Bible Commentaries
Hebrews 8

Verses 1-13

Having established the fact of the superiority of Christ, the argument now proceeds to deal with the superiority of the relationships consequent thereupon. The central verity is set forth in the words, "We have such a High Priest." Because this is so, His ministry must be superior in all its details. It is so in the place of its exercise. In position and localization He is not on earth. He rules over the whole spiritual House, ''which House are we," in which God dwells, and in which He is the perfect and prevailing Priest.

The result of this more excellent ministry and place of ministry is a better covenant. In a quotation from Jeremiah the writer claims that in and through Christ the new order which prophets saw and foretold is realized.

The superiority of the covenant is threefold. First, it is written on the heart, and so is internal rather than external. Second, it is inclusive, for its far-reaching scope men will not need to teach each other concerning God. Finally, it is based on that incalculable blessings of the forgiveness of sins, the putting away of those things which so long had stood between man and God. The writer ends by saying that the old "is nigh unto vanishing away" because of the coming of the new.