Daily Devotions
Hebrews
"But now He has obtained a more excellent ministry..."
Text: Hebrews 8:6
THE LEVITICAL MINISTRY
We must not unwisely disparage the Levitical ministry totally. It had its uses. It served its function as long as the human priests were faithful and true to the Lord. However the Levitical ministry, at its best, cannot compare with the High Priestly ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ, the great High Priest, according to the order of Melchizedek.
A MORE EXCELLENT MINISTRY
The author of Hebrews described the ministry of Jesus appropriately in the following text.
“But now He has obtained a more excellent ministry,
inasmuch as He is the Mediator of a better covenant,
which was established on better promises.”
Hebrews 8:6
1. Obtained a more excellent ministry
a) The comparison between the Levitical and the Melchizedek priesthoods are in mind.
b) The conclusion of the evaluation is clearly stated: Jesus has “a more excellent ministry”.
2. Mediator of a better covenant
a) The Mosaic Covenant and the New Covenant established by Jesus are in comparison here.
b) The conclusion reached is that the New Covenant Jesus established is better.
c) Let us recall what Jesus said about this New Covenant.
“Likewise He also took the cup after supper, saying,
‘This cup is the New Covenant in My blood,
which is shed for you.'”
Luke 22:20
d) These words fulfil what Jeremiah prophesied.
“Behold, the days are coming, says the LORD,
When I will make a New Covenant with the house of Israel
and with the house of Judah- not according to the covenant
that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by
the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant
which they broke, though I was a husband to them, says
the LORD.”
Jeremiah 31:31-32