Theological Commentary: Click Here
The author
of Hebrews extends his point from yesterday.
We received a new priest who is better than those of the lineage of
Aaron. We have a high priest who lives
forever. We have a high priest whose
purity can affect us. We have a high
priest who is a priest because of righteousness, not biology.
With this
change in priest, there comes a change in the Law. In former days, God’s ways were written in
stone and obeyed out of fear. We followed
the Law because of tradition and obligation.
Because of this, there was always tension between our hearts and God’s
Law. We know what to do that is right, but
we also have hearts that desire our own ways.
With Jesus,
there is a change. A new order comes about. No longer is the Law written on stone to be
externally viewed. God’s ways are now
written upon our hearts. They are
internalized. Because of this, God can
dwell within us. We don’t need to be
taught to obey God, because our obedience can come from within! [Aside: this
doesn’t mean that a little mentoring along the way is a bad thing.]
Note,
though, that this doesn’t mean we are perfect.
There is still tension in our lives.
While our hearts know what is right, our hearts still struggle with our
own desires. Instead of the tension
being between us and an external Law, the tension is now within us. We know what we should do; we also know what
we want to do.
This is why
it is good that we have Christ. Over the
past few chapters, we have been putting together a great argument. We have the Law within us now, but there is
still tension. We have a new law,
though, because the old one was external.
The new law came because we have a new great high priest. This great high priest knows what it is like
to be human and understands our failings.
He can personally affect our righteousness through His own righteousness. This is why Christ is a very good thing.
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