Our Perfect High Priest
“For this is the kind of high priest that we need: holy, innocent, undefiled, separated from sinners, and exalted above the heavens. ”
Maybe it’s just me, but whenever I read a passage about priests, I think “but that’s so Old Testament” and it would be easy to dismiss it quickly as irrelevant. In our modern times, and in Christianity, the idea of sacrifices and priests seems pretty archaic and so far removed from my life. I’ve always known that we no longer needed priests to make sacrifices on our behalf because Jesus was our perfect sacrifice and He died for us. But I think my understanding of this has been pretty elementary (basic/fundamental) and like the author of Hebrews stated in chapter 5, we need to go beyond the “basic principles of God’s revelation” and “go on to maturity.” He had said that he had “a great deal to explain about [Jesus as our high priest] but it is difficult to explain since you have become too lazy to understand.” God wants us to understand His ways and He wants to take us to a deeper knowledge of Him. I don’t know about you, but I do not want my understanding of Jesus, or my lack thereof, to be because I have been too lazy. Jesus promised that the Holy Spirit will guide us to understand and if we would only take the time and discipline to read His word, we can go on to a deeper understanding and deeper faith.
God established a priesthood for a reason. And to not understand it, or even try to understand, because it is "Old Testament” and “irrelevant” is shallow faith. What we learn from this passage is that Jesus’ coming did not eliminate the priesthood. Rather, Jesus perfected the priesthood and He has become the ultimate, (ultimate meaning last) priest, which He will remain forever (Psalm 110:4). God’s established priesthood is still very much relevant to our walk with God and explains how we are able to come into God’s presence.
Remember, sin broke our peace with God and separated us from Him. And we cannot enter into His presence without being cleansed of our sin. God cannot just overlook our sin and pretend it’s not there. Our sin must be atoned for. We still need a high priest to offer sacrifices on our behalf.
For this is the kind of high priest we need: holy, innocent, undefiled, separated from sinners, and exalted above the heavens. He doesn’t need to offer sacrifices every day, as high priests do—first for their own sins, and then for those of the people. He did this once and for all time when he offered Himself. (Hebrews 7:26-27)
But let’s back it up a bit, and go back to the Old Testament, when God initially established the priesthood. (Don’t worry, we aren’t going to delve into Leviticus).
When God took the Israelites out of Egypt, God wanted to dwell among His people. This has and always will be His desire—to be with us and more importantly, for us to be with Him. God has always had a desire for us to be in His presence, and for us to live a life set apart—this was the plan since Creation. He was also taking them to the Promised Land. He wanted His people to live set apart from the other cultures. He wanted their lives to be different and a testament to Him.
God gave the Israelites His law so they would live by His standard, and we know that the law was “given alongside the promise to show people their sins” (Galatians 3:19). And God cannot overlook our sins, so God established a priesthood with priests who were men “appointed in matters pertaining to God for the people, to both offer gifts and sacrifices for sins” (Hebrews 5:1). God commanded Moses in Exodus, to have Aaron, who was of the tribe of Levi, to serve Him as priest. So God was going to dwell among His people in the tabernacle and the priests would offer sacrifices on behalf of the people to atone for their sins. But this earthly priesthood had limitations. Priests were, after all, human: they, too, were sinners who had to make sacrifices for themselves (Hebrews 7:27) and were “prevented by death from remaining in office” (Hebrews 7:23). And also, humans sin all the time. Sacrifices had to be made daily. It was a system that had earthly limitations.
According to the Old Testament law, Jesus should not have been a priest. Priests were from the tribe of Levi, but Jesus was from the tribe of Judah. This is what the author of Hebrews is pointing out when he says “For the one these are spoken about belonged to a different tribe. No one from it has served at the altar. Now it is evident that our Lord came from Judah, and Moses said nothing about that tribe concerning priests (Hebrews 7:13-14). So how is Jesus able to fulfill the role as priest if it doesn’t correspond with the law given to Moses?
Jesus was not a part of the Levitical, earthly priesthood. Psalm 110:4 prophesied that Jesus will be a “priest forever, according to the order of Melchizedek.” Melchizedek makes his only appearance in Genesis 14. Genesis 14 states that Melchizedek was King of Salem and a priest of the Most High God. When Abraham met him, Abraham gave Melchizedek a tenth of everything (in other words, a tithe) and Melchizedek blessed Abraham. Remember, Abraham and the his promise predates the Law given to the Israelites. So, this priesthood, this priest, predates the Old Testament Law.
Melchizedek, the priest of God Most High, was King of Salem, which means peace. His title means “King of peace” and his name, Melchizedek, means “king of righteousness.” He had no beginning nor no end. He had neither father, nor mother, nor genealogy. He just was, and “resembling the Son of God, he remains a priest forever” (Hebrews 7:3). Abraham, the one whom God gave His promise, honored Melchizedek with his tithe, and technically speaking, the tribe of Levi, who receives tithes, gave a tithe to Melchizedek through Abraham, recognizing his priesthood. In other words, if Abraham, the one to whom God made a promise, tithed to Melchizedek, than it is obvious that Melchizedek is in a higher position of honor than Abraham. This idea is further reinforced when the author of Hebrews says “without a doubt, the inferior is blessed by the superior.”
I started out my post saying that the first word that came to mind when I think of the priesthood is archaic. Before I used it, I wanted to double check that I was using the word correctly, so I looked it up in the dictionary. One of the definitions of archaic was “forming the earliest stage; prior to full development.” The earthly priests established in God’s law (the Torah) were just that: the priests at the earlier stage prior to the fulfillment of the law. We know that Jesus came to fulfill the law, but He also brings the priesthood to full development.
God never meant for the law to save us. “But the law was designed to last only until the coming of the Child who was promised (Galatians 3:19); it was “guardian until Christ came” (Galatians 3:24). The Levitical priesthood, a part of the Old Testament Law, was just a shadow of a superior priesthood.
“Now if perfection came through the Levitical priesthood (for the basis of it the people received the law), what further need is there for another priest to appear, said to be according to the order of Melchizedek?”
Nothing about man has changed from Old Testament to New Testament: “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” Our sin still keeps us from the presence of God. But God so loved the world that He gave His only Son to be the perfect sacrifice for our sins. “He doesn’t need to offer sacrifices every day. He did this once for all time when He offered Himself.” Moreover, “because He remains forever, He holds His priesthood permanently. Therefore He is able to save completely those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to intercede for them” (Hebrews 7:24-25). Now, in Jesus, we have a new hope, a better hope, and a guarantee of a better covenant.
Sweet friend, we still desperately need a High Priest, to atone for our sins and intercede on our behalf. I am so glad that Jesus—holy, innocent, undefiled, separated from sinners, and exalted above the heavens—is the very High Priest that we need, so that we receive the promise—the presence of God, for eternity.
