Hebrews 8:6Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

Do you see how much better the present ministry is than that ministry? That one is copy and shadow; this one is truth.

Yet this gave the hearers neither benefit nor consolation. Therefore the Apostle adds what could especially bring them joy: "which was established," he says, "on better promises."

Having spoken about the place, the priest, and the sacrifice, he now sets forth the difference between the covenants themselves. Earlier too he proved that the old covenant was weak and useless. See what arguments he uses to show its deficiencies.

In one place he said of the new covenant, "according to the power of an indestructible life." In another, he said of the old, "there is an annulment of the former commandment because of its weakness and uselessness."

"But this High Priest has obtained a more excellent ministry." This follows from that very thought: if He remained on earth, He would not be a priest.

But now, he says, since He is not on earth, but has heaven as the place of His sacred ministry, He has obtained a better ministry. His ministry is not like that proper to earthly high priests, but heavenly, since heaven serves as its place.

"Inasmuch as He is mediator of a better covenant." Having exalted Christ's priesthood by its place, by the Priest, and by the sacrifice, he now openly shows it to be the same by the covenant.

Although he earlier said that the Old Covenant was weak and unprofitable because of the childishness of the hearers, he quickly ended that discourse. Now he dwells at length on this matter.

Thus the sayings of the prophets are found in three different kinds. Some refer to the earthly Jerusalem, others to the heavenly, and some to both at once. I think it necessary to show what I assert by examples.

The prophet Nathan was sent to rebuke King David for a grave sin and to foretell coming troubles for him.

Who will doubt that these divine sayings, and others akin to them, refer to the earthly city? This is so whether they bear on public matters, such as the profit and welfare of the people, or on private matters and personal affairs.

In such cases something about the future is revealed with regard to temporal life. But when we read, "Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah."

The word "better," both here and everywhere, the Apostle applies to the Lord as better than and distinct from created things. For through Him a better sacrifice is accomplished. Concerning Him there is a better hope. Through Him there are better promises. They are better not merely because they are compared as great things with something small, but because by their very character they differ from the former things. For He who wrought the whole divine economy is better than created things.

But now Jesus Christ has obtained a better ministry than Moses. That is, Jesus gave us, and Himself was, the Mediator of a covenant, not the one in which earthly promises were written, but the one in which heavenly gifts, more excellent than earthly ones, were written.

The Apostle briefly showed the superiority. Bodily promises were joined to the Old Testament: "a land flowing with milk and honey" (Ex 3:17), a land of olives "and vineyards" (Is 36:17), many children, and the like. But eternal life and the Heavenly Kingdom are joined to the New Testament. Having thus shown that the priesthood according to the order of Melchizedek is more excellent than the Levitical priesthood, the Apostle now openly enters the contest on behalf of the New Testament.

"But now He has obtained a better ministry." "Now," being in the heavens, He has obtained the higher ministry. He intercedes for us before His Father as the firstfruits of our race by virtue of His becoming man.

"Inasmuch as He is mediator of a better covenant." Having shown the superiority of Christ's service by the place of priestly ministry, heaven; by the dignity of the ministering person, the Son of God; and by the sacrifice, for He offered Himself, the Apostle now asserts the superiority of His ministry also by the covenant.

He calls the New Covenant better and rejects the old. Christ, he says, performs a higher ministry "inasmuch as He is mediator of a better covenant," or guarantor, meaning the evangelical covenant.

The Lord transfers outward remedies to the healing of the inner man. After the calming of the flesh, He turns to the healing of souls.

Withdrawing from the surrounding crowds, He ascended to a solitary place on a nearby mountain, calling the apostles with Him. He taught them higher ordinances on the height.

By the very place and manner of teaching, He indicated that He Himself is the One who deemed Moses worthy of speaking with Him.

At that time He addressed the patriarch in awe-inspiring and trembling righteousness. This time He spoke in reverent meekness, fulfilling the words of the ancient prophecy of Jeremiah.

"Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah."

What better aspect of Christ's ministry does the Apostle mean here? From the immediate connection with what precedes, it is clear that the Apostle chiefly has in mind that Christ did not remain on earth to serve as priest. Rather, He sat down at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens (Heb 8:1 above). Therefore Christ's ministry is called better here precisely in the sense that it is heavenly.

But from this it follows that the ministry of Jesus Christ, as heavenly Priest, is incomparably higher than the ministry performed here on earth by the Levitical priests. It fully accords with the high dignity of the covenant of which He became Mediator.