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disappointment is made the door of hope, and suffering is the condition of glory.

Additional Note to Hebrews 2:17. Passages on the High-priesthood of Christ.

The student will find it a most instructive inquiry to trace the development of the thought of Christ's High-priesthood, which is the ruling thought of the Epistle, through the successive passages in which the writer specially deals with it.

The thought is indicated in the opening verses. The crowning trait of the Son is that, when He had made purification of sins , He sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high (1:3). So the priestly and royal works of Christ are placed together in the closest connexion.

The remaining passages prepare for, expound, and apply the doctrine.

(1) Preparatory

2:17, 18. The Incarnation the foundation of Christ's High-priesthood. 3:1, 2. The subject such as to require careful consideration. 4:14-16. Recapitulation of points already marked as a transition to the detailed treatment of the truth. Christ is a High-priest who has fulfilled the conditions of His office, who can feel with men, and who is alike able and ready to succour them.

(2) The characteristics of Christ's High-priesthood

5:1-10. The characteristics of the Levitical High-priesthood realised by Christ.

6:20; 7:14-19. The priesthood of Christ after the order of Melchizedek. 7:26-28. The characteristics of Christ as absolute and eternal High- priest.

(3) The work of Christ as High-priest

8:1-6. The scene of Christ's work a heavenly and not an earthly sanctuary.

9:11-28. Christ's atoning work contrasted with that of the Levitical High- priest on the Day of Atonement.

10:1-18. The abiding efficacy of Christ's One Sacrifice.

(4) Application of the fruits of Christ's High-priesthood to believers

10:19-25. Personal use. 13:10-16. Privileges and duties of the Christian Society. These passages should be studied in their broad features, especially in regard to the new traits which they successively introduce. The following out of the inquiry is more than an exercise in Biblical Theology. Nothing conveys
a more vivid impression of the power of the Apostolic writings than to watch the unfolding of a special idea in the course of an Epistle without any trace of


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