Not some high priest offered Christ as a sacrifice, but He Himself offered Himself, and not by means of fire, like heifers, but by the eternal Spirit, which is why He also made eternal both the grace and the redemption. And "without blemish," that is, without sin. For in the Old Testament as well it was required that the heifer be without blemish.
Heb. 9:14. Will cleanse our conscience from dead works,
Although there he said "sanctifies," he added "that the body may be clean"; but here by the expression "will cleanse" he directly showed the superiority. For he adds that it will cleanse "the conscience," that is, the inner man, which was not the case there. True, there too the one who touched a dead body was cleansed after the offering of sacrifice; but here the cleansing is "from dead works," which truly can defile and turn one away from God.
Heb. 9:14. For the service of the living and true God!
From this, one who partakes in dead works does not serve the living and true God, but deifies the works he has chosen. Thus, the glutton deifies the belly; thus, the covetous man is an idolater. Therefore, works of this kind are dead not only because they are foreign to eternal life, but also because at the very time of their commission they are abominable and false, since they deceive us, and although they seem pleasant, in reality they are not.
Heb. 9:15. And because of this He is the mediator of a new covenant,
Obviously, the death of Christ troubled many of the weaker ones: if He died, they say, then how will He give what He promised? Now Paul, removing this trouble, shows that it is precisely because He died that His testament is firm, for one does not speak of a testament of the living. For this reason, he says, for the sake of cleansing us, He died, and in His testament He left us the forgiveness of sins and the partaking of paternal blessings, having become the Mediator between the Father and us. The Father did not want to leave us an inheritance; He was angry with us, as with sons who had departed from Him and become strangers. Therefore Christ became the Mediator and entreated Him. In what way? That which we should have undergone, for we were the ones who should have died — He Himself took upon Himself for us and made us worthy of the testament, and the testament was again confirmed by the death of the Son, since this testament bestowed an inheritance upon the unworthy. For a testament also considers some as heirs: hear the testament of Christ: "I desire that where I am, they also may be with Me" (Jn. 17:24); — and others as disinherited: "I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word" (Jn. 17:20). A testament has witnesses: "The Father who sent Me bears witness of Me" (Jn. 8:18) and: "The Comforter... will bear witness of Me,... and you also will bear witness" (Jn. 15:26–27).
Heb. 9:15. So that by means of His death, which occurred for the redemption from the transgressions committed under the first covenant,
Do you see that the death of Christ was for our redemption? Therefore, how can you think that it is weak, when it is so mighty that it healed even the transgressions that were under the law? So why do you turn to the law, which was so weak that it was unable to correct the transgressions within it? Not because it was bad, but because it was weak.
Heb. 9:15. those called to the eternal inheritance received what was promised.
If the death of Christ had not freed us from the sins by which we had armed the Father against ourselves, how would we have received the heavenly inheritance? The expression "called" signifies that in the beginning God was disposed toward us as a Father toward sons, and we were called to the inheritance, but afterward, through sins, we ourselves made ourselves unworthy of that inheritance.
Heb. 9:16. For where a testament is, there must of necessity be the death of the testator,
Heb. 9:17. For a testament is of force after men are dead:
So let not the death of Christ trouble you: for if He had not died, He would not have established the covenant, so that we might be heirs. For it is beyond doubt that a covenant takes effect after death, and we would have been entirely unworthy of the inheritance, since the enmity would not have been destroyed.
Heb. 9:17. It has no force while the testator is alive.
Read and understand this in the form of a question.
Heb. 9:18. Wherefore neither was the first covenant dedicated without blood. (Cf. Exod. 24:5)
What he said, he proved not only by general custom, but also by the events of the Old Testament, which was even more convincing to the Hebrews. "Wherefore," he says, that is, since it is necessary for death to precede a covenant, therefore the first covenant "was not dedicated without blood." Blood is a symbol of death. But there it was the blood of a lamb, for the Old Testament was a figure; here, however, when the truth shone forth, the Son of God died for us in the flesh. What then does "was dedicated" mean? That is, it became valid. For in no other way would it have received the beginning of its operation, had the shedding of blood not preceded it.
Heb. 9:19. For when Moses had spoken every commandment according to the law to all the people. (Ex. 24:7)
"According to the law," that is, as God ordained by law that His commandments should be proclaimed aloud to all the people; or "all the commandments according to the law," that is, what was established by law.
Heb. 9:19. Took the blood of calves and goats with water and scarlet wool and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book itself and all the people. (Cf. Exod. 24:8)
Why then were the books and the people sprinkled? Either because from ancient times the Precious Blood was prefigured, with which we and our hearts are sprinkled — for hearts are books, as he also said above: "I will put My laws into their minds" (Heb. 8:10). Water is a symbol of baptism. Here blood and water are taken, perhaps to signify that from the side of the Lord flowed blood and water; perhaps also because baptism, of which water is the symbol, proclaims the death of the Lord, the sign of which is blood. Hyssop was used as a binding substance on account of its density, and wool served the same purpose. Or since Christ is the Lamb, therefore the wool is also "scarlet," so that by its color too it might bear the image of blood.
Heb. 9:20. Saying: This is the blood of the covenant which God has commanded for you. (Cf. Exod. 24:8)
But Christ says: "this is My Blood of the New Testament... for the remission of sins" (Matt. 26:28). There it is neither a new testament, nor a remission of sins. Therefore, do you see that he called the blood a testament? So that it is necessary to understand death wherever a testament is spoken of.
Heb. 9:21. Likewise he sprinkled with blood both the tabernacle and all the vessels of worship. (Cf. Ex. 40:9–11; Lev. 8:30)