The Person and Work of Christ Series Notes

Priest

From Ligoner Ministries: Anthony Carter- Blood Work

“As Priest, Jesus offered Himself as the sacrifice for all our sin. In the Old Testament, the high priest was the mediator between the holy God and His sinful people. As mediator, the high priest entered the Holy Place and offered a sacrifice to God on behalf of the people once a year on the Day of Atonement (Lev. 16:34). He sprinkled the blood of the sacrifice on the mercy seat "because of the uncleanness of the people of Israel and because of their transgressions, all their sins" (Lev. 16:16). This he did year after year after year. Christ, as our Mediator and High Priest, not only offered the sacrifice (once and for all), but He is the sacrifice. Like the high priest of old, Christ entered the Holy Place, but unlike the high priest, He entered to offer Himself. He had to enter only one time, for He sprinkled His own blood on the mercy seat. As the writer of Hebrews reminds us:”

Heb 9:11-14 “11 But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things that have come, then through the greater and more perfect tent (not made with hands, that is, not of this creation) 12 he entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves but by means of his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption. 13 For if the blood of goats and bulls, and the sprinkling of defiled persons with the ashes of a heifer, sanctify for the purification of the flesh, 14 how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God.”

Crossway notes:

1. Jesus’s teaching points to his priesthood.

For instance, Jesus’s gospel of the kingdom is a message with a priestly center. Instead of bringing a message of political change, Jesus pronounces forgiveness of sins (Matt. 9:2; cf. Lev. 4:20, 26, 31, 35; 5:10; etc.). Likewise, his ministry of teaching (Matt. 4:23–25; 9:35) reflects what priests did (Lev. 10:11; Deut. 17:9–11; 33:10; Mal. 2:6–7). Levitical priests separated the clean from the unclean; so too Jesus’s teaching separates those purified by faith from those defiled by unbelief (Matt. 15).1 As Nicholas Perrin puts it, “The making of ritual pronouncements of clean and unclean, holy and profane, was fundamentally . . . a priestly activity.”2 In fact, we will even see this taking place on the cross, as Jesus hangs between two thieves—one who believes, one who does not.

Getting into specifics, Jesus begins with eight beatitudes in his Sermon on the Mount (Matt. 5:3–10). These words of blessing recall the type of priestly benediction Aaron would give to Israel (see Num. 6:24–26). More precisely, the first four beatitudes (Matt. 5:3–6) contain literary connections to Isaiah 61, a passage that promises a new priesthood (Isa. 61:5–6). Next, Jesus calls his disciples “the salt of the earth” (Matt. 5:13). This peculiar description harkens back to the covenant of salt made with Levi (Num. 18:19; cf. Lev. 2:13; 2 Chron. 13:5).3 And in the Lord’s Prayer, which invites Jesus’s disciples to address God as “Father,” we find the petition, “Give us today our daily bread” (Matt. 6:9, 11). Both the prayer and the provision of daily bread are suggestive of the priesthood (Lev. 24:5–9).4 All in all, when considering Jesus’s ministry of the word, we should remember the role priests played in teaching, because in Jesus’s teaching we discover that he is more than a prophet; he is also a priest.

2. Jesus’s ministry of healing is a priestly activity.

Going beyond teaching, Matthew 8:1–4 recounts the time Jesus heals a leper. Placing this after the Sermon on the Mount, Matthew continues his focus on his priestly role.7In Leviticus 13–14, God assigned priests to render a verdict on leprosy. Now something similar occurs in Matthew 8. Instead of issuing a judgment, however, Jesus puts his hands on the leper and makes him clean. Whereas lepers would defile anyone they touched under the old covenant—including priests—here Jesus, as the harbinger of the new covenant, communicates his cleanness to this man through physical touch.

After Jesus’s heals this leper, he sends him to the priests. But why—what is the message Jesus wants this cleansed leper to bring to the priests? Namely, that a new priest is in town and he has the power to make lepers clean.8 Just as Ezekiel 44:19 promised, Jesus’s healing brings holiness.9 In this way, healing is a glimpse of the new creation and an indication that Jesus’s offer of forgiveness is accompanied by power to heal, or even raise the dead (Matt. 9:18–26).

3. Jesus is able to purify the temple.

As we saw in 1–2 Chronicles, priests sanctified the Holy Place of God. After unrighteous kings brought idols into the temple, righteous kings employed the priests to purify God’s house so that God’s people could worship again. Strikingly, Jesus does the same when he drives out the money changers in Matthew 21:12–17, only he does not outsource the purification to someone else. Rather, picking up words from Isaiah 56:7, Jesus says, “It is written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer,’ but you make it a den of robbers” (Matt. 21:13). In his enacted parable, Jesus declares the temple unclean, even as he drives out those defiling its precincts. In this cleansing, Jesus acts like a priest purifying God’s house.

4. Jesus’s authority to forgive sin demonstrates his priesthood.

In Mark 2 Jesus forgives a paralytic, inciting the scribes to ask, “Who can forgive sins but God alone?” (v. 7). Proving his authority to forgive sin, Jesus replies, “‘That you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins’—he said to the paralytic—‘I say to you, rise, pick up your bed, and go home’” (vv. 10–11). Clearly, this passage identifies the divinity of Christ. God alone can forgive sins, and his pronouncement of forgiveness vividly affirms this truth.

5. Jesus prays for his people.

Though prayer alone does not make Jesus a priest, it is one of the aspects of his priesthood. Throughout his life Jesus is observed praying.9 When he selects his twelve disciples, he prays (Luke 6:12–16); when he reveals his identity to Peter and the disciples, he prays (Luke 9:18–20); when he reveals the glory of his kingdom, it is in the context of prayer (Luke 9:28–36); and in the hours leading up to his arrest, he prays fervently in the garden of Gethsemane (Matt. 26:36–46).

Practical we serve as Priest

PRIEST

As priests in our homes, we get to intercede for our family before God. In a heart-stirring account, John G. Paton, the great missionary among cannibals, recalled his upbringing:

How much my father’s prayers at this time impressed me I can never explain, nor could any stranger understand. When, on his knees and all of us kneeling around him in Family Worship, he poured out his whole soul with tears for the conversion of the Heathen world to the service of Jesus, and for every personal and domestic need, we all felt as if in the presence of the living Savior, and learned to know and love him as our Divine friend. (21)

Kneeling together, pouring out our souls in supplication for our family, our churches, our nation, and the lost world — this is a mighty inheritance to leave our children. Whether before them or in the secret place, we get the high privilege to labor in prayer to God on their behalf.

King

As King, Jesus rules in such a way as not to allow sin to reign over us any longer. In the Old Testament, the monarchy was established for the peace, prosperity, and welfare of the nation. The prototype king was David. No king was ever as beloved as he was. He was God's viceregent among the people. With David on the throne, the nation of Israel could say, "All is well." Few things comfort a nation more than having a ruler of righteousness and strength sitting on the throne of power. It was said of David that he "reigned over all Israel. And David administered justice and equity to all his people" (2 Sam. 8:15). However, we have a King greater than David. Christ came in the line of David as David's son and yet also as David's Lord (Matt. 22:42–45). He is "the ruler of kings on earth" (Rev. 1:5) and "King of kings and Lord of lords" (19:16), including David. He rules with perfect justice and equity. As our King, He has fought our battles and now rules in such a way that sin never can reign over us (Rom. 6:7–14).

Prophet, Priest, King Verse(s)

rev 1:5 “5 and from Jesus Christ the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of kings on earth. To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood”

Practical ways to serve as King:

Desiring God

God has firmly written into the nature of every man to lead, provide for, and defend those in his charge. As societies descend into ungodliness, this category of the three is the last to depart. It is a groveling existence for any man — Christian or non-Christian — to abdicate his kingly duties; indeed, “If anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for members of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever” (1 Timothy 5:8).

Though under attack from all sides, the man, as head, makes decisions for his family (both popular and unpopular). Because he loves those affected by his choices, he considers their perspective before steering to the left or to the right. He does not micromanage, but he does actually drive from the driver’s seat. He leads his children and his queen as he follows Christ, his head (1 Corinthians 11:3). Mature masculinity governs its household well (1 Timothy 3:4).

He also leads in ways many kings of the world, untutored in the lordship of Christ, wouldn’t dare. He doesn’t just take up the privileges of authority, but its responsibilities, bending low to carry physical, emotional, and spiritual burdens for the family, and doing so with joy. His sacrifice extends, if it is necessary, even to a cross in the imitation of his Savior. And he leads his family in other unflattering tasks such as confession and repentance. His glorious crown is one of thorns.

find a quote from calvin’s institutes to highlight the PPK....