Summer Scripture Series: A Better Priest
This week, we continued our Summer Scripture series, where Pastor Robbie and others are going through the Book of Hebrews, verse by verse, to bring out their immediate meaning. This process of ‘exegesis’ is important to bring out the originally intended meaning of the author to their original audience!
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Our text is a look at the changing of the priestly guard that Jesus has brought—basically the theological version of the transition of power.
The peaceful transition of power is actually one of the most difficult problems in the world of politics. Whether you’re in a monarchy of kings and queens, a democracy of elected representatives, or even a tribal system with chiefs and chieftains, it’s almost always a tense moment when power has to be transferred. There are always questions: Will the people follow the new leader? Will there be a split or a revolt?
Pastor Robbie speaks out of Hebrews 7:11-28 diving deeper into the office of the Old Covenant priesthood and the role that Jesus played in transforming the office from what it was to the New Priesthood we understand today. Referring to verses 11-12 saying, “Now if perfection had been attainable through the Levitical priesthood (for under it the people received the law), what further need would there have been for another priest to arise after the order of Melchizedek, rather than one named after the order of Aaron? For when there is a change in the priesthood, there is necessarily a change in the law as well.”
Pastor Robbie comments, “This verse lets us know that the law was given to support the priesthood and not the other way around. The priesthood and the tabernacle with its sacrifices were the means God used to render the sinful people acceptable to Himself. Then, the Law was given with its impossible demands to awaken the people to their true condition, their sinfulness, their hopelessness outside of God, so that they might adhere to the sacrifices. As it says in Galatians 3:24, The Law was simply a guardian or a tutor to lead us to Christ. Now understand that this all must have been shocking to the Jews listening, which is why they would say to Stephen and Paul in Acts 6:14, “for we have heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth will destroy this place and change the customs which Moses delivered to us.” Jesus changed the game. Everything that the Jews knew to be true and help as sacred was intended to point to the most Sacred one: Jesus. Without the New Testament and its Messiah, without the New Covenant, the Old Testament is like reading The Lord of the Rings without The Return of the King — it’s absolutely incomplete.
Referring to verses 13-14, “For the one of whom these things are spoken belonged to another tribe, from which no one has ever served at the altar. For it is evident that our Lord was descended from Judah, and in connection with that tribe Moses said nothing about priests.” we see that the change in the priesthood was complete, it was an absolute change from the top down.
Then, in verses 15–17, we learn that there is also a different authority for this priesthood.
“This becomes even more evident when another priest arises in the likeness of Melchizedek, who has become a priest, not on the basis of a legal requirement concerning bodily descent, but by the power of an indestructible life. For it is witnessed of him, “You are a priest forever, after the order of Melchizedek.”
“In verse 19, there’s the parenthetical reference, (for the law made nothing perfect). I don’t want to confuse anyone here today, so let me help your theology a little church, The Law is perfect, but it's perfection isn’t like the Coronavirus: You can’t catch it by coming in contact with it! That’s just not what the Law was for. It was made, not to create perfection, but to reveal the absence of it. The law, as Paul tells us in his letter to the Romans, came to actually increase the trespass of humanity, to bring everything into its custody like a prison warden.”
Jesus brings us into the throne room of God and simply says, “Abba, Father, this is someone who needs to talk to You.” He came to fulfill the Law, to bridge the gap between man and God, to be a mediator for us all, to give us unprecedented access to God most High. He is our new Priest, the best and final forever priest.
Speaking to verses 26-28, “For it was indeed fitting that we should have such a high priest, holy, innocent, unstained, separated from sinners, and exalted above the heavens. He has no need, like those high priests, to offer sacrifices daily, first for his own sins and then for those of the people, since he did this once for all when he offered up himself. For the law appoints men in their weakness as high priests, but the word of the oath, which came later than the law, appoints a Son who has been made perfect forever.”
We’ve already seen today how Jesus is a superior priest because of God’s sworn oath, God promised - and we saw that he is better because of Christ’s eternality, his priesthood is permanent, everlasting. Now we see his superiority because of his person.
He is holy, uniquely God’s Holy One. He is set apart to God. He stands accepted before God. He is innocent - literally without evil. Whereas we are intrinsically evil in our motives and actions, there is nothing but good in him. He is unstained. The OT High Priests had to be externally without imperfection, but Jesus is unstained within. He walked through the muck and the mire of this world for 33 years but was never stained by sin.
He is part of humanity because he took it on for our sake, but he is separate from sinners because he is separate in his character from human sin nature. And he is exalted above the heavens - resurrected, ascended, and glorified at the right hand of God. If this were a job application for the job of forever High Priest, Jesus just blew the competition out of the water. He is more than worthy and the only one who is so.
What is a priest and what is a priest for? A priest is your mediator between the self and the transcendent. Every human being is filled with a longing for the transcendent, the glorious, the spiritual, the divine. Who is your god, and who gets you access to him?
That is the question we need to consider because there is only one true and living High Priest and only one God. And if we trust in any other, no matter how passionately or authentically, our trust will be a false trust, and we will perish.
Jesus Christ - he is the One who saves to the uttermost. Rest in him today.
SOME KEY TAKE-AWAYS
Summer Scripture Series: A Better Priest - From the times of Melchizedek moving forward, the role of the priesthood held a vital role in Israel’s covenant relationship with Yahweh - while different in scope, the Royal Priesthood of Jesus expands and magnifies the availability of relationship with Yahweh!
Main Scripture Passages: Hebrews 7:11-28.
Length and Content: Considering this section going through 17 verses this past week, we were not able to cover everything discussed - watch either the video recording or the podcats to get the full extent of the content covered.
A Necessary Transition: “The death and resurrection of Jesus introduced a new and permanent priesthood that brings the Levitical priesthood to an end, along with its Law. You see, church, the Levitical Priesthood was provisional, the Melchizedek Priesthood is permanent.”
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