Jesus the High Priest

Hebrews 3 - The Jews at that time viewed Moses as a representation of the law and they held the law in very high regard; Jesus is so much better than Moses because he fulfilled the law. The right response to sin is responding to the Gospel message. The time is today.

Hebrews 4 - We are encouraged to respond to the message today and enter into God’s rest today.

The writer of Hebrews has talked about how Jesus fulfills the law of Moses

Can you articulate the Gospel message in a single sentence?

In our focus scripture today, Jesus is compared to a High Priest

The High Priest

A High Priest first appeared in Exodus when the Hebrew people were being led out of captivity

God made Aaron, the brother of Moses, and his family line was the priests of the people

The tabernacle was holy, but inside the tabernacle was the most holy place

The place where God would meet with the people

In His own room

Above the ark of the covenant

This most holy place was separated from the holy tabernacle by some curtains

This was the place where God met with His people

not only was it beautiful and made with the finest materials

it was holy

it was sacred

it had to be made exactly how God said to make it

Not only the tabernacle with great detail, He prescribed exactly how he was to be worshiped

The problem was that not many of the people were clean enough, both physically and spiritually to go into the most holy place

that is not in their current condition or state

So God directed Moses to establish for Him a priesthood

The priests were the ones that were responsible for directing worship the way God said to worship

They wore special garments, and performed special rituals that involved keeping the tabernacle in good order as well as keeping themselves in good order

They also conducted worship on behalf of the people

They made the people’s worship acceptable to God

They bridged the gap between God and His people

The High Priest was the leader of the priests

He not only led the priests and people through worship

He also was responsible for Yom Kippur (Day of atonement)

On a certain day of the year the High Priest would go into the most holy place and offer a blood sacrifice for the sins of all the people

He was the only one, chosen by God, to be able to offer up a worthy sacrifice for the people

And that was only after he went through a lot of ritualistic exercises to prepare himself

At the time that the people are reading this letter; the Jewish people still had and utilized the priesthood to represent them to God

The writer of Hebrews is about to compare Jesus to the priests

but not just any priest; the Highest priest

Why do you think God picked a single person to represent His people?

Hebrews 4:14 ESV

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.

Jesus has become our High Priest

He is the one that sacrificed (past tense) for us

That is, if we hold fast to that truth; that confession

Hebrews 4:15–16 ESV

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.

We no longer have or need a finite man to be our priest

We have God Himself in the person of Jesus as our High Priest

That said, the writer wants to remind us that Jesus, although fully God, is also fully man

This is huge for us

God isn’t a watchmaker god

a god that just gets things going then watches what he created

God is a God that intimately knows us

He became us in every way

except he became a perfect version of us

A kind of us that could and did live a life free of sin

Even though he faced the same temptations (or stronger) that we do

The writer then goes on to examine the implications of this representation

Hebrews 5:1–3 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.

Every earthly high priest picked by men is sinful

100% of them

In the world of addiction recovery, the best counselors are the ones that have defeated addiction

They have been through the same things that the person struggling has been through

It is because of this that they can deal gently with the person that is struggling;

But because he is an imperfect man acting as a priest for the people, he needs to first offer a sacrifice to clean himself of his own sin before he can offer a sacrifice for his people

This is how God ordained it, the writer goes on to say

Hebrews 5:4–6 ESV

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.”

This preacher wants us to know that this idea of representation is not a new one

Back in Genesis 14 Abram was met by the King of Salem, Melchizedek

After Abram was defeated

Melchizedek is called the priest of the Most High God

Melchizedek is somewhat mysterious; so we are not going to get into that, but just to look at the idea of the priesthood

It proves that this concept of priests representing God is much older and far deeper than some man-made religion

The writer references Psalm 110

Indicating that this particular priesthood, the one of Jesus, is eternal

Hebrews 5:7–10 ESV

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.

When Jesus was conducting His earthly ministry

He acted in a priestly fashion

He interceded for people

He prayed for people

And God heard Him

Remember priests needed to first cleanse themselves of their own sin

Then God would hear him

The author of life and death heard him

Now remember a priest needed to first atone for his own sin

But Jesus, had no sin to atone for

And He is God

For these reasons

He becomes the perfect, everlasting sacrifice

His perfection covers all who believe in Him

His sacrifice covers all sins eternally

That is past, present, and future

Jesus is My Priest

Throughout church history, especially American protestant church history...

We have pulled away from the idea of needing a priest

This was a knee jerk reaction to abuses in Christendom

Abuses where the priest abuses his power for personal or church gain

But we want to remember that we do in fact need a priest

We need someone who can stand in the presence of a Holy God and atone for our sins

No mere man can do that for you

But Jesus did

Is Jesus your High Priest?

Amen!

Related Media

Related Sermons