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Jesus Is Our High Priest

Here is the point of what we are saying: We do have a high priest who sits on the right side of God’s throne in heaven. Our high priest serves in the Most Holy Place. He serves in the true place of worship that was made by God, not by men.

Every high priest has the work of offering gifts and sacrifices to God. So our high priest must also offer something to God. If our high priest were now living on earth, he would not be a priest. I say this because there are already priests here who follow the law by offering gifts to God. The work that they do as priests is only a dim copy of what is in heaven. For when Moses was ready to build the Holy Tent, God warned him: “Be very careful to make everything by the plan I showed you on the mountain.”[a] But the priestly work that has been given to Jesus is much greater than the work that was given to the other priests. In the same way, the new agreement that Jesus brought from God to his people is much greater than the old one. And the new agreement is based on promises of better things.

If there was nothing wrong with the first agreement,[b] there would be no need for a second agreement. But God found something wrong with his people. He says:[c]

“The time is coming, says the Lord,
    when I will make a new agreement.
It will be with the people of Israel
    and the people of Judah.
It will not be like the agreement
    I made with their ancestors.
That was when I took them by the hand
    to bring them out of Egypt.
But they broke that agreement,
    and I turned away from them, says the Lord.
10 In the future I will make this agreement
    with the people of Israel, says the Lord.
I will put my teachings in their minds.
    And I will write them on their hearts.
I will be their God,
    and they will be my people.
11 People will no longer have to teach
    their neighbors and relatives to know the Lord.
This is because all will know me,
    from the least to the most important.
12 I will forgive them for the wicked things they did.
    I will not remember their sins anymore.” Jeremiah 31:31-34

13 God called this a new agreement, so he has made the first agreement old. And anything that is old and worn out is ready to disappear.

Footnotes

  1. 8:5 “Be . . . mountain.” Quotation from Exodus 25:40.
  2. 8:7 first agreement The contract God gave the Jewish people when he gave them the law of Moses.
  3. 8:8 But . . . says Some Greek copies read “But God found something wrong and says to his people.”

The High Priest of a New Covenant

Now the main point of what we are saying is this: We do have such a high priest,(A) who sat down at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in heaven,(B) and who serves in the sanctuary, the true tabernacle(C) set up by the Lord, not by a mere human being.

Every high priest(D) is appointed to offer both gifts and sacrifices,(E) and so it was necessary for this one also to have something to offer.(F) If he were on earth, he would not be a priest, for there are already priests who offer the gifts prescribed by the law.(G) They serve at a sanctuary that is a copy(H) and shadow(I) of what is in heaven. This is why Moses was warned(J) when he was about to build the tabernacle: “See to it that you make everything according to the pattern shown you on the mountain.”[a](K) But in fact the ministry Jesus has received is as superior to theirs as the covenant(L) of which he is mediator(M) is superior to the old one, since the new covenant is established on better promises.

For if there had been nothing wrong with that first covenant, no place would have been sought for another.(N) But God found fault with the people and said[b]:

“The days are coming, declares the Lord,
    when I will make a new covenant(O)
with the people of Israel
    and with the people of Judah.
It will not be like the covenant
    I made with their ancestors(P)
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.
10 This is the covenant(Q) I will establish with the people of Israel
    after that time, declares the Lord.
I will put my laws in their minds
    and write them on their hearts.(R)
I will be their God,
    and they will be my people.(S)
11 No longer will they teach their neighbor,
    or say to one another, ‘Know the Lord,’
because they will all know me,(T)
    from the least of them to the greatest.
12 For I will forgive their wickedness
    and will remember their sins no more.(U)[c](V)

13 By calling this covenant “new,”(W) he has made the first one obsolete;(X) and what is obsolete and outdated will soon disappear.

Footnotes

  1. Hebrews 8:5 Exodus 25:40
  2. Hebrews 8:8 Some manuscripts may be translated fault and said to the people.
  3. Hebrews 8:12 Jer. 31:31-34