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耶穌是更美的約的中保

我們所講論的重點,就是我們有這樣的一位大祭司,他已經坐在眾天之上至尊者的寶座右邊, 在至聖所和真會幕裡供職;這真會幕是主支搭的,不是人支搭的。 所有大祭司都是為了獻禮物和祭品而設立的,所以這位大祭司,也必須有所獻上的。 如果他在地上,就不會作祭司,因為已經有按照律法獻禮物的祭司了。 這些祭司所供奉的職事,不過是天上的事物的副本和影像,就如摩西將要造會幕的時候, 神曾經警告他說:“你要留心,各樣物件,都要照著在山上指示你的樣式去作。” 但是現在耶穌得了更尊貴的職分,正好像他是更美的約的中保,這約是憑著更美的應許立的。 如果頭一個約沒有缺點,就沒有尋求另一個約的必要了。 可是 神指責他們,說:

“看哪,主說,日子要到了,

我要與以色列家

和猶大家訂立新約。

這新約不像從前我拉他們祖先的手,

領他們出埃及的日子與他們所立的約。

因為他們沒有遵守我的約,

我就不理會他們。這是主說的。

10 主說:‘因為在那些日子以後,

我要與以色列家所立的約是這樣:

我要把我的律法放在他們的心思裡面,

寫在他們的心上。

我要作他們的 神,

他們要作我的子民。

11 他們各人必不用教導自己的鄰居,

和自己的同胞,說:

你要認識主。

因為所有的人,從最小到最大的,

都必認識我。

12 我也要寬恕他們的不義,

決不再記著他們的罪惡。’”

13  神既然說到新的約,就是把前約當作舊的了;那變成陳舊衰老的,就快要消逝了。

Christ Is Our High Priest

Here is the main point: We have a High Priest who sat down in the place of honor beside the throne of the majestic God in heaven. There he ministers in the heavenly Tabernacle,[a] the true place of worship that was built by the Lord and not by human hands.

And since every high priest is required to offer gifts and sacrifices, our High Priest must make an offering, too. If he were here on earth, he would not even be a priest, since there already are priests who offer the gifts required by the law. They serve in a system of worship that is only a copy, a shadow of the real one in heaven. For when Moses was getting ready to build the Tabernacle, God gave him this warning: “Be sure that you make everything according to the pattern I have shown you here on the mountain.”[b]

But now Jesus, our High Priest, has been given a ministry that is far superior to the old priesthood, for he is the one who mediates for us a far better covenant with God, based on better promises.

If the first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no need for a second covenant to replace it. But when God found fault with the people, he said:

“The day is coming, says the Lord,
    when I will make a new covenant
    with the people of Israel and Judah.
This covenant will not be like the one
    I made with their ancestors
when I took them by the hand
    and led them out of the land of Egypt.
They did not remain faithful to my covenant,
    so I turned my back on them, says the Lord.
10 But this is the new covenant I will make
    with the people of Israel on that day,[c] says the Lord:
I will put my laws in their minds,
    and I will write them on their hearts.
I will be their God,
    and they will be my people.
11 And they will not need to teach their neighbors,
    nor will they need to teach their relatives,[d]
    saying, ‘You should know the Lord.’
For everyone, from the least to the greatest,
    will know me already.
12 And I will forgive their wickedness,
    and I will never again remember their sins.”[e]

13 When God speaks of a “new” covenant, it means he has made the first one obsolete. It is now out of date and will soon disappear.

Footnotes

  1. 8:2 Or tent; also in 8:5.
  2. 8:5 Exod 25:40; 26:30.
  3. 8:10 Greek after those days.
  4. 8:11 Greek their brother.
  5. 8:8-12 Jer 31:31-34.