BibleProject | One Story That Leads to JesusSample

Digital screens allow people to stay home and view great works of art from around the world. But no screen can capture the experience of beauty and wonder one has when standing under Michelangelo’s work at the Sistine Chapel or seeing the textured paint swirls of van Gogh’s Starry Night in person.

Like the digital screen, the tabernacle built by Moses and the Israelites in the wilderness offers a beautiful representation of God’s ideal Heaven-on-Earth space. But nothing beats the real thing.

In today’s reading, the author calls the Mosaic tabernacle, served by the sons of Abraham, a “copy” and “shadow” of the true tabernacle served by Jesus. As you will see in the video, Jesus’ royal priesthood ushers in a new covenant and expands God’s sacred space to include all of creation. The sons of Abraham attended to a tent that pointed forward. Jesus attends to everywhere.

The prophet Jeremiah longed to see the day when exactly this would happen, the Day of the Lord, when all of creation would become sacred space (Jer. 31:31-34). The author of Hebrews tells us Jesus is leading that work, uniting Heaven and Earth together until every square inch of the universe can become sacred space. But how? Does “Jesus alone can lead this work” also mean that “Jesus alone can accomplish this work?”

Yes. Jeremiah spoke of God’s divinely empowered renewal, but notice where such renovation first begins—within the human heart. Jeremiah says, and the author of Hebrews famously repeats, that God’s renewal includes writing his instruction “on their hearts” (Heb. 8:10). As it turns out, God’s primary concern wasn’t whether people would obey him. He was transforming humanity into a people who wanted to obey him, people who had God’s law written on their hearts.

The old laws and old ways were good, but the law remained external, a rule to live by rather than a sincerely loving way to follow. The law on its own and Israel’s normal human weakness weren’t enough to stave off rebellion and hardened hearts, even as Levi’s priests worked so hard toward the opposite end.

Jesus’ priesthood is different, patterned after the enigmatic figure of Melchizedek: kingly, priestly, and eternal. Melchizedek was a famous exception to the normal priestly pattern. Jesus is now the ultimate exception, establishing God’s permanent covenant of love. The old way has ended, and the new way is much, much better.

Reflection Questions

• Read the account of Melchizedek and Abraham in Genesis 14. How does that story shed light upon Jesus’ priesthood?
• The author of Hebrews quotes Jeremiah 31. How does Jesus’ royal priesthood usher in this new covenant? What changes between the old and new covenants are especially important to the author of Hebrews?