Hebrews 8:1 Now of the things which we have spoken this is the sum: We have such an high priest… I. THE REALITY OF THE FACT. "We have such an High Priest." It is not a matter of useless desire or of future hope, but of present accomplished possession. The truth exists indeed in the unseen world, and is not at present visible to sight, as it will be hereafter. Hereafter the very eyes shall take cognisance of the fact, when forth from the holy of holies, the immediate presence of God, the great High Priest shall come to be manifested before the eyes of an astonished world. But why is that time delayed? Why lingers the great High Priest within the heavenly sanctuary? The answer is, that He waits till the number of the elect shall be completed, and the intercession which He for ever lives to make for His people shall be no longer necessary, when, His people being gathered safely in the last veil shall be for ever removed from between them end the full sight of God. Our High Priest still ministers for us till then. II. THE SINGLENESS OF THE PERSON, AND OF THE OFFICE HE FULFILS. "We have such an High Priest" — not many, but one — one, and only one, so absolutely alone, that it is blasphemy to arrogate any part of His work. But will Christ be Priest for ever? This the apostle notices. Yes, for He liveth in "the power of an endless life," and needs no successor. III. THE PERFECTION OF THE PRIESTHOOD OF CHRIST, AND THE PERFECTION OF HIM WHO FULFILS IT. "We have such an High Priest." Turn back to the preceding chapter, and you will find that the apostle enumerates beauty after beauty in Christ, as if he were gathering together a cluster of jewels to deck His crown of glory. It is singular, when we read the passage carefully, how we find it crowded with insignia of honour. In human priests, if the most extravagant claims were admitted, It would yet be true that the dignity is only in the office, and not in the men. But when we turn to the true High Priest, how different it is! Here is not only the glory of the office, but the glory of the Person, infinitely qualified in His Deity, to stand between the justice of God and the whole human race. He is no mere dying man like an earthly priest, but clothed with "the power of an endless life." He was not made after the law of a carnal commandment, but made after the oath of God Himself, "a High Priest for ever, after the order of Melchisedec." He has not entered into the "tabernacle made with hands, with the blood of bulls and goats," but with "His own blood He entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us." He is not one among many, like earthly priests, but is alone in His own single and unequalled majesty, "the only-begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth." He does not fill a delegated office, like earthly priests, but fulfils His own office, and that so perfectly that He "is able to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by Him." He needs not daily, as earthly priests, to seek forgiveness for His own sins, but is "holy, harmless, undefiled, and separate from sinners." He does not minister afar off from God, like earthly priests, but is already "made higher than the heavens," and at the right hand of His Father pleads evermore for us. He needs not to repeat His daily offerings, as earthly priests, but has made atonement once, "when He offered up Himself." And, lastly, He has no infirmity, like earthly priests, but is the Son of God, Himself God, blessed for evermore — omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent, infinite! Who perfect as He? and what wonder that, thus perfect, He should govern as well as atone?-not only Priest, but King, — nay, bearing on His head the triple crown of glory — Prophet, Priest, King. (E. Garbett, M. A.) Parallel Verses KJV: Now of the things which we have spoken this is the sum: We have such an high priest, who is set on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens; |
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