“You Have Come to Mount Zion”
Read Hebrews 12:22–24. What does Paul describe here?
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Hebrews affirms that we have come to Mount Zion and participate in
a great celebration. “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” (Heb 12:22, ESV). We have come through faith in the
person of our Representative, Jesus. In this celebration we find an innu-
merable host of angels, God Himself, and Jesus, who is the center of the
celebration. We come as part of the “assembly of the firstborn who are
enrolled in heaven” (Heb. 12:23, ESV). Our names are enrolled in the
books of heaven, where God’s professed people are listed (Exod. 32:32,
Ps. 56:8, Dan. 12:1, Mal. 3:16, Luke 10:20, Rev. 13:8, Rev. 17:8).
We are the “firstborn” because we share the inheritance of the
Firstborn par excellence, Jesus (Heb. 1:6). Thus, we have come not as
guests but as citizens (compare with Phil. 3:20). We also are described
as “the spirits of the righteous made perfect” (Heb. 12:23, ESV). This
expression is a figure of speech in which a dimension of our human
nature stands for the whole. It is analogous to the expression “the Father
of spirits” in Hebrews 12:9, which refers to God as the Father of us all,
human beings who are spiritual in nature.
The festal gathering celebrates the inauguration of Jesus’ kingly
rule, priestly ministry, and the inauguration of the new covenant. In
Hebrews, Mount Zion is the place where all these events take place.
Three of the psalms in Hebrews 1:5–14 describe the enthronement of
the Son and have Mount Zion as the place where it occurred (Ps. 2:6,
7; Ps. 110:1, 2; Ps. 102:21–27).
Mount Zion also is the place where the Son was appointed “priest
forever” (Heb. 5:6), a quotation of Psalm 110:4. According to Psalm
110, the appointment of the Son as High Priest occurs at Mount Zion,
as well (Ps. 110:2). Finally, Hebrews argues that the inauguration of
Jesus’ priesthood also marks the inauguration of the new covenant
(Heb. 7:11–22). Thus, Mount Zion also is the place where the new
covenant was ratified. Hebrews 12:22–24 describes, then, the festal
gathering that occurred in heaven when Jesus ascended.
In what practical ways can we celebrate the reality of Jesus, His
priestly ministry, and the new covenant in our lives and in our
worship? Why is rejoicing in this great truth faith-affirming?