(e) Theory of liidrmplion. — For modern readers the great thought-s of the Kpistle to the Hebrews are obscure<l by being expressed so largely in terms of lA'vitical ritual. The apologetic, which was meant to elucidate, now serves to some extent as a veil to hide the true meaning. It is therefore desirable to make the most of tho.se passages in wliich the writer, so to speak, shakes himself clear of his apologetic trammels, and expresses his ideas in terms of universal validity. There are two sentences in which he does this in reference to the significance of Christ's death. These are 2" '.)'■', th-; former containing the great axiom; the sanctilier and the .sanctilied are all of one; the latter, the sublime thesis that Jesus offered Him- self a .sacrilice through an eternal spirit. The earlier text enunciates the principle of redemption, the later explains the infinite efficacy of redemp- tion achieved. The principle is : solidarity be- tween .sanctifier and sanctilied ; the two one in all possible respects, the more respects the better, the one railical difference of holy and unholy always excepted ; the more points of contact the greater the sanctifying power. The rationale of iidinite value is 'through an eternal spirit.' In the interjiretiition of this profoundly suggestive ex- ])re.ssion, theologians are unhappily not at one. To the present writer it hius ever been a.ssociated with cirtain broad thoughts that help him to understand I lie value of Christ's self-offering as compared with l.i'vitical victims. In the first place it suggests I hat Christ's offering was an affair of spirit, not merely of blood-shedding. It expressed a mind on the part of the viclim. Of course that mind had certain ethical characteristics. Jesus offered Himself. So the mind embodied in His sacrifice was free, lovimj, hohj ; a mind of supreme moral value in the sif^t both of Cod and of enlightened men. None of these epithets, however, is used to iiualify the spirit in which Jesus offered Him- self to God. The epithet clio.sen is 'eternal.' It is selected because it servi's to raise? the sacrifice of Christ above the limits of time. Spirit is in its nature eternal, and the sacrifice of Christ as a siiirilual tran.saciion has an efficacy and value for all lime, for the time that went before ihe I hristian era, as well a.s for the time coming after. It is not a mere historical event which had 110
influence before it took place, and whose influence, after it happened, was destined to wane with the lajise of ages. It is an eternal fact having absolute value with God from everhusting to everlasting. But the ethical and the eternal aspects go to- gether, the one conditioidng the other. It is becau.se the spirit in which Clirist offered Ilim.self was ethically perfect — free, loving, holy — that it has eternal value. In this remarkable phra.se, combining these two aspects, the spiritual iiLsight of the writer reaches its highest water-mark. Nothing better, more penetrating, more felicitous, on the subject of our Lord's death and its signifi- cance is to be found in Scripture.
(/) Christ's Prieslhoodin Heaven. — Beforeleaving the theme of the priesthood, we may notice briefly a question that has troubled interpreters. The priestly ministry of Christ i.s located in heaven, yet the sacrifice the Priest presents there appears to be none other than that offering of Himself which He made once for all ; an event, so far at lea.st as the initial stage of it, the blood- shedding, is concerned, happening on earth and within this visible world. The key to the .solution lies in this, that for the writer heaven is the locus of realities, while earth is the locus of shadoies. In heaven is the true tabernacle, the tabernacle which realizes the ideal of a .sanctuary (a-! Tjjs o-nTjrijs Trjs iXijfti'^s) ; there are the 'patterns' or types of which the vulgar realities of earth are but imperfect copies. For our author the 'true' and the ' heavenly ' are synonyms. Whatever is true is heavenly, belongs to tlie upper world of realities, and whatever belongs to this upper world is true and real. If, therefore, Chri.st's self-.sacri- fice be a true sacrifice, it belongs to the heavenly world, no matter where or when it takes place. And Chri.st's sacrifice is, for the author, a true sacrifice, because it is an affair of spirit. Flesh and blood, whether of man or beast, are of the earth earthy, and belong to the realm of .shadows. Even the blood of Christ viewed materially can find no place in heaven. Hence it is vain to attempt solving the above-stated problem by di.s- tinguiahing between the first stage of the sacrifice — the death, or blood-shedding — and the second, the sprinkling of the shed blood on the mercy-.seat within the sanctuary, relegating the former to earth as something lying outside the .sphere of Christ's i)roper jiriestly activity, and to locate the latter in heaven as the point at which the prii.stly ministry begins. Christ's .sacrifice finds entrance into heaven when blood is transmuted into spirit. In other words, the shedding of Christ's bhiod is a true sacrifice, as distinct from the .shedding of the blood of bulls and goats, which was only a shadow of .sacrifice, becau.se it is the manifestation of a mind or spirit. Ami because it is that it behmgs to heaven, though it takes place on earth. The magic jihrase 'through an eternal spirit' lifts us above distinctions of time and place, and makes it po.ssible for us to regard Christ's offer- ing of Ilim.self, in all its stages, as a transaction within the celestial .sjinctuary.