I never dreamed how much Greek philosophy we’d discuss in a study of Hebrews, but it’s hard to make sense of this chapter without at least dabbling in the world of Plato, so here goes…

When I say the word “chair,” what immediately jumps to mind? For the vast majority of people, there are some common elements: four legs, roughly two feet off the ground, a back that hits around your shoulder-blades when you sit down. While an actual chair may look different, all of us carry around this idea of what a chair is supposed to be. I could do this for almost any word— dog, car, apple, and so on. Simply saying the word gives you a mental image, but when you see the object itself, it’s always subtly different. The chairs in Jessi’s and my dining room won’t perfectly match what you imagined when reading the word “chair.” Our dog won’t perfectly match what you imagined when reading the word “dog.” The apple I’m eating as I write this won’t perfectly match what you imagined when reading the word “apple.” Plato called these ideal versions of real world things “forms.” Plato also theorized the forms must exist somewhere else in some ideal realm, and what we have in this world are flawed imitations.

In Hebrews 8, the author takes this idea to its logical extreme: [The priests] serve at a sanctuary that is a copy and shadow of what is in heaven… But in fact the ministry Jesus has received is as superior to theirs as the covenant of which he is mediator is superior to the old one, since the new covenant is established on better promises. (Hebrews 8:5-6)

What if the Covenant made with Abraham is an imitation of a more perfect Covenant still to come? What if the Law given to Moses is an imitation of a more perfect Law still to come? What if the Temple and its priests and their sacrifices are all imitations of a more perfect Temple and priesthood and sacrifice still to come? And what if Jesus is the “form” all these religious institutions imitate? I want to be clear: the author of Hebrews is not calling the Temple or the priesthood or the Law bad, only imperfect and incomplete.

Having laid this groundwork, the author goes to a very hopeful place.
If the restoration promised in the Old Testament is also an imitation,
if the forgiveness we extend to each other is also an imitation,
if the ways we imagine God’s Kingdom are imitations,
then how amazing must the genuine article be?

We glimpse these things in the person of Jesus, and through his words and actions on earth, we get an idea what the forgiveness of God must really look like. The author quotes the prophet Jeremiah to give us just a taste:

I will be their God,
    and they will be my people.
No longer will they teach their neighbor,
    or say to one another, ‘Know the Lord,’
because they will all know me,
    from the least of them to the greatest.
For I will forgive their wickedness
    and will remember their sins no more.
(portions of Jeremiah 31 as quoted in Hebrews 8:10-12)

This forgiveness, this eternity, this community, this relationship—
it’s all infinitely better than we can imagine,
but to get an idea, we can just look to Jesus.