The High Priest at the right hand of the Throne of the Majesty (Heb 8a)

The High Priest at the right hand of the Throne of the Majesty

Heb. 8:1-13

Key verse 8:1*

Heb. 8:1 “The point of what we are saying is this: We do have such a high priest, who sat down at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in heaven,”

A.    Jesus is sitting at the right hand of God as the High Priest.

The commanding theme of the epistle  is established here. (1-2)

This passage  is the main theme of this book. In v1:3, the Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided the purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven.

Again in 3:1, “Therefore, holy brothers, who share in the heavenly calling, fix your thoughts on Jesus, the apostle and high priest whom we confess”.

This was reemphasized in Heb. 4:14 “Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess”. Such heavenward direction of our hope and faith was encouraged in 9:24-25 and 12:23, 25.

In other words, the fact that Jesus is sitting at the right hand of God must be the essence of our faith. It is the anchor of hope. It has implications both for now and for our coming hope—an eschatological hope.

If one ignores or defies  Jesus’ position in heaven, our faith has no foundation and will be shaken from its roots. Then what is the importance of Jesus sitting at the right hand of God in heaven? There are three things that come along with this faith.

a.        At the right hand of God—God is the ultimate authority and He is the one who passes judgment on all human beings. Jesus is right there with Him. No other figure may interfere with the relationship between the Son and God Himself. Jesus has access to the Father any time, in all matters of mediation for the sinners.

b.      This is the place where we will come and present ourselves to Him. We have no permanent place here on the earth. Our only heavenward hope is the relationship that Jesus has with the Father.

c.        Jesus is there on our behalf. He is working there in heaven in order to enable  us to work out down here on earth.

Then why and how did Jesus go up there to serve as the high priest? We will talk about this in the next verses.

B.      How is Jesus’ role as high priest different from the role of earthly priests? (3-5)

The primary function of a high priest was to offer gifts and sacrifices to God. The priest was to appease God so as to meet His standards of righteousness and holiness. What to offer as a sacrifice and how to offer it were written in the Law of Moses. The Levites were the only ones allowed to serve in such a role.  As we know, King Saul once offered sacrifices before the arrival of Samuel the priest. God cited him for this. This was a far more egregious sin than an expression of unbelief. It was to defy the power and authority of God Himself. If Jesus were to serve in this capacity, there was no room for Him. Jesus simply did not fit such a system. He was not a Levite and He did not offer sacrifices that the Law prescribed. The primary function of the priest was to offer sacrifices according to the Law. This was  done through the system Moses set up. In other words, the system had exhausted itself already and nothing could be added further to that system. If we look at the number of sacrifices when David brought the ark of the Lord to Jerusalem, you will realize how immense the sacrifices were. The number of sacrificed animals was in the thousands, just in one setting. Such sacrifices were offered day after day and year after year. Think about how many animals were sacrificed in ten years for the sake of 2 million people. Yet this did not bring change in the hearts of the people. What did God say about the sacrifices?

For Jesus, there was no place to fit as a high priest in this system and the system itself was already exhausted. Jesus could not add anything further.

a.        v5. sanctuary was the place of sacrifices. It is the place where the priests worked to offer sacrifices. The configuration of the sanctuary was set for a specific purpose. There was the Outer Court, the Holy Place, and the Holy of Holies. There were lamp stands and the ark of God. In the Holy Place, the animal was killed and its blood  was sprinkled. No one dared to enter the Holy of Holies, expect the high priest. If one did so, he would be killed immediately. Not only was the configuration of the sanctuary and the procedures for the sacrifices specifically designed, but the personage of the service was also prescribed by God through Moses. How did God instruct Moses? He did not just instruct with words; He also showed them what was already in heaven, the genuine sanctuary. God did not just show the priest the heavenly sanctuary. He said through the writer of Heb. 8:5 “This is why Moses was warned when he was about to build the tabernacle: “See to it that you make everything according to the pattern shown you on the mountain.” This was a copy of what was in heaven and this copy must be able to reflect the original in its structure, where God’s holiness was upheld.

b.      The whole system that God gave to Moses, the center of which was the Law, the sanctuary, and the sacrifices made by the high priest, was meant to carry the function of what happens in the heavenly sanctuary. It is a copy meant to reveal what the genuine example is about. But it has no power. It never measures up to the quality of the original. Once I bought a 1.5 carat diamond for Rebekah, my dear wife, for a special occasion. I always felt sorry that I did not give her a good ring,so I bought one that look like a real one. She was extremely happy to receive such a good ring. But she was very inquisitive about the source of money for such an expensive ring. Eventually, I had to tell her that it was not a real one but a stone looked like a diamond. It cost me a few hundred dollars. The real one would have cost several thousand. She wore the ring to work. Many of her coworkers thought that it was real and they were very happy for her. But, as time went, the clarity faded and the beauty of the ring was not as good as if it were made of real diamond. It faded further and could no longer represent the real diamond. The tabernacles of Israel and Jerusalem were copies of the heavenly kingdom.  This served for as long as it could, but, eventually, they faded out. They failed to serve the full purpose to bring God’s people to the Lord. What did God decide to do?

C.      New covenant (6-12)

Verse 8 is from Jeremiah 31. Jeremiah saw Judah’s failure.  He saw them taken as captives to Babylon. He saw the fall of Jerusalem. God chastised Judah for her sins and for abusing the system He had set up. Their failure was evident through these two things—their captivity in Babylon, and the fall of Jerusalem. But more striking was the word of God,  which implied that the covenant given through Moses did not measure up to God’s purpose. (9b) Because of this, God was determined to make a new covenant for his chosen people, Israel. (8)

What would the new covenant look like? (9-12)

The laws will be in their mind and will be written in their hearts—the cross is the utmost fulfillment of the law. The cross is the worst punishment for sin. This represents the most stringent judgment prescribed by the Law.  All men must die  to pay the cost of sin. Jesus, who died on the cross, upheld the law high above man’s ability to fulfill it, unless first circumcised by the blood of Christ. If one does not have the spirit of Christ… he is not… All these words indicate that the Law is upheld by the power of the cross and its meaning goes beyond any written word of OT. God did this by the power of Jesus’ cross.

“I will be their God and they will be my people”—in the OT, if they obey the law and they will be God’s people… but God’s determination is seen here. He says: “You are my people already. I have forgiven and I have bought you”. There is no uncertainty of who we are or what we will be. We are His children and we will be with the Father in heaven.

“They all know Me”—God poured out His Spirit at the time of Pentecost. Since then, God pours out His Spirit to many: to Jews, to Gentiles, to the young and to the old, to the uneducated and to the worst of sinners. Knowing God is not a matter of the few selected.  It is possible to all and is made possible by Jesus.

God will forgive them and will remember their sin no more. God Himself paid the sin offering and forgave men. This is the essence of the new covenant. In the old system, men could not do all the works of the law . But God did this through His one and only Son, Jesus, the one who gave His life as a ransom for sinners.

How can we characterize this new covenant and new system, the sanctuary that is not here but in heaven, and the new priest who offered himself as the sacrifice for sinners?

-          It is through God’s empowerment. God provided the sin offering. God provided the Holy Spirit for men to know and understand God.  This became possible all by God’s provision and empowerment. So it does not depend on men and their ability, will, or condition. 

-          Suzerain Covenant—God made a Suzerain Covenant with Abraham. This was God’s one=sided covenant. He made it and he would be responsible for it, despite the many weaknesses and sins of men. All the provisions given through Jesus prove God’s commitment that he made with Abraham in the Suzerain form of covenant.

D.    Jesus sitting at the right hand of God

For Israel, the sacrificial system was their nostalgia for peace and independence. God was with them and provided them with such peace. The resolution of sins is provided and could be done away easily. It is very comforting that a means to resolve sin was at hand. But this failed miserably. They were taken into exile and the Temple was destroyed. But God preserved the genuine one. Jesus sacrificed Himself on the cross at Golgotha, looking up to the heavenly sanctuary. Now He is sitting at the right hand of God and serves as our advocate and priest.

His presence in the heavens at the side of the Father is the proof of all these and the genuine and better system. What Jesus said is ringing in our ears—“I will be with you to the end of ages and to the ends of the earth”.  This is true because Jesus is sitting at the right hand of God.  This is the certainty for those who have faith in Jesus (Heb. 11:1)