Heb. 7:20-28

Opening statement

For tonight’s study,

My plan is that we would study a section of Scripture together for maybe a little over half the time then the rest of the time we’d talk about it and utilize our book.

Sound good?

You know, recently Jen and I had a date night planned and before that we took a meal to a couple who had two adult kids. The wife has cancer and very little time left.

It was a privilege to serve them a meal, and meet needs like that, but as I left the house I was shook. The realities of a mother passing, a wife for years leaving this world…. I burdened for this family’s earthly and spiritual needs, praying that the Lord would use this illness for His Glory.

When we are around suffering, illnesses, and even going to funerals it’s good for our souls… because it shakes us out of our earthly mindedness and we begin think about heavenly realities.

And times like this when we come together on a Friday night to study the Bible we think, we study, and discuss things that have eternal weight to them.

So tonight, let’s study and think on the worthiness of Christ as our Intercessor. I think this will greatly encourage your hearts!

We will be in the book of Hebrews chapter 7. And As you are turning there, let’s get a brief understanding of the book itself…

Historical background and context

The book of Hebrews – can be a difficult book to jump into... An Old Testament Prof and theologian - Dr. Feinburg said, that you cannot understand the book of Hebrews unless you understand the book of Leviticus, because the book of Hebrews is based upon the principles of the Levitical priesthood[1]

So if you want to study the Book of Hebrews you may want to have a good grasp of the Old Testament and also some of the Jewish cultural problems that were going in 60AD.

Like why was it important that the author proclaim Jesus as being better than the angels?

Well, at the time there was a large group of Jewish communities practicing angel worship… so now go back to Hebrews chapter 1-2 and it makes a lot of sense.

There was immense persecution of the Church during this time;

The author exhorts these under immense persecution to hold fast to their confession and not be tempted to return to Judaism (a religion that had safety from the persecution).

The author exhorts those Jewish believers to drop the old religious practices. And the sufficiency of Christ.

With that very brief background, let’s jump into the text Hebrews 7:20-8

Reading of the text & Prayer

Hebrews 7:20–28 (NASB95) — 20 And inasmuch as it was not without an oath 21 (for they indeed became priests without an oath, but He with an oath through the One who said to Him, “The Lord has sworn And will not change His mind, ‘You are a priest forever’ ”); 22 so much the more also Jesus has become the guarantee of a better covenant. 23 The former priests, on the one hand, existed in greater numbers because they were prevented by death from continuing, 24 but Jesus, on the other hand, because He continues forever, holds His priesthood permanently. 25 Therefore He is able also to save forever those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them. 26 For it was fitting for us to have such a high priest, holy, innocent, undefiled, separated from sinners and exalted above the heavens; 27 who does not need daily, like those high priests, to offer up sacrifices, first for His own sins and then for the sins of the people, because this He did once for all when He offered up Himself. 28 For the Law appoints men as high priests who are weak, but the word of the oath, which came after the Law, appoints a Son, made perfect forever.

Propositional statement: Four profound realities of Christ as your High Priest.

In Hebrews 7:23–25, we are going to look at “Four profound realities of Christ as your High Priest.”

1. He is a Guarantee by an Oath (vv. 20-22)

Look at beginning of vs. 20, 20 And inasmuch as it was not without an oath 21 (for they indeed became priests without an oath, but He with an oath through the One who said to Him, “The Lord has sworn And will not change His mind, ‘You are a priest forever’ ”); 22 so much the more also Jesus has become the guarantee of a better covenant.

So you may read that and think.. what? What does that mean. Don’t worry that’s what I thought too! So this comparison that the author is proclaiming is saying that Jesus is a better priest than the old testament priests. Because Christ Priesthood comes from an Oath that the Lord gave, thus it is better.

The Lord did not swear an oath for the Levitical priests of Aaron. Only Christ’s Priesthood comes by an Oath.

This is a quotation of Psalm 110:4 and is loaded with significance!

You see in the old testament when someone wanted to bind themselves as a guarantee that – by what they promise there is obligation that it will come to pass (Num. 30:2) – they would swear by an oath or coming under an oath to perform what was stated – typically, they would swear by something greater than themselves like “I swear by the authority of my fathers”. The credit worthiness on whether this oath would come to pass or be broken is on the basis of the character of the one making the oath.

Look, there is no one greater than God, and His character is perfect. So it is by way of emphasis that is made basically sealing the declaration with this oath was indestructible…

Christ is a priest forever by oath!

Look at vs. 22, so much the more also Jesus has become the guarantee of a better covenant.

Jesus is a guarantee of a better covenant, that is the new covenant in His blood. We are new covenant believers, so we are no longer under the Law of Moses, but we are not without law, rather we are now under the Law of Christ (1 Cor. 9:21). A lot could be said here, but take a look at -

That word “guarantee”, it is unique and loaded. The sense of it is a “surety”. To help us grasp this, do you remember Onesimus in the book of Philemon. He was a runaway slave who gets saved and now Paul is instructing Onesimus to return back to Philemon and says this, “17 If then you regard me a partner, accept him as you would me. 18 But if he has wronged you in any way or owes you anything, charge that to my account; 19 I, Paul, am writing this with my own hand, I will repay it (Philemon 17–19).”

When Christ is your intercessor and acts as your surety before a Holy God – He says, look at that one’s sin, please add it to my account. My blood speaks for this one. Anything that is owed by this sinner I will repay it! Jesus is the “guarantee” of our blessed relationship with God.

The depth of that one truth, of Jesus as our “guarantee”, should lift your assurance to the highest level! And oh, the depth of His love toward you to be a “surety” for you.

2. He is a Eternal Priest (vv. 23-24)

Look at vs. 23, “The former priests, on the one hand, existed in greater numbers because they were prevented by death from continuing, but Jesus, on the other hand, because He continues forever, holds His priesthood permanently.

The author adds another comparison––

First off, the “former priests”… Uh, What is a priest? You may not be going to Lev. for your daily devotions (maybe you do I don’t know),

But- who were they, what did they do, ect. And ultimately, why it is significant that the text says Jesus holds His priesthood permanently… This is important! I won’t be exhaustive here, but really quickly -

a. The former priests, were established around the time when Moses and Aaron received the Law. (Ex. 28)

b. They were set apart for this work as a priest, they were a go between representing Israel to God and offering sacrifices on their behalf (Lev. 16).

c. This would continue generationally through the line of Levi, but when one priest would die they would need to install the next one. (A side note, Jesus is not from the tribe of Levi, but from the tribe of who? …Judah – From about chapter 4:13 of Hebrews to 7:28 the author is describing and declaring that Jesus is superior to the priests of Old… He is “According to the order of Melchizedek” and the only priest of an Oath (Ps. 110:4; Heb. 7:17).–––I’ll touch on that later, but for now -

The author is making a case that Jesus is not only a better High Priest, but also that He is a perpetual priest.

So in vs. 23-24 we see the comparison

First off Jesus is singular meaning One. The former priests were many and when one would die the next would get installed. The people no longer needed a new priest at their local synagogue, because Christ is their Great High Priest.

The second case for why Jesus as a better priest is the fact that the former priest always met death. Obviously– they were mortal. We came from dust and dust we shall return. Conversely, Christ is Eternal… He never dies off. He is alive, active, and continues in this office as High Priest permanently.

Therefore, on the grounds of His eternality, being God who took on human-flesh, He is our Eternal High Priest and a Perfect Savior…

Point number #3

3. He is a Perfect Savior (vv. 25a)

Look at the beginning of vs 25, Therefore He is able also to save forever those who draw near to God through Him,

Salvation is the pinacol of the Christian faith. The question is why do you need a Savior?

From the beginning Adam, who was created in right relationship to God (Genesis 1:26-31), was put to the test – obey or disobey God. Eating of the fruit with Eve, which was prohibited by God (Gen. 3), was the corrupting act that we call the “fall mankind” the first sin ever committed by man.

This act of prideful rebellion plunged all of mankind into a life dominated by sin and death.

All of us were conceived in sin and born enemies of God. Man is both estranged from a right relationship with God and judicially accountable to Him for their sin.

But God rich in mercy, is a Savior, He provides the way for a loving fellowship to be restored and graciously acts to redeem us from sin and death. And who is the savior that takes away the sins of the world?

Jesus Christ, He walked this earth as the God-man living a perfect life, obedient to God, whose righteous life gets put to our account and He paid the penalty for our sins by His death – We are saved! Real salvation. Being in Christ. We are in union with Him.

All of the saving benefits accomplished by the resurrected Lord are applied to you as a believer! What a Savior indeed.

Notice the degree to which He is able to save: He is able also to save forever. Some translations say “completely[NIV], or to the uttermost[ESV]” – Meaning fully, absolutely, completely.

We were saved past tense (justification),

we are being saved currently (sanctification),

and will be saved future (glorification). It is the complete saving work of Christ that changes your life. He saves you to the uttermost.

Whereas the sacrifices in the Old Testament merely covered sin, this bought some time, yet it never saved the people of Israel completely from their sins. Hebrews 10:4 says, it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.

This gets back to the question I asked earlier: Why do you need a Savior? …. When you realize that your greatest need is not your happiness or the healing of bad health, but because one day you will stand before God and give an account of your sin, you know God must judge sin because He is Holy – What will you do… save yourself? How will you make peace with God… by your good works? Are you hoping that your good will outweigh the bad?

No, no, no – you, your kids, me – we need a Savior.

One who can pay the penalty for our sin, who lived a perfect life, and in resurrection power gives everlasting life. This Savior takes reconciles us our relationship to God and redeems us from the pit… You are saved by grace through faith in Christ alone.

Such a rich truth! We know he is able to save to the uttermost, but –

Notice the middle of verse 25, the object of this salvation is those who draw near. Those who come to God. Those who are reconciled to their Holy Creator. That is us. James 4:8 (NASB95) — 8 Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded.

Before there was a veil that was between man and God, but because of Christ, what happened to the veil? {it was ripped in two}

This is massive, so every day you have immediate accessto God! And we have confidence to draw near to the throne of grace because of Christ!

Turn to Hebrews 6:19–20 (NASB95) — 19 This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, a hope both sure and steadfast and one which enters within the veil, 20 where Jesus has entered as a forerunner for us, having become a high priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek. This is so significant that Christ, in resurrection power, ascends to God and drops an anchor for your soul in the holy of holies.

What a secure thought! That our hope is an anchor of the soul.

Look back to the middle 7:25, We draw near, “Through Him”!

Jesus Christ is the exclusive means on which we come to God.

The exclusive means… This means if you are not in union with Christ according to the Gospel of God revealed in His Word, then you are not saved…

I had a discussion with a Jehovah witness the other day and basically even a man who knows some Scriptures, yet he denied that Jesus Christ is one with the Father, the second person of the Trinity;

GIBC statement of faith says regarding the Trinity, “WE BELIEVE that there is but one living and true God, an infinite, all-knowing Spirit, perfect in all His attributes, one in essence, eternally existing in three Persons – the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit – each equally deserving worship and obedience”.. So for this to Jehovah witness to deny the person of Jesus leaves massive implication about his spiritual state, He is lost, does not know God, and is actively suppressing the truth in unrighteousness…Jesus says:

He is the only means of salvation.…“I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.” (John 14:6).

If you get Christ wrong you loose everything. But to have Christ you gain everything.

He have eternal security because of the exclusive means of Christ, He says, “John 6:37 (NASB95) — 37 “All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will certainly not cast out. (John 6:37)”

Look…You will never be rejected, You will never be forsaken, You don’t need to fear death – Why? because you belong to our Great God and Savior Jesus Christ (Titus 2:13).

Look at the end of vs. 25, He always lives to make intercession for them

An intercessor is a gapper (as our author of our book has stated). He bridges the gap between man and God.

This is massive not just in the sense that He died for your sins, but also now after the resurrection what is he doing for you?

{optional}

1 Timothy 2:5 (NASB95) — 5 For there is one God, and one mediator also between God and men, the man Christ Jesus,

Ephesians 2:18–19 (NASB95) — 18 for through Him we both have our access in one Spirit to the Father. 19 So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints, and are of God’s household,

Hebrews 10:19–25 (NASB95) — 19 Therefore, brethren, since we have confidence to enter the holy place by the blood of Jesus, 20 by a new and living way which He inaugurated for us through the veil, that is, His flesh, 21 and since we have a great priest over the house of God, 22 let us draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. 23 Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful; 24 and let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds, 25 not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all the more as you see the day drawing near.

Romans 8:31–34 (NASB95) — 31 What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who is against us? 32 He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things? 33 Who will bring a charge against God’s elect? God is the one who justifies; 34 who is the one who condemns? Christ Jesus is He who died, yes, rather who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us.

Hebrews 4:14–16 (NASB95) — 14 Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. 15 For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin. 16 Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

We now have access to God in the most blessed way, that all mercy, help, and heavenly blessings are showered on the believer.

The last profound reality of Christ as High Priest is in vv. 26-28:

4. He is Holy (vv. 26-28)

26 For it was fitting for us to have such a high priest, holy, innocent, undefiled, separated from sinners and exalted above the heavens;

The character of who Jesus is on display here. And we should be in awe of Him.

He is the Holy One,

He is “innocent” – void of any evil

He is “undefiled” – pure

He came to earth, becoming a man, and yet was “separated from sinners” – meaning His nature is completely sinless.

He is “exalted above the heavens” – The resurrected Christ proclaimed the glory and honor of our Lord and Savior.

Look at vs. 27,

27 who does not need daily, like those high priests, to offer up sacrifices, first for His own sins and then for the sins of the people, because this He did once for all when He offered up Himself. 28 For the Law appoints men as high priests who are weak, but the word of the oath, which came after the Law, appoints a Son, made perfect forever.

The priest of old were sinners need to first cleanse themselves, and notice it was “daily” a reference to the amount of times the priest would offer sacrifice, but rather the fact that daily he is a sinner in need of sacrifice like the people. The priests of old were constantly needing to offer up sacrifices.

Compare that to Christ: It was a one-time payment. He was a sufficient sacrifice that not only expiated the guilt of our sin but also propitiated God’s wrath. Your sins are gone from you “as far as the east is from the west” (Ps. 103:12).

“Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.(Rom 8:1)”

This passage concludes, looking at vs. 28, that Jesus’ priesthood is better than the old because His was brought by an “oath” of God. He who cannot lie. He is faithful and true.

Conclusion

So we saw four profound realities of Christ as our High Priest!

1. He is a Guarantee by an Oath (vv. 20-22) 2. He is an Eternal Priest (vv. 23-24) 3. He is a Perfect Savior (vv. 25a) 4. He is Holy (vv. 26-28)

QA:

How does the truth of the exclusivity of Christ confront other religions and worldviews?

When you think about death, in what ways are these truths an assurance and comfort?

How does knowing our High Priest confront our earthly thinking?

How should these truths effect our prayer life?

First, we must allow this doctrine to form in us constant reliance on the exalted Christ. We must run the race set before us, “looking unto Jesus” (Heb. 12:2; cf. Col. 3:1). Brown said that Christ’s intercession glorifies him, for “in this way believers have an immediate dependence on Christ for ever.” Let us look to him for every grace.

Second, Christians may find here strong consolation and hope. Christ’s entrance into heaven as our forerunner confirms the unbreakable promise of God that he will bless his people (Heb. 6:17–20). If Christ’s death reconciled us to God when we were his enemies, much more will his living ministry deliver us from the wrath of God (Rom. 5:10).

Third, believers should look to Christ’s intercession for confidence in our justification. Christ was raised for our justification and intercedes to deliver us from condemnation (Rom. 4:25; 8:33–34). His appearing before the face of God confirms that his blood sacrifice has expiated the guilt of our sins once for all (Heb. 9:24). We should assure our consciences with this doctrine.

Fourth, knowing Christ as the Intercessor can encourage quickness to confess sin to God. Rather than remaining silent when God convicts us of sin (Ps. 32:3–5), let us immediately confess our sins with faith in Christ’s propitiation and intercession, for God “is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9; 2:1–2).

Fifth, the doctrine of Christ’s intercession increases expectation and comfort in prayer. What is more comforting in trials than to go to a friend who knows how we feel and how to help us? Christ sympathizes with us perfectly. “Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need” (Heb. 4:15–16).

Sixth, the more God’s children meditate upon Christ’s intercession, the more they will increase in assurance of ultimate salvation and blessedness. We will be purged of legalistic perfectionism and rest in his perfection. We will learn to recognize all our good desires and good works as fruit of his priestly work. Then we will be able to rejoice and exult, for our Intercessor is able to save us completely (Heb. 7:25). As long as this Intercessor stretches out his hands of blessing, we may be sure that the true Israel will prevail over its enemies (Ex. 17:8–13).

[1]John F. MacArthur Jr., John MacArthur Sermon Archive (Panorama City, CA: Grace to You, 2014).