Hebrews 8:6

But now hath He obtained a more excellent ministry.

Beginning with chapter 5 the inspired writer has treated of Christ's office of High Priest. He has shown the superiority of Christ, both as to His person and as to His qualifications. He now proceeds to emphasize the greater excellence of the Lord's office from a consideration of the place of His ministry: But the chief point of all that has been said is this, Such a High Priest we have who is seated at the right hand of the throne of Majesty in the heavens. Many considerations have been urged till now to establish the claim of Christ's superior excellence; what has been stated certainly does not lack in force or clearness. But the most persuasive argument, the point that clinches the matter, the thought which forms the headstone of the discussion, is that which the sacred author now offers. With solemn emphasis he says that the High Priest whom we have, in whom we place our trust, is such a one as to occupy a seat at the right hand of the eternal God's majesty in the heavens. The most important part of Christ's office as High Priest, so far as the certainty of faith is concerned, is that which He now performs as our advocate with the Father. His sacrifice here on earth gained salvation for us: our faith clings to the merits of the blood shed for us on Calvary. But we rest our hope of the bliss of heaven in the fact that Christ's intercession for us continues day after day until the glorious consummation of the glory which is ours, though still in hope. For it is because of the fact that Christ is seated at the right hand of the Majesty that He, also according to His human nature, has assumed the free and unlimited use of the divine glory and majesty imparted to it, that His intercession in our behalf avails something, that it has such great and encompassing value. Thus "His sitting down at the right hand of the throne of God proves, 1. that He is higher than all the high priests that ever existed; 2. that the sacrifice which He offered for the sins of the world was sufficient and effectual, and as such accepted by God; 3. that He has all power in the heavens and in the earth, and is able to save and defend to the uttermost all that come to God through Him; 4. that He did not, like the Jewish high priests, depart out of the Holy of Holies after having offered the atonement, but abides there at the throne of God as a continual priest, in the permanent act of offering His crucified body unto God, in behalf of all the succeeding generations of mankind."

Lest his readers fail to grasp the full significance of the distinction implied in this argument, the writer adds: A minister of holy things and of the true tabernacle which the Lord constructed, not man. The word with which Christ is here designated is that used of the officials of a church in the act of worshiping, of priests in the discharge of their duties. Thus Christ is engaged in the service of holy things; He is taking part in ceremonies and in a worship which is infinitely higher than all the services of the earth, even of the ancient Jewish cult. The service of Christ is in the true tabernacle of heaven. The Tabernacle of the children of Israel in the wilderness and during the first centuries in Palestine was symbolical, figurative, typical, foreshadowing the tabernacle, the sanctuary, which was to remain forever. For the old Tabernacle, although built by the command of God and according to designs and plans shown by Him to Moses, was only temporary. The abiding, eternal tabernacle is that above, constructed, built, by the Lord Himself, for His everlasting temple and habitation. See chap. 9:11-24.

The writer now explains his use of the term "servant of worship" with regard to Christ: For every high priest is appointed to offer gifts as well as sacrifices, whence follows the necessity that This One also have something to offer. It was not an idle, meaningless term which the inspired author used when he called Christ a minister of the sanctuary, but was fitting in every way. That was the business of the high priests of old, therein their service consisted, that they offered the gifts and sacrifices of the people to the Lord. We concede the necessity, therefore, of being able to show the Same facts with regard to Christ. And this offers no difficulty, for Christ did have something to offer, chap. 7:27, He accomplished His priestly office by offering up Himself. His own blood, a sacrifice which retains its force in eternity.

In connection with this thought, that Christ is actually making an offering, the sacred writer adds: And, indeed, if He were on earth, He would not even be a priest, since there are men that offer up gifts according to the Law. If this fact is accepted as the truth, that Christ is our High Priest, it is in heaven that He must be exercising His ministry. At the time when this epistle was written, the Jewish Temple was still standing, and all the ordinances of the Jewish worship were still in force. This included that the work of the priests was still performed by the members of the tribe of Levi. The Jewish Ceremonial Law excluded men of every other tribe from the office of priests, and Jesus, as a member of the tribe of Judah, could not have performed the ministry of the Levitical priesthood. Only men whose descent from Lev. could be definitely proved from the genealogical tables were permitted to offer up the sacrifices of the people in the Temple.

But far from detracting from the importance of Jesus, this fact rather brought out His excellency all the more: Who serve a mere type and shadow of the heavenly things, just as Moses received instructions when he was about to construct the Tabernacle; for, See, said He, that thou make everything according to the type that was shown to thee on the mountain. The priests of the Old Testament were busily serving, indeed, but their entire service, as they knew, was a mere outline and shadow prophetical of the heavenly things which were to be revealed in the Messiah. That fact distinguished their entire service: their work had no substance in itself, no independent existence, Their ministry would have been valueless without the hope of the coming fulfillment of all types and examples. The same lesson is drawn from the manner in which Moses prepared for the building of the Tabernacle. When he consulted with God, he was given the command to construct the Tabernacle and provide all its equipment, not according to his own ideas and designs, but according to the outline and patterns shown him on the mountain, Exodus 25:40. It is immaterial whether these sketches were shown to Moses in a vision or delivered to him by the hand of angels. The fact remains that God communicated to him in such a way as to make His will known to him, and that Moses had a clear idea of the will of God with regard to the entire structure and all its appointments. On the same order as the service of Moses on this occasion was the entire ministry of the Old Testament priests; all the acts of worship performed by them were mere types or patterns, whether they were concerned with sacrifices or with the burning of incense or with the ceremonies of the great festivals. While the writer, then, readily concedes that Jesus did not belong to the priests of the Levitical order, he emphasizes all the more strongly: But, as it is, He has obtained a more excellent ministry. The fact that the ministry of Christ is now being carried on in heaven, and that it represents the fulfillment of all the types and figures of the Old Testament, elevates it high above all the Temple services of the Levitical priesthood.

(But now hath he obtained a more excellent ministry,) by how much also he is the Mediator of a better covenant, which was established upon better promises.