Hebrews 9:24

The opposition between the high priests of the law and their sacrifices, with their efficacy, and the Lord Christ with his sacrifice and its efficacy, is further carried on in this verse. And this is done in an instance of a dissimilitude between them, as it was showed in general before in how many things they did agree. And this dissimilitude consists in the place and manner of the discharge of their office, after the great expiatory sacrifice which each of them did offer.

The causal connection of the words doth also intimate that a further evidence is given unto what was before laid down, namely, that heavenly things were purified by the blood of Christ: ‘For, as an assurance thereof, upon the dedication of the new covenant he entered into heaven itself.' Had he purified the things only on the earth, he could have entered only into an earthly sanctuary, as did the high priest of old. But he is entered, as the apostle now declares, into heaven itself; which, in the gracious presence of God therein, is the spring and center of all the things purified by his sacrifice.

Hebrews 9:24 . Οὐ γὰρ εἰς χειροποίητα ἅγια εἰσῆλθεν ὁ Χριστὸς, ἀντίτυπα τῶν ἀληθινῶν, ἀλλ᾿ εἰς αὐτὸν τὸν οὐρανὸν νῦν ἐμρανισθῆναι τῷ προσώπῳ τοῦ Θεοῦ ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν.

Εἰς ἄγια. Syr., לְבֵית מַקְדְשָׁא, “into the house of the sanctuary.” “Sancta;” “sacrarium;” “sanctuarium;” “sancta sanctorum;” “the most holy place.” Χειροποίητα. “Manufacta;” “manibus exstructa;” “built with hands.” ᾿Αντίτυπα τῶν ἀληθινῶν. Syr., דִּאיתַיְהִי דְּמוּתָא דְּהָו שַׁיִירָא, “which is the similitude of that which is true.” Vulg., “exemplaria verorum;” “exemplar respondens veris illis;” “an example answering unto the true,” a “resemblance of the true.” Τῷ προσώπῳ. Syr., קְדָם פַרְצוכֵּהּ, “before the face;” “faciei,” “vultui,” “conspectui;” “in the presence.”

Hebrews 9:24. For Christ is not entered into the holy places [the sanctuary] made with hands, the figures of the true; but into heaven itself; now to appear in the presence of God for us. There is in the words a dissimilitude between the Lord Christ and the priests of the law, or an opposition between what was done by the one and the other. And one branch of the antithesis, as unto affirmation on the one hand, is included in the negation on the other; for in that he says, “He is not entered into the holy places made with hands,” it is affirmed that the high priest did so of old, and no more.

In the words there is,

1. The subject spoken of; that is “Christ.”

2. A double proposition concerning him:

(1.) Negative; that “he is not entered into the holy places made with hands.”

(2.) Affirmative; that he is so “into heaven itself.”

3. The end of what is so affirmatively ascribed unto him; “to appear in the presence of God for us.”

First, The subject spoken of is “Christ.” “Jesus,” saith the Vulgar Latin; but all Greek copies, with the Syriac, have “Christ.” From the 15th verse he had spoken indefinitely of the mediator of the new covenant, what he was to be, and what he had to do, whoever he were. This mediator and the high priest of the church are one and the same. He makes application of all he had said unto one singular person, Christ, our high priest.

Secondly, That which in general is ascribed unto him, or spoken of him, both negatively and affirmatively, is an entrance. That which was the peculiar dignity of the high priest of old, wherein the principal discharge of his duty did consist, and whereon the efficacy of his whole ministration did depend, was, that he, and he alone, did enter into the holy place, the typical representation of the presence of God. Wherefore such an entrance must our high priest have, after he had offered himself once for all.

This entrance of our high priest, as unto the place whereinto he entered, is expressed:

First negatively: “Not into the holy places made with hands.” The place intended is the sanctuary, or most holy place in the tabernacle. It is here expressed in the plural number, to answer the Hebrew הַקָּדָשִׁים קֹדֶשׁ; for so the LXX. render their reduplications wherewith they supply their want of superlatives. These holy places Christ entered not into.

A double description is here given of this place;

1. As unto its nature;

2. As unto its use:

1. As unto its nature, it was “made with hands,” built by the hands of men. The manner of this building was part of its glory; for it relates unto the framing and erection of the tabernacle in the wilderness. And as this was wholly directed by God himself, so he endowed them in an extraordinary manner with singular skill and wisdom by whom the work was wrought. But as unto the thing itself, it is a diminution from its glory, not absolutely, but comparatively; yet was still made by the hands of men, and so had no glory in comparison of that which doth excel, namely, “heaven itself.”

2. As unto the use of these “holies,” they were ἀντίτυπα τῶν ἀληθινῶν. ᾿Αντίτυπον is sometimes used for πρᾶγμα ἀντὶ τοῦ τὺπου, “that which is signified by the type;” and this we commonly call the antitype. So is the word used by the apostle Peter, 1 Peter 3:21; the substance of what is typified. Sometimes it is used for τύπος ἀντι τοῦ πράγματος, “the type and resemblance of the thing signified.” So is it here used, and well rendered “figures. And what the apostle calls ὑποδείγματα in the foregoing verse, he here calls ἀντίτυπα. They are therefore the same; only they express different respects and notions of the same things. As the delineation and representation of heavenly things in them were obscure and dark, they were ὑποδείγματα, “similitudes,” resemblances of heavenly things; as that representation which they had and made of them was a transcript from the original pattern and idea in the mind of God, and showed unto Moses in the mount, they were ἀντίτυπα , or express “figures.”

And they were thus “figures of the true;” that is, the true holies. “True” in these expressions is opposed unto shadowy and typical, not unto that which is false or adulterated. So John 1:17-18, “real,” “substantial;” the things originally signified in all these institutions.

This is a brief description of the place whereinto the high priest under the law did enter, wherein his great privilege did consist, and whereon the efficacy of all his other administrations did depend. And it is described,

1. With respect unto its institution; it was “the most holy place,” peculiarly dedicated unto the reception of the especial pledges of the presence of God.

2. As unto its fabric; it was “made with hands;” though of an excellent structure, directed by God himself, and framed by his especial command, yet was it in itself no more but the work of men's hands.

3. As unto its principal end and use; it was a “figure” and “resemblance” of heavenly things.” All God's appointments in his service have their proper season, beauty, glory, and use; which are all, given them by his appointment. Even the things that were made with men's hands had so, whilst they had the force of a divine institution. To enter into the presence of God, represented by the typical pledges of it in this place, was the height of what the high priest under the law attained unto. And this he did on the ground of the dedication and purification of the tabernacle by the blood of the sacrifices of goats and calves. And it may be said, ‘If the Lord Jesus Christ be the high priest of the church, hither or into this place he ought to have entered.'I answer, He ought indeed so to have done, if by his sacrifice he had purified only earthly things; but whereas he had no such design, nor were the temporal things of the whole creation worth the purification with one drop of his blood, but they were things spiritual and heavenly that were purified by his sacrifice, he was not to “enter into the holy places made with hands, the figures of the true, but into heaven itself.”

Secondly, In opposition unto what is denied of him, and which is therein ascribed unto the high priest of the law, the place whereinto he did enter is called “heaven itself.” The entrance spoken of was sacerdotal, not triumphant and regal, as I have elsewhere declared. And by this “heaven itself,” a peculiar place is intended. The apostle hath in several places affirmed that in his ascension he “passed through the heavens,” and “was made higher than the heavens.” Wherefore by this “heaven itself,” some place that is called so by the way of eminency is intended. This in the Scripture is sometimes called “the heaven of heavens,” and “the third heaven;” the place of the peculiar residence of the presence, majesty, and glory of God, and of his throne; where all the blessed saints enjoy his presence, and all his holy angels minister unto him; a place above all these aspect-able heavens, the heavens which we do behold.

The entrance of Christ into heaven as our high priest was into it as the temple of God; wherein the chief thing considerable is the throne of grace. For it is that which answers unto and was signified by the entrance of the high priest into the most holy place in the tabernacle: and there was nothing therein but the ark and the mercy-seat, with the cherubim of glory overshadowing them; which, as we have declared, was a representation of a throne of grace. He entered likewise into heaven triumphantly, as, it was the palace of God, the throne of the great King, and sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high; but this he did with respect unto the execution of his kingly office with authority and power For as the offices of Christ are distinct, and their exercise is so also, so heaven itself, wherein he now dischargeth them all, is proposed unto us under diverse considerations, distinctly answering unto the work that the Lord Christ hath yet to perform therein.

Obs. 1. And this serves unto the direction and encouragement of faith. When we apply ourselves unto Christ to seek for aid for the subduing and destruction of our spiritual adversaries by his ruling power, that mighty power “whereby he is able to subdue all things unto himself,” we consider him on the throne of majesty, in the full possession of “all power in heaven and in earth.” Hereby is faith both encouraged and directed in its acting or approach unto him. And when we go unto him for relief under our temptations, with a sense of the guilt of sin, which requires tenderness and compassion, we consider him as in the temple of God, appearing as our high priest before the throne of grace, Hebrews 4:14-16.

Obs. 2. This representation is the spring of all spiritual consolation. God on a throne of grace, the Lord Christ before it in the exercise of his office with faithfulness, compassion, and power, is the spring and center of all the comforts of the church.

Schlichtingius affirms on this place, that these things are spoken of Christ only in “a neat and handsome metaphor, under which he is compared unto the priests of old.” And the whole of his discourse tends unto this, that it is a comparison framed or coined by the apostle for the illustration of what he intends. But this is not to interpret the meaning of his words, but directly to oppose his whole design. For it is not a fancied, framed comparison that the apostle insists on, but a declaration of the typical significancy of legal institutions; and his purpose is to manifest the accomplishment of them all in Christ alone.

Thirdly. The end of this sacerdotal entrance of Christ into heaven is expressed: “Now to appear in the presence of God for us.”

A further degree of opposition between our high priest and those of the law is expressed in these words. They entered into the holy place, to appear for the people, and to present their supplications unto God; but this was only in an earthly tabernacle, and that before a material ark and mercy- seat. In what is here ascribed unto Christ there are many differences from what was so done by them.

1. In the time of what he did or doth; νῦν, “now,” at this present season, and always. What those others did was of no continuance; but this “NOW” is expressive of the whole season and duration of time from the entrance of Christ into heaven unto the consummation of all things. So he declares it in the next verse. He never departs out of the sanctuary to prepare for a new sacrifice, as they did of old. There is no moment of time, wherein it may not be said, ‘He now appeareth for us.'

2. In the end of his entrance into this heavenly sanctuary; ἐμφανισθῆναι, that is, εἰς τό; “to appear.” Absolutely his entrance into heaven had other ends, but this is the only end of his entering into heaven as God's temple, the seat of the throne of grace, as our high priest. And the whole discharge of the remaining duties of his sacerdotal office are comprised in this word, as we shall immediately demonstrate.

3. In that he doth thus appear τῷ προσώπῳ τοῦ Θεοῦ, “vultui,” “conspectui,” “faciei Dei;” that is, the immediate presence of God, in opposition unto the typical symbols of it in the tabernacle, before which the high priest presented himself. The high priest appeared before the ark, the cherubim and mercy-seat, composed into the form of a throne: Christ enters into the real presence of God, standing in his sight, before his face; and this expresseth his full assurance of his success in his undertaking, and his full discharge from that charge of the guilt of sin which he underwent Had he not made an end of it, had he not absolutely been freed from it, he could not have thus appeared with confidence and boldness in the presence of God.

4. This is said to be done ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν, “for us.” This refers only to “appear,” to appear for us; that is, as we shall see, to do all things with God for us at the throne of grace, that we may be saved. The words being opened, the nature of the thing itself, namely, of the present appearance of Christ in heaven, must be further inquired into. And it may be declared in the ensuing observations:

1. It is an act of his sacerdotal office. Not only he who is our high priest doth so appear, but he so doth as the high priest of the church. For such was the duty of the high priest under the law, whereby it was typified and represented. His entrance into the holy place, and presentation of himself before the mercy-seat, was in the discharge of his office, and he did it by virtue thereof. And this is one principal foundation of the church's comfort, namely, that the present appearance of Christ in the presence of God is a part of his office, a duty in the discharge of it.

2. It is such an act and duty of our high priest as supposeth the offering of himself a sacrifice for sin antecedently thereunto; for it was with the blood of the expiatory sacrifices offered before on the altar that the high priest entered into the holy place. It hath therefore regard unto his antecedent sacrifice, or his offering himself in his death and blood-shedding unto God. Without a supposition hereof he could not, as our high priest, have entered into the sanctuary and have appeared in the presence of God. Wherefore,

3. It supposeth the accomplishment of the work of the redemption of the church. His words in this appearance before God are expressed, John 17:4, “I have glorified thee on the earth; I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do; and now I come unto thee.” He was sent of God into the world on this great errand, for this great work; and he returned not unto him, he appeared not in the presence of him that sent him, until he had fulfilled it, and was ready in all things to give an account of it unto the eternal glory of God.

4. In this his appearance he presents himself unto God as a Lamb that had been slain, Revelation 5:6. He is now alive, and lives for ever. But there must, as unto efficacy in this appearance, be a representation of his sacrifice, his suffering, his death, his blood, of himself as a Lamb slain and offered unto God. And this was to be so in answer unto the blood of the expiatory sacrifice which the high priest carried into the holy place. For he was himself both the priest and the sacrifice, the offerer and the lamb. And as that blood was sprinkled before the ark and the mercy-seat, to apply the atonement made unto all the sacred pledges of God's presence and good-will; so from this representation of the offering of Christ, of himself as “a Lamb that had been slain,” in this his appearance before God, doth all the application of its benefits unto the church proceed.

5. He thus appears for us. He is therein, therefore, the great representative of the church, or he represents the whole church of his redeemed unto God. There is more in it than merely for our good. It is as it were the appearance of an advocate, a law-appearance in the behalf of others. So is it declared 1 John 2:1-2. He will at the end of all present his whole church unto God, with the whole work of his love and grace accomplished towards them. He first so presents it unto himself, and then to God, Ephesians 5:26-27. Now he presents them as the portion given unto him of God out of fallen mankind to be redeemed and saved; saying, ‘“Behold I and the children which thou gavest me; thine they were, and thou gavest them to me.” I present them unto thy love and care, holy Father, that they may enjoy all the fruits of thine eternal love, all the benefits of my death and sacrifice.'

6. This is the great testimony of the continuation of his love, care, and compassion towards the church, now he is in the height of his own glory. Love, care, and compassion, belong unto him in an especial manner as he is a high priest; which we have declared on many occasions. They are the spring of all his sacerdotal actings. And they are all witnessed unto in his perpetual appearance in the presence of God for us.

7. This also compriseth his being an advocate. He is hereby in a continual readiness to plead our cause against all accusations, which is the especial nature of his work as an advocate; which is distinct from his intercession, whereby he procures supplies of grace and mercy for us.

8. This account of the appearance of Christ before God on the throne of grace gives direction into a right apprehension of the way of the dispensation of all saving grace and mercy unto the church. The spring and fountain of it is God himself, not absolutely considered, but as on a throne of grace. Goodness, grace, love, and mercy, are natural unto him; but so also are righteousness and judgment. That he should be on a throne of grace is an act of his sovereign will and pleasure, which is the original spring of the dispensation of all grace unto the church. The procuring cause of all grace and mercy for the church, as issuing from this throne of grace, is the sacrifice of Christ, whereby atonement was made for sin, and all heavenly things purified unto their proper end. Hence he is continually represented before this throne of God, “as a Lamb that had been slain.” The actual application of all grace and mercy unto the church, and every member of it, depends on this his appearance before God, and the intercession wherewith it is accompanied.

Schlichtingius grants on the place, that Christ doth indeed “solicitously take care of the salvation of the church;” but “yet God,” saith he, “doth grant it of mere mercy, without any regard unto satisfaction or merit; which,” saith he, “we exclude.” And the only reason he gives for their so doing is this, that “where there is satisfaction or merit, there is no need of oblation, appearance, or intercession.” But this fancy (opposed unto the wisdom of God in the dispensation of himself and his grace) ariseth from their corrupt notion of these things. If the oblation of Christ, with his appearance in heaven and intercession, were nothing but what they imagine them to be, that is, his appearance in heaven with all power committed unto him, and the administration of it for our good, his satisfaction and merit could not directly be thence proved. Yet also on the other hand are they no way disproved thereby; for they might be antecedently necessary unto the exercise of this power. But the argument is firm on the other hand. There is in the dispensation of grace and mercy respect had unto satisfaction and merit, because it is by the blood and sacrifice of Christ, as it is the design of the apostle to declare. For whereas he was therein an “offering for sin,” was “made sin for us,” and “bare our sins,” undergoing the penalty or curse of the law due unto them, which we call his satisfaction or sufferings in our stead; and whereas all that he did antecedently unto the oblation of himself for the salvation of the church, he did it in a way of obedience, unto God, by virtue of the compact or covenant between the Father and him for our salvation unto his glory, which we call his merit: unto these there is respect in the dispensation of grace, or the Lord Christ lived and died in vain. But to declare their apprehension of these things, the same author adds: “Porro in pontifice legali, apparitio distincta erat ab oblatione, licet utraque erat conjuncta et simul fieret; nempe quia alius erat pontifex, alia victima; et apparebat quidem pontifex, offerebatur autem victima, seu sanguis victimae: at nostri pontificis et oblatio et apparitio, quemadmodum et interpellatio, reipsa idem sunt; quia nimirum idem est pontifex et victima. Dum enim apparet Christus, seipsum offert; et dum seipsum offert, apparet; dum autem et offert et apparet, interpellat.”

1. It is not true that the oblation or offering of the sacrifice by the high priest, and his appearance in the holy place, “was at the same time;” for he offered his sacrifice at the altar without, and afterwards entered with the blood into the holy place.

2. He grants that the blood of the sacrifice was offered; but will not allow that the blood of Christ was offered at all, nor that Christ offered himself before he had laid aside both flesh and blood, having no such thing belonging unto him.

3. That the sacrifice of Christ, his oblation, appearance, and intercession, are all one and the same, and that nothing but his power and care in heaven for the salvation of the church are intended by them, is an imagination expressly contradictory unto the whole design and all the reasonings of the apostle in the context. For he carefully distinguisheth these things one from the other, showeth the different and distinct times of them under the old testament, declareth their distinct natures, acts, and effects, with the different places of their performance. Violence also is offered unto the signification of the words, and the common notion of things intended by them, to make way for this conceit. In common use and force, προσφορά or θυσία are one thing, and ἐμφανισμός and ἔντευξις are others. It is true, the Lord Christ is in him self both the priest and the sacrifice; but it doth not thence follow that his offering of himself and his appearance in the presence of God for us are the same, but only that they are the acts of the same person.

This continual appearance of the Lord Christ for us, as our high priest in the presence of God, in the way explained, is the foundation of the safety of the church in all ages, and that whereon all our consolation doth depend; whence relief is derived by faith on all occasions. The consideration hereof being rightly improved will carry us through all difficulties, temptations, and trials, with safety unto the end.