Introduction
Faith in Christ is always contested. Ideologies clash, worldviews collide, and truth claims compete for allegiance in the marketplace of ideas, tempting Christians to abandon Christ for His rivals. This is the primary pastoral concern that Hebrews was written to address. The original recipients were being tempted by suffering and social pressure to turn away from Christ and go back to Judaism. Hebrews, then, is to show the supremacy of Christ over every rival claim and to urge Christians to persevere in wholehearted allegiance to Jesus.
Text: Read Hebrews 8:1-13 and pray.
Passage Summary: Hebrews 8 explains that Jesus is the perfect and final High Priest, infinitely superior to the Levitical priests of the Old Testament.
Discussion Questions
1. Read Hebrews 8:1. The first way the author contrasts Jesus’ priesthood with the Levitical priesthood is by noting that Jesus “is seated at the right hand of the throne of Majesty.”
What is the significance of Jesus being seated at the right hand of God? And what does that tell us about the kind of priest He is as compared to the Levitical priests? (see Matthew 26:64; Eph 1:20; Heb 12:2)
2. Read Hebrews 8:2-4. The second way the author contrasts Jesus’ priesthood with the Levitical priesthood is by noting that his ministry is a heavenly ministry, while the Old Testament tabernacle and its priests were merely “a copy and shadow of the heavenly things” (Heb 8:5).
In what ways did the Old Testament tabernacle, priesthood, and sacrificial system foreshadow the person and work of Christ? To answer this question, discuss what the tabernacle was, what priests did, and what the sacrificial system was all about. How did Christ fulfill it all?
3. Read Hebrews 8:5-13. The third way the author contrasts Jesus’ priesthood with the Levitical priesthood is by quoting Jeremiah 31:31-34, pointing out that Jesus mediated a better covenant established on better promises.
In Jeremiah 31:31-34 (quoted in verses 8-13), in what specific ways is the New Covenant superior to the Old Covenant?
What does it mean to have God’s Law written on your heart (see Heb 8:10)? How have you experienced this in your own life?
How has the New Covenant promise of the forgiveness of sins affected your life?