HEBREWS 8:1-13

JESUS THE GREAT HIGH PRIEST OF THE BETTER COVENANT: CAN OUR KIDS RUN IN CHURCH?

February 28, 2016

Todd Chapman

Hebrews 8 ESV: Jesus, High Priest of a Better Covenant 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, a minister in the holy places, in the true tent that the Lord set up, not man. For every high priest is appointed to offer gifts and sacrifices; thus it is necessary for this priest also to have something to offer. 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. They serve a copy and shadow of the heavenly things. 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.” 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. For if that first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no occasion to look for a second. 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, 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. 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. 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. For I will be merciful toward their iniquities, and I will remember their sins no more.” 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.

JESUS IS THE GREAT HIGH PRIEST IN HEAVEN. (THE TRUE TENT, TEMPLE, SANCTUARY)

  • The Levitical high priests served temporarily in the provisional, shadow of the true temple.
  • Jesus is the only priest in the true temple. 

THE NEW COVENANT IS WAY BETTER THAN THE OLD. 

  • The old covenant while good, was limited. 

  • The new covenant is way better. (Better promises) 

Life Group Questions

WHAT DOES IT MEAN?

  1. How would you summarize the big idea of chapter 7?
  2. Where does the author tell us Jesus is now?  What’s the significance of where Jesus is?
  3. Why would Jesus not be allowed to be a priest on earth?
  4. What are the differences between the tent erected by Moses?
  5. In what sense were the offerings and tent Moses built a “copy and shadow of the heavenly things”?  What did Moses build?   What are the heavenly things?
  6. What makes the ministry and the covenant that Jesus mediates better than the old one?
  7. Why according to the author is a 2nd covenant necessary?
  8. As the author quotes Jeremiah to describe how the 2nd covenant is better than the old one, what does he say makes it better (8:10-12)?
  9. Why is the old covenant obsolete?
  10. How would you paraphrase the big idea of chapter 8?

HOW DOES IT APPLY?

  1. How much do you know about the old covenant?  What’s your understanding of how God intended it to be used?
  2. Do you sense God’s presence more when you are in the church sanctuary?   Explain.
  3. What’s the difference between a priest and a pastor?
  4. What’s the difference between a pastor and a church attender?
  5. Do you ever feel like you need to act or behave in a certain way to earn God’s favor?  Explain.
  6. Do you look forward to joining Jesus in heaven in the true sanctuary?  Explain.