Fathers

Hebrews 8

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Now of the things which we have spoken this is the sum: We have such an high priest, who is set on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens; A minister of the sanctuary, and of the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, and not man. For every high priest is ordained to offer gifts and sacrifices: wherefore it is of necessity that this man have somewhat also to offer. For if he were on earth, he should not be a priest, seeing that there are priests that offer gifts according to the law: Who serve unto the example and shadow of heavenly things, as Moses was admonished of God when he was about to make the tabernacle: for, See, saith he, that thou make all things according to the pattern shewed to thee in the mount. But now hath he obtained a more excellent ministry, by how much also he is the mediator of a better covenant, which was established upon better promises. For if that first covenant had been faultless, then should no place have been sought for the second. For finding fault with them, he saith, Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah: Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt; because they continued not in my covenant, and I regarded them not, saith the Lord. For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people: And they shall not teach every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for all shall know me, from the least to the greatest. For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more. In that he saith, A new covenant, he hath made the first old. Now that which decayeth and waxeth old is ready to vanish away.

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What the Fathers say

Hebrews 8:2

Eastern Fathers

Theophylact of Ohrid

Just as the earthly high priests served when entering the Holy of Holies, so too He is truly the minister of the holy, true, heavenly sanctuaries. It would seem that Paul here contradicts himself. For in the beginning he said: "To which of the Angels did God ever say: 'Sit at My right hand…'? Are they not all ministering spirits…?" (Heb. 1:13–14), as if giving to understand that a minister ought not to sit. But now, having said "sat down at the right hand of the throne," he again presents Him as a minister. …

Commentary on Hebrews ↗

Oecumenius

"a minister of the sanctuary." The High Priest, he says, is of men who have been sanctified by him. For he is our High Priest. If he sat at the right hand of the Father, how is he a minister? For it is proper for ministers to stand and serve; but to sit is the role of God to whom the ministry is rendered. But, as has been said, the humble mingles with the awe-inspiring, so that by sitting he may show divinity, and by ministering the guardianship and humanity concerning us.

The Pseudo-Oecumenian Catena on Hebrews ↗

Lucius Caecilius Firmianus Lactantius

Let men therefore learn and understand why the Most High God, when He sent His ambassador and messenger to instruct mortals with the precepts of His righteousness, willed that He should be clothed with mortal flesh, and be afflicted with torture, and be sentenced to death. For since there was no righteousness on earth, He sent a teacher, as it were a living law, to found a new name and temple, that by His words and example He might spread throughout the earth a true and holy worship. …

The Divine Institutes Book 4, Chapter XXV ↗

Western Saints

Thomas Aquinas

382. – Then when he says, a minister of the holies, he shows the dignity of his office. He says, minister of the sanctuary [holies], i.e., of the holy precincts, namely, of the sanctuary. For the ministers of old received the ministry of guarding sacred things and serving the tabernacle. But Christ had this in a more excellent manner, because He is a minister, not inasmuch as He is God, for then He is the author, but inasmuch as He is man: 'And passing he will minister until them' (Lk. 12:37). …

Commentary on Hebrews ↗