Noel Alexandre: Commentary on Hebrews 9:11–15
Literal Commentary
Heb 9:11–12
"But Christ being come an High Priest of the good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building; Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by His own blood He entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us."
Christ, however, having arrived as the High Priest of the heavenly and eternal goods which we expect in the future age, entered once into the Celestial Sanctuary through a greater and more excellent Tabernacle, namely His most sacred body. This body indeed was not made by the hands of men, nor by the common and ordinary way, but was conceived and formed in the womb of the Virgin by the power of the Holy Spirit. Nor did He enter into the Sanctuary of His glory with the alien blood of goats and calves, but with His own blood, after having poured it out for us and given it as a price; He acquired for us eternal redemption.
Heb 9:13–14
"For if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh: How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?"
If indeed the blood of goats and bulls, and the sprinkling of water in which the ash of a heifer or red cow is dissolved, sanctifies men unclean by contact with an impure thing and prohibited from entering the Temple and the Sacred rites or the company of other men, by bestowing upon them an external and carnal purity: how much more will the blood of Christ, who offered Himself to God through the Holy Spirit as an immaculate victim, cleanse our conscience from sins whose end and wage is death, so that we may serve the living God in true justice and holiness.
Heb 9:15
"And for this cause He is the Mediator of the new testament, that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first testament, they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance."
Because that new covenant was not to be sanctified by the blood of cattle, which was insufficient for the redemption and sanctification of men, therefore Jesus Christ is the Mediator of the New Testament, so that through the death which He suffered on the Cross, He might redeem men from sins committed during the state of the Old Testament, and so that those who are called gratuitously and efficaciously to it might receive the eternal inheritance promised by God.
Moral Commentary
Heb 9:11–12
"But Christ being come an High Priest of the good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building; Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by His own He entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us."
The Sanctuary of the New Testament is compared with the second tabernacle of the Old Law. The difference between each seems most worthy of consideration for Christians who do not neglect the knowledge of our Religion.
Regarding the Jewish Tabernacle, five things may be considered:
Who entered?
Where did he enter?
How did he enter?
When did he enter?
For what purpose did he enter?
The same number of points may be considered regarding the Celestial Sanctuary:
Who: Into the Jewish Holy of Holies entered a High Priest who was weak, liable to sin, a High Priest of temporal goods, or of the Testament in which temporal goods were promised ("If you be willing and hearken to me," says God through the Prophet, "you shall eat the good things of the land"). Into the Celestial Holy of Holies entered Christ, a High Priest who is holy, innocent, undefiled, incapable of sin, a High Priest of the future goods which God promised to the sons and heirs of the New Testament. A High Priest not neglecting His office, but assisting the Father to intercede for us, assisting us that He may help us: "He is at my right hand, that I be not moved" (Ps 15:8).
Where: The Aaronic High Priest entered into the Holy of Holies made by the art and hands of men. Christ entered into the tabernacle of celestial glory, of which the Prophet says: "Thine eyes shall see Jerusalem, a rich city, a tabernacle that shall not be removed" (Is 33:20). He entered into the Celestial Holy of Holies through the tabernacle of His body, far more excellent than the old, because it is the work of the Holy Spirit, not of man, and in it dwells all the fullness of the divinity corporally.
How: The Aaronic High Priest entered into the Holy of Holies with the blood of immolated animals. Christ entered into the Celestial Holy of Holies with His own blood, which He poured out on the Cross for our salvation, of which He Himself says: "This is My blood of the new testament, which shall be shed for you and for many unto the remission of sins" (Matt 26:28).
When: The Aaronic High Priest entered once every year, and having performed the office, he departed. Christ entered once for the whole of time, never to depart from there, but to fulfill the function of His priesthood eternally.
Purpose: The Aaronic High Priest entered into the Holy of Holies to offer for his own sins and the ignorance of the people. Christ entered into the Celestial Holy of Holies to offer not for His own, but for the sins of His people. Eternal redemption having been found, which He alone could find. For He alone was born the Son of the Blessed Virgin without sin, not extraneous to the human race but alien to the crime, in which the perfect innocence and true nature of those created to the image and likeness of God would consist, since He existed as one from the offspring of Adam in whom the devil had nothing of his own to claim. While he raged against Him whom he held not under the law of sin, he lost the right of impious domination. For the shedding of the blood of the Just for the unjust was so powerful for privilege, so rich for a price, that if the universality of captives were to believe in their Redeemer, no tyrannical chains would hold them. For "where sin abounded, grace did more abound" (Rom 5:20). And although born under the prejudice of sin, they received the power of being born again unto justice; the gift of liberty was made stronger than the debt of servitude.
Having been made partakers of eternal redemption, let us not subject ourselves again to the devil's servitude by sinning. Having Christ as the High Priest of future goods, let us not cling and glue ourselves to earthly and perishing goods. He alone is truly rich who is just, who is the heir of God and co-heir of Christ.
Heb 9:13–14
"For if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh: How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?"
Who worthily considers the dignity of the sacrifice of Christ Jesus, of whose sacrifice He Himself is both Priest and Victim, God-man, the sacred fire is the Holy Spirit, the virtue and efficacy infinite? The old sacrifices cleansed only the flesh; the blood of Christ, offered in His sacrifice to God the Father, washes souls, purifies consciences, consecrates the whole man to God.
Purged by the blood of the immaculate Lamb, let us not again pollute our souls with dead works; let us serve the living and true God. A sinner does not serve the living God; he holds as God the works which he loves. Thus he who is given to the belly makes the belly his god; thus the avaricious man is a worshipper of idols. Works of this kind are dead, not only because they are alien from eternal life, but truly because while they are performed they are execrable, and therefore vain and lying, in that they allure us and seem sweet when they are bitter.
The blood of Christ is the price of servants, the pledge of the spouse, the remedy of the unclean and the infirm. Let us flee to it so that by its virtue we may be freed from the servitude of our cupidities, cleansed from sins, healed of the infirmity remaining from them, decorated and adorned as a spouse, and may serve the living God and strive to please Him alone. Let us offer ourselves to God through the eternal Spirit, a holy living host, pleasing to God, one victim together with Christ Jesus. He who wishes to serve the living worthily, must live the life of grace. For "according to the judge of the people, so are his ministers" (Ecclus 10:2).
Heb 9:15
"And for this cause He is the Mediator of the new testament, that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first testament, they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance."
Christ Jesus alone is the necessary Mediator of the New Testament through His blood. For although in the sight of the Lord the death of many Saints was precious, nevertheless the slaying of no innocent person was a propitiation for the world. The just received [crowns], they did not give them; and from the fortitude of the faithful were born examples of patience, not gifts of justice. For the deaths were singular in individuals, nor did anyone pay the debt of another by his own end, since among the sons of men only our Lord Jesus Christ existed, in whom all were crucified, all died, all were buried, all were even raised.
He is the Mediator of all times, nor was there any remedy against sin, even in the time of the Law, except through the blood and merits of the future Mediator, and through faith in Him.
"For the redemption of those transgressions which were under the prior Testament." St. Leo the Great says excellently: "The grace of God," he says, "by which the universality has always been justified, was increased with Christ born, not begun. And this sacrament of great piety was so powerful even in its significations, that those who believed in it as promised gained no less than those who received it as given."
Finally, the blood of the Mediator Christ Jesus is the price and pledge of the beatitude promised by God to the faithful. "That they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance." Jesus Christ gave His blood and His life that He might reconcile us to God; let us give good will, love, obedience, the mortification of our cupidities and senses, the fervor of devotion, so that we may obtain and conserve the fruit of this reconciliation.
CONTINUE
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