Messiah Jesus Christ: Our Priest
Jesus Christ: Our Prophet, Priest & King • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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Introduction:
Introduction:
Today, we continue our consideration of the three-fold office of the Christ, Messiah or Anointed One of God. In the OT there are three offices that people filled that required an anointing from God, the prophet, priest and king. These were special roles within the people of Israel. Called called men to represent him in these roles, but no man ever fulfilled all three. Only the true Anointed One would be able to do such. This One is the One sent in human flesh. The following hymn by Isaac Watts tells of our Prophet, Priest and King and communicates one my my goals.
1 We bless the prophet of the Lord, That comes with truth and grace; Jesus, thy Spirit and thy word Shall lead us in thy ways.
2 We reverence our High-Priest above, Who offered up his blood; And lives to carry on his love, By pleading with out God.
3 We honour our exalted King; How sweet are his commands! He guards our souls from hell and sin, By his almighty hands.
4 Hosanna to his glorious name, Who saves by different ways; His mercies lay a sovereign claim to our immortal praise.
Two secondary goals I had was to see the newness and superiority of the New Covenant and also to see a bit of how the Bible is held together.
Last week, we saw Christ as our prophet, this week, Christ our priest and next week, Christ our King. Devotion to Christ.
The Role of a Priest
The Role of a Priest
Chosen by by from among men (Tribe of Levi) Separated for God's special use (consecration) Required to be holy, morally pure and no physical blemishes. Calvin writes, “office and prerogative of presenting oneself before the face of God to obtain grace, and of offering sacrifice, which may be acceptable to him”
He makes sacrifices for his people
“Then he shall kill the goat of the sin offering that is for the people and bring its blood inside the veil and do with its blood as he did with the blood of the bull, sprinkling it over the mercy seat and in front of the mercy seat. Thus he shall make atonement for the Holy Place, because of the uncleannesses of the people of Israel and because of their transgressions, all their sins. And so he shall do for the tent of meeting, which dwells with them in the midst of their uncleannesses.
He makes intercession for his people
“And when he has made an end of atoning for the Holy Place and the tent of meeting and the altar, he shall present the live goat.
Our Need for a Priest
Our Need for a Priest
Creation (Gen 1-2) & Corruption (Gen 3)
Separation
Behold, the LORD’s hand is not shortened, that it cannot save,
or his ear dull, that it cannot hear;
but your iniquities have made a separation
between you and your God,
and your sins have hidden his face from you
so that he does not hear.
Judgement
For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Jesus, the Pulfillment of Prophecy as Priest
Jesus, the Pulfillment of Prophecy as Priest
The LORD says to my Lord:
“Sit at my right hand,
until I make your enemies your footstool.”
The LORD sends forth from Zion
your mighty scepter.
Rule in the midst of your enemies!
Your people will offer themselves freely
on the day of your power,
in holy garments;
from the womb of the morning,
the dew of your youth will be yours.
The LORD has sworn
and will not change his mind,
“You are a priest forever
after the order of Melchizedek.”
The Lord is at your right hand;
he will shatter kings on the day of his wrath.
He will execute judgment among the nations,
filling them with corpses;
he will shatter chiefs
over the wide earth.
He will drink from the brook by the way;
therefore he will lift up his head.
So also Christ did not exalt himself to be made a high priest, but was appointed by him who said to him,
“You are my Son,
today I have begotten you”;
as he says also in another place,
“You are a priest forever,
after the order of Melchizedek.”
In the days of his flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to him who was able to save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverence. Although he was a son, he learned obedience through what he suffered. And being made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey him, being designated by God a high priest after the order of Melchizedek.
We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain, where Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf, having become a high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.
For this Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of the Most High God, met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings and blessed him, and to him Abraham apportioned a tenth part of everything. He is first, by translation of his name, king of righteousness, and then he is also king of Salem, that is, king of peace. He is without father or mother or genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but resembling the Son of God he continues a priest forever.
See how great this man was to whom Abraham the patriarch gave a tenth of the spoils! And those descendants of Levi who receive the priestly office have a commandment in the law to take tithes from the people, that is, from their brothers, though these also are descended from Abraham. But this man who does not have his descent from them received tithes from Abraham and blessed him who had the promises. It is beyond dispute that the inferior is blessed by the superior. In the one case tithes are received by mortal men, but in the other case, by one of whom it is testified that he lives. One might even say that Levi himself, who receives tithes, paid tithes through Abraham, for he was still in the loins of his ancestor when Melchizedek met him.
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. 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.
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.”
For on the one hand, a former commandment is set aside because of its weakness and uselessness (for the law made nothing perfect); but on the other hand, a better hope is introduced, through which we draw near to God.
And it was not without an oath. For those who formerly became priests were made such without an oath, but this one was made a priest with an oath by the one who said to him:
“The Lord has sworn
and will not change his mind,
‘You are a priest forever.’ ”
This makes Jesus the guarantor of a better covenant.
Jesus, the Great High Priest
Jesus, the Great High Priest
He is great in his person
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.
He is great in his sacrifice
For since the law has but a shadow of the good things to come instead of the true form of these realities, it can never, by the same sacrifices that are continually offered every year, make perfect those who draw near. Otherwise, would they not have ceased to be offered, since the worshipers, having once been cleansed, would no longer have any consciousness of sins? But in these sacrifices there is a reminder of sins every year. For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.
Consequently, when Christ came into the world, he said,
“Sacrifices and offerings you have not desired,
but a body have you prepared for me;
in burnt offerings and sin offerings
you have taken no pleasure.
Then I said, ‘Behold, I have come to do your will, O God,
as it is written of me in the scroll of the book.’ ”
When he said above, “You have neither desired nor taken pleasure in sacrifices and offerings and burnt offerings and sin offerings” (these are offered according to the law), then he added, “Behold, I have come to do your will.” He does away with the first in order to establish the second. And by that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.
And every priest stands daily at his service, offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, waiting from that time until his enemies should be made a footstool for his feet. For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified.
He is great in his place of sacrifice
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) 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.
Thus it was necessary for the copies of the heavenly things to be purified with these rites, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. For Christ has entered, not into holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true things, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God on our behalf.
He is great in his longevity
The former priests were many in number, because they were prevented by death from continuing in office, but he holds his priesthood permanently, because he continues forever.
He is great in his intercessory position
Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us.
Now the point in what we are saying is this: we have such a high priest, one who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in heaven, a minister in the holy places, in the true tent that the Lord set up, not man.
“The priest comes forward to take all the shortcoming of the people upon himself as if they were his very own and pleads with God on their behalf. From God he receives the word with which he is to comfort and help everybody. The name ‘priest’ is therefore, still more lovely and consoling than the names ‘father’ and ‘mother’; nay, this name brings us all the others. For by the fact the Christ is Priest He turns God into our Father”
The Necessary Response to our Priest
The Necessary Response to our Priest
Realize that God accepted his sacrifice
In the days of his flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to him who was able to save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverence.
In the days of old the priest would come With a lifeless sacrifice
While the crowd in anxious silence Would wait outside
As he entered in the temple They hoped he would be heard
God would give them a tomorrow And the priest would stay alive
Their only choice, their only hope Would he be heard
The only way they might be saved Would he be heard
In the fullness of the promised time The Final Priest did come
And He offered up a living sacrifice Now we His children wait for Him
With hope and joyful praise For we know that God has heard Him
For we know that He was raised He offered tearful prayers and He was heard
He offered up His life and He was heard
Chorus
So let us fix our eyes upon The priest whom God did hear
For the joy that was before Him He overcame the fear
For once and all He paid the cost Enduring all the shame
Taking up the cruel cross Ignoring all the pain
Look to him
The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!
Trust him alone for cleansing through confession
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
Obey him.
Although he was a son, he learned obedience through what he suffered. And being made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey him, being designated by God a high priest after the order of Melchizedek.