 |
 |
A Guy’s Guide to Hebrews: Newer, Bigger, Better (8:1-13)  Major League Baseball’s St. Louis Cardinals play their home games at Busch Stadium. The ironic thing about their home field is that Cardinals teams have played in Busch Stadium since 1953, but the park has only been open since 2006. This Busch stadium you see, is actually the third Busch Stadium in St. Louis. The original which was initially named Sportsman’s Park before being renamed Busch, closed in 1966. The second Busch, name Busch Memorial Stadium, closed in 2005. Despite the many fond memories that Cardinals’ fans had of the old Busch Memorial Stadium, pretty much everyone is agreed that the new park is better in almost every aspect. Through the person of Jesus Christ God entered into a new covenant with those who believe in Him. No longer do worshippers have to offer repeated sacrifices, obey hundreds of laws regarding food and other mundane topics, or leave the approaching God to a human high priest. Christ has eradicated the need for the old way of doing things. The system of worshiping and approaching God in the Old Testament has been done away with and replaced by something far superior. As one scholar put it, “They would know and desire to do God's will (v. 10b), enjoy a privileged, unique relationship with God (v. 10c), know God directly (v.11), and experience permanent forgiveness of their sins (v. 12). These are the "better [i.e., unconditional] promises" the writer referred to earlier (v.6).”1 The old way of doing things, according to the writer of Hebrews was becoming obsolete. In fact, it would soon disappear and become nothing more than a memory of how things used to be. Like rabbit ears for television reception, hand cranks to start automobiles, and computers the size of your house, the old covenant with its sacrifices and thousands of priests between God and humanity was destined for the scrap heap from its inception. It was never meant to be permanent, only to show mankind his need for a savior, a savior that could fulfill all of the old laws requirements. Cardinals fans today love the new Busch Stadium, but eventually cracks will begin to show, seats will begin to wear out, and design flaws will become apparent, and some day there will need to be another baseball stadium in St. Louis. Thankfully, with Jesus, the new covenant is where it all ends. Questions for Discussion/Reflection 1. In what ways is the new way under Jesus better than the ways in the Old Testament? 2. How does it make your relationship with God different knowing that you can go to Him yourself?
1 The Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable. http://www.soniclight.com/constable/notes.htm
Staff Writer: Aaron Sharp |
 |
email to a friend