Hebrews: Our Great High Priest

Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

Jesus is our great high priest,

the role of a high priest is to stand between man and God

Jesus is perfect for this role as he is both Fully God and Fully man

and less you think that Since Jesus is fully God he cannot understand how difficult life is, or how hard it is to follow God’s commands,

He was tempted in every way that we are, and he overcame those temptations,

But he gets it. he knows how hard it is to say no to things, and he calls us to find strength to do so.

So because he is our priest and has reunited mankind with God, we can boldly approach the throne of God, without fear.

I could preach an entire sermon just on those three verses.

Hebrews 5:1–6 ESV

For every high priest chosen from among men is appointed to act on behalf of men in relation to God, to offer gifts and sacrifices for sins. He can deal gently with the ignorant and wayward, since he himself is beset with weakness. Because of this he is obligated to offer sacrifice for his own sins just as he does for those of the people. And no one takes this honor for himself, but only when called by God, just as Aaron was. 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.”

The High priest represents mankind before God - A chosen representative who performs rituals on mankind’s behalf and goes places no normal human is allowed to go, such as into the Holy of Holy’s in the temple, into the presence of God.

But every high priest before Jesus was just as sinful as everyone else, and so before they could enter in to atone for the people they first had to atone for themselves.

Only Jesus lived a sinless life,

and So he becomes a priest, not after the order of Aaron, but after Melchizedek.

Now there is the question: WHO ON EARTH IS MELCHIZEDEK?

Genesis 14:17–20 ESV

After his return from the defeat of Chedorlaomer and the kings who were with him, the king of Sodom went out to meet him at the Valley of Shaveh (that is, the King’s Valley). And Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine. (He was priest of God Most High.) And he blessed him and said, “Blessed be Abram by God Most High, Possessor of heaven and earth; and blessed be God Most High, who has delivered your enemies into your hand!” And Abram gave him a tenth of everything.

When Abraham’s nephew lot was kidnapped, along with the people of Sodom, Abraham raised his own army and saved all the people, and as he is giving all the people and goods back to the King of Sodom Melchizedek appears.

And Melchizedek blesses Abraham

and Abraham gives him a tithe.

Now I could go more into what we can learn about Melchizedek here, but Hebrews does it for me

Hebrews 7:1–3 ESV

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.

He is priest of God most high

A King of Righteousness

A King of Peace

Do these titles sound familiar?

King of Salem - probably Jeru-salem.

No beginning, no end, a priest forever.

There are so many Messianic parallels here.

And that is because Jesus is in the order of Melchizedek.

But why Melchizedek, why not a member of the Levitical Priests.

Hebrews 7:11–17 ESV

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.”

See the Levitical Priests come with the Old Covenant, the Law, but they could only cover over the sins of the People, they could not remove or forgive sins.

And Jesus coming from Judah could not be a Levitical priest, brings about a new new Priesthood, in the line of the King of Righteousness and King of Peace, brings about a new Covenant, a new law.

Hebrews 7:18–22 ESV

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.

So this New covenant is superior to the old.

But did Jesus just do away with the Old Covenant just to set up a New one?

No in fact he fulfilled the Old Covenant, so that the New Covenant could be established.

Hebrews 7:26–28 ESV

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 did not need to make sacrifices everyday,

Firstly he had no need to atone for his own sins, because he never sinned

and then to atone for the people he offered himself, perfect and blameless the only sacrifice that could truly atone for the sins of all.

Hebrews 8:1–5 ESV

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. For every high priest is appointed to offer gifts and sacrifices; thus it is necessary for this priest also to have something to offer. Now if he were on earth, he would not be a priest at all, since there are priests who offer gifts according to the law. They serve a copy and shadow of the heavenly things. For when Moses was about to erect the tent, he was instructed by God, saying, “See that you make everything according to the pattern that was shown you on the mountain.”

Here is where the Author of Hebrews is about to make his main point,

the Old Covenant is a visual example on earth of what Jesus does for us in Heaven under the New Covenant.

So lets look at the patterns of the Old Covenant and How Christ fulfills them

Hebrews 9:1–7 ESV

Now even the first covenant had regulations for worship and an earthly place of holiness. For a tent was prepared, the first section, in which were the lampstand and the table and the bread of the Presence. It is called the Holy Place. Behind the second curtain was a second section called the Most Holy Place, having the golden altar of incense and the ark of the covenant covered on all sides with gold, in which was a golden urn holding the manna, and Aaron’s staff that budded, and the tablets of the covenant. Above it were the cherubim of glory overshadowing the mercy seat. Of these things we cannot now speak in detail. These preparations having thus been made, the priests go regularly into the first section, performing their ritual duties, but into the second only the high priest goes, and he but once a year, and not without taking blood, which he offers for himself and for the unintentional sins of the people.

The Tent - the Tabernacle, and eventually the Temple Was structured with a series of locations which grew more and more restricted the further in you got, there was the Outer courts, where most people were allowed, the inner courts which only men were allowed to enter - with sacrifices, the Holy place within the temple where only the priest who underwent purification could enter, and the Most Holy Place - or the holy of Holies separated by the temple veil a 60 ft tall 30 ft wide 6 inch thick curtain. In the Holy of Holies the presence of God was said to dwell, and only the high priest could enter there, once a year, on the day of atonement to atone for the sins of Israel.

If any high priest entered and he was in a state of Sin, the pure presence of God would kill him, so they tied bells to his clothes and a cord around his waist so that if the bells stopped ringing, they could pull out his body without sending someone else in to get it.

And they would do this year after year, and make sacrifices every day, because the blood of animals couldn’t wash sin away.

But look at what Jesus does

Hebrews 10:12–18 ESV

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. And the Holy Spirit also bears witness to us; for after saying, “This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my laws on their hearts, and write them on their minds,” then he adds, “I will remember their sins and their lawless deeds no more.” Where there is forgiveness of these, there is no longer any offering for sin.

Jesus offered himself before God, and his blood was shed for us, making atonement for us, once and for all, then he entered the heavens the ultimate Holy of Holies, the actual throne room of God and sat down because his work was finished. Sin was not just covered, it was washed away, and in God’s eyes, we are made perfect.

So we who come to Jesus receive forgiveness of sins, and God remembers our sins no more.

And sins sins are forgiven, we no longer have to sacrifice animals in our place.

So Church, was does that mean for us?

Lets go back to where we started

Hebrews 4:14–16 ESV

Jesus didn’t just over our sin, he forgave our sin, he removed it, and he remembers it no more,

That means when you come before God in prayer, you can go boldly before the Throne of God

You can go straight to the source of Goodness and Mercy, you don’t have to go through the old testament rituals to purify yourself, you don’t need a Levitical High priest to enter into God’s presence for you, You can go straight into the Most holy place, because Jesus our high priest perfected you with his blood.

Now that doesn’t mean we won’t still make mistakes, the author of Hebrews says we have to hold onto our confession - meaning when we sin, when we fall to temptation we must confess those sins to God, so that we can find mercy and Grace.

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