Hebrews 9:16–28 (NKJV)
16 For where there is a testament, there must also of necessity be the death of the testator. 17 For a testament is in force after men are dead, since it has no power at all while the testator lives. 18 Therefore not even the first covenant was dedicated without blood. 19 For when Moses had spoken every precept to all the people according to the law, he took the blood of calves and goats, with water, scarlet wool, and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book itself and all the people, 20 saying, “This is the blood of the covenant which God has commanded you.” 21 Then likewise he sprinkled with blood both the tabernacle and all the vessels of the ministry. 22 And according to the law almost all things are purified with blood, and without shedding of blood there is no remission. 23 Therefore it was necessary that the copies of the things in the heavens should be purified with these, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. 24 For Christ has not entered the holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us; 25 not that He should offer Himself often, as the high priest enters the Most Holy Place every year with blood of another—26 He then would have had to suffer often since the foundation of the world; but now, once at the end of the ages, He has appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself. 27 And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment, 28 so Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many. To those who eagerly wait for Him He will appear a second time, apart from sin, for salvation.
In English, we don’t use the words “covenant” and “testament” interchangeably. A covenant is a formal, binding agreement. A testament is a formal promise to pass on an inheritance upon the death of the one making the testament (the “testator”). We don’t speak of people making a “testament” with one another, nor do we speak of a person’s last will and “covenant.”
But in Greek, the same word can have both connotations, so that the same Greek word is used throughout the Bible for both “covenants” and “testaments.” And sometimes, both aspects are in view, as is the case with the Old Covenant/Testament and the New Covenant/Testament.
In today’s reading, the writer to the Hebrews shows us that the covenant God made with Israel on Mt. Sinai was also a testament in that it required the blood of animals to ratify it and to bring the people into it. That First Testament was a shadow of the New Testament that Christ, the Mediator, would institute in His own blood. He was the Testator whose death was foreshadowed under the Old Testament. Indeed, Jesus was both the Testator and, as the promised Seed of Abraham, the Heir of the Old Testament. The Heir of the Old Testament instituted the New on the night in which He was betrayed. It went into effect when the Testator died on the cross. And now, risen from the dead, He sprinkles sinners with His blood in Holy Baptism, through faith, and He shares with baptized believers the fellowship meal of His sacrifice in Holy Communion. As a result, all who believe in Christ Jesus have become heirs of all the good things He promises in the New Testament, even the forgiveness of sins, life, and salvation.
Let us pray: O Lord Jesus, we eagerly wait for You to appear at the end of the age for our salvation. Keep us firm and steadfast in the faith until that day. Amen.
