Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Hebrews 9:11
But Christ being come a high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building;
11 14. Assurance of Conscience, the condition of access to God, was secured through Christ alone
11. being come ] “Being come among us.”
a high priest of good things to come ] Another and perhaps better reading is “of the good things that have come” ( B, D, not ). The writer here transfers himself from the Jewish to the Christian standpoint. The “good things” of which the Law was only “the shadow” (Heb 10:1) were still future to the Jew, but to the Christian they had already come.
by a greater and more perfect tabernacle ] The preposition dia rendered “by” may mean either “ through ” in which case “the greater and better tabernacle” means the outer heavens through which Christ (anthropomorphically speaking) passed (see Heb 9:24 and Heb 4:14); or “ by means of ” in which case “the better tabernacle” is left undefined, and may here mean either the human nature in which for the time “He tabernacled” (Heb 10:20; Joh 1:14; Joh 2:19; Col 2:9; 2Co 5:1), or as in Heb 8:2, the Ideal Church of the firstborn in heaven (comp. Eph 1:3).
not made with hands ] Because whatever tabernacle is specifically meant it is one which “the Lord pitched, not man.”
not of this building ] The word ktisis may mean either” building “or “creation.” If the latter, then the meaning is that the better tabernacle, through which Christ entered, does not belong to the material world. But since ktizo means “to build,” ktisis may mean “building,” and then the word “this” by a rare idiom means “vulgar,” “ordinary’ (Field, Otium Norvicense, iii. 142); otherwise the clause would be a mere tautology.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
But Christ being come – Now that the Messiah has come, a more perfect system is introduced by which the conscience may be made free from guilt.
An high priest of good things to come – see Heb 10:1. The apostle having described the tabernacle, and shown wherein it was defective in regard to the real wants of sinners, proceeds now to describe the Christian system, and to show how that met the real condition of man, and especially how it was adapted to remove sin from the soul. The phrase high priest of good things to come, seems to refer to those good things which belonged to the dispensation that was to come; that is, the dispensation under the Messiah. The Jews anticipated great blessings in that time. They looked forward to better things than they enjoyed under the old dispensation. They expected more signal proofs of the divine favor; a clearer knowledge of the way of pardon; and more eminent spiritual enjoyments. Of these, the apostle says that Christ, who had come, was now the high priest. It was he by whom they were procured; and the time had actually arrived when they might enjoy the long-anticipated good things under the Messiah.
By a greater and more perfect tabernacle – The meaning is, that Christ officiated as high priest in a much more magnificent and perfect temple than either the tabernacle or the temple under the old dispensation. He performed the great functions of his priestly office – the sprinkling of the blood of the atonement – in heaven itself, of which the most holy place in the tabernacle was but the emblem. The Jewish high priest entered the sanctuary made with hands to minister before God; Christ entered into heaven itself. The word by here – dia – means probably through, and the idea is, that Christ passed through a more perfect tabernacle on his way to the mercy-seat in heaven than the Jewish high priest did when he passed through the outer tabernacle Heb 9:2 and through the veil into the most holy place. Probably the idea in the mind of the writer was that of the Saviour passing through the visible heavens above us, to which the veil, dividing the holy from the most holy place in the temple, bore some resemblance. Many, however, have understood the word tabernacle here as denoting the body of Christ (see Grotius and Bloomfield in loc.); and according to this the idea is, that Christ, by means of his own body and blood offered as a sacrifice, entered into the most holy place in heaven. But it seems to me that the whole scope of the passage requires us to understand it of the more perfect temple in heaven where Christ performs his ministry, and of which the tabernacle of the Hebrews was but the emblem. Christ did not belong to the tribe of Levi; he was not an high priest of the order of Aaron; he did not enter the holy place on earth, but he entered the heavens, and perfects the work of his ministry there.
Not made with hands – A phrase that properly describes heaven as being prepared by God himself; see notes on 2Co 5:1.
Not of this building – Greek of this creation – ktiseos. The meaning is, that the place where he officiates is not made by human power and art, but is the work of God. The object is to show that his ministry is altogether more perfect than what could be rendered by a Jewish priest, and performed in a temple which could not have been reared by human skill and power.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Heb 9:11-12
Christ an High Priest of good things to come
The Lord Jesus as a High Priest
God never destroys for the sake of destroying, nor pulls down the old to leave a void in its place.
The Divine method is to overcome evil by uplifting that which is good, and to remove the good, after it has served its purpose, by introducing that which is more excellent.
I. Jesus Christ as a High Priest much excels in the GREATNESS AND PERFECTNESS OF THE TABERNACLE. Jesus Christ entered by a greater and more perfect tabernacle. By the tabernacle here we are to understand, say some, the expanse above, the stellar firmament, through which Christ entered into the holy place. But the ablest commentators understand by it the body of Jesus Christ. And the author of this Epistle furnishes a strong ground for that interpretation in Heb 10:20. A hint to the same purport is to be found in the text, for it is averred of this tabernacle that it is not of this building, that is, not of this creation. The humanity of the Lord Jesus is the beginning of a new creation. But it is not the visible body in itself that is intended by the tabernacle, as it is not the visible blood in itself that is meant by the blood; but human nature in the person of the Son of God, in which the Word has tabernacled among us, and by which He is the beginning of the creation of God.
II. Jesus Christ as a High Priest much excels in the GREATNESS OF THE HOLY PLACE. There was no need for a special word in this place to denote the greatness of the holy place, as it follows naturally from the preceding words. Christ, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, entered in once into the holy place; and if the tabernacle were greater and more perfect, it follows of necessity that the holy place was so likewise. The same thought belongs to both. Christ entered through the tabernacle of His untainted humanity to a corresponding holy place; He went into the holy place of the eternal world; He entered into the holy of holies of the universe. But God never does anything hurriedly; so Christ, after receiving the keys of the invisible world, took forty days to appear to His disciples at different times, in order to assure their minds that all power is given unto Him in heaven and on earth, and that a clear way, which no one may block, is opened unto them from earth to heaven. Then He ascended, in quiet unruffled glory, to take His proper place as the minister of the sanctuary, and sat down on the right hand of Majesty on high. There is not a higher place in all heaven than where Jesus Christ is to-day in our nature. He is as high as God Himself could raise Him.
III. Christ as a high priest excels in the PRECIOUSNESS OF THE BLOOD. The worth of the blood was owing to the worth of the life, and the worth of the life to the greatness of the Person. When a man is martyred, the soul does not die; nevertheless, the soul imparts worth to the life of the body, and confers immeasurably more importance on the death of a man than the death of a beast. But notwithstanding the greatness of the difference between man and an animal, it is only a difference of degrees. Man is but a creature as well as the animal. But the difference between man and God is as great as that between a creature and the Creator. And yet, in the person of Jesus Christ, the Creator has come into closer union with humanity than that between our souls and our bodies. Though, perhaps, it be not proper to say that God died, yet the one who died was God. The infinite Person of the Son was in the obedience; the infinite Person was in the suffering; the infinite Person was in the death: imparting boundless worth and merit to all, so as to be a propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but for the sins of the whole world. Because the Person is so great, the preciousness of the blood has filled all heaven, and has converted the throne of Majesty into a mercy-seat.
IV. Jesus Christ excels as High Priest in the PERFECTNESS OF HIS WORK. The Jewish high priest was obliged to go to the holy place every year, because there was no effectual reconciliation; only the surface was a little washed, only temporal forgiveness was administered. But the sacrifice of Christ effected a thorough reconciliation–there is no need for a second attempt.
V. Jesus Christ excels as High Priest in the NATURE AND EFFICACY OF THE REDEMPTION. He obtained eternal redemption or deliverance for us. This follows necessarily from the other part of the verse. As He went to the holy place in heaven, it must be that the redemption is eternal. There is not a higher court ever to reverse the verdict. The acquittal is from the throne of God Himself. (Lewis Edwards, D. D.)
The superiority of Christs priesthood:
The object of right worship has ever been the same, but its mode has undergone two great changes:
1. From no sacrifice to many sacrifices.
2. From many sacrifices to one–from the many mediations of
Moses to the one mediation of Christ.
I. CHRIST INTRODUCED HIGHER THINGS.
1. A higher system of teaching. More spiritual, clear, and diffusive.
2. A higher form of worship. More simple, personal, attractive, and free.
3. A higher state of union. Marked by broader views, higher aims, more expansive benevolence.
II. CHRIST OFFICIATES IN A HIGHER SANCTUARY.
1. Heaven is a more extensive sanctuary. Greater. For all kindreds, &c.
2. A more Divine sanctuary. Not made with hands.
III. CHRIST PRESENTED A HIGHER SACRIFICE. His own life–the most precious of all.
IV. CHRIST ACCOMPLISHED A HIGHER WORK. Redemption of forfeited rights and paralysed powers; redemption from guilt and spiritual influence of sin; impartation of pardon and purity to the condemned and corrupt; and all this eternal. (Homilist.)
The priesthood of Christ
I. CONSIDER THE PRIESTHOOD OF CHRIST IN RELATION TO THE PAST–AND THE RETROSPECTIVE EFFICACY OF HIS WORK IN BEHALF OF THE WORSHIPPERS OF A FORMER AGE. To this view we are led by the whole course of the apostles argument in this chapter, and the various allusions to sacrificial rites contained in the Old Testament. The doctrine of propitiation is the harmonising doctrine of the whole Bible. It makes the narrative of patriarchal, Levitical, and prophetical life one history. The men who lived under these dispensations all felt their need of mercy, and with certain differences of outward circumstances, all sought for mercy in the same way. The fundamental articles of religion have been the same in every age of the world. Such is the antiquity of Christs priesthood. It reaches far back through all the religious economies under which fallen man has ever lived. Christ is that true Melchisedec who has neither beginning of life nor end of days. He has obtained for us, says the apostle, eternal redemption. Rolling ages impair not the earnestness of His intercession, nor multitudinous offences the worth of the plea He brings. He ever liveth. He abideth a priest continually.
II. CONSIDER THE PRIESTHOOD OF CHRIST AS FULFILLING AND ANSWERING THE INDISPENSABLE CONDITIONS IN ORDER TO THE COVENANT OF FORGIVENESS BEING PERFECT. The priest, in the Levitical sense, is a public person who deals with an offended God in the name of the guilty, by offering an appointed sacrifice for sin upon the altar.
1. According to this definition, we see that in order to the desired reconciliation three things are necessary–a priest, a sacrifice, and an altar.
(1) First, there must be a priest. There was no priest under the covenant with Adam upright, for this reason, there was no sacrifice. Man then was dealt with as innocent; he could come to God of himself. But the covenant with man fallen was altogether different; this was entered into with persons in a different moral state, and made for a totally different end. It was a covenant with sinners, with persons who had offended God and cast the words of the first covenant behind them. Hence the design of this new compact was to make peace, to reinstate man in the friendship of his Maker, and to repair the dishonour done to the Divine government. But to give effect to this covenant a mediating party was necessary. The prophet Zechariah expresses this necessity in that fine passage, He shall be a priest upon His throne, and the council of peace shall be between them both.
(2) But, secondly, there must in effecting this sublime negotiation be also a sacrifice. Gather My sons together to Me, says the Psalmist, those that have made a covenant with Me by sacrifice. The importance of this element of the priesthood will appear to you, if you consider that if a sinless mediator had been all that was required, there seems nothing to forbid that our high priest should have been an angel. But this appended condition of sacrifice, the irrevocable necessity of bloodshed in order to remitted guilt made the mediation of angels impossible; for are they not all spirits?–therefore, having no blood to shed. Hence, while there was blood to be shed which shut out angels, it must be sinless blood which shut out men. And yet the dictates of natural equity would suggest that the blood should be that of a man, and that he who should bear the penalties of a broken covenant should be of the same nature with the covenant breaker.
(3) And then, again, in order to a perfect priesthood there must of necessity be an altar–an altar too of such infinite worth and preciousness that it should both sanctify and enhance the gift. Now, considering that the sacrifice offered up was nothing else than the human nature of Christ, consisting of a body rent, broken, and a pure, holy soul, agonised, bruised, smitten of God and afflicted, the only thing there could be to sanctify a gift in itself so sanctified is the Divine nature with which this holy sacrifice was united,
2. Here, then, we have satisfactorily provided for the three pre-requisites for a perfect priesthood, namely, a priest, a sacrifice, and an altar. It should not lessen our confidence in this gospel priesthood, to find that all its constituent elements centre in the same glorious person–that the victim to be sacrificed is Christ, that the altar on which it is laid is Christ, that the priest who is to slay and offer and carry the blood into the most holy place is Christ; for if all these several parts be necessary to a perfect priesthood, how would it have vitiated the whole oblation to have encountered at any stage of its preparation a mixture of infirmity. If, for instance, a perfect sacrifice had been offered on a blemished altar, or if though the altar were unblemished, the offering must pass through the hands of a frail and erring priest. No, Christ will have none to lay hands on His work, none to join Him in it. The wine-press of humiliation shall be trodden by Himself alone. By one offering He hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified.
III. CONSIDER THE PRIESTHOOD OF CHRIST IN RELATION TO ITS MORAL EFFICACY. The apostle, as you perceive, takes as the basis of his comparison the two principal functions of the priestly office under the old economy, namely, the oblation, or the offering of the sacrifice in a part outside the precincts of the temple, and the presentation, or the carrying of blood once a year into the holy of holies to he exhibited and sprinkled upon the mercy-seat. Our Lord suffering without the camp exactly corresponds to the first feature of this Levitical system, whilst His appearing for us continually in the presence of God as plainly answers to the second. And in both, argues the apostle, you cannot fail to discern the measureless superiority of the gospel priesthood. Look at the character of the sacrifice itself. Not by the blood of goats, but by His own blood. Two verses further he puts the contrast still more strongly–If the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling, &c. The sacrifices of the law had a double use; the one real, and the other typical; the one ceremonial, and the other spiritual; the one actual, as conferring upon the worshipper certain church rights and privileges, the other contingent as requiring a definite act of faith in the promise of the Mediator. Well, the ceremonial efficiency of this it was no part of the apostles argument to disparage. While the ancient ritual remained it served useful ends. They did sanctify to the purifying of the flesh. They enabled the excommunicated to join in public worship again, reinstated the sinner into the privileges and immunities of church fellowship, and as types reminded the worshipper of that higher union and fellowship from which he had become excluded by sin, and restoration to which would evidently require a nobler sacrifice and better blood; for how could the blood of bulls and goats ever take away sin? Hence the force of the apostles distinction in the text just quoted, between purifying the flesh and purging the conscience. Temple blood may admit you to temple worship, and an outward cleansing may get you an outward interest in the covenant; but if you aspire to peace, to a realised fellowship with God, to anything of the tranquillity or joy of service–in a word, if you desire to get a cleansing and a peace within, any rest for the smitten troubled heart, you will feel that something better than blood of bulls and goats is needed, and with adoring thankfulness will look up to that great High Priest, who, carrying with Him His own all-cleansing blood, hath entered into the most holy place. And this is the second point of contrast on which the apostle insists–on Christ passed into the holy place, that is into heaven, as distinguished from that part of the tabernacle which was within the veil. As one of the patterns of things in the heavens, this inner part into which the priest went was guarded with zealous sacredness. The people were not allowed to follow even with their eyes whilst he was in the act of passing through the veil. Directly he had passed the curtains were drawn as close as possible that even the most curious might not see what was going on within; whilst enshrined in the most sacred part of the holy place itself were preserved time-honoured pledges of the presence and protecting power of God. But Christ, argues the apostle, has passed into a place far holier than your holiest. The curtain which separates Him from human sight is the cloud spread before the eternal throne. Ask we a pledge of the Divine protection–a pledge that He will not forget His holy covenant–a pledge that no penitent and believing sinners are ever to be turned away–we have it in the fact that our Melchisedec stands before the throne, that He combines in Himself all the functions of an everlasting priesthood, being Himself the tabernacle of witness, Himself the altar of sacrifice, Himself the Priest to offer, Himself the Lamb to die; and in the exercise of this priesthood He stands in the midst of the throne, exhibits the sacrificial blood openly that God may see it and pardon, that angels may see it and wonder, that redeemed ones may see it and adore, that the trembling sinner may see it and trust. Consider then, says the apostle, consider Him in all the dignity of His nature, in all the perfections of His sacrifice, in all the mightiness of His pleadings before the everlasting throne, and you will feel that you have, as you ought to have, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, you have, and should feel that you should have, a merciful and faithful High Priest over the house of God, so that if you will draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, in humble but joyous hope, in childlike and tranquil confidence, in and through the merits of the crucified, you shall both obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need: (D. Moore, M. A.)
The high priesthood of Christ
The high priesthood of our Lord is a matter full of important consequences to us relating to His sacred Person and His work in our redemption. Of course the term is one derived from the Jewish ceremonial worship: and it is to the books in which that worship is ordained, that we must look for its explanation. I find the first ordinances respecting the high priests office in Exo 28:1-43. There Moses is ordered to take to him Aaron his brother, and with many prescribed ceremonies and adornments to consecrate him as priest; i.e., as afterwards abundantly appears, as chief, or high priest. We need not follow these prescribed ceremonies, further than to cull out from them the general character of each portion of them, as applying to the office of our blessed Lord. As they were to be without blemish or deformity, as they were to be clothed in holy garments for glory and beauty, as they were not to defile themselves with any uncleanness, so was He, as the very first condition of this His office, holy, harmless, undefiled, and separate from sinners. They, these priests of Israel, were like their brethren in outward form, but, unlike them, were not to be made unclean by things which rendered others unclean. And so Christ took on Him the likeness of sinful flesh, but did not become sinful: He partook of the infirmities of our nature to the full, but did not partake of its pollution. But, when the high priest is thus constituted and apparelled, what is the first matter of which we read, belonging to his special duty and office? Precious stones are to be taken, two sets: upon both the sets are to be graven the names of the tribes of the children of Israel: once, on two onyx stones, which are to be worn on the shoulders of the high priest: the other time, on twelve separate stones, whose names are specially detailed; and this last tablet is to be worn on his heart. We have here a double-feature of the office. The high priest is judge; the high priest is intercessor. And this too belongs to the reality of the high priesthood of Christ. All judgment is committed to Him. And thus judging, thus ordering His Church, He bears His people written on His heart. He can never forget them, for He represents them, and He loves them as Himself, and He bears them on Himself as a memorial before God continually. The next point which requires our notice is important, as introducing a whole class of duties which mainly constituted the high priests office (see Exo 28:36-38). Here we have the high priest in a new character: that of one bearing the iniquity of others, who are made acceptable to God by that his hearing of their iniquity. The plate of pure gold–the Holiness of the Lord inscribed on it–must of course be taken as indicating, in connection with his bearing their iniquity, the acceptance before God, as holy, of the people of the Lord whom he represents. It will be enough at this part to say, that our blessed Redeemer here also fulfils the reality of which these high priests were a shadow. Not only does He carry His people engraven on His heart before God, but He presents them to God as holiness to Him, by virtue of His having Himself borne their iniquities.
Take the apostles testimony to this in Eph 5:25. Then come, in the book of Exodus, the rites and ceremonies of the consecration, or setting apart of the priests to minister before God. Concerning these, one remark before all is suggested to us by the writer of this Epistle to the Hebrews:–viz., that no man took the office unto himself, but only those who were selected and consecrated by God, as was Aaron. The very name of the Lord by which we call Him, Messiah or Christ, signifies the Anointed. But we now come to that which was by far the larger portion of the duty of the priests of old, and of which we shall have much to say as concerning our great High Priest Himself. Every high priest, says our Epistle, is ordained to offer gifts and sacrifices. This was the priests especial office; to minister for the people in the things concerning God, and to offer sacrifices for sin. Now almost every particular is explained by the writer of this Epistle to have immediate reference to our Lord: and of those not so mentioned several are so obvious as to be unmistakable by any intelligent Christian.
1. First of all why all these ordinances of sacrifice at all? Why all this taking away of animal life, and this sprinkling of blood, ceremonies of a kind painful and revolting now to our minds and habits? All these sacrifices, thus divinely appointed, were ordained to signify greater and spiritual truths: the Holy Ghost thus signifying, as we have it written here: God having a matter to make known in His good time, which should be no type or shadow, but His own very truth: and that matter being, the death and satisfaction of our blessed Lord, His eternal Son. But let us follow this out, considering Him as our High Priest. If He be a Priest, says the writer of our epistle, He must of necessity have something to offer. And here we have Gods High Priest, whom He hath consecrated and sent into the world. By what offering shall He propitiate God towards those His people? Who shall shed the blood that may sprinkle our holy things and make them pure? Who shall go far, far away, bearing upon his head the iniquities of us all? Hear His answer–Lo I come to do Thy will, O God. He is spotless. He unites in Himself our whole nature: strike Him, and we are stricken: let His sacrifice be accepted, and we are cleared from guilt: let that blood of His be carried into the holy place of Gods presence in heaven, and an atonement is made for us. There are several ether, apparently minor, but really not less interesting points of comparison, between the high priests of old and our blessed High Priest and Redeemer. Their sacrifices were imperfect, and of no intrinsic value or avail. They therefore needed renewing continually, day by day. But His is perfect and all-sufficing. It needs only to be believed in, and applied by the obedience of living faith to the heart., Again: those high priests, by reason of their being mortal men, were continually renewed from time to time. None of them was permanent: they came as shadows, and so departed: theirs was no abiding priesthood, to which all men might look for atonement and acceptance. But the Son of God abideth for ever: He dieth no more, death hath no more dominion over Him: in that He died, He died for sin once: in that He liveth, He liveth unto God. For ever does the virtue of His blood endure: for ever does His holy priesthood avail. There is with Him no wearing out, no forgetting, no failure of earnestness, no vacillating affection, no exhausted pleading. He is for all, He is over all, He is sufficient for all, He cares for all. So then, once more–inasmuch as they were human high priests, they were fellows with their brethren. Was then theirs any advantage over Him? In that land of Judaea, under the shade of those walls of Jerusalem, you might perchance see the high priest holding conference with the erring or the penitent: might see the venerable man of God, on whose brow was His anointing, with the hand of the young offender laid in his, pleading eye to eye till the tears chased one another down the cheek glowing with shame: and then might trace the judge of Israel watching, reminding, building up the returning sinner in holiness. Shall we envy them? Were they better off than we? Ah no! The sympathising high priest on earth, what is he to the sympathising High Priest in heaven? Few indeed, and interrupted could be such interviews: narrow indeed and partial such sympathies. But our High Priest is not one who lacks leisure or power to receive all who come to Him at any time. It is for us, for the least among us, that the eternal Son of God is thus constituted a High Priest: for our sins, for our wants, for our daily feeling, and obeying, and approaching to God. It is to purge our conscience from dead works to serve the living God, that His holy blood was offered: to make us pure, upright, clear in purpose, and like to our God and Father. (Dean Alford.)
Good things brought by Christ:
Here we may see what they be that in truth deserve the name and title of good things, Not silver and gold, houses and lands. Christ at His coming brought none of these, yet He brought good things with Him, namely, remission of sins, faith and other graces of the Spirit. These indeed are worthy the name of good things. Forasmuch as our Priest bringeth such excellent things with Him, let Him be most welcome to us. David said of Ahimaaz, he is a good man, and bringeth good tidings. Much more let us say of Christ our High Priest, He is a good man, He bringeth good tidings, that by the blood of His Cross He hath reconciled us to God the Father, hath obtained a general pardon for all our sins, He hath prepared a place for us in His own kingdom; therefore let us receive Him with all joy. (W. Jones, D. D.)
The body likened to a tabernacle
As Christs body is a tabernacle, so is 2Pe 1:14; 2Co 5:1).
1. The name of a tent or tabernacle imports warfare. Soldiers have their tents.
2. There is a between a tabernacle and a house; for a house is made of solid matter, wood, stone, &c. A tent is made of old clothes patched together. So our bodies are not made of the sun, of the stars, of the firmament, but of the earth, which is a brittle thing.
3. A tent is weak, easily pierced through. So our body. A knife, a pin may prick it, a fly may choke it. A tent is quickly up and quickly down. So is our body. We come suddenly, and we are gone again in the turning of an hand, though it be the body of a wise Solomon, of a strong Samson, a fair Absolom, yet remember it is but a tent or tabernacle. The time is at hand, says St. Peter, when I must lay down this tabernacle. Now as the tabernacle in the time of the Law was kept neat, clean, and handsome, it might not be polluted with anything. So let us keep our bodies from all pollutions. (W. Jones, D. D.)
He entered in once
Our Lords entrance within the veil
I. THE SACRIFICE OF HIS ENTERING.
1. Unique.
2. Substitutionary.
3. Personal.
4. Of transcendent value.
II. THE MANNER OF HIS ENTRANCE.
1. Once.
2. Only once.
3. In the fullest and most complete manner.
III. THE OBJECTS OF HIS ENTRANCE.
1. He made atonement within the veil.
2. He enters there to appear for us.
3. He is there to perfect us.
4. He has entered in once that He may abide there.
5. He is there to admit us to the same nearness.
IV. THE GLORIES OF THIS ENTRANCE. Having obtained eternal redemption. When Aaron went in with the blood of bulls and goats, he had not obtained eternal redemption; he had only obtained a symbolic and temporary purification for the people, and that was all.
1. Our Lord enters in because His work is all done.
2. That which He had obtained was redemption. We do not fully know what the word redemption means, for we were born free; but if we could go back a few years, and mix with the negro slaves of America, they could have told us what redemption meant, if ever, by any good fortune, any one of them was able to buy his freedom. You that have groaned under the tyranny of sin, you know what redemption means in its spiritual sense, and you prize the ransom by which you have been made free. We are to-day redeemed from our far-off condition in reference to the Lord God: we do not now stand outside the veil. This is a great redemption. We are also delivered from guilt, for He hath washed us from our sins in His own blood. Also from the power of sin, its curse, its bondage, &c.
3. And now think of the nature of that redemption; for here is a grand point. He has obtained eternal redemption. If you carefully study the verses around the text, you will find the word eternal three times: there is eternal redemption, the eternal Spirit, and an eternal inheritance. Why is redemption said to be eternal? He has obtained eternal redemption–a redemption which entered into eternal consideration. Redemption isthe drift of creation, and the hinge of providence.
4. When our Lord entered in, He had by His sacrifice also dealt with eternal things, and not with matters of merely passing importance. Sin, death, hell–these are not temporary things: the atonement deals with these, and hence it is an eternal redemption.
5. Now, look forward into eternity. Behold the vista which has no end! Eternal redemption covers all the peril of this mortal life, and every danger beyond, if such there be. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
The entrance of Christ into heaven
I. The entrance of our Lord Jesus Christ as our High Priest into heaven, to appear in the presence of God for us, and to save us thereby unto the uttermost, was a thing so great and glorious, As COULD NOT BE ACCOMPLISHED BUT BY HIS OWN BLOOD. No other sacrifice was sufficient unto this end.
II. Whatever difficulties lay in the way of Christ, as unto the accomplishment and perfection of the work of our redemption, HE WOULD NOW DECLINE THEM, NOR DESIST FROM HIS UNDERTAKING, WHATEVER IT COST HIM.
III. THERE WAS A HOLY PLACE MEET TO RECEIVE THE LORD CHRIST, AFTER THE SACRIFICE OF HIMSELF; and a suitable reception for such a person, after so glorious a performance.
IV. If the Lord Christ entered not into the holy place until he had finished His work, WE MAY NOT EXPECT AN ENTRANCE THEREINTO UNTIL WE HAVE FINISHED OURS. He fainted not until all was finished; and it is our duty to arm ourselves with the same mind.
V. IT MUST BE A GLORIOUS EFFECT WHICH HAD SO GLORIOUS A CAUSE; and so it was, even eternal redemption.
VI. THE NATURE OF OUR REDEMPTION, THE WAY OF ITS PROCUREMENT, WITH THE DUTIES REQUIRED OF US WITH RESPECT THEREUNTO, ARE GREATLY TO RE CONSIDERED BY US. (John Owen, D. D.)
Christs work on earth and in heaven
I. HIS WORK ON EARTH. He obtained eternal redemption for us.
1. The blessing in question.
(1) Redemption by our Lord Jesus Christ, or deliverance from the sentence of condemnation.
(2) Redemption by power from the dominion of sin, from the vassalage of the world, and from the power of darkness.
2. The extensiveness of the attribute. Eternal redemption.
(1) Completely.
(2) Absolutely.
(3) Emphatically.
3. Eternal in its procuring.
4. Eternity of the benefit.
(1) For men, in distinction from angels.
(2) For believers.
II. His APPEARANCE IN HEAVEN.
1. Where did He enter? Into the holy place–heaven.
2. With what did He enter? With His own blood.
3. How often did He enter? Once. (W. Jay.)
Having obtained eternal redemption for us
Redemption by Christ:
Calvary is the central point to which, as all former ages, with a vague expectancy, had looked onward, so all subsequent ages look back, with hearts filled to the full with gratitude and love. In the redemption there won for us there are various points for us to notice.
1. Firstly, it was by His own blood that Christ entered in once into the holy place. It was a sacrifice centring absolutely in Himself. Christ trod the winepress alone. His own blood was shed for the salvation of the world; none other could mingle with it.
2. And Christ entered once into the holy place. We should mark this well. His death was the single act of One who need never repeat it.
3. And the redemption thus won is as eternal for us as it is for Him who won it. This side of the grave we have to struggle, to do battle as soldiers of the Cross, not as though we had already attained, either were already perfect (Php 3:12). But we may have sure and certain hope of eternal life, and in this confidence may go forth conquering and to conquer. The redemption, as far as Christs work is concerned, has been made; and if we will but take the crown from Him who offers it to us, no power of earth, nor of hell, shall be able to wrest it from our keeping without our consent.
4. And, lastly, Christ has obtained this eternal redemption for us. Without boastfulness or self-assertion, we may lay stress on that word, and remember that in it Christ associates with Himself the whole human family. We look back down the stream of time which has flowed on to the present. We think of all the lives that have been for a longer or shorter period borne upon that mighty river–lives known and unknown, a blessing or a curse to their generation. In all of these redemption has played its part. It has had an influence and a power on those lives, whether it has been accepted or not. It has been either their hope and encouragement, or it has been a solemn witness rising up to protest against every deed of sin and shame. Man cannot live in the knowledge and light of immortality won for him by Christ, and be the same as if he knew it not. For that knowledge he must be either infinitely the better or infinitely the worse. And, for our great and endless comfort, let us never forget that the redemption is offered to each individual soul; for Christ by His death made each one of us His own, having paid the price which our salvation costs. And that act of surpassing love has been performed as though no other soul but thine required this tremendous sacrifice. Will you, then, reject so great salvation? will you refuse the eternal redemption Christ has obtained for you? (C. W. H. Kenrick, M. A.)
Our redemption
I. Our redemption from captivity is effected by our Lord in two ways: BY PRICE AND BY POWER. By price paid into the hand of God as the moral Governor; by power exercised on Satan, sin, the world, and death.
II. Our Lord obtained eternal redemption for us BY SACRIFICE. This implies reconciliation (Col 1:20-22; 2Co 5:18-21).
III. Our Lord obtained eternal redemption for us BY SUFFERING PUNISHMENT. This refers to law and justice. (James Kidd, D. D.)
Redemption:
Once when I was revisiting my native village, I was going to a neighbouring town to preach, and saw a young man coming from a house with a waggon, in which was seated an old woman. I felt interested in them, and asked my companion who they were. I was told to look at the adjoining meadow and pasture, and at the great barns that were on the farm, as well as a good house. Well, said my companion, that young mans father drank that all up, and left his wife in the poorhouse. The young man went away and worked until he had got money enough to redeem that farm, and now it is his own, and he is taking his mother to church. That is an illustration of redemption. In the first Adam we have lost all, but the second Adam has redeemed everything by His death. (D. L. Moody.)
Release
In the debtors prison at Sheffield, Howard found a cutler plying his trade who was in jail for thirty cents. The fees of the court amounted to over a pound, and this sum he had been for several years trying to earn. In another jail there was a man with a wife and five children, confined for court-fees of about five shillings, and jailers fees of about eightpence. This man was confined in the same apartment as robbers. All such debtors–and they were numerous in England–Howard released by paying their debts. (Cycloaedia of Biography.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 11. But Christ being come a high priest of good things] I think this and the succeeding verses not happily translated: indeed, the division of them has led to a wrong translation; therefore they must be taken together, thus: But the Christ, the high priest of those good things (or services) which were to come, through a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is, not of the same workmanship, entered once for all into the sanctuary; having obtained eternal redemption for us, not by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood, Heb 9:13. For if the blood of GOATS, and bulls, and calves, and a heifer’s ashes, sprinkled on the unclean, sanctifieth to the cleansing of the flesh, (Heb 9:14,) how much more shall the blood of Christ, who, through the eternal Spirit, offered himself without spot to God, cleanse your consciences from dead works, in order to worship (or that ye may worship) the living God?
In the above translation I have added, in Heb 9:13, , of goats, on the authority of ABDE, three others, the Syriac, the Arabic of Erpen, Coptic, Vulgate, two copies of the Itala, and Theodoret. And I have rendered , (Heb 9:14,) IN ORDER to worship, or THAT YE MAY worship; for this is the meaning of these particles in many parts of the New Testament. I shall now make a few observations on some of the principal expressions.
High priest of good things] Or services, to come, . He is the High Priest of Christianity; he officiates in the behalf of all mankind; for by him are all the prayers, praises, and services of mankind offered to God; and he ever appears in the presence of God for us.
A greater and more perfect tabernacle] This appears to mean our Lord’s human nature. That, in which dwelt all the fulness of the Godhead bodily, was fitly typified by the tabernacle and temple, in both of which the majesty of God dwelt.
Not made with hands] Though our Lord’s body was a perfect human body, yet it did not come in the way of natural generation; his miraculous conception will sufficiently justify the expressions used here by the apostle.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
But; the Spirit, by this adversative But, opposeth and applieth the truth to the type, and brings in view the antitype, the office, tabernacle, sacrifice, and ministration of Christ, which vastly exceedeth the Mosaical one.
Christ being come an High Priest of good things to come; the High Priest preferred is no less person than God the Son manifested in the flesh, and anointed to his office with the Holy Ghost and power, Act 10:38. In the fulness of time, before the antiquating and removing the former order, was he exhibited and consecrated the true High Priest, of which all the other were but types, and bringing with him all those good things which were figured and promised under that economy, all pardon, reconciliation, righteousness, holiness, adoption, and glorious salvation, which were under that dispensation to come, being present and exhibited with, as effected by, this High Priest at his first coming, but to be completed and perfected at his second, which is intimated, Heb 9:26,28.
By a greater and more perfect tabernacle; the anti-type of the Mesaical sanctuary and tabernacle, where there was the holy place, and the holy of holiest, correspondent to, and figured out by, these, was the more glorious sanctuary of this High Priest; he passeth through the tabernacle of his church on earth, of which he is the minister, as hath been cleared, Heb 9:10, and Heb 8:2, and so enters into the heaven of heavens, the holiest of all, Heb 9:24, where God sits on his throne of grace.
Tabernacle here cannot signify the body of Christ, for that is the sacrifice that answereth to the legal ones offered in the court, and without the gate, Heb 13:11-13, and with the blood of which he enters the holy of holiest as the high priest did, and he doth not pass through his flesh there, but carrieth it with him. The word , Joh 1:14, may not only refer to the Godheads tabernacling in flesh, but that God the Son incarnate tabernacled in his church; those with whom Christ dwelt while on earth, for his human nature dwelt or had a tabernacle in this world as well as his Deity; and this is such a tabernacle where he in his whole person and his church may meet and communicate together. This tabernacle is greater than the Mosaical for quantity, as it refers to earth the place, even the whole world, where his church is dispersed, beyond all comparison larger than its type, which was a little limited and confined place; and more perfect than that, which was only made of boards, gold, silver, brass, silk, linen, skins, &c. This being a spiritual temple and tent, in which God will inhabit and dwell for ever, 1Co 3:9,16,17; 2Co 6:16; Eph 2:12,20-22; 1Pe 2:5; it is far more glorious than that tabernacle, Hag 2:7-9.
Not made with hands; what is hand wrought, or made by men, is at the best mouldering and decaying; but this was wrought by the Spirit of God himself, most excellent for the quality, permanency of the materials, and work, Eph 2:22. Man had neither power nor skill to form, polish, frame, or pitch this, Heb 8:2. Creation work is Gods work, as to the old and new creation. Hands may frame and pitch the other, and pluck it up; but he that worketh, frameth, raiseth, createth this, is God, 2Co 5:5; Eph 2:20.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
11. Butin contrast to “couldnot make . . . perfect” (Heb9:9).
ChristThe Messiah, ofwhom all the prophets foretold; not “Jesus” here. From whomthe “reformation” (Heb9:10), or rectification, emanates, which frees from theyoke of carnal ordinances, and which is being realized gradually now,and shall be perfectly in the consummation of “the age (world)to come.” “Christ . . . High Priest,” exactly answersto Le 4:5, “the priest thatis anointed.”
being come an, c.rather,”having come forward (compare Heb10:7, a different Greek word, picturesquely presenting Himbefore us) as High Priest.” The Levitical priests musttherefore retire. Just as on the day of atonement, no work was done,no sacrifice was offered, or priest was allowed to be in thetabernacle while the high priest went into the holiest place to makeatonement (Lev 16:17 Lev 16:29).So not our righteousness, nor any other priest’s sacrifice, butChrist alone atones; and as the high priest before offering incensehad on common garments of a priest, but after it wore his holygarments of “glory and beauty” (Exo 28:2;Exo 28:40) in entering theholiest, so Christ entered the heavenly holiest in His glorifiedbody.
good things to comeGreek,“the good things to come,” Heb10:1; “better promises,” (Heb8:6; the “eternal inheritance,” Heb 9:15;1Pe 1:4; the “things hopedfor,” Heb 11:1).
by a . . . tabernaclejoinedwith “He entered.” Translate, “Through the . . .tabernacle” (of which we know) [ALFORD].As the Jewish high priest passed through the anteriortabernacle into the holiest place, so Christ passed through heaveninto the inner abode of the unseen and unapproachable God. Thus, “thetabernacle” here is the heavens through which He passed(see on Heb 4:14). But “thetabernacle” is also the glorified body of Christ (see onHeb 8:2), “not of thisbuilding” (not of the mere natural “creation, but ofthe spiritual and heavenly, the new creation“), the Headof the mystical body, the Church. Through this glorified bodyHe passes into the heavenly holiest place (Heb9:24), the immaterial, unapproachable presence of God, where Heintercedes for us. His glorified body, as the meeting place ofGod and all Christ’s redeemed, and the angels, answers to theheavens through which He passed, and passes. His body isopposed to the tabernacle, as His blood to the blood of goats,c.
greateras contrastedwith the small dimensions of the earthly anterior tabernacle.
more perfecteffectivein giving pardon, peace, sanctification, and access to closestcommunion with God (compare Heb 9:9Heb 10:1).
not made with handsbutby the Lord Himself (Heb 8:2).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
But Christ being come an high priest,…. Christ is come, as appears from the cessation of civil government among the Jews, which was not to be till Shiloh came; from the destruction of the second temple, into which the Messiah was to come, and did; from the expiration of Daniel’s weeks, at which he was to appear, and be cut off; from the coming of John the Baptist, his forerunner, and from the preaching of the Gospel to the Gentiles, and the calling and conversion of them, and the effusion of the Spirit upon them: and he is come an high priest; he was called to be one, and was constituted as such in the council and covenant of peace; and he agreed to do the work of one; he was typified by the high priest under the law; and he came as such into this world, and has done the work of an high priest, by offering himself a sacrifice for sin, and by his entrance into the holiest of all, with his own blood: and he is come an high priest of good things to come; such as peace, reconciliation, and atonement, a justifying righteousness, pardon of sin, eternal life and salvation, which the law was a shadow and figure of; and which under the former dispensation were to come, as to the actual impetration of them by Christ; who is called the high priest of them, to distinguish him from the high priests under the law, who could not bring in these good things, nor make the comers to them and to their offerings perfect; but Christ is the author and administrator of them; and these things are owing to the performance of his priestly office; and such rob Christ of his glory, as a priest, who ascribe these good things to their own merits, or the merits of others: and the way in which he is come is,
by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building; meaning the human body of Christ, which was greater than tabernacle of Moses; not in bulk and quantity, but in value, worth, and dignity; and was more perfect than that, that being only an example, figure, shadow, and type, this being the antitype, the sum and substance of that; and by it things and persons are brought to perfection, which could not be, in and by that; and this is a tabernacle which God pitched, and not man; which was reared up without the help, of man: Christ was not begotten by man, but was conceived in the womb of a virgin, under the power of the Holy Ghost; he came not into the world in the way of ordinary generation, but in a supernatural manner; and so his human body is a tabernacle, not of the common building, or creation, as the word may be rendered, as other human bodies are.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Having come (). Second aorist middle participle of . This is the great historic event that is the crux of history. “Christ came on the scene, and all was changed” (Moffatt).
Of the good things to come ( ). But B D read (that are come). It is a nice question which is the true text. Both aspects are true, for Christ is High Priest of good things that have already come as well as of the glorious future of hope. Westcott prefers , Moffatt .
Through the greater and more perfect tabernacle ( ). Probably the instrumental use of (2Cor 2:4; Rom 2:27; Rom 14:20) as accompaniment, not the local idea (Heb 4:14; Heb 10:20). Christ as High Priest employed in his work the heavenly tabernacle (8:2) after which the earthly was patterned (9:24).
Not made with hands ( ). Old compound verbal for which see Mark 14:58; Acts 7:48; Acts 17:24. Cf. Heb 8:2. Here in the predicate position.
Not of this creation ( ). Explanation of . For see 2Cor 5:17; Rom 8:19. For the idea see 2Cor 4:18; Heb 8:2. This greater and more perfect tabernacle is heaven itself (9:24).
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
The time of reformation introduces a higher sanctuary, a better offering, a more radical salvation.
Having come [] . Having appeared in the world. Only here in Hebrews, and only once in Paul. 1Co 16:3. Most frequent in Luke and Acts.
Of good things to come [ ] . According to this reading the A. V. is wrong. It should be “of the good things realized,” or that have come to pass. The A. V. follows the reading mellontwn about to be. So Tischendorf and Rev. T. Weiss with Westcott and Hort read genomenwn. Blessings not merely prophetic or objects of hope, but actually attained; free approach to God, the better covenant, personal communion with God, the purging of the conscience.
Through a greater and more perfect tabernacle [] . The preposition is instrumental. Comp. ver. 12. Const. with ajrciereuv high priest, and as qualifying it. “A high priest with a greater and more perfect tabernacle.” It has been shown that the new high priest must have a sanctuary and an offering (ch. 8 2 – 8). Accordingly, as the Levitical priests were attached to (were priests with) an inferior tabernacle, so Christ appears with a greater and more perfect tabernacle. For this use of dia see Rom 2:27; Rom 14:20; 2Co 2:4; 2Co 3:11. Note the article with tabernacle, his greater, etc. That is to say not of this building [ ] . For building rend. creation. See on Rom 8:19; 2Co 5:17; Col 1:15. The meaning is, not belonging to this natural creation either in its materials or its maker.
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
1) “But Christ being come an high priest,” (christos de paragenomenos archiereus) “But Christ having appeared (as) an high priest,” now in heaven for his own, Heb 3:1. He is the apostle (sent one) and High Priest of our profession, an eternal one, Heb 7:25; Heb 9:24.
2) “Of good things to come,” (ton genomen agathon) “Of the good things that have (already) come to be,” to exist, in and through Him, of which the law ordinances and ceremonies and rituals were only a shadow, Heb 10:1.
3) “By a greater and more perfect tabernacle,” (dia tes mezonos kai teleioteras skenes) “Through the greater and more nearly perfect tabernacle,” the true tabernacle, Heb 8:2. This alludes to the church as the “true tabernacle” of worship and service in this age, which Jesus established, not John the Baptist, before him, or Peter after him, at Pentecost, Mat 16:18; Mat 28:20; Act 20:28.
4) “Not made with hands,” (ou cheiropoietou) “Not made by hand,” not hand-made or hand-formed; Jesus left his true tabernacle, the church, on earth when he went as High Priest to administer his own blood as High Priest in heaven, his sanctuary now, Heb 7:25; Heb 9:24; Eph 2:21-22.
5) “This is to say, not of this building,” (tout’ estin ou tautes tes ktiseos) “This one (of his) is not of this creation order, or type building,” not merely a physical tabernacle of worship, but a building, the house of God, constituted of lively stones fitly framed together (in fellowship) for an habitation of the Spirit of God, is God’s tabernacle of worship and service in this age, ; Mar 13:34; Mar 13:37; 1Ti 3:15; 1Pe 2:5; 1Pe 2:9-10.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
11. But Christ being come, etc. He now sets before us the reality of the things under the Law, that it may turn our eyes from them to itself; for he who believes that the things then shadowed forth under the Law have been really found in Christ, will no longer cleave to the shadows, but will embrace the substance and the genuine reality.
But the particulars of the comparison between Christ and the ancient high priest, ought to be carefully noticed. He had said that the high priest alone entered the sanctuary once a year with blood to expiate sins. Christ is in this life the ancient high priests for he alone possesses the dignity and the office of a high priest; but he differs from him in this respect, that he brings with him eternal blessings which secure a perpetuity to his priesthood. Secondly, there is this likeness between the ancient high priest and ours, that both entered the holy of holies through the sanctuary; but they differ in this, that Christ alone entered into heaven through the temple of his own body. That the holy of holies was once every year opened to the high priest to make the appointed expiation — this obscurely prefigured the one true sacrifice of Christ. To enter once then was common to both, but to the earthly it was every year, while it was to the heavenly forever, even to the end of the world. The offering of blood was common to both; but there was a great difference as to the blood; for Christ offered, not the blood of beasts, but his own blood. Expiation was common to both; but that according to the Law, as it was inefficacious, was repeated every year; but the expiation made by Christ is always effectual and is the cause of eternal salvation to us. Thus, there is great importance almost in every word. Some render the words, “But Christ standing by,” or asking; but the meaning of the Apostle is not thus expressed; for he intimates that when the Levitical priests had for the prefixed time performed their office, Christ came in their place, according to what we found in the seventh chapter. (147)
Of good things to come, etc. Take these for eternal things; for as μέλλων καιρὸς, time to come, is set in opposition to the present τῷ ἐνεστηκότι; so future blessings are to the present. The meaning is, that we are led by Christ’s priesthood into the celestial kingdom of God, and that we are made partakers of spiritual righteousness and of eternal life, so that it is not right to desire anything better. Christ alone, then, has that by which he can retain and satisfy us in himself. (148)
By a greater and more perfect tabernacle, etc. Though this passage is variously explained, yet I have no doubt but that he means the body of Christ; for as there was formerly an access for the Levitical high priest to the holy of holies through the sanctuary, so Christ through his own body entered into the glory of heaven; for as he had put on our flesh and in it suffered, he obtained for himself this privilege, that he should appear before God as a Mediator for us. In the first place, the word sanctuary is fitly and suitably applied to the body of Christ, for it is the temple in which the whole majesty of God dwells. He is further said to have made a way for us by his body to ascend into heaven, because in that body he consecrated himself to God, he became in it sanctified to be our true righteousness, he prepared himself in it to offer a sacrifice; in a word, he made himself in it of no reputation, and suffered the death of the cross; therefore, the Father highly exalted him and gave him a name above every name, that every knee should bow to him. (Phi 2:8.) He then entered into heaven through his own body, because on this account it is that he now sits at the Father’s right hand; he for this reason intercedes for us in heaven, because he had put on our flesh, and consecrated it as a temple to God the Father, and in it sanctified himself to obtain for us an eternal righteousness, having made an expiation for our sins. (149)
It may however seem strange, that he denies the body of Christ to be of this building; for doubtless he proceeded from the seed of Abraham, and was liable to sufferings and to death. To this I reply, that he speaks not here of his material body, or of what belongs to the body as such, but of the spiritual efficacy which emanates from it to us. For as far as Christ’s flesh is quickening, and is a heavenly food to nourish souls, as far as his blood is a spiritual drink and has a cleansing power, we are not to imagine anything earthly or material as being in them. And then we must remember that this is said in allusion to the ancient tabernacle, which was made of wood, brass, skins, silver, and gold, which were all dead things; but the power of God made the flesh of Christ to be a living and spiritual temple.
(147) See commentary on Chapter 7 ].
(148) “Good things (or blessings) to come,” may have a reference to the blessings promised in the Old Testament as the blessings of the kingdom of Christ, included in “the eternal redemption” mentioned in the next verse. — Ed.
(149) There is no other view that is satisfactory. The idea that has been by some suggested, that the “better tabernacle” is the visible heaven through which he entered into the heaven of heavens, has no evidence in its support. Some of the Ancients, such as Ambrose, and also Doddridge and Scott consider heaven as intended, as in Heb 8:2, (but “tabernacle” in that passage means the whole structure, especially the holy of holies.) According to this view διὰ is rendered in — “in a greater and more perfect tabernacle.” But Chrysostom, Theophylact, Grotius, Beza, etc., agree with Calvin in regarding Christ’s human nature as signified by the “tabernacle;” and what confirms this exposition is what we find in Heb 10:5. “Not made with hands,” and “not of this creation,” for no objection; for Christ’s body was supernaturally formed; and the contrast is with the material tabernacle, a human structure, made by men and made of earthly materials. It is, however, better to connect “tabernacle” with the preceding than with the following words, —
But Christ, having come the high priest of the good things to come by means of a better and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is, not of this creation, has entered once for all into the holiest, not indeed with (or by) the blood of goats and calves but (or by) his own blood, having obtained an eternal redemption.
“
Creation” here means the world; it was not made of worldy materials. See Heb 9:1. — Ed.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
CRITICAL AND EXEGETICAL NOTES
Heb. 9:11. Good things to come.Lit. who procures future blessings; in the sense of spiritual blessings. Farrar suggests the reading of the good things that have come. Compare the expressions last days, latter days. Tabernacle.Representing heaven, the spiritual sphere, after the figure of the material tent. Made with hands.A rhetorical way of showing its distinction from the Jewish tabernacle.
Heb. 9:12. Neither by the blood, etc.Referring to the ceremonies of the Day of Atonement. Goats and calves.A summarising of the victims offered, not a precise detail. Bullocks may be put for calves. His own blood.As the heavenly sanctuary cannot be thought of as admitting actual blood, that spiritual thing which the blood represented must be meant. What then was that spiritual thing which Christ, as spiritual High Priest, presented, which answers to the symbol of the blood? What is the soul sacrifice that has blood for its earthly figure? This is the great question to be solved, if this portion of the epistle is to be understood. His own blood was the offering by which He was admitted as our High Priest and eternal Redeemer into the Holy of Holies of Gods immediate presence. Eternal redemption.Compare the temporary redemption which was all that the old priest could accomplish. The spiritual is the permanent. Omit the words for us. The effected by Christ needs no repetition.
Heb. 9:13. Ashes, etc.Num. 19:2-9. These were distinctly for purification from ceremonial offences. Flesh.I.e. from uncleanness according to Mosaic ideas and rules; ritual disabilities.
Heb. 9:14. How much more.The form of argument characteristic of this epistle. The argument recalls to mind what has already been said concerning the dignity of the person of Christ. Through the eternal Spirit.One of the most difficult expressions in the epistle. It may mean either
(1) by the help of the Holy Spirit; or
(2) in an eternal, that is a spiritual, nature or manner; or
(3) by His own Divine nature, i.e. with the full concurrence of His own eternal spirit or will. Ellicott says, in spirit, in the higher sphere of His Divine life; the of Christ is not here the Holy Spirit, but the higher principle of spiritual life. Through this spirit, a spirit of holiness, a spirit of indissoluble life, He offered Himself to God. This made such a self-offering possible, this gave to the offering infinite worth. It must refer to Christs own spirit, the consenting act of His Divine personality. This expression, offered Himself, explains the reference to the blood; the offering of the blood is the figure, the offering of Himself is the fact. Without spot., with allusion to the ground of acceptance for Jewish victims. Christs offering of Himself, if it had been that of a stained sinner, could not have been acceptable. Spotless, it could be representative. Dead works.The term dead is used because the ashes, referred to above, cleansed those who were made unclean by contact with the dead. Dead works may mean generally sinful works, since it is from the pollution as well as the penalty of sin that Christs offering of Himself delivers and cleanses.
Heb. 9:15.The writer now proceeds to show that this real sacrifice of Christ was the medium through which full forgiveness and personal acceptance were vouchsafed under the old covenant. The doctrine of Heb. 9:15; Heb. 9:26, together with the passage Rom. 3:25-26, is clear and conclusive to the point, that from the fall of Adam to the end of time the way of salvation is one, viz. Gods free grace manifested through the Redeemers self-sacrifice, responded to by the thankful trust of the sinner in undeserved Divine mercy, and in the medium of that mercy according to the degree of its revelation. Stuart gives the sentiment of this verse thus: As Jewish sacrifices rendered the offerer externally clean, so the blood of Christ purifies the moral or internal man, and removes the consequences of sin. On this account ( ), i.e. because the sacrifice of Christ produces an effect such as the Jewish sacrifices did not, He may justly be called the Mediator of a new covenant, differing greatly from the old. For this cause.Either on account of the grandeur of His offering, or as bearing relation to conscience (see Heb. 9:14). New testament.The Greek word is covenant, ; testament is the confusing translation of the A.V.; in the R.V. the word covenant is restored. For mediator with idea of negotiator, see Moses (Gal. 3:19). The idea expressed is, that this new covenant is retrospective as well as prospective, and is the explanation of the spiritual relationship with God that could be attained under the old, and preparatory, and formal covenant. The new covenant, in fact, underlay, and was involved in, the old covenant. That was indeed such an expression of it as was possible in the age to which it was given. By means of death.Christs surrender of Himself in death. In the light of it as the covenant acceptance and seal. Redemption, etc.Those spiritual transgressions (including penalties) which the old covenant did not touch; concerning them God promised forgiveness on the condition of Christs obedience. When that obedience was rendered the promise was actually fulfilled. They which are called.The Scripture figure for the sincerely believing and pious. Eternal.Equivalent to spiritual, which includes that idea of permanence. Inheritance.Stuart renders blessings; proffered good. Compare Heb. 3:1, partakers of a heavenly calling. Farrar renders eternal heritage.
Heb. 9:16-17. Testament.. Here rhetorically used in its Greek and Roman sense of a will, the idea being suggested by the mention of the inheritance (Heb. 9:15), and of the necessity of a death. The covenant ratified by the death of Christ is compared with a testament proved valid, and rendered operative, by the death of the testator. But the argument is rhetorical rather than logical. Death of the testator.It lies over as a promise, but the testators death alone gives possession. Of force.Comes into power and operation. It is an inoperative thing, a mere promise through all the long ages, until Christs death brings it into operation. This is one view of the death of Christ, but it appeals much more forcibly to Jewish minds than to ours.
MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.Heb. 9:11-17
The High Priest of Spiritual Things.The greater involves the less. If it can be shown that Christ has gained for a man a right of free personal access to God Himself, it is involved that He has gained for him the right to offer his worship himself. If He has opened the way into the Holy of Holies, He must have opened the way into the Holy Place. This explains why the writer carries his reference to the Holy Place no further, but fixes attention on the Most Holy. Recall the symbolical ceremonies of the Day of Atonement.
1. The attention of the priest to personal cleanliness and suitable clothing.
2. The sacrificial ceremonies by means of which he gained personal acceptance with God, before undertaking to represent anybody else.
3. The precise acts associated with his passing, as standing for the people, into the presence of Jehovah.
(1) Taking the golden censer out;
(2) putting in it live coals;
(3) dropping on the coals the handful of incense, just as he took the veil aside;
(4) sprinkling the blood of the goat on the mercy-seat;
(5) waiting, anxiously watching for, the sign of Divine acceptance;
(6) coming forth to declare unto the people the Divine forgiveness and favour. But notice that, when he came forth, he closed the veil behind him, and it remained closed for another year. Now see resemblances and differences between the work of the old high priest of symbols, and the new High Priest of spiritual realities.
I. Christ, as High Priest, entered the spiritual Holy of Holies.The spiritual counterpart of that material chamber. By the spiritual presence of God we mean that presence which we, as spirits, may realise in a spiritual way. Direct access of spirit to spirit. In using the term heavenly, there is some danger of our making material figures in our minds of the eternal abode of the Eternal. God is a spirit. His heaven is spiritual. And it is the loss of free spiritual access to the spiritual God which is mans supreme loss; and it is that lost access which Christ set Himself to restore. Mans humanity, as the medium of his sin, is the veil which shuts him out of the spiritual Holy of Holies, even as the gates and the cherubim shut our first parents out of Eden. Christ entered through the veil, His flesh, by winning His humanity wholly for God, and because of His sinlessness He could go right in; there was no hindering veil of a sinful body.
II. Christ, as High Priest, took in His own spiritual blood.The figure is taken from the blood of the goat which the high priest took in, but we must see the spiritual thing which the figure symbolised. And the blood that Jesus took was His own life. The blood is the life. In Heb. 9:14 it is precisely explained for us. He offered Himself without spot to God. He had fully won His body and His earthly life for God. And now He gave Himself,sinless body, obedient will, devoted selfPriest and sacrifice: Himself, as it were, the old high priest; and Himself, as it were, the blood which the old high priest took.
III. Christ, as High Priest, gained spiritual rights and privileges for us.
1. Rights of free, open, permanent access to God. Our being human, and having these sin-experienced human bodies, no longer makes a veil hiding God away, for any of us whose wills are renewed and made as Christs. His representative body-triumph stands for us; and the veil is gone for us, as it was for Him, and we have boldness of access.
2. Privileges of cleansed consciences. Relief from that sense of constraint to sin which distresses every man so long as his will is unrenewed. Jewish ceremonies brought removal of certain penalties of sins. Christ by His sacrifice and mediation brings deliverance from the sinfulness which works out into sins.
3. Privileges and rights of a new and spiritual covenant; which pledges, on Gods part, spiritual power for maintaining spiritual life; and, on mans part, spiritual service, the constant holding of himself as a living sacrifice unto God. And these rights and privileges are kept up for us by the abiding presence of our High Priest in the heavenly Holy of Holies, where He is with His blood, Himself, fully surrendered to God in our name, and as our pledge.
SUGGESTIVE NOTES AND SERMON SKETCHES
Heb. 9:11. The Greater Tabernacle.The tabernacle of old was the dwelling of God in the midst of His people: Let them make Me a sanctuary where I may dwell among them; I will set My tabernacle among you and My soul shall not abhor you. And I will walk among you, and will be your God, and ye shall be My people (Exo. 25:8; Lev. 26:11-12). Whatever other thoughts, therefore, the tabernacle may have suggested, this was its first and most important aspect; and it need only further be observed that, when it is spoken of as the dwelling-place of God, it is of God, not in His abstract Being, but as He makes Himself known to, as He comes into contact with, us. It is not a model upon a small scale of the universe, as if He of whom Solomon at the dedication of the Temple sublimely said, Behold, the heaven and heaven of heavens cannot contain Thee, desired an earthly representation of His boundless abode. We have to do with God in the relation in which He stands to man. Of that relation as it existed toward Israel the was a type. Yet, further, the other name by which the structure was known, and which is even more frequently given it than that of tabernacle, has to, be taken into account. It was the tent of meeting, words unhappily rendered in the A.V., though corrected in the R.V., the tabernacle of the congregation; and it received this name because there God met with Israel. This, it is said, shall be a continual burnt-offering throughout your generations at the door of the tent of meeting before the Lord, where I will meet you, to speak there unto thee. And there will I meet with the children of Israel (Exo. 29:42-43). This, then, was the meaning of the tabernacle. It was the place in which God dwelt, and at which He met with His people, and they with Him. It had relation to the Almighty, not as the Ruler of the universe, but as One who desired to bring His children nearer to Himself, that they might be sanctified for His service, and be made to rejoice in His favour. It spoke to man, not as a creature to be bowed down beneath the thought of infinite power, but to be elevated to communion and fellowship with that holy yet merciful Being who had formed him to show forth His praise, and to find in doing so his true dignity and joy. If this was the meaning of the tabernacle to Israel, there can be no doubt as to what is expressed by the word when filled with Christian thought. Christ Himself is the Christian tabernacle. In Him the Father dwells with men, meets with them, and makes Himself in ever-increasing measure known to them. He that hath seen Me hath seen the Father; If ye had known Me, ye should have known My Father also (Joh. 14:9; Joh. 8:19). It ought to be unnecessary to remind the reader that this idea of meeting God, of His drawing nigh on His side to us, and of our drawing nigh to Him, is the distinguishing feature of the Christian dispensation, and that it is dwelt upon with remarkable frequency and emphasis in the epistle to the Hebrews. Putting these considerations together, we appear to be justified in coming to the conclusion that by the greater and more perfect tabernacle we are to understand the human nature of our Lord, or our Lord in His incarnate state; and the only question comes to be, whether we are to think simply of His humanity, as it was on earth, or (with Hofmann) of that humanity as it exists in its glorified state in heaven. There is little room for hesitation as to the answer. That the writer of this epistle could never have spoken of the earthly body of Christ as not made with handsthat is to say, not of this creationis clear from the statement of Heb. 10:20, where he refers to the new and living way which Jesus has dedicated for us through the veilthat is to say, His fleshwords founded upon that rending asunder of the veil of the Temple at the Crucifixion, by which the veil was not so much opened as abrogated and thrown asidewords also in which it is not without interest to notice that the human name Jesus is used, not, as now, the higher name Christ. The flesh of our Lord, then, i.e. His humanity under its earthly conditions and limitations, was in like manner something, so far at least as these conditions were concerned, which needed to be thrown aside, something not spiritual, heavenly, and unlimited, and of which we give a true description when we say that it was of this creation. It was a body of flesh, and what the writer understands by that word we see from his use, in Heb. 7:16, of the word , made of flesh (not , fleshly), when he employs it to express the character of that Old Testament dispensation which had been superseded by the higher, to which Christ belonged. Nor is this all: for throughout his epistle the redeeming work of our Lord is conceived of as that not of an earthly, but of a heavenly High Priest, and the writer would certainly not depart from that conception at the moment when he is contrasting the very essence of Christs work with that of the high priest of Israel. Once admit, therefore, that the greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with handsthat is to say, not of this creationis the incarnate Lord, and it is impossible to pause there. We must also admit that it is that Lord in His human nature exalted and glorified. In the nature which He possessed, when He returned, after His resurrection and ascension, to His Father in heaven, He carries out the great work of bringing God and man into perfect union and communion with one another. In the glorified Redeemer God and man have their true and everlasting meeting-place.Prof. W. Milligan.
Heb. 9:14. The Offering of Himself.Our Lords death was a voluntary offering, a sacrifice, a sacrifice of Himself. But the word sacrifice, and the associations of the text, bring up before us the Jewish tabernacle and ritual. We see the smoking altars, the slain beasts, the waiting worshippers. And it must be with the imagery of these altar forms in our minds that we approach the consideration of the self-offering of Christ. But it is evident that our Lords death was not a sacrifice after the precise Jewish pattern. We visit Calvary on that ever-memor able day, and we say, Where is the Temple? Where is the altar? Where are the officiating priests? Where is the flowing blood? Where is the floating incense? We can find none of them. In the outward seeming there is no sacrifice here. That prtorium, this knoll, are no temples. That howling mob was no devout company of worshippers. Pilate was no priest. The cross is no altar. At first we are bewildered, and it is only as we search deeper that we recover our confidence, and find that within this strange appearance there is the great spiritual reality of sacrifice. In expecting Christs sacrifice to answer precisely to the Jewish model we have mistaken the proper relations of type and antitype. A type is a representation, taking some material form, for an earlier and undeveloped age, of some spiritual thing, which is to be afterwards realised as antitpye. The type and antitype cannot be of the same material and form. A picture may be the type of a man, but the man differs from the picture. Earth is the type of heaven, but we may not therefore conclude that in everything heaven is like earth; it is the spiritual realisation of the type. Properly a type is the representation, in other forms and modes, of some spiritual reality which either cannot get outward expression at all, or only in modes which could not be understood when the type was given. In treating of Christs sacrifice as the antitype to which the Jewish typical sacrifices pointed, we have not perhaps made due account of this fact: the sacrifice of Judaism was a pictured material representation; the sacrifice of Christ is an inward spiritual reality. The type was a kind of drama, wrought out with scenes and representative figures. The antitype was the very life-story itself, wrought out in mental agony, and soul-struggling; and ending in sublime moral victory. We ought not, therefore, to seek any precise reproduction of the Jewish altar-forms in connection with the antitypical and spiritual sacrifice of the Lord Jesus.
I. Christs offering was a sacrifice.The pious Jew sought to offer a spiritual sacrifice by means of the victim he brought in accordance with Mosaic rules. And though the days of Judaism are long past, and no altars smoke with burning victims now, it is as possible as it ever was for true hearts to make oblation of themselves to God; and when we say that the death of Christ was a sacrifice, we mean that it was such a sacrifice as a man may make, not merely such a special and peculiar sacrifice as only a Jew may make. As the Jew brought his very costliest and best, and surrendered it wholly to God in testimony that he held all he was and all he had as Gods and for Him, so Christ brought Himself, He had nothing, so He brought all He was, and surrendered it wholly, a living sacrificedevoted Himself to the obedience of the will of God.
II. Christs offering was a self-sacrifice.The only true sacrifice is self-sacrifice. No gift reaches the dignity of a sacrifice until, to give it, a man has deprived himself, given up his own will and pleasure. Every human gift is measured by the self-sacrifice in it. No redemptions can ever come out of the mere giving of things. But even upon God a kind of power may be gained by self-sacrifice. Mere gifts of things may become acceptable, and even propitiatory, when they serve to express devotion and self-sacrifice. If a man can suffer for God, can give up for God, can die for God, putting his inmost soul to agony in order to do the will and accomplish the purpose of God, he gains, as it were, a kind of holy moral power with God. And how will this kind of power be increased when it is the self-sacrifice of the only begotten Son, for the sake of the honour of the eternal Father?
III. Christs offering was a spotless self-sacrifice.In the preceding chapter the sinlessness of Christ has been treated. The sacrifices of Judaism had to be without blemish. A perfect service God demands of every creature He has made. Not an absolutely, only a relatively, perfect service. From a man God asks the full devotion and sacrifice of all that belongs to his manhood. The claim is just and good; but man, by his wilfulness, has rendered himself incapable of meeting it. Jesus Christ, as man, brings the proof that man can meet Gods claim. He lifts up into view the great law of our life, and shows it to be holy, and just, and good. He submitted to human conditions, and in them worked out a perfect obedience, presenting himself to God as a man without spot. In Him God accepted what He had vainly sought for through all the generations of humanitythe perfect, spotless obedience and service of a man. The perfectness of Christs sacrifice was the ennobling of the human race. It lifted its burden, and gave it hope. To the view of God it was a salvation for the race.
IV. Christs offering was a spotless self-sacrifice on behalf of others.Christ is our Representative, our Vicar. As Adam dealt with God for the human race, not instead of it, in the first great moral trial, carrying weaknesses and moral evils to the race in his failure, so Christ, as the second Adam, dealt with God for the race in the second great moral trial, carrying salvation, forgiveness, life, and hope to the race by His spotless obedience unto, and through, death. Christs righteousness does not supersede ours; it involves, and demands, and pledges ours. His sacrifice was not made in order that we might never have to make any; but He, in fulness, offered what we, in our measure, also should offer. And in acknowledging Christs offering as ours we declare ourselves to be not our own, and we testify our determination to strive also to offer ourselves without spot to God. Real human life is a perpetual completion and repetition of the sacrifice of Christ,
Christs Eternal Spirit.This fact must be fully facedthere is no instance, in the New Testament, in which the Holy Ghost is spoken of as the eternal Spirit. The assumption therefore is, that the Holy Ghost is not referred to in this verse. Moreover, this writer uses the term Holy Ghost (Heb. 2:4; Heb. 3:7; Heb. 4:4; Heb. 9:8; Heb. 10:15); and if on one occasion he uses another term, the assumption is that he had in his mind another idea. It may also be shown that there was nothing to suggest the Holy Ghost to the writer at this point. He was dealing with Christs voluntary offering of Himself to God. His own will, His own spirit, inspired the surrender, and made it so infinitely acceptable. It was the real, genuine, willing, entire devotion of a mans self to God in obedience and submission; and this was the representative Man. If the Holy Ghost, conceived in any sense as separate from Christ, really inspired our Lords surrender, then it was not, genuinely and simply, Christs offering of Himself. The real merit of the offering belongs to the Holy Ghost who inspired it, not to Jesusthe Man Christ Jesuswho made it. We cannot use the term spiritual spirit, though that might best convey the idea that is in the term eternal spirit. We may say Divine spiritthe holy will and resolve of a Divine Being. So understanding the term, the point of the writers reference to it comes fully into view. By His own spiritby that burning love which proceeded from His own spirit. Moses Stuart translates, in an eternal spiritual nature; and he explains thus: It is in the heavenly world, in the tabernacle not made with hands, that the offering of our great High Priest is made. There He has presented Himself, in His heavenly or glorified state, in His eternal spiritual condition, or possessed of an eternal spiritual nature. Dr. Moulton says: For the opinion that the reference is to the Holy Spirit there seems to be no foundation in the usage of the New Testament, and it is not indicated by anything in the context. The explanation of the words must rather be sought in the nature of our Lord, or in some attribute of that nature. The of Christ is not the Holy Spirit, but the higher principle of spiritual life, which was not the Divinity (this would be an Apollinarian assertion), but especially and intimately united with it.
Heb. 9:15. The Old and the New.It was a part of the mission of the apostles not to transfer the allegiance of the Jews from one God to another, but to teach them how to serve the same God in a higher dispensation, under a noble disclosure of His character and attributes by new and better methods. The Old was good; the New was better. We could scarcely conceive of Christianity as a system developed in this world, if it had not been preceded by the Mosaic economy. The Old was local and national in its prime intents and in its results. The New was for all ages. The Old was a system of practices; the New is a system of principles. The Old built men for this world. Therefore it hardly looked beyond this world. The whole force of the New is derived from its supereminent doctrine of the future. The Old addressed the conscience through fear. The New aims at the very springs of moral power in the soul, and that through love. The Old sought to build up around the man physical helps. It was a system of crutches and canes. The New strikes straight for character, by the force of a mans own will. The Old Testament was not wholly without its natural religion. To the Hebrew mind nature was one vast symbolism. With a far lower aim in character, the Old kept men in bondage. With immeasurably higher aim and larger requisition, the New yields liberty. The Old was a dispensation of secular morals. It lived in the past. The New is a system of aspiration. It lives in the future. The Old was a system in which men remembered; the New is a system in which men aspire. The Old Testament was God hidden; the New Testament is God made known through Jesus Christa living force. We are the children of the New Testament, and not of the Old. Woe be to us if, living in these latter days, we find ourselves groping in the imperfections of the Old Testament, instead of springing up with all the vitality and supereminent manhood which belongs to the New Testament! We are the children of a living Saviour. To be a disciple of the New Testament is to have a living Head. It is to have a vital connection with that Head. It is to be conscious, while all nature speaks of God, and while all the exercises of religion assist indirectly, that the main power of a true religion in the soul is the souls connection with a living God. Let your life mount up toward God.H. Ward Beecher.
Redemption through Death.Read that, death having taken place for redemption from the transgressions, etc. The first covenant had been broken by transgressions: unless there be redemption from thesethat is, from the bondage of penalty which has resulted from thesethere can be no promise, and no new covenant. In respect of this bondage, this penalty, the death of Christ was a ransoman offering to God looked at in the light of a payment in the place of debt, service, or penalty due. When debt and payment are changed into the corresponding ideas of sin and punishment, the ransom gives place to the sin-offering, of which the principle was the acknowledgment of death deserved, and the vicarious suffering of death. So far our thought has rested on the removal of the results of the past. The covenant and the promise relate to the establishment of the better future. Death was necessary alike for both. The offering of Christs life (Mat. 20:28) was a ransom or an offering for sin; it was also a sacrifice inaugurating a new covenant, which contained the promise of the eternal inheritance (Dr. Moulton). It will be seen that this is a setting of truth designed to meet the ideas and associations of Jews, who would want to be assured that every obligation of the old covenant had been fully and honourably met. What precisely does the term ransom teach us when applied to the death of Christ? This much at least: that the death of Jesus, voluntarily endured, is somehow the means of delivering from death the souls of the many; He died, that they might live; He died willingly, because He believed that thereby He could render this service. This much, and perhaps not much more. How the death of the Son of man brings life to others, and whether the life thus procured could not be obtained in any other way, does not appear. We may have recourse to the sacrificial system in search of the needful supplementary explanations.Dr. A. B. Bruce.
Heb. 9:16. The Ratification of Gods Covenant.For testator, R.V. reads Him that made it. Doddridge has paraphrased thus: For where a covenant is, it necessarily imports the death of that by which the covenant is confirmed: since sacrificial rites have ever attended the most celebrated covenants which God hath made with man, so that a covenant is confirmed over the dead. And it is evident from the line of reasoning which the author of the epistle follows, that if is to be taken as equivalent to covenant, then the death of the pacifier, or confirming instrument, is implied. Parkhurst and others suggest that institution, or dispensation, gives greater force, and is a just rendering. And though the idea of a will or testamentary document (as given in our A.V.) seems to fit in with Heb. 9:16-17, there is much difficulty in harmonising it with the whole passage.
ILLUSTRATIONS TO CHAPTER 9
Heb. 9:14. Philos Divine Spirit.Professor Bruce aptly illustrates this passage by a citation from Philo. The question in the verse is thisHow should the blood of Christ have so unlimited value as compared with that of bulls and goats? The reply is found in the phrase by an eternal spirit. Philo in one place says that a man has two souls: the blood, the soul of the man as a whole; the Divine spirit, the soul of his higher nature. We may conceive our author as consciously or unconsciously re-echoing the sentiment, and saying: Yes, the blood, according to the Scriptures, is the soul of a living animal, and in the blood of the slain victim its soul or life was presented as an offering to God by the officiating priest. But in connection with the sacrifice of Christ, we must think of the higher human soul, the Divine spirit. It was as a spirit He offered Himself, as a self-conscious, free, moral personality; and His offering was a spirit revealed through a never-to-be-forgotten act of self-surrender, not the literal blood shed on Calvary, which in itself possessed no more intrinsic value than the blood of Levitical victims.
Fuente: The Preacher’s Complete Homiletical Commentary Edited by Joseph S. Exell
2.
The superiority of Christs ministry in the heavenly tabernacle. Heb. 9:11-14.
Text
Heb. 9:11-14
Heb. 9:11 But Christ having come a High Priest of the good things to come, through the greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this creation, Heb. 9:12 nor yet through the blood of goats and calves, but through His own blood, entered in once for all into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption, Heb. 9:13 For if the blood of goats and bulls, and the ashes of a heifer sprinkling them that have been defiled, sanctify unto the cleanness of the flesh: Heb. 9:14 how much more shall the blood of Christ, Who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without blemish unto God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?
Paraphrase
Heb. 9:11 But Christ being come, who is made an High Priest or Mediator of the blessings which are to be bestowed through the services of the greater and more excellent tabernacle, not made like the Mosaic tabernacle, with the hands of men, that is to say, a tabernacle not in this lower world.
Heb. 9:12 Hath entered once for all into the holy places where God resides, (see Heb. 9:5 note), not indeed by the blood of goats and of calves, but by His own blood, or death, as a sacrifice for sin; having thereby obtained for us, not redemption for a year, as the high priest did by entering the holy places on earth, but everlasting redemption; so did not need to offer Himself a second time.
Heb. 9:13 That Jesus, by His death, should procure an eternal pardon for sinners is reasonable; for if the blood of bulls and of goats, offered by the high priest, and the ashes of an heifer, sprinkling the polluted, did, by the appointment of God, sanctify to the cleansing of the flesh, so as to fit the offender for joining in the tabernacle worship.
Heb. 9:14 How much more reasonable is it that the blood of Christ, Who in obedience to God suffered death, and through the eternal Spirit, being raised from the dead, offered himself a victim without fault to God, should have merit sufficient to cleanse your conscience from the guilt of works which deserve death; that is, banish from your mind the fear of punishment, that ye may be fit to worship the living God with the hope of acceptance?
Comment
But Christ having come a High Priest of the good things to come
Our blessings are future; the old was present.
a.
Human priests were busy obtaining divine favor, but Jesus has obtained it.
b.
The good things to come are those things obtained by His bloodpardon, access, heaven, etc.
Some say blessings to come may refer to those promised in the Old Testament.
sanctify unto the cleanness of the flesh
God has always had a meeting place for His people.
a.
The altar has been that place in the past.
b.
Now God comes where men are gathered in His name. Samaritan woman: Joh. 4:21.
God will some day have all who love Him around the throne.
not made with hands, that is to say, not of this creation
The new tabernacle is eternal, not made with the feeble hands of men. Compare Rev. 11:19; Rev. 15:5.
nor yet through the blood of goats and calves
Christs blood was of more value than that of beasts. The old priests entered with the blood of a calf or a young bullock. Lev. 16:3.
but through His Own blood
The death of Christ was discussed at the transfiguration.
Luk. 9:28-36.
His death was foretold: Gen. 3:15; Isaiah 53.
entered in once for all into the Holy Place
One entrance was sufficient.
When did He enter? Between the statements to Mary and to Thomas?
a.
He told Mary not to touch Him, for He had not yet ascended. Joh. 20:17.
b.
He told Thomas to touch Him. Joh. 20:27.
c.
Until greater light is thrown on these verses, we may assume the entrance was made after His commission was given and He made the ascension.
having obtained eternal redemption
Milligan: The word entered is a verb, Aorish, and the word obtaining is a participle, Aorists and these are contemporaneous acts.
A redemption price that would stand good forever.
For if the blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer
Is this different from Heb. 9:12? Bulls and calves are named.
a.
Calves are young bullocks, so there is no difference.
b.
It was by the blood of these that the priest was able to enter heaven with his own blood.
c.
This blood of goats and bulls also served to cleanse the flesh ceremonially.
The ashes of a heifer also had an important part.
a.
The heifer was red. Num. 19:2.
1.
The heifer was burned outside the camp, together with cedar wood, hyssop and scarlet.
2.
The ashes were then prepared in water of purification to cleanse all who had touched a dead body or who had been in the tent with one.
b.
Christ had no defilement, so this was never needed for Him.
sprinkling
It had to be applied to the people or else it was not sufficient, Num. 19:11-13.
a.
Calvin, the Presbyterian, in his commentary does not deal with the word sprinkling, so he does not advocate that it is a type of baptism by sprinkling.
b.
To dip all the people in blood would have been an impossibility. Blood must be applied today.
a.
Baptism is into the death of Christ.
b.
The Lords Supper is a partaking of His blood.
them that have been defiled
This water of purification was sprinkled upon anyone who had touched a dead body. Num. 19:11-12.
Observe the whole chapter for the process. Numbers 19.
sanctify unto the cleanness of the flesh
If the blood of beasts was a true symbol of purgation, how much more shall the Christ purify man.
It is not cleanness of flesh that we must seek, but cleanness of the spirit.
a.
Peter says baptism is not a physical bath but a cleansing of the conscience. 1Pe. 3:21.
b.
Joh. 3:5 speaks of a new birth.
how much more shall the blood of Christ
The blood of Christ is of singular importance.
a.
Joh. 1:29 : Behold the Lamb of God, That taketh away the sin of the world.
b.
1Jn. 3:5 : Ye know that He was manifested to take away sin.
c.
1Jn. 1:9 : If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
If the blood of animals had some value, of course Christs blood would have much more.
Who through the Eternal Spirit
Note the place of the Spirit in Jesus life:
a.
Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit. Mat. 1:18-20.
b.
His commission was given by the Holy Spirit. Act. 1:2.
c.
Jesus performed His miracles by the Spirit.
1.
Mat. 12:28 : But if I by the spirit of God cast out demons, then is the kingdom of God come upon you.
2.
Act. 10:38 : God anointed Him with the Holy Spirit.
d.
His death was done through the Spirit. Heb. 9:14.
e.
By the Spirit He was raised from the dead. 1Pe. 3:18. There are different opinions as to what Spirit is referred to.
a.
Some manuscripts read. His Eternal Spirit.
b.
Some suggest the thought that the trinity concurred in the salvation of the world.
c.
Others think Eternal Spirit refers to His endless life.
offered himself
Does Joh. 3:16 not say, God gave? Yes, but that is not all. Christ came voluntarily.
a.
Php. 2:5-11.
b.
Joh. 10:18; Joh. 13:37-38. No one can find sin in Jesus.
without blemish unto God
a.
Heb. 4:15 : He was tempted in all points, yet without sin.
b.
Threefold temptation endured without sin, Matthew 4.
c.
Pilate said at His trial, I find no fault in Him.
The old sacrifices that were, without spot or blemish, were a type of Jesus.
a.
They were examined outwardly and inwardly to be sure of perfection.
b.
The life of Jesus was thoroughly examined, but no guile was found in Him.
cleanse your conscience
Purify and purge are also words used for cleanse.
The final step of entrance into the kingdom is to cleanse the conscience. 1Pe. 3:21.
a.
Baptism is not for cleansing the flesh, but to cleanse the conscience.
b.
When absolute forgiveness is assured, then the conscience is at rest.
from dead works
General acts which bring the penalty of death.
If it is not Gods work, then it is a dead work. The conscience drives the heart of one who knows sin, to find relief, Dead works, therefore, are the vain attempts to relieve a troubled conscience.
to serve the living God
This is the purpose of being purged. We are not to plunge again into sin.
a.
2Pe. 2:21 : It were better for them not to have known Conversion has a high aim. Every convert should be converted to serve God.
Study Questions
1554.
Of what is Christ a High Priest?
1555.
Do the things to come refer to our blessings in the future or those looked forward to by the old?
1556.
What good things do we expect?
1557.
What tabernacle is referred to?
1558.
Are hands involved in its making?
1559.
Do we have to have a building in which to meet God? Cf. Joh. 4:21.
1560.
How does Revelation describe the new tabernacle? Rev. 11:19; Rev. 15:5.
1561.
Translate Heb. 9:12 in your own words.
1562.
Does it mean that Christ entered without blood?
1563.
What blood did He take with Him to enter?
1564.
Does this mean that Jesus ascended to heaven with His earthly crucified body?
1565.
Can we infer that Jesus did not enter heaven after His resurrection until His final disappearance? Cf. Joh. 20:17; Joh. 20:27.
1566.
What was obtained by Christs entrance?
1567.
Is there a difference in sacrifices here, since bulls are mentioned?
1568.
How were the ashes of the heifer used?
1569.
What were the ashes mixed with? See Numbers 19.
1570.
Who was cleansed by this mixture?
1571.
What was sprinkled?
1572.
Who was sprinkled?
1573.
Why were the people sprinkled with blood, rather than being dipped in it?
1574.
Is there anything significant now about cleansing the flesh?
1575.
Is man in the New Testament to have a cleansed flesh or a cleansed spirit? Cf. 1Pe. 3:21; Joh. 3:5.
1576.
What contrast is seen in Heb. 9:13 and Heb. 9:14?
1577.
What does the blood of Christ do? Cf. Joh. 1:29; 1Jn. 3:5; 1Jn. 1:9.
1578.
If blood of animals served a purpose, may we expect Christs blood to be more effective?
1579.
What adjective describes Christs Spirit?
1580.
Is it His Spirit or the Holy Spirit referred to?
1581.
What has Christ accomplished by the Spirit?
1582.
Does offered Himself conflict with Joh. 3:16? Cf. Php. 2:5-11; Joh. 10:18; Joh. 13:37-38.
1583.
Without blemish unto God is not a new idea. What other verses teach His sinlessness?
1584.
Were the Old Testament sacrifices to be perfect?
1585.
How did they insure a perfect sacrifice?
1586.
Was the life of Jesus thoroughly examined?
1587.
Of what is mans conscience cleansed?
1588.
What could be classified as dead works?
1589.
Are all things that are not Gods works dead works?
1590.
What is the final act that cleanses a mans conscience as he is obedient to God?
1591.
After the cleansing, what is expected of man?
1592.
What is involved in service?
1593.
Do all understand that cleansing is for consecration?
Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series
(11, 12) The changes of translation required in these verses are not considerable in themselves, but important for the sake of bringing out the unity of the sentence and the connection of its parts. But Christ having come a High Priest of the good things to come (or, the good things that are come, see below), through the greater and more perfect Tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this creation, also not through blood of goats and calves, but through His own blood, entered once for all into the Holy Place, having won eternal redemption. With Heb. 9:11 begins the contrast to the first verse. In that we read of the first covenant as possessing ordinances of service and its holy placeboth, however, of this world, and the following verses describe the sanctuary itself (Heb. 9:1-5) and the ordinances (Heb. 9:6-10). Now, the Mediator of the New Covenant (Heb. 8:6), Christ, whose name brings with it the thought of the satisfaction of all hope and fulfilment of all promises, has appeared as High Priest; and entering into the true Holy of Holies has accomplished once for all what the earlier ministrations typified. This is the main thought; but in few verses do the single words require more careful study. The various-reading mentioned above, the good things that are come, is very interesting. It is not supported by a large number of authorities, but amongst them are the Vatican MS. (whose guidance, it may be remarked, we shall soon lose, as the ancient text breaks off suddenly in the middle of a word in Heb. 9:14), the Claromontane MS., and two Syriac versions. One strong argument in its favour presents itself on a comparison with Heb. 10:1 (where there is no doubt about the reading), the good things to come. A scribe who had in mind those words, confirmed by the repeated occurrence of a similar thought in different parts of the Epistle (Heb. 2:5; Heb. 6:5), might easily substitute them for words expressing a less familiar thought. The two phrases differ more in form than in reality. In one we look at the new order of things, which is never to pass away, as already introduced by Christ (see Note on Heb. 1:2); and in the other the same new order is thought of as future to those who waited through long ages for the Christ, and in its consummation still future to ourselves (Heb. 6:5). The form of expression reminds us of Heb. 3:1, where Jesus is called the High Priest of our confession (compare also Mal. 3:1, the Messenger of the covenant): He is associated with the good things as having brought them in, as Mediator of the covenant to which they belong.
Through (or, by means of) the more perfect Tabernacle, through (or, by means of) His own blood, Christ entered into the Holy Place. The two-fold reference to the type is very plain. It was by passing through the first Tabernacle that the high priest reached the Holiest Place; it was by means of the blood of the sin-offering that he was enabled to enter into that place of Gods presence (Heb. 9:7). But what in the antitype answers to this Tabernacle? The expression of Heb. 4:14, perhaps, first presents itself to the mind: if, however, we were right in understanding the words that has passed through the heavens as descriptive of our Lords ascension far above all heavens (Eph. 4:10), it seems evident that this verse is no real parallel. In Heb. 10:20 the thought is somewhat different, but yet sufficiently akin to be suggestive in regard to these words. There the veil is spoken of as symbolising the flesh of our Lord. Here we have in all probability an extension of the same thought, the more perfect Tabernacle being the human nature of our Lord. We think at once of a number of passages presenting the same idea: The Word was made flesh and made His tabernacle among us (Joh. 1:14); He spake of the temple of His body (Joh. 2:19); The Father that dwelleth in Me (Joh. 14:10); In Him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily (Col. 2:9). As in Him God gave to the world the first true revelation of Himself (Heb. 1:2), Gods dwelling-place amongst His people was a type of the Incarnate Word. The symbolism of the present verse compels us to think of the first and second Tabernacles as separate. It was otherwise in Heb. 8:2, a verse which can only receive its proper explanation when the words now before us are considered. There the reference is to the High Priest who has already entered the Holiest Place and has sat down at the right hand of God. The distinction of outer and inner sanctuary has disappeared; and, carrying out more fully the thought of the passages quoted above, we may say that, as the sanctuary of Heb. 8:2 symbolises the place of Gods immediate presence, the true Tabernacle represents the place of His continued and unceasing revelation of Himself to man, in Christ. There is no difficulty now in explaining the epithets, greater, more perfect, not of this creation. By means of this assumption of human nature He received power to become High Priest, power also to become Himself the sin-offering. Once before only in the Epistle have we read of this two-fold relation of our Lord to the sacrificial act. There it is mentioned parenthetically (Heb. 7:26) and by anticipation, here it is the leading thought (Heb. 9:14; Heb. 9:26; Heb. 9:28; Heb. 10:10, et al.). The efficacy of this offering is taken up again in Heb. 9:13-14; the entering into the Holiest Place, in the latter part of the chapter. A new thought is introduced in the last words of this verse, having won eternal redemption. Through the sacrifice atonement has been made and sin expiated: the blessing won, which in Heb. 5:9 is called eternal salvation (see Note on Heb. 7:25), is here eternal redemption. The latter figure enlarges the former by the additional thought of the payment of a price. The deliverance of man from Gods wrath and the penalty of sin, which Jesus effected by means of the offering of Himself, is the eternal redemption which He won (see Heb. 9:14, and Eph. 1:7). The words, for us, are not in the text: they are too intimately present in the whole thought to need direct expression.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
b. Of all this tabernacle and high priestly ritual our self-offering High Priest furnishes the antitype, Heb 9:11-14 .
11. But The turning point of the momentous contrast between Jewish ritual (Heb 9:1-10) and Christ’s self-offering, Heb 9:11-14.
High priest Who is divine bestower of good things to come; namely, the good things comprehended in the eternal redemption of Heb 9:12, which are to come, when he shall appear a second time unto salvation. Heb 9:28.
By More correctly, through, as also the by in next verse.
More perfect tabernacle Than the worldly or earthly sanctuary of Heb 9:1, and the first tabernacle of Heb 9:8. This more perfect tabernacle is the earth, the firmamental heaven, and the highest heaven, the heaven itself of Heb 9:24. So (Heb 4:14) Christ has passed into the heavens. So Theodoret, quoted by Lunemann: “The tabernacle had a typical resemblance to the whole cosmos. For it was divided into two apartments by a veil; one of which was called the holy, and the other the holy of holies. And the holy represented the system in the earth; the holy of holies the dwelling-place in the heavens. The veil filled the office of the firmament.”
Not made with hands No human workmanship was its type; but a tent which the Lord pitched, Heb 8:2.
Not of this building Rather, not belonging to this lower creation.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘But Christ having come a high priest of the good things that have come, through the greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this creation,’
And now that time has come. For the Messiah King had come as the High Priest of those good things promised by the prophets, which have now arrived, and having offered a once-for-all sacrifice for the sins of men, He has entered, not into that earthly sanctuary with its gloom and darkness, but into the greater and more perfect sanctuary, one not made with hands (see Act 7:48), into Heaven itself. And this mention of it not being made with hands does not simply indicate that God made it, but that it is totally non-earthly. It is ‘not of this creation’. Like Ezekiel’s temple it is of Heaven, and from it flows the water of life. It is the true sanctuary in which is the true presence of God.
‘A High Priest of the good things that have come.’ These are the good things that have already come in the enjoyment of Christ in this life and the gifts of His Holy Spirit, which are the evidence of the enjoyment of the Paradise to come, both being provided through our great High Priest. (This reading, rather than ‘to come’, is supported by the most important manuscripts. But the meaning is actually the same in both cases, for the ‘good things to come’ would be looked at from the time of the old covenant, and thus refer to the good things that have now come under the new).
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Christ Entered a Greater Tabernacle with a Greater Sacrifice Heb 9:11-14 explains how Christ entered a greater tabernacle with a greater sacrifice than that of the Levitical priesthood. This passage reveals how the Day of Atonement under the Law was a type and symbol of our redemption when Christ Jesus entered Heaven and paid for man’s sins with His own precious blood.
Heb 9:11 But Christ being come an high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building;
Heb 9:11
Exo 25:40, “And look that thou make them after their pattern, which was shewed thee in the mount.”
Num 8:4, “And this work of the candlestick was of beaten gold, unto the shaft thereof, unto the flowers thereof, was beaten work: according unto the pattern which the LORD had shewed Moses, so he made the candlestick.”
Act 7:44, “Our fathers had the tabernacle of witness in the wilderness, as he had appointed, speaking unto Moses, that he should make it according to the fashion that he had seen.”
Heb 8:5, “Who serve unto the example and shadow of heavenly things, as Moses was admonished of God when he was about to make the tabernacle: for, See, saith he, that thou make all things according to the pattern shewed to thee in the mount.”
Heb 9:12 Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us.
Heb 9:12
1Jn 2:2, “And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.”
Heb 9:13 For if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh:
Heb 9:13
Heb 9:14 How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?
Heb 9:14
Fuente: Everett’s Study Notes on the Holy Scriptures
A Description of the Sacrifice of Christ Jesus in the Heavenly Tabernacle Under the New Covenant Heb 9:11 to Heb 10:18 gives a lengthy description of the ministry and once-for-all sacrifice of Jesus Christ in the Heavenly Tabernacle under the new covenant. A key word in this passage of Scripture is “blood.”
Note the proposed outline:
1. Christ Entered a Greater Tabernacle with a Greater Sacrifice Heb 9:11-14
2. Christ Became the Mediator of the New Covenant Heb 9:15-22
3. Christ’s Sacrifice was Once for All Heb 9:23 to Heb 10:18
Fuente: Everett’s Study Notes on the Holy Scriptures
The perfection of Christ’s sacrifice:
v. 11. But Christ being come an High Priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building,
v. 12. neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by His own blood he entered in once in to the Holy Place, having obtained eternal redemption for us.
v. 13. For if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifeth to the purifying of the flesh,
v. 14. how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal spirit offered Himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God!
This paragraph embodies a conclusion which covers practically the discussion of the entire letter, as Luther remarks: “For the proper understanding of this section it is necessary to understand the entire Epistle to the Hebrews. ” The perfection of Christ’s redemption is thus brought out: Christ, however, having come as a High Priest of the good things to be, through a better and more perfect tent not made by hand, that is, not of this creation, neither through the blood of goats and oxen, but through His own blood entered once and for always into the Holy Place, obtaining eternal redemption. Christ is here placed into the very center of the Gospel proclamation. He has come, He has presented Himself, He was sent by God in the fullness of time as a High Priest, not of earthly and temporal goods and gifts, but of such gifts, joys, and blessings as are to be ours in the future, at the time when we shall have the consummation of our salvation. It is an eternal redemption which He has earned or obtained for us by paying the ransom required by the justice of His heavenly Father. The inspired author tells exactly how this was done, saying that Christ appeared through the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made by human hands, not pertaining to this present creation, to the visible world and age, not constructed of gold or silver or woven materials. It was the tabernacle of His human nature, of His flesh and blood, which enabled Him to shed His blood for us, in which He entered in to God. By giving His flesh, His human life, into death, Christ became partaker of the glory of His Father, was exalted to the right hand of God. See chap. 10:19, 20; Eph 2:14. It is immaterial whether we say that Christ entered into glory through the veil of His flesh or through the tabernacle of His flesh. It was not the blood of goats or bullocks which this High Priest shed, as did the priests of the Old Testament on the Day of Atonement and at other times, but it was His own most precious and divine blood. That is what gave to the ransom which He paid the perfect and eternal value. Only once He gave His life, only once did He shed His blood for us, but that sacrifice was once and for always, it paid for the redemption of the whole world forever. The high priests of the Old Testament had to renew their atonement for the sins of the people every year, chiefly because the sacrifices which they brought were only typical and symbolical; but here no such repetition is necessary: the blood of Jesus Christ, His Son, cleanseth us from all sins, 1Jn 1:7.
This is further substantiated by a comparison: For if the blood of goats and of bullocks and the ashes of a heifer sprinkling the unclean purify toward the cleanness of the flesh, how much rather shall the blood of Christ, who through the Holy Spirit offered up Himself to God unblemished, purify your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? The author here refers to the work which Christ is at the present time performing in our interest. His readers were familiar with the requirements of the Jewish cult, they knew that the blood of bullocks and of goats, used not only on the Day of Atonement, but also on other days in the year, was used to restore a transgressor to personal purity before the Law of God. Thus also, when the ashes of a red heifer, mixed with water, were sprinkled upon such as had become polluted by contact with a dead body, they were restored to Levitical purity and permitted to remain in the midst of the people. But the knowledge of sin, the consciousness of sinfulness, was not removed by all the sacrifices and washings of the Old Testament. The believers of the Old Testament did not place their confidence in the essential merit of their sacrifices, knowing that they were valid only in the measure of their prophetical quality, but in the Messiah and His work, to whom all their ceremonies pointed forward. Now that Christ has actually come, we know that His blood is able to cleanse our consciences from all dead works, from the vain and empty acts, from all transgressions of the Law which pollute the conscience, and from all the vain efforts of self-righteousness. That is true because He has offered up Himself through the eternal spirit as a sacrifice without blemish. The incomparable, priceless worth of the blood of Christ, of the offering of His life and body, is here emphasized. It was the pure and holy Son of God that gave Himself, as the innocent Substitute, for the sins of the whole world. Through the eternal spirit He did this, through His invisible, spiritual, divine essence, through His divine nature. Through, by virtue of, His eternal deity Christ offered up Himself. God’s blood, God’s martyrdom, God’s death was thrown into the scales; that fact gives us the blessed certainty of our salvation. And that fact also gives us the willingness and the power to serve the Lord in holiness and righteousness all the days of our life, to make our life a continual offering of thanksgiving for all the wonderful gifts of His grace which we enjoy without ceasing. It is the living God whom we serve, He who Himself is the Source of life and finds His delight in pouring out upon us spiritual life and power in rich measure.
Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann
Heb 9:11. But Christ being come, &c. The apostle here begins to set forth the superiority of our High-priest, by shewing that, in respect to his priestly office, he has no concern with mundane, secular, worldlymatters, but is wholly engaged with future good things for his people. Christ did not pass into the holy of holies, as the Jewish high-priest, nor indeed did he pass through any tabernacle made with hands; but he went into a greater and more perfect tabernacle,even into heaven itself. The high-priest was wont to pass through the outward part of the temple, in order to get into the holy of holies. Christ went into the true holy of holies through a more excellent and perfect tabernacle, and therefore not of this building. He did not use a golden censer, or any worldly instruments; nor did he enter by means of the blood of goats and calves, but by means of [, ] his own blood; and he entered once for all into the true holy of holies: nor was this done to obtain an annual remission of sins, but aneternal redemption for all his faithful people: nor has he occasion often to repeat or renew what he has done; but, once for all, he has accomplished for ever all that he aimed at in his great work of atonement.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Heb 9:11-12 . Antithesis to Heb 9:9-10 . What the religion of the Mosaic covenant was unable to effect, that has been accomplished by Christ .
] having appeared as High Priest of the good things to come. The verb in the same sense as Mat 3:1 , 1Ma 4:46 ; synonymous with , Heb 7:11 ; Heb 7:15 . Strangely misapprehending the meaning, Ebrard: is to be looked upon as an “adjectival attribute” to , and the thought is, “as a present High Priest,” an acceptation which is incompatible with the participle of the aorist .
High Priest of the good things to come (comp. Heb 10:1 ) is Christ called, inasmuch as these good things are the consequence and result of His high-priestly activity. They are the blessings of everlasting salvation, which the author, Heb 9:12 , sums up in the expression ; and they are called future , inasmuch as they are proper to the (Heb 6:5 ), or the (Heb 2:5 ), and the full enjoyment of them will first come in at the consummation of the kingdom of God, to be looked for with the return of Christ.
. . .] through the greater and more perfect tabernacle, which is not made with hands that is to say, not of this world. The words belong to , Heb 9:12 , and is used in the local sense: “through” (not instrumentally, as the , Heb 9:12 ). To join the words to that which precedes, and find in them an indication of that by means of which Christ became (Primasius, Luther, Dorscheus, Schulz, Hofmann, Schriftbew . II. 1, pp. 409, 412 f., 2 Aufl., which latter will accordingly also take the , Heb 9:12 , in both cases along with ; otherwise, however, in the Comm. p. 337,
Moll, and others), is erroneous, because by virtue of , Heb 9:12 , the existence of an already preceding link in the nearer definition of is presupposed.
But to interpret the through which Christ has entered into the Most Holy Place as the body of Christ, or His human nature (so, on account of Heb 10:20 , Chrysostom, Theodoret, Oecumenius, Theophylact, Primasius, Clarius, Calvin, Beza, Estius, Piscator, Jac. Cappellus, Grotius, Hammond, Owen, Bengel, Peirce, Sykes, Ernesti, Chr. Fr. Schmid, Friederich, Symbolik des Mos. Stiftshtte , Leipz. 1841, p. 296 ff., and others; also Hofmann, Schriftbew . II. 1, p. 415, 2 Aufl., who, however, will have us think of the glorified human nature of Christ), or as the holy life of Christ (Ebrard), or as the (militant) church upon earth (Cajetan, Corn. a Lapide, Calov, Wittich, Braun, Wolf, Rambach, Michaelis, ad Peirc. , Cramer, Baumgarten), or, finally, as the world in general (Justinian, Carpzov), is inconsistent with the point of comparison suggested by the comparatives and in accordance with the foregoing disquisition, in general is opposed to the connection with Heb 9:1-10 , and has against it the antithesis in which , Heb 9:12 , stands to , Heb 9:11 , as also the addition . The lower spaces of the heavens are intended corresponding to the of the earthly sanctuary (Heb 9:2 ; Heb 9:6 ; Heb 9:8 ) as the preliminary stage of the heavenly Holy of Holies. Comp. Heb 4:14 : .
] sc . than the Mosaic .
] Comp. Heb 8:2 : , , Act 7:48 ; Act 17:24 ; Mar 14:58 ; 2Co 5:1 .
] not belonging to the earthly created world (the earth) lying before one’s eyes ( ). Wrongly Erasmus, Luther, Clarius, Vatablus, Beza, Jac. Cappellus, Wolf, Bengel, Kuinoel, Friederich, l.c. p. 296, and others: not of this kind of building, sc . the same as the earthly sanctuary; or: as earthly things in general.
Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary
II
Perfect communion with God is rendered possible by the perfect mediatorship of Jesus Christ, on the ground of a real expiation
Heb 9:11-15
11But Christ being come [coming forward,5 ] a high priest of [the] good things to come, by a [by means of the ] greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building [world, or creation, ]; 12Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he [om. he] entered in once [for all] into the holy place, having obtained [obtaining] eternal redemption for us [om. for us]. 13For if the blood of bulls and goats [goats and bulls],6 and the ashes of a heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying [in respect to the purity] of the flesh, 14How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the [an] eternal,7 Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your [our]8 conscience from dead works to serve the living God? 15And for this cause he is the mediator of the [a] new testament [covenant] that by means of death [a death taking place] for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first testament [covenant], they which are [have been] called might [may] receive the promise of the eternal inheritance [or, those called to the eternal inheritance may receive the promise].
[Heb 9:11. , but Christ coming forward, presenting himself, i. e., appearing upon the stage of history, Mat 3:1, etc. , of the future good things. ., by means of the greater, etc., with def. article. , not of this creation, thus not , belonging to the world, Heb 9:1.
Heb 9:12. , nor, or, and not by or through the blood: not neither by the blood., entered; the pron. he, of the Eng. ver., is not needed, is the subject., not having procured (as if ), but procuring; his procuring is represented as coincident with, and in fact conditioned upon his entering. The added for us, of the Eng. ver. (especially standing where it does), is unnecessary and enfeebling. The emphasis is on , eternal.
Heb 9:13. , those who have been defiled. , in reference to the purity of the flesh.
Heb 9:14., shall cleanse, with reference to , cleanness above. , into or unto our serving=in order that we may serve.
Heb 9:15.. , of a (not, the) new covenant , a death talking place. . . Moll constructs: the called ones of the eternal inheritance, as Thol., Ebr., and some older expositors. Alford objects that thus , which receives the stress, as being presently taken up in the next verse, would hardly be introduced in the most insignificant place possible, as a mere adjunct to the description of the subject of the sentence. But the stress seems not upon , but rather on the eternal (as contradistinguishing the character of the New Covenant inheritance from that of the Old), and partly also upon the , may receive, in order to characterize the New Covenant, as one under which, by the death of the great sacrificial victim, the called ones receive that inheritance which had before been only promised. And so in the verses following, it is not the , that is dwelt upon, but the connection between the death of the testator (the ), and the obtaining of the promised inheritance. The real objection to the construction in question (adopted by Moll, Tholuck, Ebrard, Luther, the Peshito, etc.), is that, although not without examples, especially in Greek poetic diction, it has no warrant elsewhere in the usage of the author, and is rather too harsh to be assumed without necessity.K.].
EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL
Heb 9:11.But Christ coming forward, etc. is used with reference to a historical appearance or advent, 1Ma 4:46; Mat 3:1; Luk 12:51. But had he had in mind the entrance of Christ upon His heavenly priesthood, he would have employed , Heb 1:4; Heb 6:20; Heb 7:26. Still the words are not to be referred to His incarnation, but to His actual appearance as matter of historical fact, in the character and function immediately designated. For the words , are not to be separated by a comma from , (Beng., Griesb.) and not to be resolved into , but to be taken as predicate. But the good things are not styled future (. to come), as being future to the believers of the Old Test., but as belonging to the Heb 2:5, the Heb 6:5, the Heb 13:14.
By means of the greater and more perfect tabernacle, etc.With Primas., Luth. and others we connect the much-vexed words immediately with the preceding, which we, however, construct as in apposition to . Hofm. extends this connection clear to , but the majority of interpreters make both dependent on , and commonly refer the greater tabernacle to the heavens, through which Christ passed into the inner sanctury, as Gods real dwelling-place, as the earthly high-priest passed through the outer tabernacle. Undoubtedly, may denote in the one case the local place and way, in the other the means whereby Christ entered into the Holiest of all. Nor does the repeated declaration of Scripture that the hands of God formed and stretched out the heavens, forbid our inferring that the heavens could be here meant, on the ground that the tabernacle is here designated as not made with hands. For this we might appeal to Heb 9:24, where heaven is contrasted with the Mosaic sanctuary, and this latter is called in the contrast . Nor need we again, if we adopt this view, restrict ourselves to the mere material heaven of clouds, but might refer the words to the invisible worlds, the dwelling-place of angels and of the blessed, which, as a tabernacle not made with hands, are contrasted with the hand-wrought tabernacle of Moses. In favor of this too is the emphatic heightening of the import of the term by the appended . For we must conceive these supramundane heavens as Gods creation and work, but not belonging to this perishable creation, with which we have immediately to do. And if we distinguish these supramundane, but still created heavens, in which are many mansions, Joh 14:2, to which thus still a locality is ascribed, from the uncreated dwelling-place of God Himself, as the heaven exalted above all relations of time and space (Stier, Del.), then we could not charge on the view under consideration the objection urged by Beza: perabsurde diceretur per clum ingressus esse in clum. But, after all, this interpretation furnishes no proper point of comparison between heaven and the outer tabernacle. For this tabernacle was not a mere passage-way to an interior locality; and we again see no object in so detailed and elaborate a description. This studious elaborateness is decidedly at war with Tholucks idea that the representation of the lower heavens is but as it were a mere foil to the conception of the heavenly holy of holies. Still less can we understand by the outer tabernacle, the world in general (Justiniani, Carpz.) in which case we should have to render not of this mode of building, i.e, not like the tabernacle of Moses; which false translation, with a different conception of the meaning, is given by Erasm., Luth., Beng., and others. With just as little reason finally can the words be applied (with reference to Heb 10:20; Joh 1:14) to the body of Christ, whether it be understood of His human nature (Chrys., Primas., Calv., Bez., Grot., Est., Beng. and others), or of His holy life in the flash (Ebr.), or of His glorified body (Hofm.), or of His mystical body the church militant on earth (Cajet., Calov, Braun, Ramb., etc.). We get under each explanation either an unnatural idea, or an unnatural parallel, even though we take the first not locally but instrumentally; or we subject the words to a sense which they will not bear. For may indeed denote the body, but scarcely life in the body, or the sacrifice of the body, or the glorified body. To the sinlessness and holiness of Christ the phrase cannot refer; for the high-priest attained these not in the outer sanctuary, but only in the most holy place by the sprinkling of the blood of the heifer. To me the very contrast presented with the purely symbolical and typical nature of the old covenant, a nature illustrated in the character of the Mosaic tabernacle by the Holy Spirit Himself, seems utterly to exclude the carrying over of the distinction of a hither and inner tabernacle to the New Testament dispensation, and to this the figurative language here used has exclusive reference. I regard, therefore, as a designation of the tabernacle in general, and prefer the perfectly simple explanation previously touched upon (at Heb 8:2), which is supported by the very arrangement of the words, and corroborated by the much more natural force thus given to . The manner in which Christ has become a high-priest is here not in the slightest degree in question: the author is simply setting forth the fact that, by His high-priesthood, not a symbolical, but a true and actual reconciliation with God has been effected. He is a high-priest, not of the earthly, but, as has been already shown by the author, of the heavenly tabernacle. This heavenly sanctuary which Heb 8:2 he called , genuine tabernacle, of which Christ is , he here styles the better and more perfect tabernacle, which he characterizes as that not built by hands, i.e., founded indeed, but not belonging to this world, by means of which Christ has historically appeared and exists as high-priest of the good things to come, in the same way as the Jewish high-priest, by means of the Mosaic tabernacle, became the priest of symbolical and typical blessings. In accordance with this, or as such, has He also not () by means of the blood of goats entered into the holy place, which corresponds to the holiest of all, or the dwelling-place of God. is the second Aorist (formed in imitation of the first Aorist (which Alexandrine peculiarity became, by means of the Sept., an ordinary Hellenistic usage), and coincides in time with that of the finite verb [i.e., not having procured, but procuring]. The feminine formation is found in the New Test only here, and 2Th 2:16.
[There is no point, in my opinion, in which Moll has shown sounder judgment as an interpreter than in the clear and simple way in which he has here (as at Heb 8:2) brushed aside the numerous vagaries and conceits in which eminent expositors have indulged regarding the heavenly tabernacle. Christs holy life on earth, His sacrifice on the cross, His earthly human body, His heavenly glorified body, the lower local heavens, the heaven of the angels and glorified saints, have all been made to answer to the outer tabernacle, through which the Saviour past into the inner sanctuary. The lower local heavens, as being those through which Christ actually did pass, is the only one of these that does not at once strike one as purely arbitrary and capricious; and these heavens stand in no conceivable relation to the proper significance of the outer tabernacle. This, as Moll justly remarks, was no mere passage-way into the holiest of all, but stood with its own expressive import, and as a theatre of constant priestly service. The other meanings too are such as could only by the harshest straining of terms, be called a tabernacle, or as utterly fail of correspondence to the idea of the outer tabernacle of Moses. The language of the author at first view, indeed, seems to favor this distinction of the two tabernacles. Christ, he says, entered , into the sanctuary. It is natural here to interpret locally, and to think, therefore, of the Levitical high-priests passing through the outer into the inner tabernacle, and thus to make here analogous to the former. But against it there are several serious objections, as would be readily conjectured by one who considers the numerous and widely diverse and discordant opinions regarding the nature and significance of this outer tabernacle through which the heavenly high-priest passed. These objections are chiefly four: First, the outer tabernacle of Moses is not represented as a mere place for passing through, but as a place of constant priestly service; and although the high-priest must have past through it when he entered the holy of holies, yet that is a mere incident upon which no stress is laid, which the author does not even mention, and of which he does not appear to have thought. It is not supposable, therefore, that he would have selected as a prominent feature of Christs entrance into the heavenly Sanctuary, that which it had not even occurred to him to mention with reference to the earthly. Secondly, there is in the figurative tabernacle of the New Testament no outer sanctuary. There cannot be any. There is no place for it. The outer Sanctuary of the Mosaic tabernacle stood as the emblem for the time then existing, the Holy Ghost signifying, while that anterior tabernacle yet had place, that the way into the holiest of all had not been yet made manifest. There is here a most explicit and unmistakable declaration on the subject. The outer Mosaic tabernacle stood as the symbol of imperfection, of distance from Godof approach to Him only typically, but not really effected. With the rending of the veil of the temple at the death of Christ, that distinction between outer and inner tabernacle disappeared for ever. Unless, therefore, we are willing to reverse the authors entire doctrine, and maintain that the sacrifice of Christ has not fulfilled what was before symbolized, producing a real approach to God, and converting the whole Christian body into a royal priesthood, we must concede that there is and can be in the New Testament arrangements nothing answering to the outer tabernacle of Moses. Thirdly, in perfect correspondence with this is the brief but emphatic and striking description which the author gives of this , through which Christ passed into the Sanctuary on high. It is the greater and more perfect tabernaclenot made with hands, i.e., not of this material creation. This clearly stands in antithesis, not to a part of the tabernacle of Moses, but to the whole of it. That was typical; this is , the genuine archetypal tabernacle. That was , belonging to the world, material, made with hands: this is heavenly, spiritual, not made with hands, not of this creation. These epithets and descriptive phrases, which would have no significance as referring to the outer Mosaic tabernacle, are strikingly pertinent as referring to it as a whole, and as characterizing the archetypal, true, heavenly, greater, and more perfect tabernacle, in which the New Testament high-priest ministers in distinction from the worldly, typical, material tabernacle of the Levitical priesthood. Fourthly, with this view, and only with this, the authors parallel becomes complete. The parallel has reference to two points, the tabernacle, in which the respective priests ministered, and the offerings which they brought. The Levitical priest ministered in the earthly, worldly, typical tabernacle, and brought into it the blood of bulls and goats; Christ ministers in the heavenly, spiritual, archetypal tabernacle, and His offering is His own blood. The may, in both cases, be taken instrumentally; or in the first locally, and the second instrumentally: the author having his mind on the fact, that in the tabernacle the priest did really pass through a considerable portion of it before reaching the adytum, and transferring the same imagery to the skies.K].
Heb 9:13. The ashes of an heifer, etc.Besides the expiatory offering, the author mentions the rite of purification, by which those contaminated by contact with dead bodies, i.e., persons and utensils that had become Levitically unclean, might, by means of spring water mingled with the ashes of a red, spotless heifer, burnt outside of the court, sprinkled upon them with a hyssop branch, become again Levitically clean (Numbers 19). It is better, with Erasm., Bez., etc., to connect with , which requires an object, than with (Vulg., Luth., Calv., Beng.), which may easily stand absolutely, and differs essentially from .
Heb 9:14. By means of an eternal Spirit.The words belong as well to as to , which, however, belongs not to the offering of the blood poured out upon the earth in the inner sanctuary (Socin., Schlicht., Grot., Limb., Bl., in part Riehm), but, as shown by the technical expressions, to the offering on the cross. Nor is the . identical with the , Heb 7:16 (Socin., Schlicht., Grot., Limb., Carpz., Riehm, Reuss), but its cause; nor does it apply either to Christs glorified condition after His exaltation (Dder., Storr), nor to the spirit of the law in contrast with its letter (Michael.), nor to the spirit of prophecy in the prophets (Planck). It is undoubtedly by design that the Holy Spirit Himself is not expressly named, and the absence of the article implies that the noun is to be taken generically (Ln.) as Rom 1:3. But it must be still referred, as to the matter of fact, to the Holy Spirit dwelling in Christ, and not to the divine nature of Christ (Bez., Calov, Bisp., etc.), or to the Spirit of God that made Christ a living man (Hofm.), or to His divine personality (Del.). But this view, which brings into clear relief the ethical features of Christs sacrifice of Himself, is by Bleek, De Wette, and others, raised into undue prominence, while others, again, with Este, refer the words too exclusively to the Third Person of the Trinity. The author, on the contrary, is laying stress, on the spiritual power of the offering of Christ, as an unblemished and spotless mediator, in its attribute of eternal. In this epithet is, of course, then implied a contrast. It implies, however, not a contrast with the fire which consumed the Levitical offerings (Chrys., c., Theophyl., etc.); nor with the perishing animal soul in the blood of the sacrificial victim (Hofm., Del.), inasmuch as it is not the offering itself that is secured by the agency of this Eternal Spirit, but the atoning efficacy of the blood, a fact which Riehm II. 527 Anmerk, appears to overlook. The words rather express a contrast with that which originates and perishes in time; and they bring the offering of Christ upon the cross into immediate dependence upon the ministry of a Spirit whose agency for this purpose at once reaches back into the eternity of the past, and carries its influence forward into the eternity of the future. Tholuck regards the words as expressing a contrast with the fleshly character of the law, taking with Fritzsche the to denote not so much condition as the sphere, in which the offering takes place; thus, in a true and eternal manner (similarly Socin. and Beng.). The are not sinful, and hence death-bringing actions, but the works of the law which, as they have in themselves no life, so produce no life, comp. Heb 6:1.
Heb 9:15. And for this reason he is mediator of a new covenant, etc. is to be referred, not to what follows, merely anticipating the (Schlicht., Bl., Ebr., etc.), but in view of the close connection with the preceding, to the whole train of thought, Heb 9:9-14, not specially to (Sykes, Chr. F. Schmid). The final clause, , etc., gives not so much the goal to which, according to the divine counsel, the New Covenant was to lead, and with this the way and means by which the attainment of this goal should be accomplished (Ln.), as the purpose of God to bring by the way that has been described, those who have been called to the eternal inheritance into the fruition of the promise. We are certainly not to connect with , but, as a clause denoting object and purpose, with . But to connect . with . (Erasm., Luth., Calv., Bl., De W., Ln., Hofm., Del.), though intrinsically possible, is less natural than with the immediately preceding (Pesh., Thol., Ebr., Riehm, etc.), inasmuch as the called here are not Christians as such () or exclusively, but also according to Heb 9:26 and Heb 11:39-40, embrace the believers of the Old Testament, and the word, therefore, seems to need a qualifying addition,. The . occurs also, Heb 11:13; Act 2:33, of the reception of the substance of the promise, as . Heb 6:12; Heb 6:17; . Heb 6:15; . Heb 10:36; Heb 11:39. The importance to the following discussion of the idea of that inheritance (), which even in the Old Testament is promised, and by the counsel of God designed for all the members of the covenant people, but into whose possession the can enter only by means of a new , renders it natural even here to link with the the idea of a testament. Since, however, this signification develops itself only from the connection of the following verses, it is more appropriate, in this introductory sentence, to, use a word which, like , can admit, according to the exigency, of being specialized either into covenant or testament.Lffler (on the Church Doctrine of Satisfaction), Bretschn. (Dogmatic II. 155), and Reiche at Rom. (3:25) regard the idea as expressed that the reconciliation refers only to sins committed before the transition to Christianity. But Calvin says rightly: non qu tempore Vet. Test. Commiss, sed qu Vet. Test vigore manebant irremiss; and Tholuck remarks how it springs from the train of thought that only he who stands in the New Covenant, can have continually and forever the consolation of feeling the sense of guilt completely done away.
DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL
1. Christ has, indeed, historically, that is to say, in time and on earth, appeared as a High-priest, but on the one hand His priesthood is not merely the fulfilment of the Aaronic, but also of the Melchisedec type; and, on the other, the sanctuary, of which He is High-priest in both relations, is not the earthly sanctuary, reared by human hands after a divinely indicated pattern, and by its typical and symbolical character destined to pass away; but the sanctuary belonging to the heavenly world, imperishable and opening the way to the fulfilment of all the promises of God. The same character is, for this reason, also borne by all the good things of which Christ, as High-priest, is mediator.
2. In the ritual of the Old Testament there lies between the means and the result no internal and essential connection. That which unites the two, is merely a divine ordination. But on account of the covenant relation, the Israelites in believing obedience to God, yielded themselves to this ordination, and in carrying out its requirements received from it a blessing. Still, the whole bore merely the stamp of externality, alike in the means and in the result, and also in the union of atonement, cleansing and sanctification.
3. In the New Covenant, also, expiation, cleansing, sanctification, are still distinguished, but are at the same time internally and essentially united. The same blood of Christ, which objectively expiates, subjectively purifies the moral consciousness, so that the consequence of this redemption is a priestly service, in which the ransomed one no longer in individual rites and under the compulsion of the law, but with his whole person, by means of the new spirit, is sanctified, and henceforth continually sanctifying himself for the living God.
4. Precisely the same remark applies to the features of the sacrifice of Christ, which latter stands not in an outward relation and one merely approved and determined by God, but in an internal and essential relation to this result as the alone sufficient, and eternally efficacious means of accomplishing the divine purpose of redemption. For Christ has offered Himself, and that as a spotless and blameless victim in the sense of the High-priestly sacrifice, and all this has been effected through the instrumentality of an Eternal Spirit.
5. There is, indeed, a ransom and a redemption, in a more general sense, as simple deliverance; but taken in connection with high-priestly arrangements, we must here adhere to the more specific sense of ransoming or freeing, by the payment of a ransom-price. This ransom-price is the blood of Christ as of an entirely spotless lamb, 1Pe 1:19; Eph 1:7; Col 1:14, and is here, as always, in Scripture, designated as a price divinely offered; so that the idea of the ransom price as paid to Satan (Origen, Basil, and others till St. Bernhard) is to be totally rejected. It can, indeed, be said that Christ has been made unto us of God redemption, 1Co 1:30. But this expression merely gives prominence to the divine agency alike in the sending of Christ into the world, and particularly in the work of redemption, and points at the same time to the acceptance on the part of God, of the ransom which has been paid. In that we have been sold under sin, Rom 7:14, we have become helpless victims of the wrath, or avenging justice of God. Against this we are, according to the Hebrew mode of expression, covered by the blood shed for us, which, as sacrificial blood, has an expiatory significance. The redemption can thus, on the one hand, be conceived as the payment of a , i.e., ; on the other as a , i.e., . It is invariably effected by means of a substitutionary satisfaction, and by a perfectly valid expiation.
6. The efficacious element in the blood lies not in its matter or substance, but the life which moves in it, and which, by means of a special act, not connected with the course of nature, has been yielded up to death, Lev 17:11. Since, then, the crucifixion of Christ falls not under the category of the slaughter of an innocent person, or of the murder, for the ends of justice, of a righteous man, but under that of the surrendering up of His own person at once freely and in accordance with the purpose of God, Tit 2:14; 1Ti 2:5, the significance, power and efficacy of this death must correspond entirely with the peculiar nature and dignity of the person of Jesus Christ. He Himself, however, expressly indicates, Mat 20:28, His death as the substitutionary offering of a ransom-price. On account of the nature of His person, consequently, this vicariousness must be complete, the satisfaction all sufficient, the ransom actual and eternal. As against the false and distorted interpretations of Hofmann, see Delitzschs Second Appendix on the firm Scriptural basis for the Church doctrine of vicarious satisfaction (in his Commentary, p. 708 ff.).
7. The sacrifice of Christ is also not compared with the human sacrifices of the heathen, but is brought into direct relation with the high-priestly expiatory offering ordained by God, as being the accomplishment of its type, and the realization of its symbol. In this very fact lies the certainty that the relation of God to this offering is neither that of mere passive permission, nor that of Divine wrath quenched in the blood of human sacrifices, nor that of any caprice or unrighteousness on the part of God in His acceptance of this sacrifice, and holding the substitution as valid. This becomes perfectly clear, if we regard, on the one hand, the position of Christ alike in reference to God and to mankind, and, on the other, His relation to the Spirit of God.
8. It is not enough to bring into prominence the thoroughly moral character of the sacrifice of Christ; neither is it sufficient to lay stress on the religious purity and acceptableness in the sight of God of this act, with its moving grounds and impelling causes. In this case we should merely have a sacrifice accomplished such as, in respect of conscientiousness, love of truth, zealous faith, and fidelity of compassion, all true Christians are enabled by the influences of the Holy Spirit to accomplish in a death by martyrdom. We have to do with a movement and working of the Spirit in Christ, which has its ground and beginning not within the limits of time and of humanity, and thus with a sacrifice freely determined upon in eternity, and accomplished within the limits of time in perfect unity with the eternal Spirit, who works perpetually through Christs whole career of life and sufferinga sacrifice which, precisely for this reason, has a world-embracing and ever-during significance, and has become the means of the establishment of a new covenant.
9. On the basis, and under the authority of the Mosaic law and worship, there was indeed a calling to the eternal inheritance of the children of God; but the promised inheritance could not be received, because the law was able only to sharpen the consciousness of guilt, and with this the sense of deserved punishment and death, while the ritual could, in its turn, produce only, as a Levitical purification, a typical redemption, a merely symbolical approach to God. It was only through the truly expiatory death of the God-man, who expiated, suffered and died, not for Himself, but vicariously, and rendered satisfaction not merely to the righteousness, but to the punitive righteousness of God, that a change was wrought in the entire relation of humanity to God, and a real taking away of mans guilty condition and relations became possible.
10. All this mirrors itself indeed in human feelings, experiences, and testimonies, and finds in them expression; but it has its ground in no human conditions and conceptions, but in the arrangements and promises of God. The necessary consequence of the death of Jesus Christ is, therefore, a new covenant; so that this death is not merely the antitype of the High-priestly offering of atonement, but also, of the Paschal Lamb, 2Co 5:7, and, as is immediately intimated in what follows by the author of our Epistle, is the antitype of the covenant sacrifice, Exodus 24., whereby Israel, sprinkled by the blood of atonement, was dedicated as the people of God, and as a royal priesthood (LeHebrews Heb 9:8).
11. The death of Christ is, in its significance in sacred history, just as little to be conceived apart from the glorification of the Royal Priest enthroned at the right hand of God, which followed upon His resurrection and ascension, as from the perfected life of the Incarnate One, which was secured by His obedience and sufferings. In the passage before us, however, these intermediate and conditioning acts are merely indicated, and not brought into prominence. The emphasis lies rather on the fact that the accomplished entrance of Christ into the heavenly sanctuary accomplished once and for ever, in that it wrought eternal redemption, had its ground and efficiency in His own blood, and for this reason infinitely transcends its one-sided and shadowy type in the expiatory rites of the Old Covenant.
12. It is only by a reference to the High-priestly offering of atonement, that an emphasis is laid upon the blood (see particularly Heb 13:11). Elsewhere an offering of the body is also mentioned (Heb 10:10), but, of course, comprehending this, in that Christ is said to have offered up Himself (Heb 7:26; Heb 9:14; Heb 9:25; Eph 5:2); since we have to do with the full and undivided person of the Redeemer, alike in His earthly and His glorified state. At all events, our author is not chargeable with that sensuous mode of conception and expression employed by the Socinians, which characterizes the school of Bengel and Httinger, and has been followed by Stier, and, in part, by Hofmanna mode of expression which, while unduly pressing the analogy of the earthly high-priests proceedings in the act of expiation, is fraught with misconceptions, false assumptions, and dangerous consequences. It assumes that the blood of sprinkling (Heb 10:22; Heb 12:24) is even in heaven a separate thing, existing beside the glorified but bloodless body of the exalted Redeemer. Quenstdt has strikingly expressed the correct view, while Calov, on the other hand, has indulged in many sensuous representations, and in an undue admixture of merely sensuous and poetic with dogmatic elements.
HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL
The perfection of the mediatorship of Jesus Christ consists in the perfection: 1, of the sanctuary in which He exercises His office; 2, of the office which He exercises; 3, of the sacrifice which He has offered; 4, of the covenant which He established; 5, of the blessings which He procures.The power of the blood of Jesus Christ: a. whence it springs; b. what it accomplishes; c. how it is appropriated.The death of Jesus Christ as a High-priestly sacrificeThe nature, the causes, and the effects of the sacrifice offered by Jesus Christ.We are redeemed: 1, from what? 2, by what? 3, for what?The purging of our conscience: a. in its necessity; b. in its means; c. in its consequences.The consequences of Christs offering of Himself are: 1, His entrance into the heavenly sanctuary; 2, an eternal redemption; 3, the New Covenant.What defiles and what purifies us.Redeemed by Christ, we yet cannot do whatever we would; we are members of the New Covenant.The New Covenant in: 1, its object; 2, its foundation; 3, its means.The death of Christ is the most perfect offering: 1, as an offering of Himself; 2, as a sin-offering; 3, as a cleansing offering; 4, as a covenant offering; 5, as a peace-offering.The Redemption through Jesus Christ is: 1, an eternal one; 2, a complete one.We have in our redemption to look: 1, at the Mediator, who has procured it; 2, at the price which it has cost; 3, at the gain which it has secured; 4, at the covenant which it has established; 5, at the end which it proposes.
Starke:Saviours [healers] and redeemers [ransomers] from bodily needs are distinguishable; but Jesus is the true Saviour, who saves us even from our sins; He alone has procured an eternal redemption.Grand redemption of the human race! The Son of God Himself has redeemed us by His own blood.The blood of Christ is a free, public boundary fixed against sin.How heavy, great and dreadful must our sins be in the sight of God! They are assuredly dead works, which bring not only temporal, but also eternal death.A believer may indulge in defiance and glorying against the Devil. Out of Christ I am to and in myself a sinner; In Christ I am a sinner no longer.The atoning sacrifice of the Lord Jesus is efficacious not only for the future, but for the past; for the believers of the Old as well as of the New Testament.Many children of the world imagine that they are able to live well and rightly before others, when behold, their works are purely dead works, which spring from a heart spiritually dead, and lead to eternal death. Mat 23:27; Rev 3:1.
Rieger:Purification and propitiation comprehend Gods entire work of rescuing from sin. 1Jn 2:2; Col 1:14; Col 1:22.With the plague of an evil conscience, or with the halting movements of an unpurified conscience, there is no service acceptable to the living God.
Menken:The way into the holiest of all was no path of pleasure pursued by self-will and self-glorification; but a path of the deepest self-abasement, which, through the Eternal Spirit, offered itself unto the uttermost before God.The New Testament is nothing but the history of the fulfilment of the Divine promise, and thus the history of the appearance of the Promised One, and along with this, the history of an accomplished, the announcement of an existing, reconciliation of the world with God.
Heubner:The infinite value of the reconciliation wrought by Christ: 1. In the way and manner in which it has been made; a. as an immediate propitiation of God in the sanctuary of God; b. by Christs offering of Himself. 2. In the effects of this reconciliation, since a. it purifies the conscience; b. gives power for a holy life; c. has established Gods covenant with men, so that they now have full entrance into life.
Textor:(Epistolary Sermons, 1853). The high-priestly office of Jesus Christ: 1. how this is already prefigured in the Old Testament; 2. how Jesus Christ has exercised it; 3. the benefit which it brings us.
Fricke:The blood of Jesus Christ purifies 1. the conscience; 2. from dead works; 3. to serve the living God.
L. Harms:(At Hermannsburg): The heavenly high-priesthood of our Lord Jesus on the new earth: 1. His Church; 2. the altar; 3. the congregation (1863).
Footnotes:
[6][Heb 9:13 , goats and balls instead of bulls and goats, is the reading of A. B. D. Sin., etc.K.].
[7]Heb 9:14.The reading of the Vulg. , found in D*., and in many minusc, is only an interpretation. In the Cod. Sin. it appears only as a correction.
[8]Heb 9:14.Instead of the Rec. , we are to read after A. D*. K., 44, 47, 67, . The Rec. has, however, the sanction of the Cod. Sin.
Fuente: A Commentary on the Holy Scriptures, Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical by Lange
DISCOURSE: 2301
CHRIST ABOVE THE LEVITICAL PRIESTS
Heb 9:11-12. Christ being come an High-priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building; neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us.
THOUGH there are a multitude of types, besides those which were instituted by Moses, yet the most direct and complete representations of Christ are certainly to be found in the Mosaic ritual. Amidst the various ordinances relative to the priests and the temple, there is perhaps not any one point, however minute, which has not a typical reference, though, for want of an infallible instructor, we cannot precisely ascertain the meaning in every particular. The Epistle to the Hebrews, however, affords us great assistance in our inquiries into this subject, inasmuch as it declares the exact relation between the types and the one great Antitype in all the principal and most important points. The text especially, connected as it is with the whole preceding and following context, leads us to consider,
I.
The resemblance between Christ and the Aaronic priests
It would be endless to enumerate all the points of agreement between them: we shall rather confine our attention to those referred to in the text.
1.
The high-priests were taken from among men to mediate between God and them
[This is expressly declared to be the end of their institution [Note: Heb 5:1.]. Aaron and his descendants were called to this office [Note: Heb 5:4.]; and, in all the transactions between the Israelites and their God, they performed that office according to the commandment. Thus our blessed Lord was taken from among men; he was bone of our bone, and flesh of our flesh. He assumed our nature for that very purpose, that he might be capable of officiating as our great High-priest [Note: Heb 2:14-17.], and, in that nature, he both comes from God to us, and goes to God from us.]
2.
Their mediation was to be carried on by means of sacrifices
[The precise method in which they were to execute their office is recorded in the 16th of Leviticus: nor could they deviate from it in the least: if any but the high-priest had presumed to enter within the vail, or he, on any other day than that of the annual atonement, or even then without the blood of the sacrifices [Note: ver. 7.], he would have instantly been smitten, as a monument of Divine vengeance. Thus Christ approached not his God without a sacrifice [Note: Heb 8:3.]. He presented his own sacred body as an offering for sin; and, having offered himself without spot to God, he is gone with his own blood within the vail, and makes that blood the ground of his intercession on our behalf [Note: ver. 24. with the text.].]
3.
They obtained blessings for those on whose behalf they mediated
[The judgments, which Gad had denounced against the transgressors of his law, were averted, when the high-priest had presented the accustomed offerings, and God was reconciled to his offending people. In like manner does Christ make reconciliation for us by the blood of his cross [Note: Col 1:20.]: He gives his own life a ransom for us, and thus redeems us from those awful judgments which our sins have merited. Nor is it a mere deliverance from punishment that we obtain through him: we are brought nigh to God by his blood, and are restored to the possession of our forfeited inheritance [Note: Eph 1:7; Eph 1:11.].]
But while the text intimates the resemblance between Christ and the high-priests, it most unequivocally declares also,
II.
His pre-eminence above them
This part of the subject also would open a large field for discussion: but, confining ourselves to the text, we shall notice his pre-eminence only in the particulars which are there specified.
1.
He officiated in a far nobler tabernacle
[As he belonged not to the tribe to which the priesthood attached, he could not exercise his ministry within the precincts allotted to them [Note: Heb 7:13.]. The tabernacle therefore, in which he officiated, was his own body, while he continued upon earth; and the heaven of heavens, when he ascended within the vail [Note: Heb 8:2. The tabernacle seems primarily to refer to his body. Compare Joh 1:14. , with Col 2:9. But it may also relate to heaven, since it certainly was a figure of that also, ver. 24.]. How infinitely does this exalt him above all the Aaronic priests! We allow that the tabernacle was glorious: but what glory had it, when compared with Christs immaculate body, in which, not a mere symbol only of the Divine presence dwelt, but all the fulness of the Godhead? And what was the holy of holies in comparison of heaven itself, where Christ sitteth at the right hand of God? Surely in whichever light we view the tabernacle in which Christ officiated, we must acknowledge it to have been far greater and more perfect than that which was made with hands.]
2.
He offered a far more valuable sacrifice
[The high-priests could offer nothing but the blood of beasts, which had not in itself the smallest efficacy towards the expiation of sin: the virtue, which it had, was wholly derived from its typical relation to the great Sacrifice. But Christ is entered into the holy place with his own blood; and there presents it before God as a propitiation for our sins. Compare the sacrifices then, the blood of goats and of calves, with the blood of our incarnate God: who does not see the worthlessness of the one, and the infinite value of the other? No wonder that the former needed to be offered year by year continually, since they had no power to take away sin, or to pacify an accusing conscience [Note: ver. 9.]: but the latter fully satisfies for the sins of the whole world, and, having been once offered, perfects for ever them that are sanctified by it [Note: 1Jn 2:2. Heb 10:14.].]
3.
He obtained far richer benefits for his people
[The utmost that the high-priest obtained for the people was, a remission of those civil or political penalties which were annexed to their several transgressions: with respect to real pardon before God, the annual repetition of their sacrifices sufficiently manifested, that that was beyond the sphere of their influence [Note: Heb 10:1; Heb 10:4; Heb 10:11.]. But Christ has obtained for us redemption from all the bitter consequences of sin; as well from the sufferings, which we should have endured in the future world, as from the bondage, to which we should have remained subject in this present life. Nor are the effects of his sacrifice transient, like those under the law: it excels no less in the duration than in the greatness of the benefits it procures; it obtains for us, not redemption only, but eternal redemption. Well then may he be called an High-priest of good things; for there is nothing good in time or eternity, which he does not procure for those who seek an interest in his mediation.]
This subject may serve to shew us,
1.
What use to make of the Levitical law
[If we read it merely as a system of rites and ceremonies, without considering the end of its institution, it will appear absurd, and utterly unworthy of its Divine Author: but, if we view it in its relation to Christ, it will appear beautiful and very instructive. There is no longer a veil over it with respect to us [Note: 2Co 3:14.]; let us look at it therefore as at a mirror that reflects his glory; and we shall have no cause to regret the time and labour that we employ in exploring its mysterious contents.]
2.
How to appreciate the blessings of redemption
[We may form some judgment of them by meditating on the terrors of hell, and the glories of heaven: but there is nothing that can so fully discover their value, as a consideration of the price paid for them. Who can reflect on the precious blood of Christ by which we are redeemed, and entertain low thoughts of the blessings purchased by it? Would men be so indifferent about salvation, if they thus considered how great it was? Surely, it would be impossible: callous as the human heart is, it would melt into contrition at the sight of an expiring God [Note: Zec 12:10.]. Let us but habituate ourselves to such views as these, and neither earth nor hell shall ever hold us in the bonds of sin. With such a sight of the prize, we shall never cease to run till we have obtained it.]
3.
What grounds of hope there are for the very chief of sinners
[Had any other price been paid for our redemption, many might have doubted whether it were sufficient for them: but who can doubt, when he knows, that he has been bought with the blood of Christ? This will expiate the foulest guilt: the difference, that exists between one sinner and another, is lost, when we apply to Christs infinitely meritorious atonement: its efficacy is the same, whatever degrees of guilt we may have contracted: it will avail for one as well as for another; nor is there any sin of such a scarlet or crimson die, but it shall be made white as snow, the very instant it is washed in this fountain: the blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth from all sin. Let none then despair: let us rather consider what an High-priest we have over the house of God; and come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help us in the time of need [Note: Heb 4:14; Heb 4:16; Heb 10:19-22.].]
Fuente: Charles Simeon’s Horae Homileticae (Old and New Testaments)
(11) But Christ being come a high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building; (12) Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us. (13) For if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of a heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh: (14) How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?
I did not detain the Reader, under the view of the foregoing verses to remark, how blessedly the Holy Ghost, by those shadowing representations, taught the Church, that all pointed to Christ, and in him had their accomplishment; because I knew, that under this paragraph we should be led to the consideration of the subject again, and might therefore enter into it, somewhat more fully. The daily entrance of the Priests into the first tabernacle, and the yearly entrance of the High Priest into the second; were all typical of Christ, Indeed without an eye to Him, the whole had no meaning. For what could those Priests accomplish, or what virtue, or efficacy, could there be in the blood of goats, or calves, to take away sin? But what grace is shewn, in the Holy Ghost to the Church of Jesus to keep up such an unceasing remembrance of sin, and to hold forth, such wonders as were to be manifested, in the Person and work of Christ, by the sacrifice of himself.
Reader! ponder well the subject, for it is for your life. Observe, Christ hath obtained eternal redemption. And he hath entered with it, by his own blood into heaven. He hath carried it up with him there, and on the mercy-seat, the propitiatory, paid it down in the full current coin of heaven. Yea! He offered it, through the eternal Spirit. And he was justified by the Spirit, in the deed, by his resurrection from the dead, 1Ti 3:16 . And God our Father hath confirmed it still more, as the God of peace, which brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus Christ, that great Shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the everlasting Covenant, Heb 13:20 . Oh! what strength, and energy, do those united views give, to the faith of the redeemed, when pleading these precious things, before the throne!
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
11 But Christ being come an high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building;
Ver. 11. Of good things to come ] i.e. Of spirituals that were expected as things to come, when Christ came with a cornucopia, a horn of salvation in his band. The Latins call prosperous things Res secundas, things to come.
A more perfect tabernacle ] i.e. His human nature, not made with hands, nor of this building, that is, not by the power of nature, by the ordinary course of generation.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
11, 12 .] The fulfilment of these types by Christ . But (the contrast is to the . and the . above to the ineffectiveness and the merely provisional nature of the Levitical offerings) Christ (not ‘Jesus’ here: because the Writer will introduce with emphasis that name which carries with it the fulfilment of all type and prophecy. Nor again, ( . .), because he will not say that ‘the Messiah’ was come, but will use that well-known name as a personal name belonging to Him whom now all Christians know by it) having appeared ( is the usual word for appearing or coming forward as a historical person: appearing on the stage of the world: see reff. And it is of this appearance of Christ in history that the word is here used. That appearance was the point of demarcation between prophecy and fulfilment, between the old covenant and the new. So that is rather to be taken of the whole accomplished course of Christ summed up in one, than either of His first incarnation upon earth, or of His full inauguration into His Melchisedek High Priesthood in heaven. Chrys., Thl., al. join it so closely to . . . as to make that predicatory clause the very object of His : so Thl., . ., . , , , , . Chrys. very similarly, adding, , , , . But there is no need of this. It was not , but as being , that Christ . There is no need for a comma after on the rendering above given) as High Priest of the good things to come (the question of the reading has much divided Commentators here. I have had no hesitation in retaining the rec., believing to have been either a clerical error, or a correction in the sense given e. g. by Ebrard, who requires a contrast between the mere antitypical and foreshadowed goods of the O. T. and the substantial and fulfilled goods of the N. T. But no such contrast is here to be found. The contrast is between weak rites which could not, and the sacrifice of Christ which can, purify the conscience: the stress of our sentence is not at all on or , but on in the first degree, and on in the second. is the office common to both the subjects of comparison. are in this case the blessed promises of the Christian covenant, different, in the very nature of the case, from their , but still, in formal expression, a term common to them and us: so that the expression might in its scantiness of sense have been used of a Jewish high priest, just as it is in its fulness of completed sense used of Christ now. Herein I should differ both from Hofmann and Delitzsch, the former of whom (Schriftb. ii. 1. 292) maintains that the difference between the O. T. and the N. T. High Priest is that the one is an , which the other was not: and the latter, disputing this distinction, states the difference to be, that the one is an . , which the other was not. The fact being, that both might be described as . , but that Christ has by His revelation brought life and immortality to light; so that those words bear another and a more blessed meaning now than they could then: in fact, that, as brought out in ch. Heb 10:1 , which is a key-text to open this, the law had , whereas we have . After what has been said, it is hardly necessary to add that I take as meaning not, which were future ‘ respectu legis ,’ but which are now future; the of 1Pe 1:4 , the of our ch. Heb 11:1 ; see our Writer’s usage in reff. The gen. after is, as Hofm. and Delitzsch well remark, not an attributive, but an objective one: the are the objects and ultimate regard of his High Priesthood), through the greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is, not of this creation (1. How are these words to be constructed? 2. To what tabernacle do they refer? 1. They belong to below, not to above, as Primasius, Luther, Schulz, al. For in that case, would be left without any preceding member of the negation to follow, or it must be considered as the sequence to , or to , either of which would be absurd. So likewise recently Hofmann, joining however the whole, down to , with the subject . Of his whole view, I shall treat below. 2. The is local : as the Jewish high priest passed through the in entering into the earthly , so our High Priest has passed through the . to enter into the heavenly (on the second , see below). But, this settled, what is this greater and more perfect tabernacle? The Fathers for the most part interpret it of Christ’s body or human nature . So Chrys. (not however excluding the other interpretation, but maintaining that different things are typified by the same types: . . ; ; , . , , , ), Thl. (similarly), Thdrt., c., Ambros. (on Psa 118 ), Primas., Clarius, Calvin, Beza, Est., Jac. Cappellus, Grotius, Hammoud, Bengel, al. Ebrard takes it of Christ’s holy life , and of His exaltation; passing, in fact, from reality into symbol: colampadius, Cajetan, Corn. a-Lap., Calov., Wittich, Wolf, al. of the Church on earth : Justiniani and Carpzov (relying on several passages of Philo, where the world is called the temple of God), the whole world : Hofmann, the glorified Body of Christ , which, and not the Body of His flesh, he maintains can alone be said to be , and in which dwells ( Col 2:9 ) all the fulness of the Godhead bodily. Bleek, De Wette, Lnem., and Stier, the lower region of the heavens , through which Christ passed in ascending to the throne of God: Tholuck, merely a superadded feature, having no representation in reality, but serving only to complete the idea of a heavenly sanctuary. Delitzsch keeps to his interpretation in ch. Heb 8:2 (which see discussed in note there) as against Hofmann. But here, as there, I believe that his and Hofmann’s views run up into one: though perhaps here the weight is on his side, as it was there on Hofmann’s. Hofm.’s reason for joining . , with , is, that unless it be so joined, the stress laid on is split up and weakened by the negative and positive qualifications appended to . But the answer is plain, with Delitzsch, that nothing can be farther from the truth; these qualifications being in fact the very conditions, on which the completeness and finality of that entrance depended. Another of Hofm.’s objections may be as easily answered; viz. that if we join . both with we must understand the first local, the second instrumental. But as the preposition in Greek carries both meanings, so does it both in German ( durch ), and in English (through): and besides, both meanings are, in their inner import, one and the same. The here, as in ch. Heb 8:2 , is the (ch. Heb 4:14 , ) through which Christ passed not only locally, but conditionally, being the abode of blessed spirits and just men made perfect = His mystical Body (see on ch. Heb 8:2 ; and below, on the other epithets of this tabernacle), and is the (Heb 9:24 , ), the especial abode of the invisible and unapproachable God. As regards the epithets of this , first it is distinguished by the art. , = nearly , ‘ that tabernacle of which we know .’ Then it is called , in contrast with the small extent and import of that other, and , in contrast with its ineffectiveness and its exclusion from the divine presence: perhaps also with its merely symbolical, and its transitory nature. “The indeterminate , a word of St. Luke in similar connexion. Act 7:48 ; Act 17:24 , is explained by the Writer himself by , and serves as an apposition to the preceding. That tabernacle is not built by hands of men, but by the Lord Himself, ch. Heb 8:2 ; it is of His own immediate placing, not belonging to this creation, not only not to this material creation which surrounds us, out of which we get our building materials, but altogether not to this first and present creation: it belongs to the age of the future, to the glorified world.” Delitzsch. The rendering “ not of this building ,” E. V., also Erasm., Luther, Beza, Wolf, Bengel, Kuinoel, al., is wrong, and misses the idea, giving in fact a tautological explanation for . As to the word , it is classical, see Herod. ii 140: Thuc. ii. 77: Pausan. Eliac. ii. 19: Polyb. i. 75. 4; iv. 64. 4; and other examples in Bleek), nor yet ( , exclusive, but not necessarily climacterical; q. d. ‘no, nor with any of the typical accompaniments of that other tabernacle.’ It is neatly stated by Delitzsch, that is the opposite of ‘ and ,’ of ‘ also ’) through (as a medium of preparation and approach. The instrumental sense very nearly approaches the local: so that there need be no scruple about the apparently different senses given to in the two clauses: see above) blood of goats and calves (the plurals are simply generic: for the portion of the ceremonies of the day of atonement, see ref. Levit.), nay rather (on this strongly contrasting , see note ch. Heb 2:6 ) through (see above; through, as His medium of entrance: it was as a key opening the holiest to Him) His own blood (not , nor , but, which is more emphatic than either after the former anarthrous , q. d. ‘through that blood of His own.’ St. Luke has used the very same expression in ref. Acts) entered ( above is the emphatic subject of the whole sentence) once for all (see ref.) into the holy places, and obtained (on in this sense, see ch. Heb 4:16 . The aor. part. is contemporary with the aor. itself . The redemption was not accomplished when He entered , but accomplished by His entering . And our only way of expressing this contemporaneity in English is by resolving the part. into another aorist with the copula, as in , and similar cases. Consult the note on ch. Heb 2:10 , which is not, however, a strictly parallel case. Here as there, the contemporaneous completion of the two acts must be kept in view, and any such rendering as Ebrard’s, “in bringing about,” carefully avoided. The form of the word, , is Alexandrine, found also in Philo, but not in Attic Greek: see Lobeck on Phryn. p. 139 f. The middle is of that force which Krger calls dynamic, Sprachlehre 52.8. It imports the full casting of oneself into the action: thus in an ordinary case, , Isocr., but , Thucyd. So that here gives an energy and full solemnity to the personal agency of our Redeemer in the work of our redemption, which would not give) eternal redemption for us ( , answering to above: as Hofmann remarks, the is the aim and end of the approach of our High Priest to God: if then this approach has once for all taken place, the is therewith for ever accomplished. For the fem. form , see ref. 2 Thess. It occurs sometimes in the LXX: e. g. Num 25:13 ; Isa 61:4 al. (reff.) is used elsewhere by St. Luke only: so also , Act 7:35 . , Luk 24:21 , is also used by St. Paul once, Tit 2:14 , and St. Peter, 1Pe 1:18 . is St. Paul’s word, occurring also in Luk 21:28 , and in our Heb 9:15 , and ch. Heb 11:35 . In both words, as applied to our final redemption at the coming of Christ, the idea of ransom is rather in the background, and that of deliverance prevails over it: but in both, as applied to the redemption which Christ wrought by His death, the idea of price paid for redemption and redemption by that price, is kept prominent. This may be especially shewn by the two great texts Mat 20:28 (and [48] Mark), . . . , and 1Ti 2:6 , . The price paid for our redemption is His death ( Heb 9:15 ) as the sacrifice of Himself, Tit 2:14 ; 1Ti 2:5 f., His blood Eph 1:7 , as the sacrifice of His life, Mat 20:28 ; 1Pe 1:19 . And here also it is His blood which is the . Delitzsch, from whom the substance of the above is taken, goes on to shew, on the ground of the analogy between Christ and the O. T. high priests who took the blood in before God and sprinkled it on His mercy seat, that it was God to whom this was paid, and not, as many of the Fathers held, Satan. See his notes, in his Comm. pp. 386 7. On the matter itself, the entrance of Christ into the holiest , I cannot do better than refer the student to the following pages of Delitzsch, where he has treated at length, and in a most interesting manner, the various hypotheses. I do not sum up the results here, because it is a subject of such peculiar solemnity, that the mind requires its treatment in full, in order to approach it reverently: and such full treatment would far exceed the limits of a general commentary. I have indicated some of the principal lines of hypothesis on ch. Heb 12:24 , where the direct mention of the makes it necessary).
[48] When, in the Gospels, and in the Evangelic statement, 1Co 11:23-25 , the sign () occurs in a reference, it is signified that the word occurs in the parallel place in the other Gospels, which will always be found indicated at the head of the note on the paragraph. When the sign () is qualified , thus, ‘ Mk.,’ or ‘ Mt. Mk.,’ &c., it is signified that the word occurs in the parallel place in that Gospel or Gospels, but not in the other or others .
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
Heb 9:11 . “But Christ having arrived a High Priest of the good things that were to be, He, through the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands, that is, not of this creation, nor yet through blood of he-goats and calves, but through his own blood, entered once for all into the Holy of Holies, and obtained eternal redemption.” The main thought of the verse is that Christ has obtained eternal redemption; the , therefore, which introduces it, refers to the inability of the Levitical gifts and sacrifices to perfect the worshipper. The greater efficiency of Christ’s ministry results from its being exercised in a more perfect tabernacle and with a truer sacrifice. , scarcely, as Vulg. “assistens” rather “having arrived,” as in Mat 2:1 ; Mat 3:1 ; Mat 3:13 ; and frequently in Luke and Acts. Cf. Isa 62:11 . Here it is in fulfilment of the expectation aroused by . . “The genitive gives the subject of the high priestly action. High Priest, concerned about, ministering in, securing and applying by His ministry . . The genitive here is nearly equivalent to the accusative in Heb 2:17 ” (Vaughan). The good things that were to be under the new covenant are specified in Heb 8:10-12 ; they surpassed all expectation, however. “The High Priest” of the good things coming, is a notable title. Possibly it is only equivalent to “High Priest of the new covenant,” the contents being used to stand for the whole dispensation, but more probably the writer has in view the slender benefits obtained by the Levitical High Priest, and contrasts them with the illimitable good mediated by Christ. . The meaning of in Heb 9:11 favours the understanding of it here not in a local (Weiss, etc.) but an instrumental sense, “by means of”. It was because He was High Priest not in the earthly but the heavenly tabernacle that He was able to secure these great results. No doubt in a similar connection in Heb 4:14 and Heb 10:20 is used locally. But this sense is not so applicable here. Christ is represented here as the High Priest ministering in the tabernacle, not passing through it ( Cf. Davidson and Westcott). . , the tabernacle greater and more perfect than that which has been described in the preceding verses, and which has itself been mentioned as the scene of Christ’s ministry, Heb 8:2 . This tabernacle is “not made with hands” , as in Heb 9:24 ; equivalent to , Heb 8:2 . Our Lord characterised the temple as , Mar 14:58 . Being of human manufacture, Heb 8:2 , it could be only a symbolic dwelling for God and a symbolic worship was appropriate. The words are added in explanation, although, as Bleek remarks, they are certainly no clearer than the words they are meant to explain. They are, however, more significant; for they point out that the tabernacle in which Christ ministers does not belong to this world at all, has no place among created things and is thus in striking contrast to the of Heb 9:1 . It must, however, be acknowledged that Field ( Otium Norv. , p. 229) has shown reason for believing that we should translate “not of ordinary erection”. “By I understand vulgaris, quae vulgo dicitur ”; and he sees no occasion to take in any other sense than that in which is commonly applied to a city (3 Esd. 4:53) or to the tabernacle itself (Lev 16:16 ). This meaning of , though warranted by the LXX cited by Field is, however, rare; and the sense is a little flat, whereas the other interpretation is full of significance.
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
; Heb 9:24-28
Hebrews
THE PRIEST IN THE HOLY PLACE
Heb 9:11-14 ; Heb 9:24-28 .
SPACE forbids attempting full treatment of these pregnant verses. We can only sum up generally their teaching on the priesthood of Jesus. I. Christ, as the high priest of the world, offers Himself. Obviously verse 14 refers to Christ’s sacrificial death, and in verse 26 His ‘sacrifice of Himself’ is equivalent to His ‘having suffered.’
The contention that the priestly office of Jesus begins with His entrance into the presence of God is set aside by the plain teaching of this passage, which regards His death as the beginning of His priestly work. What, then, are the characteristics of that offering, according to this Writer? The point dwelt on most emphatically is that He is both priest and sacrifice. That great thought opens a wide field of meditation, for adoring thankfulness and love. It implies the voluntariness of His death. No necessity bound Him to the Cross. Not the nails, but His, love; fastened Him there. Himself He would not save, because others He would save. The offering was ‘through the Eternal Spirit,’ the divine personality in Himself, which as it were, took the knife and slew the human life. That sacrifice was ‘without blemish,’ fulfilling in perfect moral purity the prescriptions of the ceremonial law, which but clothe in outward form the universal consciousness that nothing stained or faulty is worthy to be given to God. What are the blessings brought to us by that wondrous self-sacrifice? They are stated most generally in verse 26 as the putting away of sin, and again in verse 28 as being the bearing of the sins of many, and again in verse 14 as cleansing conscience from dead works to serve the living God. Now the first of these expressions includes the other two, and expresses the blessed truth that, by His death, Jesus has made an end of sin, in all its shapes and powers, whether it is regarded as guilt or burden, or taint and tendency paralysing and disabling. Sin is guilt, and Christ’s death deals with our past, taking away the burden of condemnation. Thus verse 28 presents Him as bearing the sins of many, as the scapegoat bore the sins of the congregation into a land not inhabited, as ‘the Lord made to meet’ on the head of the Servant ‘the iniquities of us all.’ The best commentary on the words here is, ‘He bare our sins in His own body on the tree.’ But sin has an effect in the future as in the past, and the death of Christ deals with that, So verse 14 parallels it not only with the sacrifice which made access to God possible, but with the ceremonial of the red heifer,’ by which pollution from touching a corpse was removed. A conscience which has been in contact with ‘dead works’ and all works which are not done from ‘the life’ are so is unfit to serve God, as well as lacking in wish to serve; and the only way to set it free from the nightmare which fetters it is to touch it with ‘the blood,’ and then it will spring up to a waking life of glad service. ‘The blood’ is shed to take away guilt; ‘the blood’ is the life, and, being shed in the death, it can be transfused into our veins, and so will. cleanse us from all sin. Thus, in regard both to past and future, sin is put away by the sacrifice of Himself. The completeness of His priestly work is further attested by the fact, triumphantly dwelt on in the lesson, that it is done once for all, and needs no repetition, and is incapable of repetition, while the world lasts. II. Christ, as the high priest of the world, passes into heaven for us.
The priest’s office of old culminated in his entrance into the Holy of Holies, to present the blood of sacrifice. Christ’s priesthood is completed by His ascension and heavenly intercession. We necessarily attach local ideas to this, but the reality is deeper than all notions of place. The passage speaks of Jesus as ‘entering into the holy place,’ and again as entering ‘heaven itself for us.’ It also speaks of His having entered ‘through the greater and more perfect tabernacle,’ the meaning of which phrase depends on the force attached to ‘through.’ If it is taken locally, the meaning is as in chapter 4:14, that He has passed through the [lower] heavens to ‘heaven itself’; if it is taken instrumentally as in following clause, the meaning is that Jesus used the ‘greater tabernacle’ in the discharge of His office of priest. The great truth underlying both the ascension and the representations of this context is, as verse 24 puts it, that He appears ‘before the face of God,’ and there carries on His work, preparing a place for us. Further. we note that Jesus, as priest representing humanity, end being Himself man, can stand before the face of God, by virtue of His sacrifice, in which man is reconciled to God. His sinless manhood needed no such sacrifice, but, as our representative, He could not appear there without the blood of sacrifice. That blood, as shed on earth, avails to ‘put away sin’; as presented in heaven, it avails ‘for us,’ being ever present before the divine eye, and influencing the divine dealings. That entrance is the climax of the process by which He obtained ‘eternal redemption’ for us. Initial redemption is obtained through His death, but the full, perfect unending deliverance from all sin and evil is obtained, indeed, by His passing into the Holy Place above, but possessed in fact only when we follow Him thither. We need Him who ‘became dead’ for pardon and cleansing; we need Him who is ‘alive for evermore’ for present participation in His life and present sitting with Him in the heavenly places, and for the ultimate and eternal entrance there, whence we shall go no more out. III. Christ, as the high priest of the world, will come forth from the holy place.
The ascension cannot end His connection with the world. It carries in itself the prophecy of a return. ‘If I go,… I will come again.’ The high priest came forth to the people waiting for him, so our High Priest will come. Men have to die, and ‘after death,’ not merely as following in time, but as necessarily following in idea and fact, a judgment in which each man’s work shall be infallibly estimated and manifested. Jesus has died ‘to bear the sins of many.’ There must follow for Him, too, an estimate and manifestation of His work. What for others is a judgment,’ for Him is manifestation of His sinlessness and saving power. He shall be seen, no longer stooping under the weight of a world’s sins, but ‘apart from sir,’ He shall be seen ‘unto salvation,’ for the vision will bring with it assimilation to His sinless likeness. He shall be thus seen by those that wait for Him, looking through the shows of time to the far-off shining of His coming, and meanwhile having their loins girt and their lamps burning.
Fuente: Expositions Of Holy Scripture by Alexander MacLaren
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Heb 9:11-14
11But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things to come, He entered through the greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this creation; 12and not through the blood of goats and calves, but through His own blood, He entered the holy place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption. 13For if the blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkling those who have been defiled sanctify for the cleansing of the flesh, 14how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without blemish to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?
Heb 9:11 “But when Christ appeared as high priest” When did this occur:
1. before creation (cf. Rev 13:8)
2. at Calvary (cf. Heb 9:12)
3. after ascension to the Father’s right hand (entered sanctuary in heaven, cf. Heb 9:24-25)
Did Jesus offer Himself twice? If so, why the emphasis on “once for all?” Possibly He offered Himself as sacrifice on Calvary, but acted as high priest after His ascension or it may be simply (1) theological imagery or (2) inspired rabbinical mysticism.
“of the good things to come” The ancient Greek manuscripts vary: (1) “things to come” in , A (NASB, NKJV, NJB) and (2) “things already here” in P46, B, D* (RSV, NEB, TEV, NIV).
“not made with hands” Some see this as a reference to believers’ resurrected physical bodies (cf. 2Co 5:1) and Jesus’ body (cf. Mar 14:58). However, the context seems to refer to the heavenly temple (cf. Heb 8:2; Heb 9:24).
Heb 9:12 “not through the blood of goats and calves” The goats were for the people’s sin (cf. Lev 16:11) and the calves were for the high priests’ sin (cf. Lev 16:11). The sacrificial system of the OT (cf. Leviticus 1-7) was God’s gracious provision of allowing (as a foreshadowing of Christ’s death) an unblemished animal to pay the death penalty for human sin (cf. Lev 17:11).
“but through His own blood” The Greek preposition “dia” can mean (1)”through” (NASB, NIV) or (2) “with” (NKJV, NRSV, NJB).
“the holy place” Here this implies “the Holy of Holies” of the heavenly tabernacle.
“once for all” This is an often-repeated emphasis (cf. Heb 7:27; Heb 9:28; Heb 10:10). It emphasizes Christ’s complete and finished sacrifice. See full note at Heb 7:27.
Heb 9:12
NASB, NKJV,
NRSV”having obtained eternal redemption”
TEV”obtained eternal salvation”
NJB”having won an eternal redemption”
This is an aorist middle participle, which denotes a completed act emphasizing the subject’s participation and interest. The word “eternal” may relate to (1) its quality, “life of the new age” or (2) its quantity, “life without end.” With the warnings in Hebrews so poignant, possibly #1 fits best. See Special Topic: Eternal at Heb 6:2.
“redemption” This word refers to the ransom paid by a close relative for someone’s release. This is the OT “go’el” (cf. Ruth 4; Isa 43:1; Isa 44:22-23; Isa 48:20; Isa. 12:9; Isa 63:9; Hos 13:14).
Heb 9:13 “if” This is a first class conditional sentence which is assumed to be true. God accepted the Mosaic sacrificial system as a means of covering sin until Christ!
“ashes of a heifer” The red heifer’s ashes were used for ceremonial cleansing (cf. Numbers 19).
“sprinkling” This was part of the Mosaic ritual involving liquids (blood or ashes of the red heifer mixed with water). It was a way of transferring holiness or cleansing power. Robert B. Girdlestone in his Synonyms of The Old Testament has an interesting comment.
“The sprinklings (shantismoi) specially referred to in the Epistle to the Hebrews are of two kindsthat which was performed with the ashes of a red heifer on persons who had contracted certain defilement (Heb 9:13), and that which was performed with blood on the people and the Book in making the old covenant; also on the tabernacle and various vessels connected with the sacred service (Heb 9:19; Heb 9:21). The substance of which these are the shadows is the sprinkling of the blood of Jesus, which speaketh better things than that of Abel (Heb 12:24)” (p. 152).
Heb 9:14 “how much more” Comparing the covenants is the theme of the book (cf. Heb 2:1-3; Heb 3:3; Heb 8:6; Heb 10:28-29).
“who through the eternal Spirit” This is either Christ’s pre-existent spirit or the Holy Spirit.
The United Bible Societies’ A Handbook on The Letter to the Hebrews by Ellingworth and Nida, lists several reasons why it probably should be a small “s” when the majority of modern translations (NASB, NKJV, NRSV, TEV, NJB, NIV) have a capital.
1. there is no definite article
2. the author often speaks of “the Holy Spirit” and addresses Him by this full title
3. this phrase may be parallel to “the power of an indestructible life” in Heb 7:16 (p. 196).
In his commentary on Hebrews in the New International Commentary Series, F. F. Bruce makes an interesting comment that the concept of Spirit is an allusion to the sections of Isaiah containing the “servant Songs” (chapters 40-54). In this section, Gen 42:1 says “I have put my Spirit upon him” (p. 205). In a book like Hebrews, which uses the OT so freely, this makes good sense.
“offered Himself” This is Christ’s voluntary act (cf. Joh 10:17-18; 2Co 5:21; Php 2:8, Isa 52:13 to Isa 53:12). See SPECIAL TOPIC: JESUS AS HIGH PRIEST at Heb 2:17.
“without blemish” See Special Topic at Heb 7:26.
“from dead works” This same phrase appears in Heb 6:1 as referring to OT rituals and procedures as a means of gaining salvation. The true means is the finished substitutionary atonement of the Lamb of God (cf. Joh 1:29; 1Jn 3:5). I really appreciate M. R. Vincent’s comment in his Word Studies in the New Testament, which relates dead works to self-righteous legalism:
“It changes the character of works by purging them of the element of death. This element belongs not only to works which are acknowledged as sinful and are committed by sinful men, but to works which go under the name of religious, yet are performed in a merely legal spirit. None the less, because it is pre-eminently the religion of faith, does Christianity apply the severest and most radical of tests to works. Professor Bruce truthfully says that ‘the severest test of Christ’s power to redeem is his ability to loose the bonds springing out of a legal religion, by which many are bound who have escaped the dominion of gross, sinful habits'” (pp. 1139-1140).
“to serve the living God” Notice that believers are saved to serve (cf. Romans 6). Salvation is a freedom from the tyranny of sin, to lordship of God! Salvation is not a product (a pre-purchased ticket to heaven or a fire insurance policy), but a relationship of faith, obedience and service. All believers are gifted for ministry (cf. Eph 4:11-12) and service to the body of Christ (cf. 1Co 12:7; 1Co 12:12).
The adjective “living” is a play on the OT covenant name for deity, YHWH, which is from the root of the verb “to be.” YHWH is the ever-living, only-living One!
SPECIAL TOPIC: NAMES FOR DEITY
Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley
Christ. App-98.
being = having.
an. Omit.
good = the good.
a = the
perfect. Greek. teleios. App-125.
made, &c. Greek. cheiropoietos. See Act 7:48.
building = creation.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
11, 12.] The fulfilment of these types by Christ. But (the contrast is to the . and the . above-to the ineffectiveness and the merely provisional nature of the Levitical offerings) Christ (not Jesus here: because the Writer will introduce with emphasis that name which carries with it the fulfilment of all type and prophecy. Nor again, (. .), because he will not say that the Messiah was come, but will use that well-known name as a personal name belonging to Him whom now all Christians know by it) having appeared ( is the usual word for appearing or coming forward as a historical person: appearing on the stage of the world: see reff. And it is of this appearance of Christ in history that the word is here used. That appearance was the point of demarcation between prophecy and fulfilment, between the old covenant and the new. So that is rather to be taken of the whole accomplished course of Christ summed up in one, than either of His first incarnation upon earth, or of His full inauguration into His Melchisedek High Priesthood in heaven. Chrys., Thl., al. join it so closely to . . . as to make that predicatory clause the very object of His : so Thl., . ., . , , , , . Chrys. very similarly, adding, , , , . But there is no need of this. It was not , but as being , that Christ . There is no need for a comma after on the rendering above given) as High Priest of the good things to come (the question of the reading has much divided Commentators here. I have had no hesitation in retaining the rec., believing to have been either a clerical error, or a correction in the sense given e. g. by Ebrard, who requires a contrast between the mere antitypical and foreshadowed goods of the O. T. and the substantial and fulfilled goods of the N. T. But no such contrast is here to be found. The contrast is between weak rites which could not, and the sacrifice of Christ which can, purify the conscience: the stress of our sentence is not at all on or , but on in the first degree, and on in the second. is the office common to both the subjects of comparison. are in this case the blessed promises of the Christian covenant, different, in the very nature of the case, from their , but still, in formal expression, a term common to them and us: so that the expression might in its scantiness of sense have been used of a Jewish high priest, just as it is in its fulness of completed sense used of Christ now. Herein I should differ both from Hofmann and Delitzsch, the former of whom (Schriftb. ii. 1. 292) maintains that the difference between the O. T. and the N. T. High Priest is that the one is an , which the other was not: and the latter, disputing this distinction, states the difference to be, that the one is an . , which the other was not. The fact being, that both might be described as . , but that Christ has by His revelation brought life and immortality to light; so that those words bear another and a more blessed meaning now than they could then: in fact, that, as brought out in ch. Heb 10:1, which is a key-text to open this, the law had , whereas we have . After what has been said, it is hardly necessary to add that I take as meaning not, which were future respectu legis, but which are now future; the of 1Pe 1:4, the of our ch. Heb 11:1; see our Writers usage in reff. The gen. after is, as Hofm. and Delitzsch well remark, not an attributive, but an objective one: the are the objects and ultimate regard of his High Priesthood), through the greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is, not of this creation (1. How are these words to be constructed? 2. To what tabernacle do they refer? 1. They belong to below, not to above, as Primasius, Luther, Schulz, al. For in that case, would be left without any preceding member of the negation to follow, or it must be considered as the sequence to , or to , either of which would be absurd. So likewise recently Hofmann, joining however the whole, down to , with the subject . Of his whole view, I shall treat below. 2. The is local: as the Jewish high priest passed through the in entering into the earthly , so our High Priest has passed through the . to enter into the heavenly (on the second , see below). But, this settled, what is this greater and more perfect tabernacle? The Fathers for the most part interpret it of Christs body or human nature. So Chrys. (not however excluding the other interpretation, but maintaining that different things are typified by the same types: . . ; ; , . , , , ), Thl. (similarly), Thdrt., c., Ambros. (on Psalms 118), Primas., Clarius, Calvin, Beza, Est., Jac. Cappellus, Grotius, Hammoud, Bengel, al. Ebrard takes it of Christs holy life, and of His exaltation; passing, in fact, from reality into symbol: colampadius, Cajetan, Corn. a-Lap., Calov., Wittich, Wolf, al. of the Church on earth: Justiniani and Carpzov (relying on several passages of Philo, where the world is called the temple of God), the whole world: Hofmann, the glorified Body of Christ, which, and not the Body of His flesh, he maintains can alone be said to be , and in which dwells (Col 2:9) all the fulness of the Godhead bodily. Bleek, De Wette, Lnem., and Stier, the lower region of the heavens, through which Christ passed in ascending to the throne of God: Tholuck, merely a superadded feature, having no representation in reality, but serving only to complete the idea of a heavenly sanctuary. Delitzsch keeps to his interpretation in ch. Heb 8:2 (which see discussed in note there) as against Hofmann. But here, as there, I believe that his and Hofmanns views run up into one: though perhaps here the weight is on his side, as it was there on Hofmanns. Hofm.s reason for joining . , with , is, that unless it be so joined, the stress laid on is split up and weakened by the negative and positive qualifications appended to . But the answer is plain, with Delitzsch, that nothing can be farther from the truth; these qualifications being in fact the very conditions, on which the completeness and finality of that entrance depended. Another of Hofm.s objections may be as easily answered; viz. that if we join . both with we must understand the first local, the second instrumental. But as the preposition in Greek carries both meanings, so does it both in German (durch), and in English (through): and besides, both meanings are, in their inner import, one and the same. The here, as in ch. Heb 8:2, is the (ch. Heb 4:14, ) through which Christ passed not only locally, but conditionally, being the abode of blessed spirits and just men made perfect = His mystical Body (see on ch. Heb 8:2; and below, on the other epithets of this tabernacle), and is the (Heb 9:24, ), the especial abode of the invisible and unapproachable God. As regards the epithets of this , first it is distinguished by the art. , = nearly , that tabernacle of which we know. Then it is called , in contrast with the small extent and import of that other, and , in contrast with its ineffectiveness and its exclusion from the divine presence: perhaps also with its merely symbolical, and its transitory nature. The indeterminate , a word of St. Luke in similar connexion. Act 7:48; Act 17:24, is explained by the Writer himself by , and serves as an apposition to the preceding. That tabernacle is not built by hands of men, but by the Lord Himself, ch. Heb 8:2; it is of His own immediate placing, not belonging to this creation, not only not to this material creation which surrounds us, out of which we get our building materials, but altogether not to this first and present creation: it belongs to the age of the future, to the glorified world. Delitzsch. The rendering not of this building, E. V., also Erasm., Luther, Beza, Wolf, Bengel, Kuinoel, al., is wrong, and misses the idea, giving in fact a tautological explanation for . As to the word , it is classical, see Herod. ii 140: Thuc. ii. 77: Pausan. Eliac. ii. 19: Polyb. i. 75. 4; iv. 64. 4; and other examples in Bleek), nor yet (, exclusive, but not necessarily climacterical; q. d. no, nor with any of the typical accompaniments of that other tabernacle. It is neatly stated by Delitzsch, that is the opposite of and, of also) through (as a medium of preparation and approach. The instrumental sense very nearly approaches the local: so that there need be no scruple about the apparently different senses given to in the two clauses: see above) blood of goats and calves (the plurals are simply generic: for the portion of the ceremonies of the day of atonement, see ref. Levit.), nay rather (on this strongly contrasting , see note ch. Heb 2:6) through (see above; through, as His medium of entrance: it was as a key opening the holiest to Him) His own blood (not , nor , but, which is more emphatic than either after the former anarthrous , -q. d. through that blood of His own. St. Luke has used the very same expression in ref. Acts) entered ( above is the emphatic subject of the whole sentence) once for all (see ref.) into the holy places, and obtained (on in this sense, see ch. Heb 4:16. The aor. part. is contemporary with the aor. itself . The redemption was not accomplished when He entered, but accomplished by His entering. And our only way of expressing this contemporaneity in English is by resolving the part. into another aorist with the copula, as in , and similar cases. Consult the note on ch. Heb 2:10, which is not, however, a strictly parallel case. Here as there, the contemporaneous completion of the two acts must be kept in view, and any such rendering as Ebrards, in bringing about, carefully avoided. The form of the word, , is Alexandrine, found also in Philo, but not in Attic Greek: see Lobeck on Phryn. p. 139 f. The middle is of that force which Krger calls dynamic, Sprachlehre 52.8. It imports the full casting of oneself into the action: thus in an ordinary case, , Isocr., but , Thucyd. So that here gives an energy and full solemnity to the personal agency of our Redeemer in the work of our redemption, which would not give) eternal redemption for us (, answering to above: as Hofmann remarks, the is the aim and end of the approach of our High Priest to God: if then this approach has once for all taken place, the is therewith for ever accomplished. For the fem. form , see ref. 2 Thess. It occurs sometimes in the LXX: e. g. Num 25:13; Isa 61:4 al. (reff.) is used elsewhere by St. Luke only: so also , Act 7:35. , Luk 24:21, is also used by St. Paul once, Tit 2:14, and St. Peter, 1Pe 1:18. is St. Pauls word, occurring also in Luk 21:28, and in our Heb 9:15, and ch. Heb 11:35. In both words, as applied to our final redemption at the coming of Christ, the idea of ransom is rather in the background, and that of deliverance prevails over it: but in both, as applied to the redemption which Christ wrought by His death, the idea of price paid for redemption and redemption by that price, is kept prominent. This may be especially shewn by the two great texts Mat 20:28 (and [48] Mark), . . . , and 1Ti 2:6, . The price paid for our redemption is His death (Heb 9:15) as the sacrifice of Himself, Tit 2:14; 1Ti 2:5 f.,-His blood Eph 1:7, as the sacrifice of His life, Mat 20:28; 1Pe 1:19. And here also it is His blood which is the . Delitzsch, from whom the substance of the above is taken, goes on to shew, on the ground of the analogy between Christ and the O. T. high priests who took the blood in before God and sprinkled it on His mercy seat, that it was God to whom this was paid, and not, as many of the Fathers held, Satan. See his notes, in his Comm. pp. 386-7. On the matter itself,-the entrance of Christ into the holiest , I cannot do better than refer the student to the following pages of Delitzsch, where he has treated at length, and in a most interesting manner, the various hypotheses. I do not sum up the results here, because it is a subject of such peculiar solemnity, that the mind requires its treatment in full, in order to approach it reverently: and such full treatment would far exceed the limits of a general commentary. I have indicated some of the principal lines of hypothesis on ch. Heb 12:24, where the direct mention of the makes it necessary).
[48] When, in the Gospels, and in the Evangelic statement, 1Co 11:23-25, the sign () occurs in a reference, it is signified that the word occurs in the parallel place in the other Gospels, which will always be found indicated at the head of the note on the paragraph. When the sign () is qualified, thus, Mk., or Mt. Mk., &c., it is signified that the word occurs in the parallel place in that Gospel or Gospels, but not in the other or others.
Fuente: The Greek Testament
Heb 9:11. -, Christ-High Priest) So Lev 4:5, , the priest that is anointed. Paul also here has respect to Christ as the Priest, but with Moses , anointed, is an epithet.-, being made present, being come) He then said suddenly, Withdraw, ye sons of Levi, ch. Heb 10:5; Heb 10:7.- , of good things to come) So ch. Heb 10:1. Those good things are described at the end of Heb 9:15.-, by) Construed with , entered, Heb 9:12.-) which was greater and more noble. So, , a more excellent, ch. Heb 11:4.-, tabernacle) That was His own Body, ch. Heb 10:5; Heb 10:20; comp. Joh 2:21. His body is opposed to the tabernacle, as His blood to the blood of goats, etc., Heb 9:12. Schomerus says correctly, in exig. on this passage, p. 33, the tabernacle is here taken for the way to the inner sanctuary. For the subsequent appellation, , of this institution or building, proves an abstract notion of that sort; so that, not the Tabernacle itself is denoted, but the building or institution, die Anstalt (establishment or arrangement). Therefore the Body, or Flesh (for flesh is inseparable from the body), is the veil, and the sanctuary is Heaven. Thus, as I hope, the matter is distinctly explained.- , not made with hands) Therefore this was greater, Heb 9:24. So, Paul, Col 2:11.- , not of that) The Tabernacle, through which Christ entered, was not of that workmanship or structure.
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
Heb 9:11-14
THE HIGHER, PURER AND MORE
PERFECTLY EFFICACIOUS SERVICES
OF CHRIST AS THE HIGH OF THE
NEW ECONOMY
Heb 9:11-14
Heb 9:11 — But Christ being come-(paragenomenos) having come forward as a historical person. (Mat 3:1.) The Apostle makes the appearance of Christ (not his incarnation, but his historical manifestation) the grand turning point in the economy of redemp tion. Previous to his coming it was fit and right that all the Levit- ical ordinances should be carefully observed, and particularly that the high priest should go once every year into the most Holy Place to make a symbolical atonement for the people. But when Christ came forward as the high priest of the new institution, types and shadows were no longer necessary; and he, therefore, took them all out of the way, nailing them to his cross. (Col. 2; 14.)
Heb 9:11 —Through a greater and more perfect tabernacle,-There is here, as well as in the following verses, a manifest reference to the services of the first Tabernacle. As the high priest passed through the Holy Place of this symbolic edifice on his way into the Most Holy; so also Christ passed through a greater and more perfect Tabernacle than the Holy Place of the ancient Tabernacle on his way into heaven.
But what is this greater and more perfect Tabernacle? The whole earth, says Macknight; the human nature of Christ, says Chrysostom; the holy life of Christ, says Ebrard; the glorified body of Christ, says Hofmann; the aerial and siderial heavens, says Bleek; the heaven of angels and of the just made perfect, says Delitzsch. The Apostle says here but little concerning it; he merely tells us that it is a greater and more perfect Tabernacle than was that of Moses; and furthermore that it is not made with hands; that is, not of this creation (tautes tes ktiseos). The Old Covenant had a wordly sanctuary (Heb 9:1) ; but the Sanctuary of the New Covenant is not of this world (Joh 18:36) ; it is heavenly. Its most Holy Place is heaven itself (Heb 9:23-24) ; and its Holy Place is the house which God has established on earth for his people, and in which he himself condescends to dwell with them through his Spirit (Eph. 2: 20-22). It therefore manifestly includes the Church of Christ. Indeed the building was never complete until the Church was established as a distinct and independent body on Pentecost A.D. 34, ten days after Christs ascension. We know, however, that God has been the dwelling-place of his people in all generations. (Psa 90:1.) He has always had a place of refuge and shelter for those who trust in him. Under the shadow of his wings the faithful have always reposed with confidence. But as the covenant concerning Christ was, for a time, in but an incipient state (see notes on 8: 8), so also it was with the house of God which is from heaven. For a long time it was but little more than a curtain, designed for the protection and shelter of those who reposed under it. But when our Solomon (peaceable), the Prince of Peace, became king, he converted the tent into a magnificent temple. See notes on Heb 8:2.
Heb 9:12 —Neither by the blood of goats, etc.-The Apostle is still keeping up a comparison between the services of the high priest on the Day of Atonement and the services of Christ, when he, as our High Priest, entered for us into that within the vail. The former gained admittance into the earthly sanctuary by means of (dia) the blood of a calf or young bullock (Sept, moschos) and that of a goat (Sept, chimaros) ; but Christ entered heaven itself as the high priest of the New Covenant by means of his own blood. It was, so to speak, the key by means of which the heavenly Sanctuary was opened, and Christ was allowed to enter, once for all in our behalf, into the immediate presence of the King eternal, immortal and invisible.
Heb 9:12 —Having obtained eternal redemption for us, or rather, obtaining eternal redemption for us. That is, he obtained it by means of the offering which he then and there made. The verb entered (ei- selthen) and the participle obtaining (heurantenos) are both aorists, and express contemporaneous acts; so that it was not merely by means of his death, but by the offering of his blood in connection with his death, that he paid the ransom price of our redemption. The high priest under the Law first slew the victim and then carried its blood into the most Holy Place, where he offered it for the sins of the people, thereby procuring for them a sort of typical and relative pardon. But Christ, by means of his own blood offered in heaven itself, has procured for his people absolute and eternal redemption.
The word redemption (lutrosis or apolutrosis) involves the idea (1) of a ransom price (lutron) paid for the release of a slave or captive; and (2) the deliverance procured by means of the price that is paid for this purpose. In this case the price paid was the precious blood of Christ, in consequence of which God can now be just in justifying every true believer. See Mat 20:28; Act 20:28; Eph 1:7; 1Ti 2:6; Tit 2:14; 1Pe 1:18-19. But in our text it is the deliverance that is made prominent, and that is said to be eternal; for their sins and their iniquities, says God, I will remember no more.
Heb 9:13 —For if the blood of bulls, etc.-In this verse and the following our author proceeds to develop still further the amazing efficacy of the blood of Christ. For this purpose he again refers to the symbolical effects of the blood of bulls and goats by means of which purification was made for the sins of the people on the Day of Atonement.
Heb 9:13 —And the ashes of an heifer-These ashes, as we learn from Numbers 19, were prepared by burning without the camp of Israel a red or earth-colored heifer, together with cedar wood, hyssop, and scarlet. Out of these ashes was prepared the water of purification, by means of which were cleansed all who were symbolically defiled by the touch of a dead body, or by being in the same tent with a dead body. This was a solemn ordinance of Divine appointment, and as such had an efficacy, as well as the sprinkling of the blood of bulls and of goats, in symbolically cleansing the people and securing to them the continued enjoyment of their rights and privileges as members of a typical and carnal institution.
Heb 9:14 —How much more, etc.-The form of the argument, used here by the Apostle is what is technically called a minori ad majus, from the less to the greater. He concedes that the blood of bulls and goats and the ashes of an heifer did secure for the members of the Old Covenant a certain kind of purification; they sanctified to the purifying of the flesh. But now he says, How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge [purify] your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? The meaning evidently is that the blood of Christ is far more efficacious in cleansing the moral nature of man from all spiritual defilement than were the aforesaid carnal ordinances in cleansing the flesh. For the latter cleansing was only temporary and symbolical. There was no reality in it. It served only to demonstrate the extremely polluting nature of sin, and the great necessity of that real spiritual cleansing which can be effected only through the infinitely precious blood of Christ. (1Jn 1:7.) This is a matter, however, which belongs more properly to faith than to philosophy. Nothing short of infinite knowledge would enable us to fully trace out and explain the influence of the blood of Christ on the government of God, and on the nature, character and destiny of mankind. Without then attempting to be wise above what is written on this profound theme, let us simply and joyfully accept the unequivocal declaration of the Holy Spirit, that the blood of Christ is sufficient to cleanse our consciences from all the works of the flesh leading to death (Heb 6:2), and so to fit us for the service of God who is himself infinitely holy.
But what is meant by the eternal Spirit through which Christ offered himself without spot to God ?
In reply to this query, we have given the following hypotheses: (1) that the expression denotes the Divine nature of Christ (Beza,Ernesti, Ebrard, Delitzsch, Alford) ; (2) that it means the Holy Spirit (Bleek, Tholuck, Moll) ; (3) that it signifies the endless and immortal life of Christ (Grotius, Limborch, Schleusner) ; (4) that it has reference to the glorified and exalted person of Christ (Doderlein, Storr) ; (5) that it represents the Divine influence by which Christ was moved to offer himself up as a sacrifice for the sins of the world (Kuinoel, Winzer, Stuart). That something may be said in favor of each of these hypotheses, is manifest from the names by which they are supported. But that the first is the true one seems most probable for the following reasons: (1) It is manifestly the design of the Apostle, in using this expression, to heighten and intensify the value of Christs offering. And this he could do in no more effectual way than by telling us that the offering was made and rendered perfect by means of his own Divine nature. It was the sacrifice of his perfect humanity, sustained and supported by his own Divinity, that gave to his offering its infinite value. That it was made in some respect through the will and agency of the Father himself, is proved by the fact that the Father sent the Son to be the Savior of the world (1Jn 4:14) ; and that it was made also through the agency of the Holy Spirit, is equally manifest from the fact that it was through the Spirit that the Word became incarnate (Luk 1:35), and that Christ afterward performed his miracles (Mat 12:28 Mat 12:31-32).
God bestowed on him the gift of the Spirit without measure (Joh 3:34), so that it may be truthfully said that under its influence he went to the cross, rose from the dead, ascended to the heavens, and there made an offering for the sins of the world. All this is of course conceded. But it is not to any extraneous influence, but to the personal dignity, glory, and Divinity of Christ himself that the infinite value of his offering is to be ascribed. (2) This seems to be further indicated by the form of the expression. It is not through the Holy Spirit, as we have given in a few manuscripts (D, A, B, F, H, etc.) ; nor is it through the eternal Spirit, as in our English Version, but it is according to our best authorities (B, D, K, L, etc.), simply, through eternal Spirit, that Christ offered himself without spot to God. The eternal Spirit that is here spoken of, as Alford justly observes, is Spirit absolute; Divine Spirit; and thus it is self-conscious, laying down its own course, purely of itself, unbounded by conditions. The animals which were offered had no will, no spirit (pneuma) of their own which could concur with the act of sacrifice. Theirs was a transitory life, of no potency or value. They were offered through law (dia notnou) rather than through any consent or agency or counteragency of their own. But Christ offered himself, with his own consent assisting and empowering the sacrifice. And what was that consent? The consent of what? Of the spirit of a man, such as yours or mine, given in and through our finite spirit, whose acts are bounded by its own allotted space and time, and its own responsibilities? No: but the consenting act of his Divine personality-his eternal Spirit (pneuma aionion), his Godhead, which from before time acquiesced in, and wrought with the purpose of the Father.
Commentary on Heb 9:11-14 by Donald E. Boatman
Heb 9:11 –But Christ having come a High Priest of the good things to come
Our blessings are future; the old was present.
a. Human priests were busy obtaining divine favor, but Jesus has obtained it.
b. The good things to come are those things obtained by His blood-pardon, access, heaven, etc.
Some say blessings to come may refer to those promised in the Old Testament.
Heb 9:11 –sanctify unto the cleanness of the flesh
God has always had a meeting place for His people.
a. The altar has been that place in the past.
b. Now God comes where men are gathered in His name. Samaritan woman: Joh 4:21.
God will some day have all who love Him around the throne.
Heb 9:11 –not made with hands, that is to say, not of this creation
The new tabernacle is eternal, not made with the feeble hands of men. Compare Rev 11:19; Rev 15:5.
Heb 9:12 –nor yet through the blood of goats and calves
Christs blood was of more value than that of beasts. The old priests entered with the blood of a calf or a young bullock. Lev 16:3.
Heb 9:12 –but through His Own blood
The death of Christ was discussed at the transfiguration.
Luk 9:28-36.
His death was foretold: Gen 3:15; Isaiah 53.
Heb 9:12 –entered in once for all into the Holy Place
One entrance was sufficient.
When did He enter? Between the statements to Mary and to Thomas?
a. He told Mary not to touch Him, for He had not yet ascended. Joh 20:17.
b. He told Thomas to touch Him. Joh 20:27.
c. Until greater light is thrown on these verses, we may assume the entrance was made after His commission was given and He made the ascension.
Heb 9:12 –having obtained eternal redemption
Milligan: The word entered is a verb, Aorish, and the word obtaining is a participle, Aorists and these are contemporaneous acts.
A redemption price that would stand good forever.
Heb 9:13 –For if the blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer
Is this different from Heb 9:12? Bulls and calves are named.
a. Calves are young bullocks, so there is no difference.
b. It was by the blood of these that the priest was able to enter heaven with his own blood.
c. This blood of goats and bulls also served to cleanse the flesh ceremonially.
The ashes of a heifer also had an important part.
a. The heifer was red. Num 19:2.
1. The heifer was burned outside the camp, together with cedar wood, hyssop and scarlet.
2. The ashes were then prepared in water of purification to cleanse all who had touched a dead body or who had been in the tent with one.
b. Christ had no defilement, so this was never needed for Him.
Heb 9:13 –sprinkling
It had to be applied to the people or else it was not sufficient, Num 19:11-13.
a. Calvin, the Presbyterian, in his commentary does not deal with the word sprinkling, so he does not advocate that it is a type of baptism by sprinkling.
b. To dip all the people in blood would have been an impossibility.
Blood must be applied today.
a. Baptism is into the death of Christ.
b. The Lords Supper is a partaking of His blood.
Heb 9:13 –them that have been defiled
This water of purification was sprinkled upon anyone who had touched a dead body. Num 19:11-12.
Observe the whole chapter for the process. Numbers 19.
Heb 9:13 –sanctify unto the cleanness of the flesh
If the blood of beasts was a true symbol of purgation, how much more shall the Christ purify man. It is not cleanness of flesh that we must seek, but cleanness of the spirit.
a. Peter says baptism is not a physical bath but a cleansing of the conscience. 1Pe 3:21.
b. Joh 3:5 speaks of a new birth.
Heb 9:14 –how much more shall the blood of Christ
The blood of Christ is of singular importance.
a. Joh 1:29 : Behold the Lamb of God, That taketh away the sin of the world.
b. 1Jn 3:5 : Ye know that He was manifested to take away sin.
c. 1Jn 1:9 : If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
If the blood of animals had some value, of course Christs blood would have much more.
Heb 9:14 –Who through the Eternal Spirit
Note the place of the Spirit in Jesus life:
a. Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit. Mat 1:18-20.
b. His commission was given by the Holy Spirit. Act 1:2.
c. Jesus performed His miracles by the Spirit.
1. Mat 12:28 : But if I by the spirit of God cast out demons, then is the kingdom of God come upon you.
2. Act 10:38 : God anointed Him with the Holy Spirit.
d. His death was done through the Spirit. Heb 9:14.
e. By the Spirit He was raised from the dead. 1Pe 3:18.
There are different opinions as to what Spirit is referred to.
a. Some manuscripts read. His Eternal Spirit.
b. Some suggest the thought that the trinity concurred in the salvation of the world.
c. Others think Eternal Spirit refers to His endless life.
Heb 9:14 –offered himself
Does Joh 3:16 not say, God gave? Yes, but that is not all. Christ came voluntarily.
a. Php 2:5-11.
b. Joh 10:18; Joh 13:37-38. No one can find sin in Jesus.
Heb 9:14 –without blemish unto God
a. Heb 4:15 : He was tempted in all points, yet without sin.
b. Threefold temptation endured without sin, Matthew 4.
c. Pilate said at His trial, I find no fault in Him.
The old sacrifices that were, without spot or blemish, were a type of Jesus.
a. They were examined outwardly and inwardly to be sure of perfection.
b. The life of Jesus was thoroughly examined, but no guile was found in Him.
Heb 9:14 –cleanse your conscience
Purify and purge are also words used for cleanse.
The final step of entrance into the kingdom is to cleanse the conscience. 1Pe 3:21.
a. Baptism is not for cleansing the flesh, but to cleanse the conscience.
b. When absolute forgiveness is assured, then the conscience is at rest.
Heb 9:14 –from dead works
General acts which bring the penalty of death.
If it is not Gods work, then it is a dead work. The conscience drives the heart of one who knows sin, to find relief, Dead works, therefore, are the vain attempts to relieve a troubled conscience.
Heb 9:14 –to serve the living God
This is the purpose of being purged. We are not to plunge again into sin.
a. 2Pe 2:21 : It were better for them not to have known- Conversion has a high aim.
b. Every convert should be converted to serve God.
Study Questions
1554. Of what is Christ a High Priest?
1555. Do the things to come refer to our blessings in the future or those looked forward to by the old?
1556. What good things do we expect?
1557. What tabernacle is referred to?
1558. Are hands involved in its making?
1559. Do we have to have a building in which to meet God? Cf. Joh 4:21.
1560. How does Revelation describe the new tabernacle? Rev 11:19; Rev 15:5.
1561. Translate Heb 9:12 in your own words.
1562. Does it mean that Christ entered without blood?
1563. What blood did He take with Him to enter?
1564. Does this mean that Jesus ascended to heaven with His earthly crucified body?
1565. Can we infer that Jesus did not enter heaven after His resurrection until His final disappearance? Cf. Joh 20:17; Joh 20:27.
1566. What was obtained by Christs entrance?
1567. Is there a difference in sacrifices here, since bulls are mentioned?
1568. How were the ashes of the heifer used?
1569. What were the ashes mixed with? See Numbers 19.
1570. Who was cleansed by this mixture?
1571. What was sprinkled?
1572. Who was sprinkled?
1573. Why were the people sprinkled with blood, rather than being dipped in it?
1574. Is there anything significant now about cleansing the flesh?
1575. Is man in the New Testament to have a cleansed flesh or a cleansed spirit? Cf. 1Pe 3:21; Joh 3:5.
1576. What contrast is seen in Heb 9:13 and Heb 9:14?
1577. What does the blood of Christ do? Cf. Joh 1:29; 1Jn 3:5; 1Jn 1:9.
1578. If blood of animals served a purpose, may we expect Christs blood to be more effective?
1579. What adjective describes Christs Spirit?
1580. Is it His Spirit or the Holy Spirit referred to?
1581. What has Christ accomplished by the Spirit?
1582. Does offered Himself conflict with Joh 3:16? Cf. Php 2:5-11; Joh 10:18; Joh 13:37-38.
1583. Without blemish unto God is not a new idea. What other verses teach His sinlessness?
1584. Were the Old Testament sacrifices to be perfect?
1585. How did they insure a perfect sacrifice?
1586. Was the life of Jesus thoroughly examined?
1587. Of what is mans conscience cleansed?
1588. What could be classified as dead works?
1589. Are all things that are not Gods works dead works?
1590. What is the final act that cleanses a mans conscience as he is obedient to God?
1591. After the cleansing, what is expected of man?
1592. What is involved in service?
1593. Do all understand that cleansing is for consecration?
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
Unto this verse the account of the Levitical priesthood, its sanctuary and services, is continued. Amongst them, the service of the high priest in the most holy place on the day of expiation was principally designed; for this was looked on and trusted unto by the Hebrews, as the principal glory of their worship, and as of the greatest efficacy as unto atonement and reconciliation with God. And so it was, in its proper place. Hence they have a saying yet common amongst them, That on the day of expiation, when the high priest entered into the most holy place, all Israel were made as innocent as in the day of creation. In what sense it neither was nor could be so shall be declared on Heb 10:1-3. But in these things the glory of the administration of the old covenant did consist; which the apostle allows unto it in his demonstration of the excellency of the new above it. Wherefore this ministry of the high priest on that day he hath an especial respect unto, in the account he gives of the priesthood of Christ and its administration.
But yet, although he hath a principal regard hereunto, he doth not respect it only and singly. The whole description of the sanctuary and its services he also regards, in the comparison he intends between the Lord Christ in his office and these things. In him, his office, sanctuary, and sacrifice, do the excellency and efficacy of the new covenant consist, in opposition unto all those of the like kind under the law. The want of a due observation hereof hath led some expositors into mistakes: for they would confine all that he says unto a correspondency with what was done on that solemn day by the high priest, whereas he doth also expressly declare that the truth, reality, and substance of the tabernacle, all its utensils, its services and sacrifices, were to be found in him alone; for unto this end doth he give us such a description of them all in particular.
But, as was said, that which he principally respects in the comparison he makes between the type and the antitype, is the high priest and his especial service in the most holy place, which he makes an entrance into in this verse.
Heb 9:11. , , , , , . [5]
[5] VARIOUS READING. Instead of , Lachmann reads . The latter has the support of BB*, the Italic, and the Peschito. Ebrard decides in its favor, understanding the word in reference to the good things of grace as already secured and existing, in contrast with the old testament high priest, who had to deal with the types of good things still future. EXPOSITION. . . . Zuingle, Bucer, Tholuck, Bleek, and Turner, understand by the phrase the literal canopy of heaven; Calov and Vriemont, the new testament church; Calvin, Beza, Grotius, Bengel, and others, the body of Christ. Ebrard thus explains it: Through that time in which the old covenant with its ordinances still subsisted Christ has passed, inasmuch as he was made under the law; his act of passing through this state, his act of living in a state of humiliation, i.e. therefore, his perfect inward fulfillment of the law in his holy life, was the through which he passed into his state of exaltation. The real fact of holiness (in the life of Jesus upon earth) stands opposed to the symbolical representation of holiness in the Mosaic . ED.
. Vulg., assistens, assisting. Syr., , who cometh. Adveniens, coming.
. Syr., , was an high priest, or was made an high priest; whereunto it adds, instead of good things to come, of the good things which he hath wrought.
. Vulg. Lat., per amplius et perfectius tabernaculum; barbarously for mains et praestantius. Syr. , and he entered into that great and perfect tabernacle.
. Vulg. Lat., non hujus creationis. Syr., , of or from among these creatures. Most, hujus structurae, of this building.
Heb 9:11. But Christ being come, an high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building.
The introduction of the comparison in the redditive conjunction , but, answers unto in the first verse of the chapter; which are the common notes of comparison and opposition. …… , That had truly …… but Christ, etc. In this and the next verse the apostle lays down in general what he proves and confirms by instances in this, and unto the 20th verse of the following chapter.
And there are two things which he declares in this and the verse ensuing:
1. Who is the high priest of the new covenant, and what is the tabernacle wherein he administered his office, Heb 9:11.
2. What are the especial services he performed, in answer unto those of the legal high priest, and their preference above them, Heb 9:12.
In this verse he expresseth the subject whereof he treats, or the person of the high priest concerning whom he treats. And he describes him,
1. By his name; it is Christ.
2. By his entrance on his office; being come.
3. His office itself; an high priest.
4. The effects of his office, or the especial object of it; good things to come.
5. The tabernacle wherein he administereth or dischargeth his office; which is described by a comparison with the old tabernacle, and that two ways:
(1.) Positively; that it was greater and more perfect or more excellent than it.
(2.) By a double negation, the latter exegetical of the former; not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building or creation. All these particulars must be distinctly opened, to give a right understanding of the sense of the; place and meaning of the words:
First, The person spoken of is Christ. I have observed before the variety of appellations or names whereby the apostle on various occasions expresseth him in this epistle, otherwise than he is wont to do in any other of his epistles. Sometimes he calls him Jesus only, sometimes Christ, sometimes Jesus Christ, sometimes the Son, and sometimes the Son of God. And he had respect herein unto the various notions which the church of the Jews had concerning his person from the prophecies and promises of the Old Testament. And he useth none of them peculiarly but when there is a peculiar reason for it, as we have already observed on sundry occasions. And so there is in this place. He doth not say Jesus is come, or the Son, or the Son of God, but Christ being come; that is, the Messiah being come. Under that name and notion was he promised from the beginning, and the fundamental article of the faith of the church was, that the Messiah was to come; all their desires and expectations were fixed on the coming of the Messiah. Hence , he that was to come, was the name whereby they expressed their faith in him. ; Mat 11:3, Art thou he who is to come? And the coming of Christ, or the Messiah, was the time and the cause wherein and whereby they expected the last revelation of the will of God, and the utmost perfection of the church. Wherefore the apostle on this occasion mentions him by his name, He who was promised of old that he should come, upon whose coming the faith of the church was built, by whom and at whose coming they expected the last revelation of the will of God, and consequently a change in their present administrations, the promised Messiah being come.The church was founded of old on the name Jehovah, as denoting the unchangeableness and faithfulness of God in the accomplishment of his promises, Exo 6:2-3. And this name of Christ is declarative of the accomplishment of them. Wherefore by calling him by this name, as it was most proper when he was to speak of his coming, so in it he minds the Hebrews of what was the ancient faith of their church concerning him, and what in general they expected on his coming. He had now no more to offer unto them but what they had for many ages expected, desired, and earnestly prayed for.
Secondly, As a general foundation of what is afterwards ascribed unto him, or as the way whereby he entered on his office, he affirms that he is come: Christ being come, . The word is nowhere else used to express the advent or coming of Christ. Hence by the Vulgar it is rendered assistens; which as it doth not signify to come, so the sense is corrupted by it. The Rhemists render that translation, but Christ assisting an high priest. But this increaseth the ambiguity of the mistake of that translation, as not declaring that Christ himself was this high priest, which is the direct assertion of the apostle. That which is intended is the accomplishment of the promise of God, in the sending and exhibition of Christ in the flesh: He being now come, according as was promised from the foundation of the world.For although the word is inseparable in its construction with what followeth, an high priest, being come an high priest; yet his coming itself in order unto the susception and discharge of that office is included in it. And upon this coming itself depended the demonstration of the faithfulness of God in his promises. And this is the great fundamental article of Christian religion, in opposition unto Judaism, as it is declared, 1Jn 4:2-3. Wherefore, by his being come, in this place, no one single act is intended, as his advent or coming doth usually signify his incarnation only; but the sense of the word is comprehensive of the whole accomplishment of the promise of God in sending him, and his performance of the work whereunto he was designed thereon. In that sense is he frequently said to come, or to be come, 1Jn 5:20.
And, as was before observed, there is not only argument herein unto the apostles design, but that which, being duly weighed, would fully determine all the controversy he had with these Hebrews. For all their legal administrations were only subservient unto his coming, and representations thereof, all given in confirmation of the truth of the promises of God that so he should come: wherefore upon his coming they must all necessarily cease and be removed out of the church.
Thirdly, There is in the words a determination of the especial end of his coming, under present consideration, an high priest, being come an high priest; that is, in answer unto and in the room of the high priest under the law. This states the subject of the apostles argument. He had before proved that he was to be a priest, that he was a priest, and how he came so to be. He now asserts it as the foundation of those actings which he was to ascribe unto him in answer unto those of the legal high priests, whose offices and services, with the effects of them, he had before declared:
Those high priests did so, but Christ being come an high priest, etc.
Fourthly, He adds the especial object of his office, or the things about which he is conversant in the discharge of it: Of the good things to come. As the assertion is positive, so there is a comparison and opposition included in it. The high priests of the law were not so. They were not priests of good things; that is, absolutely, or such as were necessary unto the purification, sanctification, and justification of the church. And so far as they were priests of good things, they were so of good things present, not of the good things promised, that were for to come. And this is the force of the article , of the good things; namely, that God had promised unto the church. A priest, or a high priest, may be said to be the priest of the things that he doth in the execution of his office, or of the things which he procureth thereby; he is the priest of his duties, and of the effects of them; as a minister may be said to be a minister of the word and sacraments which he administereth, or of the grace of the gospel which is communicated thereby. Both are here included, both the duties which he performed and the effects which he wrought.
The things whereof Christ is a high priest, are said to be things to come; that is, they are yet so, absolutely so; or they were so called with respect unto the state of the church under the old testament. Most expositors embrace the first sense. These good things to come,they say, are that future eternal salvation and glory which were procured for the church by the priesthood of Christ, and were not so by the Levitical priesthood. To the administration of the priesthood under the law he assigns only things present, temporal things, or what could be effected by them in their own virtue and power; but unto that of Christ he assigns eternal things, as he speaks immediately, he hath obtained eternal redemption for us. The eternal salvation and glory of the church were procured by the priesthood of Christ, or Christ himself in the discharge of that office, and were not so by the Levitical priests. These things are true, but not the meaning, at least not the whole meaning, of the apostle in this place. For,
1. This confines the relation of the priesthood of Christ in this place unto the effects of it only, and excludes the consideration of his sacerdotal actings in the great sacrifice of himself; for this was not now to come, but was already past and accomplished. But this is so far from being excluded by the apostle, as that it is principally intended by him. This is evident from the words ensuing, wherein the tabernacle is described in which he was thus an high priest of good things to come; for this was his human nature, wherein he offered himself, as we shall see.
2. He doth not in this place compare together and oppose the future state of glory which we shall have by Christ with and unto the state of the church in this world under the old testament; which were not equal, nor would be cogent unto his purpose, seeing the saints of old were also made partakers of that glory. But he compares the present state of the church, the privileges, advantages, and grace which it enjoyed by the priesthood of Christ, with what it had by the Aaronical priesthood; for the fundamental principle which he confirms is, that the , or present perfection of the church, is the effect of the priesthood of Christ.
Wherefore the apostle expresseth these things by that notion of them which was received under the old testament and in the church of the Hebrews, namely, the good things to come; that is, they were so from the beginning of the world, or the giving of the first promise. Things which were fore-signified by all the ordinances of the law, and which thereon were the desire and expectation of the church in all preceding ages; the things which all the prophets foretold, and which God promised by them, directing the faith of the church unto them; in brief, all the good things in spiritual redemption and salvation which they looked for by the Messiah, are here called the good things to come. Of these things Christ was now come the high priest; the law having only the shadow, and not so much as the perfect image of them, Heb 10:1. And these things may be referred unto two heads:
(1.) Those wherein the actual administration of his office did consist, for, as we said, he was the high priest of the duties of his own office, he by whom they were performed. These in general were his oblation and intercession. For although his intercession be continued in heaven, yet was it begun on the earth; as his oblation was offered on the earth, but is continued in heaven, as unto the perpetual exercise of it. The whole preparation unto, and actual oblation of himself, was accompanied with most fervent and effectual intercessions, Heb 5:7. And such was his solemn prayer recorded John 17. These things themselves, in the first place, were the good things to come. For these were they which were designed in, and the substance of, the first promise; as also of all those which were afterwards given for the confirmation of the faith of the church therein. These did all the legal institutions direct unto and represent. And that they are here intended by the apostle, he plainly declares in the next verse; for with respect unto these good things to come, he opposeth his own blood and sacrifice, with the atonement he made thereby, unto the blood of bulls and of goats, with whatever could be effected thereby.
(2.) The effects of these sacerdotal actings are also intended: for these also are reckoned hereunto in the close of the next verse, in the instance of one of them, namely, eternal redemption, which is comprehensive of them all. And these also were of two sorts:
[1.] Such as immediately respected God himself. Of this nature was the atonement and reconciliation which he made by his blood, and peace with God for sinners thereon. See 2Co 5:19-20; Eph 2:14-16.
[2.] The benefits which hereon are actually collated on the church, whereby it is brought into its consummate state in this world. What they are we have discoursed at large on Heb 7:11.
These, therefore, are the good things to come, consisting in the bringing forth and accomplishing of the glorious effects of the hidden wisdom of God, according unto his promises from the beginning of the world, in the sacrifice of Christ, with all the benefits and privileges of the church, in righteousness, peace, and spiritual worship, which ensued thereon. And we may observe,
Obs. 1. These things alone are the true and real good things that were intended for and promised unto the church from the beginning of the world. The Jews had now utterly lost the true notion of them, which proved their ruin; and yet do they continue in the same fatal mistake unto this day. They found that great and glorious things were spoken of by all the prophets, to be brought in at the coming of the Messiah; and the hope of good things to come they lived upon, and continue yet so to do. But being carnal in their own minds, and obstinately fixed unto the desire of earthly things, they fancied them to consist in things quite of another nature; honor, riches, power, a kingdom and dominion on the earth, with a possession of the wealth of all nations, were the good things which they hoped were to come. As to reconciliation and peace with God by a full and perfect atonement for sin, righteousness, deliverance from spiritual adversaries, with a holy worship acceptable unto God, they are things which they neither desired nor regarded. Wherefore, choosing the world and the things of it before those which are spiritual and heavenly, unto the world they are left, and the curse which it lieth under. And it is to be feared that some others also have deceived themselves with carnal apprehensions of the good things, if not of the priesthood, yet of the kingdom of Christ.
Obs. 2. These things alone are absolutely good unto the church; all other things are good or evil as they are used or abused. Outward peace and prosperity are good in themselves, but oftentimes they prove not so to the church. Many a time have they been abused unto its great disadvantage. They are not such things as are too earnestly to be desired, for who knows what will be the end of them? But these things are absolutely good in every state and condition.
Obs. 3. So excellent are these good things, as that the performance and procuring of them were the cause of the coming of the Son of God, with his susception and discharge of his sacerdotal office. They are excellent in their relation unto the wisdom, grace, and love of God, whereof they are the principal effects; and excellent in relation unto the church, as the only means of its eternal redemption and salvation. Had they been of a lower or meaner nature, so glorious a means had not been designed for the effecting of them. Woe unto them by whom they are despised! How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation? And,
Obs. 4. Such a price and value did God put on these things, so good are they in his eyes, as that he made them the subject of his promises unto the church from the foundation of the world. And in all his promises concerning them, he still opposed them unto all the good things of this world, as those which were incomparably above them and better than them all. And therefore he chose out all things that are precious in the whole creation to represent their excellency; which makes an appearance of promises of earthly glories in the Old Testament, whereby the Jews deceived themselves. And because of their worth, he judged it meet to keep the church so long in the desire and expectation of them.
Fifthly, That which the apostle hath immediate respect unto in the declaration of the priesthood and sacrifice of Christ, is what he had newly at large declared concerning the tabernacle and the service of the high priest therein. Wherefore he assigns a tabernacle unto this high priest, in answer unto that under the law, whereby he came, or wherein he administered the duties of his office. And concerning this he,
1. Asserts that he came by a tabernacle.
2. Describes this tabernacle in comparison with the former:
(1.) Positively, that it was greater and more perfect;
(2.) Negatively, in that being not made with hands, it was not of the same building with it.
1. He came by a tabernacle. These words may have prospect unto what is afterwards declared in the next verse, and belong thereunto; as if he bad said, Being come an high priest, he entered into the holy place by a perfect tabernacle, with his own blood;for so the high priest of the law entered into the holy place, by or through the tabernacle, with the blood of others But the words do rather declare the constitution of the tabernacle intended than the use of it, as unto that one solemn service; for so before he had described the frame and constitution of the old tabernacle, before he mentioned its use.
Being come an high priest, by such a tabernacle; that is, wherein he administered that office. What is the tabernacle here intended, there is great variety in the judgment of expositors, Some say it is the church of the new testament, as Chrysostom, who is followed by many. Some say it is heaven itself. This is embraced and pleaded for by Schlichtingius, who labors much in the explanation of it. But whereas this is usually opposed, because the apostle in the next verse affirms that Christ entered into the holies, which he expounds of heaven itself, by this tabernacle, which therefore cannot be heaven also, he endeavors to remove it. For he says there is a double tabernacle in heaven. For as the apostle hath in one and the same place described a double tabernacle here on earth, a first and a second, with their utensils and services, distinguished the one from the other by a veil; so there are two places in heaven answering thereunto. The first of these he would have to be the dwelling-place of the angels; the other the place of the throne of God himself, represented by the most holy place in the tabernacle. Through the first of these he says the LORD Christ passed into the second, which is here called his tabernacle. And it is indeed said that the Lord Christ in his exaltation did pass through the heavens, and that he was made higher than the heavens; which would seem to favor that conceit, though not observed by him. But there is no ground to conceit or fancy such distinct places in heaven above; yea, it is contrary to the Scripture so to do, for the residence of the holy angels is before and about the throne of God. So are they always placed in the Scripture, Dan 7:10; Mat 18:10; Rev 5:11. And these aspectable heavens, which Christ passed through, were not so much as the veil of the tabernacle in his holy service, which was his own flesh, Heb 10:20. The only reason of this ungrounded, curious imagination, is a design to avoid the acknowledgment of the sacrifice of Christ whilst he was on the earth. For this cause he refers this tabernacle unto his entrance into the most holy place, as the only means of offering himself. But the design of the apostle is to show, that as he was a high priest, so he had a tabernacle of his own wherein he was to minister unto God.
2. This tabernacle, whereby he came a high priest, was his own human nature. The bodies of men are often called their tabernacles, 2Co 5:1; 2Pe 1:14. And Christ called his own body the temple, Joh 2:19. His flesh was the veil, Heb 10:20. And in his incarnation he is said to pitch his tabernacle among us, Joh 1:14. Herein dwelt the fullness of the Godhead bodily, Col 2:9, that is, substantially; represented by all the pledges of Gods presence in the tabernacle of old. This was that tabernacle wherein the Son of God administered his sacerdotal office in this world, and wherein he continueth yet so to do in his intercession. For the full proof hereof I refer the reader unto our exposition on Heb 8:2. And this gives us an understanding of the description given of this tabernacle in the adjuncts of it, with reference unto that of old. This is given us,
[1.] That it was greater than it; greater in dignity and worth, not quantity and measures. The human nature of Christ, both in itself, its conception, framing, gracious qualifications and endowments, especially in its relation unto and subsistence in the divine person of the Son, was far more excellent and glorious than any material fabric could be. In this sense, for comparative excellency and dignity, is almost constantly used in the New Testament. So is it in this epistle, Heb 6:13; Heb 6:16. The human nature of Christ doth thus more excel the old tabernacle than the sun doth the meanest star.
[2.] More perfect. This respects its sacred use. It was more perfectly fitted and suited unto the end of a tabernacle, both for the inhabitation of the divine nature and the means of exercising the sacerdotal office in making atonement for sin, than the other was. So it is expressed, Heb 10:5, Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not have, but a body hast thou prepared me. This was that which God accepted, wherewith he was well pleased, when he rejected the other as insufficient unto that end. And we may hence observe, that,
Obs. 5. The human nature of Christ, wherein he discharged the duties of his sacerdotal office in making atonement for sin, is the greatest, the most perfect and excellent ordinance of God; far excelling those that were most excellent under the old testament. An ordinance of God it was, in that it was what he designed, appointed, and produced unto his own glow; and it was that which answered all ordinances of worship under the old testament, as the substance of what was shadowed out in them and by them. And I have labored elsewhere to represent the glory of this ordinance as the principal effect of divine wisdom and goodness, the great means of the manifestation of his eternal glory. The wonderful provision of this tabernacle will be the object of holy admiration unto eternity. But the glory of it is a subject which I have elsewhere peculiarly labored in the demonstration of.[6] And unto the comparison with those of old, here principally intended, its excellency and glory may be considered in these as in other things: representation; that it had in truth, reality, and substance.
[6] See vol. 1: p. 273, of his miscellaneous works. ED.
2dly. What they only shadowed out as unto reconciliation and peace with God, that it did really effect.
3dly. Whereas they were capable only of a holiness by dedication and consecration, which is external, giving an outward denomination, not changing the nature of the things themselves; this was glorious in real internal holiness, wherein the image of God doth consist.
4thly. The matter of them all was earthly, carnal, perishing; his human nature was heavenly as unto its original, the Lord from heaven; and immortal or eternal in its constitution, he was made a priest after the power of an endless life; for although he died once for sin, yet his whole nature had always its entire subsistence in the person of the Son of God.
5thly. Their relation unto God was by virtue of an outward institution or word of command only that of his was by assumption into personal union with the Son of God.
6thly. They had only outward, typical pledges of Gods presence; in him dwelt all the fullness of the Godhead bodily.
7thly. They were exposed unto the injuries of time, and all other outward occurrences, wherein there was nothing of the glory or worship of God; he never did nor could suffer any thing but what belonged unto his office, and is now exalted above all adversities and oppositions. And other considerations of the like nature might be added.
Obs. 6. The Son of God undertaking to be the high priest of the church, it was of necessity that he should come by or have a tabernacle wherein to discharge that office, He came by a tabernacle. So it is said unto the same purpose, that it was of necessity that he should have somewhat to offer, Heb 8:3. For being to save the church by virtue of and in the discharge of that office, it could not be otherwise done than by the sacrifice of himself in and by his own tabernacle.
(2.) He describes this tabernacle by a double negation:
[1.] That it was not made with hands.
[2.] That it was not of this building. And this latter clause is because of its introduction by , that is to say. I shall consider both:
[1.] It was , not made with hands. The old tabernacle whilst it stood was the temple of God. So it is constantly called by David in the Psalms. Temples were generally sumptuous and glorious fabrics, always answering the utmost ability of them that built them. Not to have done their best therein they esteemed irreligious; for they designed to express somewhat of the greatness of what they worshipped, and to beget a veneration of what was performed in them. And this men in the degenerate state of Christianity are returned unto, endeavoring to represent the greatness of God, and the holiness of his worship, in magnificent structures, and costly ornaments of them. Howbeit the best of them all are made by the hands of men; and so are no way meet habitations for God, in the way he had designed to dwell among us. This Solomon acknowledgeth concerning the temple which he had built, which yet was the most glorious that ever was erected, and built by Gods own appointment: 2Ch 2:5-6,
The house which I build is great: for great is our God above all gods. But who is able to build him an house, seeing the heaven and heaven of heavens cannot contain him? who am I then, that I should build him an house, save only to burn sacrifice before him? 1Ki 8:27,
Will God indeed dwell on the earth? behold, the heaven and heaven of heavens cannot contain thee; how much less this house that I have builded?
Service was to be done unto God in that temple according unto his appointment, but a meet habitation for him it was not. And our apostle lays it down as a principle suited unto natural light, that God, who made all things, could not dwell , in temples made with hands, Act 17:24. Such was the tabernacle of old; but such was not that wherein our Lord Jesus administereth his office.
There seems to me to have been an apprehension among the Jews that there should be a temple wherein God would dwell, that should not be made with hands. Our Lord Jesus Christ, in the first year of his ministry, upon his purging of the temple, upon their requiring a sign for the justification of his authority in what he had done, says no more but only, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up, Joh 2:19.He spake of the same temple, as to their destruction of it and his own raising it again. Thus he called his own body. He spake, saith the evangelist, of the temple of his body. That other fabric was a type thereof, and so partook of the same name with it; but yet was no further a temple, or a habitation of God, but as it was typical of that body of his, wherein the fullness of the Godhead did dwell. This testimony of his seemeth to have provoked the Jews above every other; unless it was that, when he plainly declared his divine nature unto them, affirming that he was before Abraham; for this cast them into so much madness, as that immediately they took up stones to cast at him, Joh 8:58-59. But their malice was more inveterate against him for what he thus spake concerning the temple; for, three years after, when they conspired to take away his life, they made these words the ground of their accusation. But as is usual in such cases, when they could not pretend that his own words, as he spake them, were criminal, they variously wrested them to make an appearance of a crime, though they knew not of what nature. So the psalmist prophesied that they should do, Psa 56:5-6. Some of them affirmed him to have said,
I am able to destroy the temple of God, and to build it in three days, Mat 26:61.
Which was apparently false, as is evident in comparing his words with theirs. Wherefore others of them observing that the witness was not yet home unto their purpose, and the design of the priests, they sware positively that he said,
I will destroy this temple that is made with hands, and within three days I will build another made without hands, Mar 14:58.
For they are not the words of the same persons, variously reported by the evangelists; for these in Mark are other witnesses, which agreed not with what was sworn before, as he observes, verse 59, But neither so did their witness agree together. However, they fix on a notion that was passant among them, of a temple to be built without hands. And sundry things there are in the prophets which led them into an apprehension that God would dwell among men in a temple or tabernacle that should not be made with hands. And all their predictions were accomplished when the eternal Word, by the assumption of our nature, fixed his tabernacle among us, Joh 1:14.
This is that which the apostle intimates: Whereas Solomon openly affirms that the habitation of God could not be in the temple that he had built, because it was made with hands, and it is a principle of natural light, that he who made the world and all things contained therein could not dwell in such a temple; and whereas it seems to have belonged unto the faith of the church of old that there should be a temple wherein God would dwell that was to be ; in comparing the human nature of Christ with the old tabernacle, he affirms in the first place that it was not made with hands.
Respect also is had herein unto the framing of the fabric of the old tabernacle by Bezaleel. For although the pattern of it was shown unto Moses in the mount from heaven, yet the actual framing and erection of it was by the hands of workmen skillful to work in all kinds of earthly materials, Exo 31:1-6; Exo 36:1. And although by reason of the wisdom, cunning, and skill which they had received in an extraordinary way, they framed, made, and reared a tabernacle most artificial and beautiful; yet when all was done, it was but the work of mens hands. But the constitution and production of the human nature of Christ was an immediate effect of the wisdom and power of God himself, Luk 1:35. Nothing of human wisdom or contrivance, nothing of the skill or power of man, had the least influence into or concurrence in the provision of this glorious tabernacle, wherein the work of the redemption of the church was effected. The body of Christ, indeed, was made of a woman, of the substance of the blessed Virgin; but she was purely passive therein, and concurrent in no efficiency either moral or physical thereunto. It was the contrivance of divine wisdom and the effect of divine power alone.
[2.] The apostle adds, as a further dissimilitude unto the other tabernacle, That is, not of this building. Expositors generally take these words to be merely exegetical of the former: Not made with hands; that is, not of this building. To me there seems to be an in them. It is so not made with hands like unto that tabernacle, as that it is not of the order of any other created thing; not of the same make and constitution with any thing else in the whole creation here below.For although the substance of his human nature was of the same kind with ours, yet the production of it in the world was such an act of divine power as excels all other divine operations whatever. Wherefore God speaking of it saith, The LORD hath created a new thing in the earth, A woman shall compass a man, Jer 31:22; or conceive him without natural generation.
is the word whereby the creation of all things is constantly expressed in the New Testament; and sometimes it signifies the things that are created. Neither is it ever used, nor , whence it is derived, to signify the constitution of the ordinances of the old testament, the tabernacle, the temple, or any thing belonging thereunto. Wherefore here doth not limit it unto that constitution, so as that not of this building should be, not made with hands as that tabernacle was. It is therefore not of the order of created things here below, either such as were immediately created at the beginning, or educed out of them by a creating act of power. For although it was so as unto its substance, yet in its constitution and production it was an effect of the divine power above the whole order of this creation, or things created.
Obs. 7. God is so far from being obliged unto any means for the effecting of the holy counsels of his will, as that he can when he pleaseth exceed the whole order and course of the first creation of all things, and his providence in the rule thereof.
Fuente: An Exposition of the Epistle to the Hebrews
the Blood Which Sealed the New Covenant
Heb 9:11-20
We are led to consider Christs high-priestly work. The scene for it is no edifice made with hands in this transitory world, but eternal and divine. His stay in the Holiest is not brief, hurried, and repeated year by year, but once for all He enters by virtue of His own blood. That blood cleanses not only from ceremonial guilt, but from moral and spiritual pollution. A will or testament comes into force when the testator dies; so the will of the eternal Father toward us has been made valid through the blood of Jesus.
Consider, then, the Eternal or Timeless Spirit. What Jesus did on the Cross was the doing of God through His Spirit. The Atonement was not wrought by the dying Sufferer to appease God, but to express God as reconciling the world to Himself. The Timeless Cross. It belongs to no one age, but towers oer the wrecks of time, and is as near us as to the early Church. The Timeless Christ. Cast yourself out of yourself and into Him; out of the fret of the time-sphere into the freedom and ecstasy of the eternal!
Fuente: F.B. Meyer’s Through the Bible Commentary
Christ: Gen 49:10, Psa 40:7, Isa 59:20, Mal 3:1, Mat 2:6, Mat 11:3, Joh 4:25, 1Jo 4:2, 1Jo 4:3, 1Jo 5:20, 2Jo 1:7
an high priest: Heb 2:17, Heb 3:1, Heb 4:15, Heb 5:5, Heb 5:6, Heb 7:1, Heb 7:11-26, Heb 7:27, Heb 8:1
of good: Heb 10:1
by a greater: Heb 9:1-9, Heb 8:2, Joh 1:14,*Gr.
not made: Heb 9:23, Heb 9:24, Act 7:48, Act 17:24, Act 17:25, 2Co 5:1, Col 2:11
Reciprocal: Exo 38:21 – tabernacle of testimony Lev 6:30 – General Num 10:17 – the tabernacle Num 35:28 – after the death 1Ki 6:1 – build 1Ki 8:13 – a settled 2Ch 6:2 – I have built Jer 33:8 – General Dan 9:24 – and to anoint Mar 14:58 – General Joh 19:30 – It is Heb 10:9 – Lo Rev 13:6 – and his
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Heb 9:11. Not made -with hands bas the same meaning as “pitched” in chapter S:2. Good things to come signifies that the greatest values to be obtained from the New Testament institution will be enjoyed in the future. This building refers to the tabernacle all parts of which were on the earth. while that part called the holiest of all typified Heaven which is not on the earth. That is why the institution of Christ is called a greater and more perfect tabernacle.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Heb 9:11. Here begins the true antithesis to the preceding verses, though Heb 9:6 marks a contrast of another kind. That old economy was earthly, glorious indeed, but (Heb 9:6) ineffectual. The new economy has to do with another tabernacle not of this creation, with other blood, with a far completer redemption, and with the purification of the conscience and of the life (Heb 9:11-14). So it introduces a new covenant and a heavenly sanctuary (Heb 9:15-20), with complete forgiveness (Heb 9:26); and the only thing that remains is Christs reappearance to complete salvation (Heb 9:27-28).
But Christ having come (having appeared, a word used to describe the appearance of any one in history or on some important stage of life, Mat 3:1; Luk 12:51), a high priest of the good things to come (not things that belong to the future state chiefly, but in conformity with the Jewish mode of speaking of them while they were yet future, the things that belong to the new covenant, extending indeed into the heavens and the distant future, but beginning here and now), by a greater and a more perfect tabernacle not made with hands, that is, not of this creation (see under Heb 9:12).
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
Our apostle having showed, in the preceding verses, how, and after what manner, the Levitical priests executed their office, he comes now to declare how, and after what manner, Christ, our great High Priest, did also execute his.
And, 1. As the Levitical priests had a tabernacle, and earthly sanctuary, to officiate in; so Christ had a greater and more perfect tabernacle to execute his office in, namely, that of his own body, not like theirs, made with hands, but miraculously formed in the virgin’s womb, by the overshadowing power of the Holy Ghost; in which tabernacle the fulness of the Godhead dwelt substantially.
The human nature of Christ was that tabernacle in which the Son of God administered his sacerdotal office in this world, and wherein he continueth yet to do so in heaven by his intercession.
And well may his tabernacle be called greater, being so not in quantity and measure, but in dignity and worth; and more perfect, that is, more perfectly fitted and suited to the end of a tabernacle, both for the inhabitation of the divine nature, and the means of exercising the sacerdotal office, in the making atonement for sin, than the other was.
Learn hence, That the human nature of Christ, in which he exercised and discharged the duties of his sacerdotal office in making atonement for sin, is the greatest, most perfect and excellent ordinance of God, far excelling those that were most excellent under the Old Testament. The glory of this tabernacle of our Saviour’s body in heaven, will be the object of holy admiration unto all eternity, as it was admirably fitted and perfected for service and usefulness here on earth.
Observe, 2. The apostle declares, That as Christ had a more excellent tabernacle, so he was incomparably a more excellent High Priest than ever the legal dispensation had; they entered the holy of holies, He entered heaven; they entered often, He but once; they entered with the blood of goats and calves, He in his own blood. And the effect, fruit, and benefit of it was unspeakable: Thereby he obtained eternal redemption for us.
Note here, That where as it is said that Christ entered into heaven with his own blood, it is not so to be understood, as if he carried the material blood which he shed with him into heaven, in a vessel or otherwise, as the high priest carried the blood of the sacrifice in his hand into the most holy place; but that Christ presented his body in heaven, out of which the blood was shed, and, by the merit of his death, made expiation for sin, and purchased eternal redemption for sinners.
Learn hence, That the entrance of our Lord Jesus Christ, as our Great High Priest, into heaven, to appear in the presence of God for us, and to save thereby to the uttermost was a matter so great and glorious, that it could not be accomplished but by his own blood. No other sacrifice was sufficient to this end; not by the blood of bulls and goats.
Fuente: Expository Notes with Practical Observations on the New Testament
Christ’s Blood, His Sacrifice
Under the old law, the people were cleansed by the blood of bulls and goats. The blood of bulls and goats was used in several different sacrifices, including those on the Day of Atonement. The ashes of a red heifer were kept for the water of separation ( Num 19:1-22 ). Those who were unclean, especially because of touching the dead, had to use this water to be cleansed. This cleansing was only ceremonial and outward, thus a purification “of the flesh.” In contrast, the writer describes the cleansing effect of the blood of Christ. He gave His own body in complete obedience to God ( Php 2:5-8 ). With the “conscience” man understands the will of God. While the blood of bulls and goats could only cleanse flesh, Christ’s blood cleanses the conscience. Jesus offered Himself through His own divine and eternal spirit. The cleansing under the old law was only temporary. Christ’s pure blood stands as an effective sacrifice until the end of time ( Heb 9:11-14 ).
Fuente: Gary Hampton Commentary on Selected Books
Heb 9:11-12. But Christ being come As if he had said, Though the types and legal ceremonies could not make the worshippers perfect, yet Christ, the antitype and truth, can. Here he comes to interpret and show the end of the typical services he had spoke of; a high-priest of good things to come Described Heb 9:15; that is, a dispenser of those benefits and advantages which were prefigured by the Mosaic institutions, but could only be obtained for us, and bestowed upon us, by the Messiah. By a greater and more perfect tabernacle That is, not by the service of the Jewish tabernacle, (Heb 9:23,) but by a service performed in a greater and more perfect tabernacle above; not made with hands, that is, not of this building Namely, the building of this worldly sanctuary, or not making any part of this lower creation. Neither by the blood of goats and calves, &c., did he procure a right to enter and minister in that tabernacle, but by his own blood By the merit of his death; he entered in once into the holy place above That is, once for all: not once, or one day every year, as the Jewish high-priest into the holy place of the emblematical tabernacle: having obtained By his one perfect sacrifice; eternal redemption and salvation for us Of which all the remissions, and all the benefits procured by the ministration of the Aaronical priesthood, were but very imperfect figures. Beza, Pierce, and many others, by the greater and more perfect tabernacle, understand our Lords human nature. In support of which notion Beza says, that his human nature may as properly be called a tabernacle as his flesh is called a veil, Heb 10:24. But, not to dispute about the propriety of the figure, it appears an absurdity to say that Christ entered into the holy place through his own human nature, as through a tabernacle. He entered into heaven clothed with his human nature, and not through it, as through a place: for, on that supposition, he did not carry his human nature with him into heaven. Macknight.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
9:11 {6} But Christ being come an high priest of good things to come, {7} by a {h} greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building;
(6) Now he enters into the declaration of the types, and first of all comparing the Levitical high priest with Christ, (that is to say, the figure with the thing itself) he attributes to Christ the administration of good things to come, that is, everlasting, which those carnal things had respect to.
(7) Another comparison of the first corrupt tabernacle with the latter, (that is to say, with the human nature of Christ) which is the true incorruptible temple of God, into which the Son of God entered, as the Levitical high priests into the other which was frail and transitory.
(h) By a more excellent and better.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
The final purging of sin 9:11-28
The writer now focused on the issue of sacrifice.
"The argument moves a stage further as the author turns specifically to what Christ has done. The sacrifices of the old covenant were ineffectual. But in strong contrast Christ made an offering that secures a redemption valid for all eternity. In the sacrifices, a good deal pertained to the use of blood. So in accord with this, the author considers the significance of the blood of animals and that of Christ." [Note: Morris, p. 85.]
"Blood" in Scripture is frequently a metonym (a figure of speech in which one thing stands for another) for "death," particularly violent death involving bloodshed. There was nothing magical about Jesus’ blood that made it a cleansing agent for sin. It was the death of Christ that saves us, not something special about His blood.
In Heb 9:11-14 the writer introduced Christ’s high priestly ministry, which climaxes in Heb 9:15. Heb 9:16-22 are parenthetical explaining Heb 9:15. Then Heb 9:23-28 resume the discussion of Jesus’ priestly ministry in heaven.
"The conception of Christ’s death as a liturgical high priestly action is developed as a major argument in Heb 9:11-28. Prior to this point in the homily, the high priesthood tended to be linked with Christ’s present activity as heavenly intercessor (cf. Heb 2:18; Heb 4:15-16; Heb 7:25; Heb 8:1-2)." [Note: Lane, Hebrews 9-13, p. 235.]
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)
The superior priestly ministry 9:11-15
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)
A better translation might be, "He entered in connection with the greater . . . tabernacle." Jesus Christ did not pass through heaven in the sense of going on to some other place after He arrived there. He is there now.