Theophylact of Ohrid, on Heb 8:6

“But now he hath obtained a better ministry, by how much also he is a mediator of a better testament, which is established on better promises.”

“This follows from that very thought: "if He remained on earth, He would not even be a priest." But now, he says, not being on earth, but having heaven as the place of His priestly ministry, He obtained a better ministry, that is, His ministry is not such as is proper to earthly high priests, but heavenly, since heaven serves as the place of its performance. Having exalted the priesthood of Christ by place, and by priest, and by sacrifice, he now openly sets it forth also by covenant. And although he had said before that the Old Covenant was weak and unprofitable, on account of the infancy of the hearers, he quickly cut short his discourse on this. Now he lingers at length in reasoning about this, and shows that the New Covenant is better than that one, that is, the Gospel, whose mediator and bestower is Christ; for He Himself became for us a minister of the Gospel, "taking the form of a servant," just as Moses is the mediator of the law. He presents what especially encouraged the believers from among the Jews, namely, that the promises of our covenant are better promises. For it is not earthly goods, nor goods in offspring, nor abundance of children, but the Kingdom of Heaven that is promised to those who keep the Gospel. Therefore, do not be fainthearted: the promises of the Gospel are better; it is unreasonable to despair for those who have what is better.”

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