earth, as it is plain there was. 8. For after accusing and reproving the Jews for their breaches of that covenant under which they were, and which did not secure their obedience, in a most solemn manner he promises irrevocably to establish, with all his true people, Jews or Gentiles, a new-covenant dispensation of free and absolute promises; 9. Which should be inexpressibly more gracious, spiritual, effectual, and lasting than that covenant of peculiar relation which he had made with the Israelites, after he had, by almighty influences and unnumbered miracles, delivered them from their miserable bondage in Egypt; or than the legal dispensation of the covenant of grace to which they were subjected—both of which, through the treachery of their own hearts and the temptations of Satan and the world, they had despised and violated, and had thereby provoked God justly to reject them from being his peculiar people, and to cast them out of his land. 10. In which new covenant, made with his spiritual Israel of all nations, God promises to send the Lord Jesus Christ to save them and help them savingly to discern the laws, doctrines, and promises of his Word; and, by his Holy Spirit, to impress also upon their conscience, will, and affections, the duty of repentance; and to be a God to them, being all to them, and doing all for them that is necessary to their temporal, spiritual, and eternal happiness; and by his grace to enable and assist them to believe in, love, and devote themselves to him, and own and serve him, as persons redeemed through faith in him; 11. And thus to give such experimental-believing, affectionate, and practical knowledge of his own perfections, counsels, and will, and of the way of salvation through the Messiah to all of them, that few or none of them shall need to be taught the fundamental principles of religion: 12. And for preventing all obstruction of the saving benefits promised, to give them a full, free, and glorious pardon of all their sins, original or actual, through faith in the Son of God. 13. Now this very promise of a more gracious, spiritual, and efficacious dispensation of the covenant of grace under the gospel, plainly intimates the weakness and unprofitableness of the Mosaic dispensation; and that it was to be set aside and disannulled as a thing out of date; and, indeed, being already almost useless, it will, with all its rites, ceremonies, and institutions, be quickly and utterly abolished, in the destruction of your temple and the dispersion of your nation.

Ver. 4. Some consider Christ to have been a priest on earth when 'he once offered up himself a sacrifice;' others think he did not become a priest till he presented himself in heaven. The preference of either view does not seem a matter of much importance to those who sincerely hold that 'he was delivered for our offences, and raised for our justification.' It is obvious, however, that on earth he could not have been a Levitical priest, ch. 7. 14; and as the Melchisedecan priesthood with which he was invested was to endure 'for ever,' and be 'unchangeable,' ch. 7. 24, 25, it would seem necessary that he should have risen from the dead, and passed the boundaries of change, before he could properly be said to have entered upon his peculiar priestly office. C.

Ver. 11. These words render it certain that, until this blessed time arrives, every Christian man is authorized and bound to teach his neighbour to know the Lord. Note, 'They shall not teach,' that is, be required, as now, to teach men negligent, averse, obstinately ignorant; but 'all shall know,' because all, even from childhood, shall be found willing learners of the Word, 2 Ti. 3. 15. C.

Reflections.—Contemplate, O my soul, in what an exalted and blessed manner Jesus my High-priest has ascended to his Father's right hand, and, in my nature, continually intercedes for men—for me—upon the footing of his own great sacrifice. In a most delightful manner the shadowy priests and offerings are now abolished by him and his righteousness and intercession; and firmly hath he established his blessed promise of grace and gospel dispensation, in which God binds himself to give all necessary instruction, renovation, and forgiveness, and is himself All in All. Unchangeable and lasting are its blessings, and issuing in the eternal happiness of all who accept Christ by faith.