Thomas Aquinas, on Heb 12:24

“And to Jesus the mediator of the new testament, and to the sprinkling of blood which speaketh better than that of Abel.”

“711. – Thirdly, as to familiarity with the Son he says: and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant. As if to say: You have come to Christ, Who is the mediator of that new pact in which spiritual things are promised to us. But not so Moses; hence he says above (9:15): 'For if the blood of goats and heifers, and the ashes of a heifer being sprinkled, sanctify such as are defiled to the cleansing of the flesh: how much more shall the blood of Christ?' And the Apostle speaks according to the rite of the Old Law where, after the Law was given, the People were sprinkled with blood, which was a figure of Christ's blood, by which the faithful were to be cleansed. 712. – Then he continues: that speaks more graciously [better] than the blood of Abel. For the shedding of Christ's blood was prefigured in the shedding of the blood of all the just from the beginning of the world: 'The lamb which was slain from the beginning of the world' (Rev. 13:8), i.e., foreseen to be slain. Therefore, the shedding of Abel's blood was a sign of that shedding. But Christ's blood speaks better than Abel's blood, which cries for vengeance, but Christ's blood cried for pardon: 'Father, forgive them' (Lk. 23:34); 'He prayed for transgressors' (Is. 55:12); 'This is the blood of the new covenant, which shall be shed for you unto the remission of sins' (Mt. 26:28). Or speaking better, i.e., making to speak better, because the blood of Abel makes us say that Abel was a pure and just man; but the blood of Christ makes us say that Christ is true God making us just.”

Imported from an open dataset — not yet checked against the printed edition.