The Perfect High Priest

Introduction

Good morning please open your Bibles to Hebrews 7:11-28 that is Hebrews 7:11-28. If you are using a Bible scattered throughout the chairs that is on page 944. Perfection is something we all desire at least in some areas of life. We can imagine what perfection would be like: a perfect day with the kids, a perfect date with your spouse, a perfect meal with friends. Young athletes dream of pitching a perfect game in the world series. Artists long to paint the perfect painting or write the perfect song, or compose a perfect poem. For something to be perfect it means that there is no room for improvement. Perfection cannot be improved because if there is any potential improvement then it is not perfect. In today’s text we see that Jesus is the Perfect High Priest. He accomplishes a perfect salvation, through a perfect sacrifice, offered by the perfect high priest. One day, in glory you and I will be perfect because of the perfect work of our perfect High Priest. There will be no room for improvement. And when it comes to the finished of work of Christ it is already perfect. It cannot be improved. He has completed all the Father willed him to do. He is perfect. Let’s read Hebrews 7:11-28 together and consider the perfect salvation of Christ.

The Imperfect Nature of the Law v. 11-19

First, our text explains to us the imperfect nature of the Law and the Levitical Priesthood. Now, God’s moral law is perfect. There is nothing in the law that is immoral or needs any improvement. What I mean by the imperfect nature of the law is what we read in our Scripture reading this morning in Romans 8 and what the first verse of our text says today. The Law is imperfect or weak even useless as we will see later in this text to attain perfection. The Law itself is perfect, but it cannot generate perfection in people. Hebrews 7:11–12 “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. Our author rationalizes that if there is room for improvement in a thing then it is not perfect. Since in the previous passages he proved that Jesus is a superior high priest to that of the Levitical High Priest then perfection was not attainable through the Levitical priesthood. If a superior or an improved priesthood exists then the Levitical priesthood cannot claim perfection. And if the priesthood is imperfect then it cannot offer the attainment of perfection to those who utilize it. And since the priesthood could not offer perfection then neither can the law that undergirded such a priesthood make men perfect. That is not to say that God’s law had moral imperfections, but it is to say that the law cannot accomplish perfection in the hearts of man. That in order for men to be made perfect something else had to be done. And that something was the sending of Jesus to be our high priest though he did not come through the lineage of Levi.

Hebrews 7:13–14 “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.” So, Moses or the law said nothing about someone from the tribe of Judah serving as a priest. Yet, Jesus serves as the perfect high priest according to the order of Melchizedek, which the author proved in our previous passages and will reiterate here.

Hebrews 7:15–17 “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.”” Last week we saw that Jesus is a high priest according to the order of Melchizedek, an mysterious figure from the first book of the Bible that Abraham the patriarch of God’s people paid an offering to, because Jesus like Melchizedek was a king of righteousness and peace and was eternal. Melchizedek was king and so is Jesus. Melchizedek had no beginning or end in the book of Genesis, and Jesus as the second person of the Trinity has no beginning. He is co-eternal with the Father, and though he died for sin we know, and this audience knew, that Jesus rose from the dead. He has an indestructible life. His priesthood is not based upon the legal requirement from the law of Moses nor his physical ancestry. Rather, he is a priest like Melchizedek. Appointed by God to be king and priest forever. He quotes from Psalm 110:4 again in verse 17 of our text. Psalm 110 was written by David about 1,000 years before the birth of Christ. It is a psalm that predicts the rule of a mighty king and declares that this king will be a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.

The author is making it clear that a priest arising from the order of Melchizedek was always a part of God’s plan. The Levitical priesthood was always meant to have an earthly end because through it no one could attain perfection. It needed to be improved or changed. If the people of God were ever to truly commune with a perfect God they would need a priest who did hold his office solely based upon legal requirement and bodily descent. They needed a priest who held his office because of the power of an indestructible life.

Picking up in verse 18 Hebrews 7:18–19 “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.” The commandment here is the Law of Moses and the Levitical Priesthood and later will encompass all of the Old Covenant. That law is set aside or annulled because it is weak and useless. The law was weak because it could not justify sinners before a holy God. The priest would offer up sacrifice after sacrifice, gallons upon gallons of the blood of bulls, goats, and birds was offered in order to appease the wrath of Almighty God. But never was their work complete or make perfect. More was always required. It the Law was useless because it was a never ending endeavor. Under the law all were condemned no matter how much they sacrificed. Yet, on the other hand a better hope is introduced.

Romans 8:3 “For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin,.. The law was imperfect because it was incomplete. But there is good and better news in Christ. He did what the law could not do. He saved us and did so through an oath or a promise.

The Perfect Oath v. 20-25

Hebrews 7:20–22 “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.” The law made the Levitical priest priest. This was the basis of their office. The law can be changed, but only by the one who made it. Just as if our state legislature were to make a law today, than that law is binding in our state. But if new legislatures were voted in and they decide to annual the old law or replace it with a different law they could. The governing body that makes a law is the governing body that can change a law. God is the one who gave the law to Moses for the people. God’s law had a purpose, to reveal his Holy character and to reveal to us our sin and need for a Savior. The Levitical priesthood was established by God, but not with the promise that it would last forever. Rather, it was a temporary means that God used to point the world to the coming of Christ.

Thus, he promised 1,000 years before Jesus’ birth that the Christ would be a priest forever. He swears to it in Psalm 110:4. He the author leaves out the very last part of the verse (according to the order of Melchizedek because at this point in his argument he emphasizing and the eternality of that promise. He swore or made an oath that the Christ would be a priest. And His priesthood would last forever. So, the better hope introduced in verse 19 is a hope that is unlike the changeable Law/Levitical Priesthood. These were shadows of what would come, but Christ is the perfect end to those signs. His priesthood would be permanent.

And what is the guarantee of that permanence of the better covenant? Jesus himself. Jesus is fully God and fully man. As God, He is eternal and therefore his priesthood can be eternal as well. As man he is our perfect representative and is able to perfectly fulfill the covenant terms. Theologian F.F. Bruce says, “Jesus guarantees the perpetual fulfillment of the covenant which he mediates, on the manward side as well as on the Godward side. As the Son of God, he confirms God’s eternal covenant with his people; as his people’s representative, he satisfies its terms with perfect acceptance in God’s sight.”

The Levitical priest could not perfectly fulfill the terms of God’s covenant because they, like us, were sinners. And their priesthood cannot last forever because they died and did not rise again. Jesus lived a perfect life, Hebrews 4:15b “…,[Jesus] in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.” and through his resurrection power has the power of an indestructible life.

Our text drives those two points home in our final few verses. Hebrews 7:23–25 “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. Consequently, he is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them.”

So, Jesus can fulfill the covenant and do what the law could not do because of his eternal and perfect life. And in verse 25 we see an implication that applies directly to us. If Jesus can save because he is perfect, then that also means that his salvation is perfect. The word translated uttermost is the greek word panteles from the words pas, and telos. Pas means all and telos means complete or perfect. He saves us in all completeness. A perfect salvation. This word telos has been all throughout our text and we have been saying perfect or perfection. It means perfect, complete, finished. When Jesus cries out on the cross he uses a verb form of this word when he says it is finished. If something is said to have a telos it means that it has an end. A purposeful direction, an end that is complete. A good story always has a good end or a good telos.

Have you ever gotten into a show that the produces just didn’t know how to end? They made it last just one season too long because instead of telling a good story with a good ending they just milk the story for all the money they can get out of it. And maybe you watch that last season just hoping it will change and be like the earlier seasons. Or maybe you are like me and once you sense it, you just give up on the show. You resolve to never know who dun it or the real identity of a character… It leaves us disappointed.

The story of the Gospel, the story of our world has an end. It will not leave us disappointed. It a wonderful and glorious ending and when it comes there will be not room for improvement. But in the here and now we live knowing that we have been saved to the uttermost. That though the end it yet to come, the end is in fact coming. The perfect end to this God-sized story of our world. So, for now, we know that when our text tells us that Jesus saves to the uttermost it is saying that your salvation is complete. It is perfect. There is no room for improvement. It is finished. Jesus as or perfect high priest saves us once and for all. Which is exactly what the author argues in verse 27 of our text.

Jesus is Perfect v. 26-28.

Hebrews 7:26–28 “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.”

Jesus can guarantee the new and better covenant because he is a eternal and perfect high priest. He continues forever, and he is morally perfect. It is right or fitting for us to have a high priest who is like this. One who is holy, innocent, unstained, separated from sinners, and exalted above the heavens. 5 descriptors that all declare the moral perfection of Jesus. In fact, the word translated holy is not the typical word translated holy in the NT. That word is usually used of things set aside for religious use. This word explicitly refers to moral perfection. Jesus is morally perfect, he is totally innocent and unstained by sin. And he is separated from sinners not in his proximity or relationship to us. But he is separate from sinners in his behavior. This is an area in which he is not like us. We are not perfect, but Jesus is. And this perfection has exalted him above the heavens. A reference back to Hebrews 1:3 “He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,” You can be exalted above the heavens and sit at the right hand of God if you are not perfect. Jesus is totally perfect.

And because he is perfect, his sacrifice for our sins is perfect. The Levitical high priest has to offer sacrifices daily for their own sins and for the sins of the people. Jesus does not need to offer a sacrifice for his sin. He has no sin. And when it comes to the sin of the people… he offered up a perfect sacrifice just once. His sacrifice was perfect and therefore once was enough. It was finished when he cries telestai on the cross 2,000 years ago. There is no need for further penance, for more sacrifices to be make, for self-mutilation of any kind. Your debt is paid, your shame is covered, your guilt declared as innocence. The cross was a perfect sacrifice offered by a perfect high priest. There is no more.

The law appointed men in their weakness, but the word the oath, the new covenant, the better hope, the promise of God appoints a Son who has been made perfect forever.

Conclusion

Why do we need text like this? What difference does it make for our Monday morning.

We need this text to make sense of the Old Testament, and Christians must endeavor to understand the whole of God’s Word.

This text, according the author of Hebrews, is solid food for mature Christians. Earlier in the book he warns his audience that learning about Jesus as our High Priest is difficult. But that they need to move on from spiritual milk in order to be healthy Christians. There are hard parts of God’s Word. It is ok to say that and admit that we need some help understanding some things.But don’t just avoid the hard stuff because it is hard. There is treasure in the pages of your Bible and sometimes you’re gonna have to dig deep. Yet, it is understandable for everyone! And this text is a great help.

We are meant to read the Bible in Christ-centered way. We read our Old Testament knowing the end of the story. We want to see what the author of Hebrews has shown us, if Melchizedek who only takes up 3 verses in the book of Genesis points to Jesus then Creation, Adam and Eve, Abraham, the Exodus, Leviticus, the Conquering of the Promised Land, the Kings, the Exile, and the Returning to the Promised all do the same. If you don’t see Jesus in your reading of the OT then keep looking. The Bible is one big story all about Jesus.

We need reminded that our salvation is complete and perfect.

It does not matter how long you have been a Christian, how many times you have read the bible, how many other Christian books you have read, how much you give to the church, how much you serve the church etc. Everyone of us deals with temptation and sin. We all from time to time fail. And the question is what do we do with our sin? Do you hide it, ignore it, punish yourself, blame others or circumstance for it… None of these are the right way to handle sin. The right thing to do is to go boldly to the throne of grace and receive mercy and help from God. That means confess your sins to God, yourself, and others and with God’s help change.

And the knowledge that our salvation is complete. That our sin in the past and our sins we have yet to commit are already paid for frees us to do that right thing. Romans 8:1–4 “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.” You are free from sin’s tyranny if you are in Christ. Stop hiding, stop ignoring, don’t punish yourself, and quit blaming others or your circumstances for your sin. Instead, know that you have been declared free and innocent because Christ is perfect and his salvation is perfect.

We need to believe that this is true

Perhaps you are here and you are not a Christian. Everything I have said today is true. God did create a sacrificial system and temporary priesthood to show us the reality of sin. He wants us to know deep down in our bones that we have sinned against him and that we could sacrifice daily and still not make up for our sin. It is also true that Jesus lived a sinless life and offered himself as a sacrifice for your sins once and for all. You don’t have to be good enough, but you do have to repent of your sin and believe that Jesus Christ is Lord. He is God who died for sins and rose from the dead. In Him, you can have eternal life and a perfect salvation

Perhaps you are here and you are struggling. You are like some of the people in this original audience who were being tempted to live life their own way. You want to just give up going to church and just do this the way you use to. And I am begging you please let us encourage you. You need the church to remind you of what is true, and that the old way is not good. The better hope, the eternal promise, the happy ending to your story will only be found in Christ. Come clean with your struggles, let people into your mess, and know that God will use His people to transform your life.

Let’s pray.