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1 Now the 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 heaven, 2 a minister in the holy places, in the true tent that the Lord set up, not man.

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The writer has laid some pretty heavy, complex stuff on us. I love that he decided to summarize his main point! “The point of what we are saying is this: We have such a high priest.”

“Such a high priest” refers to the previous verses (7:24-28). In those verses, our high priest:

1. Will never quit being our priest
2. Is Himself the sacrifice through whom people may draw near to God
3. Saves FOREVER people who do draw near to God through Him
4. Always lives to intercede for such people
5. Is holy and unstained
6. Is separated from sinners
7. Is exalted above the heavens
8. Offered Himself up as a sacrifice for us
   

Those are his main points. He goes on to say that Jesus:

• Sits in heaven at the Father’s right hand
• Ministers to us in the holy places, from inside the tent that the Lord made (the Levites ministered from inside tent that men made)
  

The Levites are no longer relevant. They have been superseded by One who is greater. Case closed.

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3 For every high priest is appointed to offer gifts and sacrifices; thus it is necessary for this priest also to have something to offer.

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This is a confusing verse in context. The best I can tell, the writer’s point here is that Levites needed something to offer – in their cases, they needed to offer sacrifices for their own sins before they could offer sacrifices for others’ sins.

But Jesus didn’t need a sacrifice for His sins. Instead, He offered Himself as a sacrifice for ours (see 7:27).

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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 serve a copy and shadow of the heavenly things. 5 For when Moses was about to erect the tent, he was instructed by God, saying, “See that you make everything according to the pattern that was shown you on the mountain.”

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If He were on earth, Jesus wouldn’t be a priest (which implies He wasn’t a priest when He was here). There are a few reasons for that:

1. For one thing, there was no earthly vacancy for Him to fill. There were already priests on earth offering sacrifices prescribed by the Law of Moses. [Side note: This verse is the strongest argument that the book of Hebrews was written before A.D. 70 - after which the temple was destroyed and there couldn’t have been priestly sacrifices].
2. Furthermore, the earthly priests and the sacrifices they offered were only shadows of a reality. Jesus IS that reality. Think on that a moment... A shadow tells you that that something that is real is nearby. The shadow of something you desire can build anticipation and instill hope, but it is unfulfilling. You want the reality, not its shadow. The reality brings peace, not its shadow. Jesus is the reality of the shadows God gave His people through the institutions of Moses’ Law. When you have the reality, the shadow is no longer useful.
3. Finally, as was pointed to in 7:14, Jesus’ genealogy doesn’t qualify Him to be a Levitical priest. He didn’t descend from Levi; He descended from Judah.
   

Now we get to explore “how much more excellent” Jesus’ ministry is than the ministry of the Levitical priests.

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6 But as it is, Christ has obtained a ministry that is as much more excellent than the old as the covenant he mediates is better, since it is enacted on better promises.

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Restated: How much better is a shadow than its reality? That’s how much better Jesus’ ministry is than the old covenant. His promises are better than the old promises because He promises the fulfillment. As 7:19 pointed out, “the Law made nothing perfect.” But Jesus does!

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7 For if that first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no occasion to look for a second. 8 For he finds fault with them when he says: “Behold, the days are coming, declares 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 fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt. For they did not continue in my covenant, and so I showed no concern for them, declares the Lord. 10 For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my laws into 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, each one his neighbor and each one his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest. 12 For I will be merciful toward their iniquities, and I will remember their sins no more.”

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The Old Covenant was flawed. God needed to replace it, and He told His people in Jeremiah 31:31-34 that He would do so.

Please notice that the Law wasn’t faulty, the covenant was. And the covenant’s flaws were on man’s side of it, not God’s. In the old covenant God said, “If you will live this way then I will bless you.” But no fallen human could live that way. In the end, the perfect Law could do no more than expose our sin, not remove it. Persistent human sin, which separates us from God, prevented the blessings of the covenant from ever becoming reality. Thus the covenant was flawed.

However, the demands and the promises of this flawed covenant were only shadows anyway! The PERFECTION that the Law demanded was earthly perfection (sinlessness). The BLESSINGS the Law promised were earthly blessings - only as good as one’s life was long.

Notice a HUGE contrast to that in the quote from Jeremiah 31:31-34 – a shift from “you will” to “I will.” Instead of “if you will do this, I will do that,” God says in the new covenant “I WILL establish a new covenant... I WILL put my laws into their minds... I WILL write them on their hearts...I WILL be their God...I WILL be merciful...I WILL remember their sins no more.”

There’s no more “If you will ____, then I will ____.” It’s all on Him now!

How much greater a covenant is which is written on our hearts rather than on stone tablets, which is qualified by removing our sinful natures rather than by imposing laws, and which promises heavenly blessings to be enjoyed in eternal life!!

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13 In speaking of a new covenant, he makes the first one obsolete. And what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away.

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So the old covenant is now obsolete. There’s only one covenant now. It depends solely on God, not man. It can only fail if God fails!