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From: Hebrews 12:18-19, 21-24a

Striving for Peace; Purity; Reverent Worship (Continuation)

[18] For you have not come to what may be touched, a blazing fire, and
darkness, and gloom, and a tempest, [19] and the sound of a trumpet,
and a voice whose words made the hearers entreat that no further
messages be spoken to them. [21] Indeed, so terrifying was the sight
that Moses said, “I tremble with fear.” [22] But you have come to Mount
Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to
innumerable angels in festal gathering, [23] and to the assembly of the
first-born who are enrolled in heaven, and to a judge who is God of
all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect, [24a] and to Jesus,
the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks
more graciously than the blood of Abel.

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Commentary:

18-21. The text recalls in detail all the physical signs which accompanied
the manifestation of God on the heights of Sinai (cf. Ex 19:12-16; 20:18),
and to these it adds other things taken from Jewish oral tradition.

All this helps to inspire feelings of religious reverence and fear,
which explains why the people begged God not to speak further, for they
were afraid they would die. To assert his transcendence God forbade
anyone to put foot on the mountain (Ex 19:12, 21); this was a way of
showing this as yet uncivilized people the difference between the true
God and idols.

There is no mention in the Pentateuch of Moses being frightened of the
vision he saw when God manifested himself on Sinai; when his fear is
mentioned (Deut 9:19) it is in the context of the second time he went
up the mountain to be given replacements for the tables he had broken
in a fit of rage (Deut 9:15-18; Ex 32:19-20). His fear was that God
would punish with death those who had adored the golden calf. When
telling (cf. Acts 7:32) the story of God’s first revelation to Moses in the
burning bush, St Stephen says that “Moses trembled and did not dare
to look”: thus, the presence of divinity provokes in him the deepest
feelings of reverence and fear (cf. the attitude of Abraham: Gen 15:12;
of Zechariah: Lk 1:12; of Isaiah: Is 6:4-5; of Jeremiah: Jer 1:6; of
Gideon: Judg 6:22-23; etc.).

22-24. The sacred text dramatically contrasts two scenes—that of the
establishment of the Covenant on Sinai, and the vision of the heavenly
city, the dwelling-place of the angels and saints. The comparison
implies a rhetorical question: if the setting of the Old Covenant was
so solemn and awesome, and if the Covenant itself was so supernatural
and divine, what must not be said of the New Covenant?

We have therefore overwhelming reasons for staying faithful: what awaits
us is not an austere and vengeful God but, rather, the joy and splendor
of the heavenly city. For the Hebrew people Mount Sinai was the most
important symbol of their special connection with God, reminding them
that the Almighty was also the Supreme Judge who claimed their
exclusive devotion and who abominated idolatry. Similarly, another
mountain, Mount Zion, on which the Temple was built, represented
God’s protective presence in the midst of his people. Both mountains,
Sinai and Zion, prefigured the mountain from which the Messiah-King
would reign and towards which all peoples would flock to worship the
true God (cf. Ps 2:6; Is 2:2).

The vision which Judaism, on the basis of Scripture, had elaborated of
heaven as the “new Jerusalem” is now extended: not only is it the holy
mountain, the source of the light and glory of Yahweh (cf. Is 8:18;
28:16; 60: 1-11; Ps 50:2; 74:2; Joel 3: 17), the city of peace (cf. Is
33:20); it is the city where the angels and saints dwell and rejoice,
the demesne of the living God and of Jesus—the heavenly and
everlasting Jerusalem, which is also illustrated in the Book of
Revelation (cf. Rev 21:15-17; 22:1-5).

The text once more recalls the Exodus (cf. Heb 3:16-18; 4:1-2; 9:18-20;
10:19-22). Christians are making their way to heaven, their lasting
homeland, their true place of rest, just as the ancient Israelites made
their way out of Egypt and crossed the desert to reach the land
promised to their forefathers.

However, despite this parallel there are differences: the Old Covenant,
although it did include expressions and promises of joy and jubilation,
was set in an atmosphere of religious fear and trembling; whereas the
New Covenant is full of joy and exultation, although in the midst of
suffering.

“It is a question [...] of the glorious and supernatural joy, prophesied
for the new Jerusalem redeemed from the exile and loved with
a mystical love by God himself [...]. Through the course of many
centuries and in the midst of most terrible trials, these promises
wonderfully sustained the mystical hope of ancient Israel. And it is
ancient Israel that transmitted them to the Church of Jesus Christ,
in such a way that we are indebted to ancient Israel for some of the
purest expressions of our hymn of joy. And yet, according to faith and
the Christian experience of the Holy Spirit, this peace which is given
by God and which spreads out like an overflowing torrent when the time
of ‘consolation’ comes, is linked to the coming and presence of Christ”
(Paul VI, “Gaudete In Domino”, 2-3).

22. The mention of Zion recalls the other mountain on which the
Covenant was made (Sinai), as also the many prophetical texts which
proclaimed that the Messiah’s reign would begin on Zion, his holy
mountain (cf. Ps 2:6; Is 2:2-4:25:6; Zech 14:4). Thus, Mount Zion, the
city of the living God, and the heavenly Jerusalem all mean the Church
in triumph in heaven.

St Thomas emphasizes that part of eternal happiness in heaven consists
in the vision of the heavenly assembly: “for in the glory of heaven
there are two things which most cause the blessed to rejoice enjoyment
of the Godhead and the fellowship of the saints” (”Commentary on Heb.,
ad loc.”).

“Proceeding from the love of the eternal Father (cf. Tit 3:4), the
Church was founded by Christ in time and gathered into one by the Holy
Spirit (cf. Eph 1:3, 5, 6, 13-14, 23). It has a saving and
eschatological purpose which can be fully attained only in the next
life. But it is now present here on earth and is composed of men; they,
the members of the earthly city, are called to form the family of the
children of God in this present history of mankind and to increase it
continually until the Lord comes” (Vatican II, “Gaudium Et Spes”, 40).

23. “The assembly of the first-born who are enrolled in heaven”: the
blessed, including the righteous of the Old Testament, the Apostles
and all Christians who have attained the beatific vision. They are called
first-born because, as in the case of the Patriarchs, they were the
first to have faith; because, as in the case of the Apostles, it was they
who received Christ’s call initially, to pass it on to others; and, finally,
because, as in the case of faithful Christians, they were chosen by
God from among the pagans (cf. Rom 8:29; Phil 3:20; Col 1:18; Rev
1:S; 14:4). Their names are written in heaven (cf. Lk 10:20; Rev 2:17;
3:5; 13:8; 17:8).

24. As Incarnate Word and High Priest, Jesus is the mediator of the New
Covenant (cf. Heb 8:6; 9:15; 1 Tim 2:5; cf. Heb 2:17; 13:1; 7:25). The
letter focuses for a moment on the most significant point in the
alliance—the shedding of our Lord’s blood, which ratifies the Covenant
and cleanses mankind (cf. Ex 24:8; Heb 9:12-14, 20; 10:19, 28-29;
13:20; 1 Pet 1:2). This blood “speaks more graciously than the blood of
Abel”, “for the shedding of Christ’s blood was represented figuratively
by the shedding of the blood of all the just there have been since the
beginning of the world [...]. Therefore, the spilling of Abel’s blood
was a sign of this new spilling of blood. But the blood of Christ is
more eloquent than that of Abel, because Abel’s called for vengeance
whereas the blood of Christ claims forgiveness” (St Thomas Aquinas,
“Commentary On Heb., ad loc.”). The confidence the blood of Christ
gives us makes us feel happy to be sinners who, repentant, take refuge
in his wounds.

“Sinners, says the Epistle, you are fortunate indeed, for after you sin
you have recourse to the crucified Jesus, who shed all his blood so that
he might stand as mediator to make peace between God and sinners,
and win you forgiveness from him. If your evildoing shouts against you,
the Redeemer’s blood cries aloud in your favor, and divine justice cannot
but listen to what this blood says” (St Alphonsus, “The Love of Jesus
Christ Reduced to Practice”, 3).

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Source: “The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries”. Biblical text from the
Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of
the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.

Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States.