Hebrews 8:1-7
Now the main point in what we are saying is this: we have such a high priest, one who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens, a minister in the sanctuary and the true tent that the Lord, and not any mortal, has set up. For every high priest is appointed to offer gifts and sacrifices; hence it is necessary for this priest also to have something to offer. Now if he were on earth, he would not be a priest at all, since there are already those who offer gifts according to the law. They offer worship in a sanctuary that is a sketch and shadow of the heavenly one, just as Moses was warned when he was about to erect the tent. For, God said, “See that you make everything according to the pattern that was shown you on the mountain.” But Jesus has now obtained a more excellent ministry, and to that degree he is the mediator of a better covenant, which has been enacted on the basis of better promises. For if that first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no need to look for a second one. Hebrews 8:1-7 (NRSVUE)
Here we are, late in the season of Epiphany, the season that follows Christmas and emphasizes just who that baby was whose birth we celebrated. Given this position in the church year we are not surprised at the author’s identification of Jesus as the “one who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens.” Reading on we nod approval at the author’s pushing the metaphor of “high priest” and the assertion of Jesus as “minister in the sanctuary and the true tent that the Lord, and not any mortal, has set up.”
And yet. And yet there is something off-putting in the tone and text of this passage. For me it’s the anti-Jewish message so prevalent in the New Testament, a message repeated so frequently that it prompts such abominations as last month’s burning of the Synagogue in Jackson, Mississippi. Note, for example, the dig at high priests, the law and the Temple in verses 3-5: “every high priest is appointed to offer gifts and sacrifices. . .there are already those who offer gifts according to the law. They offer worship in a sanctuary that is a sketch and shadow of the heavenly one.”
The writer goes on with invidious comparisons: ”Jesus has now obtained a more excellent ministry. . . he is the mediator of a better covenant. . .enacted on the basis of better promises,” and concludes “if that first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no need to look for a second one.”
Whoa.
God’s first covenant wasn’t faultless? Must be the Jews’ fault. Doesn’t Mathew 27 have them calling out to Pilate, “His blood be on us and on our children!”? The anti-Jewish message is so ingrained we almost never notice it.
And yet. . . . And yet again, we need to remember that Jesus was Jewish. His followers late into the first century were predominantly Jewish. Mary, Mary Magdalene, Peter, James, John, and the disciples were all Jewish. Paul was Jewish, and though he thought the Gentiles shouldn’t follow the Levitical laws, he viewed those same laws as God’s continuing gift to the Jewish people. How then should we respond to the writer of Hebrews? Need we put down Jesus’s people in order to raise him up? Grace for us and our fellow believers gives us comfort. Grace for others? Not so much.
Questions for Reflection:
- Last summer a series of sermons at Southwood dealt with the biblical story that depicts Jacob wrestling with God and prevailing on him for a blessing [Genesis 32:24-30] yet many among creedal Christians consider the Bible, “God’s word,” to be divine and therefore unchallengeable. How then does Jacob’s story reassure us about wrestling with the Bible’s human failings, contradictions and imperfections?
- My college history professor repeatedly warned us that much history, including that by many professional historians, was written to assign blame, an adage that apparently applies as well to the religious writer of Hebrews. How then does blame work if we profess a theology of Grace?
Prayer:
Lord, we read the scriptures and ponder the words. We seek answers, but each answer brings only more questions. We are confronted again and again by the knowable/unknowable You. We see Jesus, who when asked a question responded almost invariably with another question or a parable that raised still more questions. We ask for patience, Lord. And we trust in your grace.
Amen.
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