Jesus' Work in Heaven
We have a High Priest, who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens, a Minister of the sanctuary and of the true tabernacle which the Lord erected and not man. Heb. 8:1, 2, NKJV.
We have a High Priest in heaven. With that statement we know what Jesus has been doing since the Ascension. He had finished the sacrificial aspect of His ministry and has moved to the priestly.
In describing His priestly ministry the book of Hebrews becomes quite specific. Jesus is not merely somewhere up in heaven, but is ministering in the "true tabernacle which the Lord erected, and not man." Prior to these verses, Hebrews has indicated the existence of a heavenly sanctuary. But in today's passage the book begins to present the heavenly sanctuary as the seat of God's operations.
The idea of a heavenly sanctuary wasn't completely new to the Jewish mind. Several pre-Christian Jewish documents allude to it. Central to their understanding was Exodus 25:8, 9, in which God told Moses regarding the Israelites, "Let them build me a sanctuary, that I may dwell in their midst. According to all that I show you concerning the pattern of the tabernacle, and of all its furniture, so shall you make it" (RSV). Hebrews 8 utilizes Exodus 25 as the foundation for its presentation of the heavenly sanctuary, or the "true tabernacle," that provided the "pattern" for the wilderness sanctuary and its ministries, which were only a "copy and shadow" of heavenly realities (Heb. 8:5, NKJV). Later Jewish thought also connected God's throne to the heavenly Temple (see Isa. 6:1).
Thus the idea of a heavenly sanctuary that contains God's throne was nothing new to Jewish thinking. The concept that would have been novel to them was the fact that Jesus was now there serving as high priest in their behalf.
What the book of Hebrews is arguing is that Christ's ministry is the real thing, while the Levitical ministry was merely an illustration that pointed toward His future work. Just as all of the animal sacrifices foretell Jesus' once-for-all sacrifice as the Lamb of God and the real Passover (1 Cor. 5:7), in the same way the earthly sanctuary directed attention to the true sanctuary in heaven.
In short, priestly ministry has shifted from earth to heaven and to Jesus as the true High Priest. The rending of the curtain from top to bottom at the very time of His sacrifice on the cross signaled the transfer (Matt. 27:51). The Most Holy of the earthly Temple was no longer holy.
It is time to turn our eyes to heaven and what Jesus is now doing for us.
We have a High Priest, who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens, a Minister of the sanctuary and of the true tabernacle which the Lord erected and not man. Heb. 8:1, 2, NKJV.
We have a High Priest in heaven. With that statement we know what Jesus has been doing since the Ascension. He had finished the sacrificial aspect of His ministry and has moved to the priestly.
In describing His priestly ministry the book of Hebrews becomes quite specific. Jesus is not merely somewhere up in heaven, but is ministering in the "true tabernacle which the Lord erected, and not man." Prior to these verses, Hebrews has indicated the existence of a heavenly sanctuary. But in today's passage the book begins to present the heavenly sanctuary as the seat of God's operations.
The idea of a heavenly sanctuary wasn't completely new to the Jewish mind. Several pre-Christian Jewish documents allude to it. Central to their understanding was Exodus 25:8, 9, in which God told Moses regarding the Israelites, "Let them build me a sanctuary, that I may dwell in their midst. According to all that I show you concerning the pattern of the tabernacle, and of all its furniture, so shall you make it" (RSV). Hebrews 8 utilizes Exodus 25 as the foundation for its presentation of the heavenly sanctuary, or the "true tabernacle," that provided the "pattern" for the wilderness sanctuary and its ministries, which were only a "copy and shadow" of heavenly realities (Heb. 8:5, NKJV). Later Jewish thought also connected God's throne to the heavenly Temple (see Isa. 6:1).
Thus the idea of a heavenly sanctuary that contains God's throne was nothing new to Jewish thinking. The concept that would have been novel to them was the fact that Jesus was now there serving as high priest in their behalf.
What the book of Hebrews is arguing is that Christ's ministry is the real thing, while the Levitical ministry was merely an illustration that pointed toward His future work. Just as all of the animal sacrifices foretell Jesus' once-for-all sacrifice as the Lamb of God and the real Passover (1 Cor. 5:7), in the same way the earthly sanctuary directed attention to the true sanctuary in heaven.
In short, priestly ministry has shifted from earth to heaven and to Jesus as the true High Priest. The rending of the curtain from top to bottom at the very time of His sacrifice on the cross signaled the transfer (Matt. 27:51). The Most Holy of the earthly Temple was no longer holy.
It is time to turn our eyes to heaven and what Jesus is now doing for us.
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