Emmanuel Lutheran Church

Hebrews 9:16–28 (NKJV)

¹⁶ For where there is a testament, there must also of necessity be the death of the testator. ¹⁷ For a testament is in force after men are dead, since it has no power at all while the testator lives. ¹⁸ Therefore not even the first covenant was dedicated without blood. ¹⁹ For when Moses had spoken every precept to all the people according to the law, he took the blood of calves and goats, with water, scarlet wool, and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book itself and all the people, ²⁰ saying, “This is the blood of the covenant which God has commanded you.” ²¹ Then likewise he sprinkled with blood both the tabernacle and all the vessels of the ministry. ²² And according to the law almost all things are purified with blood, and without shedding of blood there is no remission. ²³ Therefore it was necessary that the copies of the things in the heavens should be purified with these, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. ²⁴ For Christ has not entered the holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us; ²⁵ not that He should offer Himself often, as the high priest enters the Most Holy Place every year with blood of another—²⁶ He then would have had to suffer often since the foundation of the world; but now, once at the end of the ages, He has appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself. ²⁷ And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment, ²⁸ so Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many. To those who eagerly wait for Him He will appear a second time, apart from sin, for salvation.

In English, we don’t use the words “covenant” and “testament” interchangeably. A covenant is a formal, binding agreement. A testament is a formal promise to pass on an inheritance upon the death of the one making the testament (the “testator”). We don’t speak of people making a “testament” with one another, nor do we speak of a person’s last will and “covenant.”

But in Greek, the same word can have both connotations, so that the same Greek word is used throughout the Bible for both “covenants” and “testaments.” And sometimes, both aspects are in view, as is the case with the Old Covenant/Testament and the New Covenant/Testament.

In today’s reading, the writer to the Hebrews shows us that the covenant God made with Israel on Mt. Sinai was also a testament in that it required the blood of animals to ratify it and to bring the people into it. That First Testament was a shadow of the New Testament that Christ, the Mediator, would institute in His own blood. He was the Testator whose death was foreshadowed under the Old Testament. Indeed, Jesus was both the Testator and, as the promised Seed of Abraham, the Heir of the Old Testament. The Heir of the Old Testament instituted the New on the night in which He was betrayed. It went into effect when the Testator died on the cross. And now, risen from the dead, He sprinkles sinners with His blood in Holy Baptism, through faith, and He shares with baptized believers the fellowship meal of His sacrifice in Holy Communion. As a result, all who believe in Christ Jesus have become heirs of all the good things He promises in the New Testament, even the forgiveness of sins, life, and salvation.

Let us pray: O Lord Jesus, we eagerly wait for You to appear at the end of the age for our salvation. Keep us firm and steadfast in the faith until that day. Amen.

Hebrews 9:1–10 (NKJV)

¹ Then indeed, even the first covenant had ordinances of divine service and the earthly sanctuary. ² For a tabernacle was prepared: the first part, in which was the lampstand, the table, and the showbread, which is called the sanctuary; ³ and behind the second veil, the part of the tabernacle which is called the Holiest of All, ⁴ which had the golden censer and the ark of the covenant overlaid on all sides with gold, in which were the golden pot that had the manna, Aaron’s rod that budded, and the tablets of the covenant; ⁵ and above it were the cherubim of glory overshadowing the mercy seat. Of these things we cannot now speak in detail. ⁶ Now when these things had been thus prepared, the priests always went into the first part of the tabernacle, performing the services. ⁷ But into the second part the high priest went alone once a year, not without blood, which he offered for himself and for the people’s sins committed in ignorance; ⁸ the Holy Spirit indicating this, that the way into the Holiest of All was not yet made manifest while the first tabernacle was still standing. ⁹ It was symbolic for the present time in which both gifts and sacrifices are offered which cannot make him who performed the service perfect in regard to the conscience—¹⁰ concerned only with foods and drinks, various washings, and fleshly ordinances imposed until the time of reformation.

The Holy Spirit was depicting a very important truth in the design of Old Testament tabernacle.

The Holy Place represented the holy assembly of Israel that had been separated from the nations and sanctified by God through the covenant He made with them on Mt. Sinai. Everything in the Holy Place represented Israel as it stood in its covenant relationship with God. Just as the seven lampstands in Revelation 1-3 stood for the churches in Asia Minor, so the lampstand in the Holy Place stood for the church of Israel, which was to burn at all times with the light of the knowledge of God. The table with the twelves cakes of showbread represented the twelve tribes of Israel, whose lives were to be a continual offering to the Lord.

But a veil separated the Holy Place from the Most Holy Place, with its golden censer and the ark of the covenant, which symbolized God. Only the High Priest could pass behind the veil once a year, bringing with him the blood of animals to make atonement for Israel. The veil in the tabernacle was to teach Israel that, for as glorious as the first covenant was between the Lord and Israel, it was still lacking. There was still a separation between the presence of God and the people of Israel. A High Priest—a Mediator—was needed. And blood was needed to bring God and His people together.

The High Priest symbolized the coming Christ, true God and true Man, who would enter into God’s presence with His own blood which now sanctifies all who believe in Him. He is the Mediator of the new covenant, and His blood reconciles believers to God, as God revealed in a shocking way when the veil in the temple was torn in two at the moment of Jesus’ death.

Let us pray: O Lord God, we thank You for reconciling us poor sinners to You through the death of Your Son and through the ministry of reconciliation by which You have brought us into the new covenant of the forgiveness of sins. Amen.

Hebrews 8:1–13 (NKJV)

¹ Now this is the main point of the things we are saying: We have such a High Priest, who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens, ² a Minister of the sanctuary and of the true tabernacle which the Lord erected, and not man. ³ For every high priest is appointed to offer both gifts and sacrifices. Therefore it is necessary that this One also have something to offer. ⁴ For if He were on earth, He would not be a priest, since there are priests who offer the gifts according to the law; ⁵ who serve the copy and shadow of the heavenly things, as Moses was divinely instructed when he was about to make the tabernacle. For He said, “See that you make all things according to the pattern shown you on the mountain.” ⁶ But now He has obtained a more excellent ministry, inasmuch as He is also Mediator of a better covenant, which was established on better promises. ⁷ For if that first covenant had been faultless, then no place would have been sought for a second. ⁸ Because finding fault with them, He says: “Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah—⁹ not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt; because they did not continue in My covenant, and I disregarded them, says the Lord. ¹⁰ For 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 mind and write them on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. ¹¹ None of them shall teach his neighbor, and none his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them. ¹² For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.” ¹³ In that He says, “A new covenant,” He has made the first obsolete. Now what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away.

St. Paul says in Romans 8 that Christ “is at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us” (Rom. 8:34). This same truth is emphasized in today’s reading.

The writer to the Hebrews shows us that the tabernacle described in the Law of Moses was a “copy and shadow” of how things really are in heaven, just as the ministry of the priests in the earthly tabernacle was a picture of the heavenly ministry of Christ before God the Father. The ministers who served under the covenant God made with Israel on Mt. Sinai had an important, God-given role. But that role was always meant to be temporary. The sacrifices they offered and their mediation between sinful Israel and the holy God were vivid pictures of the true sacrifice of Christ, which He, as our perfect Mediator, being both God and Man, continually holds before the eyes of the Father as He makes intercession for all who believe in Him. Through that intercession of our High Priest, His atoning sacrifice is credited to us, and we sinners are no longer counted as sinners in the eyes of the holy Father, but as holy ones, cleansed by the blood of a better sacrifice.

There are some who claim that the Old Testament is still in force, side by side with the New. But today’s reading makes it clear that the old covenant (or testament) was always meant to be replaced by the new covenant instituted by Christ Jesus. The Old Testament, with its ministers and their sacrifices, was a shadow, pointing to the better promises of the better covenant of which Christ Jesus is the Mediator.

Let us pray: Holy Father, we thank You for establishing the new covenant of the forgiveness of sins through Christ and for bringing us into it through Holy Baptism and faith. Have mercy on us and grant us our petitions for the sake of Christ, our Mediator. Amen.

Hebrews 7:1–28 (NKJV)

¹ For this Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of the Most High God, who met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings and blessed him, ² to whom also Abraham gave a tenth part of all, first being translated “king of righteousness,” and then also king of Salem, meaning “king of peace,” ³ without father, without mother, without genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but made like the Son of God, remains a priest continually. ⁴ Now consider how great this man was, to whom even the patriarch Abraham gave a tenth of the spoils. ⁵ And indeed those who are of the sons of Levi, who receive the priesthood, have a commandment to receive tithes from the people according to the law, that is, from their brethren, though they have come from the loins of Abraham; ⁶ but he whose genealogy is not derived from them received tithes from Abraham and blessed him who had the promises. ⁷ Now beyond all contradiction the lesser is blessed by the better. ⁸ Here mortal men receive tithes, but there he receives them, of whom it is witnessed that he lives. ⁹ Even Levi, who receives tithes, paid tithes through Abraham, so to speak, ¹⁰ for he was still in the loins of his father when Melchizedek met him. ¹¹ Therefore, if perfection were through the Levitical priesthood (for under it the people received the law), what further need was there that another priest should rise according to the order of Melchizedek, and not be called according to the order of Aaron? ¹² For the priesthood being changed, of necessity there is also a change of the law. ¹³ For He of whom these things are spoken belongs to another tribe, from which no man has officiated at the altar. ¹⁴ For it is evident that our Lord arose from Judah, of which tribe Moses spoke nothing concerning priesthood. ¹⁵ And it is yet far more evident if, in the likeness of Melchizedek, there arises another priest ¹⁶ who has come, not according to the law of a fleshly commandment, but according to the power of an endless life. ¹⁷ For He testifies: “You are a priest forever According to the order of Melchizedek.” ¹⁸ For on the one hand there is an annulling of the former commandment because of its weakness and unprofitableness, ¹⁹ for the law made nothing perfect; on the other hand, there is the bringing in of a better hope, through which we draw near to God. ²⁰ And inasmuch as He was not made priest without an oath ²¹ (for they have become priests without an oath, but He with an oath by Him who said to Him: “The Lord has sworn And will not relent, ‘You are a priest forever According to the order of Melchizedek’ ”), ²² by so much more Jesus has become a surety of a better covenant. ²³ Also there were many priests, because they were prevented by death from continuing. ²⁴ But He, because He continues forever, has an unchangeable priesthood. ²⁵ Therefore He is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them. ²⁶ For such a High Priest was fitting for us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and has become higher than the heavens; ²⁷ who does not need daily, as those high priests, to offer up sacrifices, first for His own sins and then for the people’s, for this He did once for all when He offered up Himself. ²⁸ For the law appoints as high priests men who have weakness, but the word of the oath, which came after the law, appoints the Son who has been perfected forever.

We know next to nothing about the Old Testament figure named Melchizedek. He was a king and a priest of the true God who had a brief encounter with Abraham as Abraham was returning from his victory over the kings who had kidnapped his nephew Lot. We are told nothing of the origin of this priest-king and nothing of his end, which is why he is called a priest “forever.” His name isn’t mentioned again in Scripture until he is mentioned in a cryptic verse in Psalm 110, speaking about the coming Christ: “The LORD has sword and will not relent, You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.” The writer to the Hebrews explains this verse for us.

The priesthood that was so well-known to the Jews was tied to the tribe of Levi, one of the twelve sons of Jacob, while the kings were descended from David, from the tribe of Judah. Like Melchizedek, the Christ would be both priest and king. His kingship would come from His ancestor David, but His priesthood would not come from Levi. Instead, He would be a priest like Melchizedek, who was greater than Levi, whose priesthood came directly from God and was not defined by the Levitical Law. Yes, the priesthood of the Christ would be far greater than that of the Levites. The Levitical priests all served as priests for a finite number of years; the Christ would serve forever. The Levitical priests were weak and sinful; the Christ would be sinless and perfect. The Levitical priests had to sacrifice daily for their own sins and for the sins of the people; the Christ would offer the one perfect sacrifice of Himself to make atonement, not for His own sins, but for the sins of the rest of mankind.

Let us pray: O Lord, we thank you for foreshadowing the priesthood of Your Son in the Old Testament and for revealing it to us in the New. Hear us and help us in all things only for the sake of Christ, our great High Priest. Amen.