The Shocking Secret to Jesus’ Ministry Success

There can be no dispute: The main point of the middle section of Hebrews (roughly chapters 3-10) is that, in Jesus, we have a great high priest:

Now the point in what we are saying is this: we have such a high priest, one who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in heaven, a minister in the holy places, in the true tent that the Lord set up, not man.

Hebrews 8:1-2

Here is one of the rare places in the Bible where the author tells us straight out what is his main point. We don’t have to guess, read between the lines, or check an expositor’s work. Make sure to savor this moment.

The Ministry They Copy

Having savored that moment, we ought to notice that this high priest, who serves the Father in heaven, rules all things. His ministry is more effective than any other. He’s been tremendously successful at what he does.

And don’t fail to observe the precise wording of Heb 8:1 — that priest is the one we have. As long as we rely on him to get us through (Heb 4:14).

He is not like all those other priests on earth, who are merely copycat priests serving God in a copycat place (Heb 8:3-6). Those Jewish priests under the old covenant were crucial components of God’s revelation of himself and his relationship with his people. But that’s primarily because they were copying the priesthood of Jesus.

And now that the bona fide original has appeared, there’s no further need for copycats.

Imagine if your church started a ministry of Elvis impersonation. You could dress in bright sequined leather, wearing bushy wigs and sunglasses. You could help children memorize Bible verses to the tune of “Love Me Tender,” and really connect with older generations as well.

But now imagine that Elvis himself presented himself alive and showed up at your ministry of impersonation. Would you let him join the troupe?

Of course you wouldn’t! First off, he’d show everyone up. And second: it would turn the whole thing into a mockery. The point of impersonation is that you’re trying to be like someone or something else. It would ruin the whole point of it if you’ve got the original present. You can’t impersonate yourself.

That’s what Hebrews 8:4-6 is saying. The tabernacle built by Moses was only a copy of the heavenly tent. But because Jesus’ ministry in heaven is the real deal, in the real temple, his ministry is more excellent (Heb 8:6). Doing the real thing in the real place for it is more excellent than doing a copy of it in a copycat place.

But what makes the “real” ministry of Jesus so excellent? Why is the original better than any copy ever could be?

Because its covenant is enacted on better promises (Heb 8:6b). And … what are those promises?

The People He Has

The first covenant, you see, had faults (Heb 8:7). But the problem wasn’t actually with the covenant. It was with the people (Heb 8:8): “For he finds fault with them when he says…”

Now there’s a manuscript discrepancy there, such that some ancient manuscripts do in fact say that “he finds fault with it when he says.” So I can’t base an entire argument on a single disputed pronoun.

But that’s okay, because the following quotation from Jeremiah 31 fully supports the “them” pronoun in Heb 8:8. When God led the people from Egypt, “they did not continue in my covenant” (Heb 8:9). These are the same people who fell in the wilderness due to hearing but not believing God’s promises (Heb 3-4). Generations later, they persisted in unbelief and were exiled to Babylon.

So the problem with the old covenant was not primarily with the covenant but with the covenant’s people. They were sinners who kept on sinning. They had ways to deal with their sin, but only in copies and shadows. Never the real deal.

In short, God made promises to and about these people in the old covenant. But one thing he never promised was to produce any true knowledge of himself within them.

How are the promises of the new covenant any better? Well, in addition to having a means for true (and not merely foreshadowed) forgiveness (Heb 8:12), God actually promised to make his new people into the sort of people he requires them to be (Heb 8:10-11).

So do you see what is the shocking secret to Jesus’ ministry success? His ministry is better because his covenant is better. And his covenant is better because its promises are better. Its promises are better because they promise to make the people better.

Isn’t that crazy? It’s not that the new people sin less than the old people did. It’s not that the new people are innately good and righteous in a way the old people weren’t.

No, the difference between God’s old people and his new people is simply that he promises to make his new people into the kind of people he expects them to be. That promise was never in place in the old covenant. And that’s why this new covenant is enacted on better promises.

The shocking secret to Jesus’ ministry success is his people. And if you are his, don’t ever forget: You are not pleasing to God because you are spiritually mature. You are spiritually mature because you are pleasing to God. Do not get this backwards.

This is great news for those who draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith (Heb 10:22). But it’s also very, very bad news for those who remain in unbelief (Heb 10:26-27).