Christ Superior Priesthood
Pastor John Miller continues our survey through the book of Hebrews with a message titled “Christ Superior Priesthood ” through Hebrews 7:1-28.
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Pastor John Miller
March 29, 2023
7:1 For this Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of the Most High God, who met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings and blessed him, 2 to whom also Abraham gave a tenth part of all, first being translated "king of righteousness," and then also king of Salem, meaning "king of peace," 3 without father, without mother, without genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but made like the Son of God, remains a priest continually. 4 Now consider how great this man was, to whom even the patriarch Abraham gave a tenth of the spoils. 5 And indeed those who are of the sons of Levi, who receive the priesthood, have a commandment to receive tithes from the people according to the law, that is, from their brethren, though they have come from the loins of Abraham; 6 but he whose genealogy is not derived from them received tithes from Abraham and blessed him who had the promises. 7 Now beyond all contradiction the lesser is blessed by the better. 8 Here mortal men receive tithes, but there he receives them, of whom it is witnessed that he lives. 9 Even Levi, who receives tithes, paid tithes through Abraham, so to speak, 10 for he was still in the loins of his father when Melchizedek met him. 11 Therefore, if perfection were through the Levitical priesthood (for under it the people received the law), what further need was there that another priest should rise according to the order of Melchizedek, and not be called according to the order of Aaron? 12 For the priesthood being changed, of necessity there is also a change of the law. 13 For He of whom these things are spoken belongs to another tribe, from which no man has officiated at the altar. 14 For it is evident that our Lord arose from Judah, of which tribe Moses spoke nothing concerning priesthood. 15 And it is yet far more evident if, in the likeness of Melchizedek, there arises another priest 16 who has come, not according to the law of a fleshly commandment, but according to the power of an endless life. 17 For He testifies: "You are a priest forever According to the order of Melchizedek." 18 For on the one hand there is an annulling of the former commandment because of its weakness and unprofitableness, 19 for the law made nothing perfect; on the other hand, there is the bringing in of a better hope, through which we draw near to God. 20 And inasmuch as He was not made priest without an oath 21 (for they have become priests without an oath, but He with an oath by Him who said to Him: "The Lord has sworn And will not relent, 'You are a priest forever According to the order of Melchizedek' "), 22 by so much more Jesus has become a surety of a better covenant. 23 Also there were many priests, because they were prevented by death from continuing. 24 But He, because He continues forever, has an unchangeable priesthood. 25 Therefore He is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them. 26 For such a High Priest was fitting for us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and has become higher than the heavens; 27 who does not need daily, as those high priests, to offer up sacrifices, first for His own sins and then for the people's, for this He did once for all when He offered up Himself. 28 For the law appoints as high priests men who have weakness, but the word of the oath, which came after the law, appoints the Son who has been perfected forever.
Again, every week I kind of give a little introduction, which is almost identical every week. The book of Hebrews is written to Jewish believers in Christ who were getting persecuted, facing opposition and difficulty, and thus growing discouraged, wanting to turn back to Judaism. They were going to abandon Christianity and Christ to go back to Judaism. The Bible in the book of Hebrews does two things, the writer of Hebrews tells them that we have a better covenant—we have a better priest, we have a better sacrifice, we have a better way by faith to approach God through Christ—and that we should not turn back and be discouraged. He’s instructing them as to the superiority of Christ over the old covenant and Judaism, and he’s also encouraging them with a warning exhortation passage to not be discouraged, not to go back, but to move ahead. The Jews would actually face a lot of opposition for faith in Christ, and they would also get discouraged thinking, Well, maybe we don’t have a priest anymore. We don’t have access to God anymore. We don’t have a temple or a tabernacle anymore, so they were wanting to go back to their old religious system rather than going forward with Christ.
There are also some other subtle inferences in the book of Hebrews; that is, Christianity is the completion of biblical Judaism, that Judaism has passed off the scene and Christ has come on the scene; Jesus is the Messiah, He’s the Jewish Messiah, He’s come to bring the new covenant to establish His church where Jew and Gentile become one in Christ. It’s the passing away of the old and the pressing forward of the new.
In different ways a lot of times Christians will have the same experience if they come maybe from a Roman Catholic background especially, and come to know Christ personally and are born again. They struggle with leaving Roman Catholicism, its traditions, rites and rituals, to come to Protestantism and to just simply have the Bible, the Word of God, and following Christ. Sometimes they want to go back to the priest, to the confession, to the Eucharist, to the different sacraments and some of the things that they were indoctrinated in, and it’s understandable. It’s hard for them to leave that. In many ways that’s a secondary application, but it’s nevertheless a fitting application that many times people are unwilling to give up that which they were raised in to follow Christ and follow the truth that is in simplicity in His Word.
We got the reference to Melchizedek several times in the book of Hebrews, but now he finally comes to Hebrews 7. Hebrews 7 is where the writer jumps in with both feet, so to speak, and deals with the subject of Melchizedek. Go back with me to Hebrews 6:20 where we ended that third exhortation section where he says, “Whither the forerunner is for us entered,” he’s referring to Christ who has gone before to heaven for us, “even Jesus, made,” and here it is, “an high priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec.” Now he jumps in and starts to break down who is this Melchizedek.
I want to outline this study tonight for you. We’re going to take three approaches in looking at Melchizedek. We’re going to first of all look at him being typical, or a type or a picture, of Jesus Christ, verses 1-10. Melchizedek is positionally better than Abraham and Levi. If you’re taking notes, there are basically three books of the Bible where Melchizedek is referred to. The first is Genesis 14:18-20 in the historical setting. This is history. The second is Psalm 110:4 where it is prophetic with a Messianic prophecy. It predicts the coming of Melchizedek and that Jesus would be, “an high priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec,” we have it quoted in our text tonight. The third is in Hebrews 7, mentioned in Hebrews 6 as well but really dealt with in Hebrews 7, which is a doctrinal section. Let me point this out: In Genesis, we have the history; in Psalm 110, we have the prophecy; and in Hebrews 7, we have the doctrinal explanation of the prophetic word given in Psalm 110. Psalm 110:4 is one of the key prophetic Messianic prophecies about Jesus our High Priest who comes after the order of Melchizedek.
We see, first of all, in verses 1-3 that His person and His titles are superior to the Levitical system. Notice in Hebrews 7:1, “For this Melchisedec, king of Salem, priest of the most high God, who met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings, and blessed him; 2 To whom also Abraham gave a tenth part of all; first being by interpretation King of righteousness, and after that also King of Salem, which is, King of peace,” notice verse 3, “Without father, without mother, without descent, having neither beginning of days, nor end of life; made,” and I’ve circled the word “like,” “like unto the Son of God; abideth a priest continually.” We see in these first ten verses that we’re going to see Christ is better than the Levitical system or the priesthood of Aaron, that He’s after the order of Melchizedek.
First of all we see his names and his titles. He’s Melchizedek, which is king of righteousness. He’s also called a king, verse 1, and priest. Notice those two designations: king and priest. Any Jew’s ears would perk up when he would hear those references because to the Jews you don’t have a king who can be a priest—you’re either a priest or a king. In the Old Testament there was no intermingling of those two offices. Anytime a king of Israel tried to venture into the priesthood, he was judged by God, so there was no intermingling. These offices weren’t mingled together.
Jesus Christ is not only a Priest and a King, He’s a Prophet. Actually, when you’re doing a study of the nature and the person of Christ, which we just did last Sunday morning, He has those three offices: He’s Prophet, He’s a Priest, and He’s King. We know He’s the Son of God, and we talked about what’s called the hypostatic union, the two natures in the One Person, Jesus Christ. He’s also a Prophet, He represents God to man and man to God, He speaks the Word of God; and He’s also a Priest, He’s the One who bridges the gap between man and God; and He’s also a King, He’s the King of David, He’s the coming King who will sit on the throne of David in the Millennium and reign for a thousand years, and we know Him also as the King of kings and the Lord of lords.
Here, we have a reference to Melchizedek who is called, “king of Salem,” which is, by the way, peace, but it’s also a reference to Jerusalem. He was actually king of Jerusalem there all the way back long before David captured Jerusalem and made it the capital of the nation. He was a mysterious fellow that came out from the city of Jerusalem and blessed Abraham and whom Abraham paid tithes to. His name is “king” and “priest,” Melchizedek.
Notice he’s the, “…priest of the most high God,” which in the Hebrew isʾĒl ʿElyōn. Verse 1, “who met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings, and blessed him,” then “…Abraham gave a tenth,” or a tithe of all that he got in the battle. Now, just write it down and go to it when you get a chance, Genesis 14:18-20, because that’s what it’s describing there in verses 1-2 when he, “…met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings, and blessed him.” Abraham had gone down to rescue his nephew Lot from these four kings that had taken him captive and taken all his stuff. Abraham conquered these four kings, took the loot, and was coming back from the battle. When he was coming back from the battle, this man, Melchizedek, comes out of the city of Jerusalem and brings with him, it says in Genesis, wine and bread. Some see this as a prefigure of communion that he had with Abraham. Then, Abraham does something very interesting. He takes of the spoils of the battle that he just had and gives ten percent to Melchizedek. The phrase in the Greek, “a tenth part,” literally means the top part; so out of the very top of the pile, he takes this ten percent and gives it to Melchizedek, and Melchizedek blesses Abraham. That’s the historical narrative, and the writer of Hebrews breaks it down for us and gives us an understanding and the explanation of what it means.
Notice verse 2. It says, “To whom also Abraham gave a tenth part of all; first being by interpretation,” again, now we have a reference to his titles, “King of righteousness, and…King of Salem.” He’s called, “…king of Salem,” and “priest of the most high God,” now he’s called, “…King of righteousness, and…King of Salem, which is, King of peace.” Just to kind of spill the beans, because I need to kind of get there to make it all kind of make sense, I believe that Melchizedek is what’s called a type of Jesus Christ. I don’t believe that he is a theophany or an appearance of Christ in the Old Testament, but I do believe that he is a normal man that is a picture or what we Bible students would call a type. The word is túpos. It was used of if you made an impression on a piece of metal or clay, and whatever you made the impression with left an image or picture there. It’s an impression or image that’s made.
In the Old Testament we have what’s called typology, and the typology is actually where God uses a person or a situation in the Old Testament to prefigure or picture something that will happen in the New Testament, but it has to have divine design in it. A lot of Bible students make a big mistake in that they look in the Old Testament and every time they read a story they find some typology, “There’s Jesus there. This means this, this means that,” and they take the historical narrative and read into it typology that God never intended there to be. You say, “Well, how do you know that?” Let me give you a rule of thumb in interpreting typology: You must have clear New Testament reference that that Old Testament person, place, or thing is intended by God to be a type. If you don’t, then you are imposing your ideas on the text, and what happens is you become the authority.
Now, whenever I’ve taught at Bible college, and I’ve taught classes on hermeneutics, which is the science and art of interpreting Scripture, this has always been an important point, that a type is a type when God designates it as a type in the New Testament. For us to be sure it’s a type, the New Testament has to say it’s a type. Now, the Scriptures here do not use a reference to it being a túpos or a type, but it is clearly being taught in the book of Hebrews that Melchizedek at least pictures or represents Jesus Christ. There are some situations where we may not be absolutely sure if it’s intended to be a classic type, but this is a case where the New Testament does make clear that Melchizedek is a picture or type of Christ representing him as a “priest of the most high God,” and being a king and a different order of high priest that Jesus follows in because the Jew would actually say, “How could Jesus be our High Priest when He’s from the tribe of Judah?” The priesthood was from the tribe of Levi, so you’ve got a problem here. He had to be from the tribe of Judah to be the King, the Messiah, and you had to be from the tribe of Levi to be a priest. So, He skips over the Levitical order (and we’re going to see that in this chapter) and He’s a priest after a different order, that’s the order of Melchizedek. It’s very important to understand that, but I do believe that he’s a person that is a type or picture.
Now, we could go into a whole study of typology, but you remember in John 3 where Nicodemus came to Jesus and Jesus told him, “You must be born again,” and He was dialoguing with Nicodemus. Nicodemus says, “How can I, when I am old, enter into my mother’s womb and be born again a second time?” Jesus said, “And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up.” Jesus actually said that the story of Moses, making that serpent of brass, putting it on a pole, lifting it up in the congregation and when they looked at that serpent of brass on the pole, they would be healed from the bite of the snake, that that was a picture of Christ who would be lifted up on the cross. This is when He said, “And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me.” That’s a picture or that’s a type of Jesus Christ. It’s made clear there from John 3, when Jesus interacted there with Nicodemus.
Here we have this man Melchizedek, he’s called, “king of Salem, priest of the most high God,” and “…King of righteousness, and after that also King of Salem, which is, King of peace.” Notice the two references: one to righteousness, verse 2, “King of righteousness,” and “King of peace,” he was “King of Salem,” in that he is a picture or a type of Jesus Christ. What a fitting picture that is. Jesus comes to die on the cross to impart His righteousness to us. He took our sin on the cross and gives us His righteousness. This is what’s called Him being a substitution for our sins, He died for our sins, and then imputation, He gives us His righteousness. When we put our faith and trust in Jesus Christ, He gives to us His righteousness.
It’s kind of like being bankrupt and you have no money in the bank, and someone deposits money in the bank for you—which would be kind of a cool thing, right? Someone calls you up and says, “Hey, I want to put a bunch of money in your bank account,” praise be Jehovah! They drop a bunch of money in your bank account and you go from being poverty-stricken to being rich. We’re poverty-stricken before God—we’re sinners, we’re beggars, we have nothing by which we can commend ourselves to God—but God takes the righteousness of Christ and He deposits it in our account. This is the believer’s positional righteousness, and then Jesus died on the cross to bring us peace with God, to bring us back to a relationship with the Father.
In Psalm 85:10 it says, “…righteousness and peace have kissed each other.” Many see that again as a Messianic prophecy that in the cross of Christ, righteousness and peace kiss one another. We have the righteousness of God, and we become right with God being justified, and we have peace with God through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. So Jesus is our righteousness, Jesus is our peace, and He brings us peace with God.
The thing that troubles people about this Melchizedek is that he’s, verse 3, “Without father, without mother, without descent, having neither beginning of days, nor end of life; but made like unto the Son of God; abideth a priest continually.” This is where a lot of people assume that it’s describing Melchizedek as being a Christophany. When I use that word “Christophany,” what that means technically is that Jesus appears in the Old Testament as an individual or as the Angel of the Lord. It’s an appearance where Christ comes down, not in an incarnation, but He comes down and manifests Himself in the Old Testament because it describes this man Melchizedek of having no father, “…without mother, without descent, having neither beginning of days, nor end of life,” so they think that this is a reference to him being an appearance of Christ in the Old Testament. I believe that this reference here is the simple way of saying that there’s no recording of his genealogy—no record of his birth, no record of his parentage, no record of his death—so it pictures and typifies the fact that he’s a type of Jesus Christ. All it really means is that he has no record of his parents or of his birth.
Normally, when a person appears in the narrative of the Old Testament, especially a key individual, it will mention his father and mother, or his father, or his tribe, or something about his parentage, you maybe give a little genealogy, and then of course you would think it would mention when he was born or when he died, but none of that is mentioned in the book of Genesis. This is why he’s so mysterious because there’s no recorded genealogy—there’s no record of his birth, his death—but what that means is that it’s a consistent picture or type of Jesus Christ who is eternal. Again, we studied this Sunday morning, and the first point we made about Jesus Christ is that He’s pre-existent and eternal, right? He’s God, so this is a picture of what Melchizedek portrayed that Jesus Christ is eternal and He was pre-existent. It says, “…made like unto the Son of God; abideth a priest continually,” Jesus Christ, who is our King and who is our Priest.
When Abraham was met by him, and we’ll develop this more in just a minute, remember he paid tithes to Melchizedek. Melchizedek blessed Abraham. We’re going to see two things that Levi was actually considered still in the loins of Abraham. What do we mean? We mean that years later down the road from Abraham’s lineage, Levi would come. When Abraham paid tithes to Melchizedek, it’s an indication that Melchizedek was superior not only to Abraham but to Levi who is still in his loins. That’s the picture there.
It also has a different picture. It means that Melchizedek brings a blessing to Abraham, that, “the less is blessed of the better.” What he’s masterfully doing is arguing that Melchizedek is superior to Abraham from which Levi came thus Jesus after Melchizedek is superior to that of Levi, and that’ll be developed in the text as we move through the passage.
Beginning in verse 4, down to verse 10, we see that he’s superior in his position in that he paid tithes. Notice it says, “Now consider how great this man was, unto whom even the patriarch Abraham gave the tenth of the spoils,” so he mentions him in the first three verses, now he says, “Consider him.” The word “consider” means to think down upon, to actually concentrate, and some of you say, “I’m trying my best right now, but I’m already thinking I should’ve stayed home and watched tv tonight because I have no idea what you’re talking about.” This is why the verse says, verse 4, “Now consider,” think and consider, “how great this man was.” Again, notice he’s called a man. It would seem kind of bizarre if Melchizedek were a theophany, an appearance of God, or a Christophany, an appearance of Christ, for Christ to be after the order of Melchizedek. It would be like Christ being after the order of Himself, so I do believe that he is, as it says in verse 4, a man.
Years ago, the great Dr. Walter Martin used to always point this out in verse 4, that Melchizedek is not a theophany or Christophany but a man, as he’s referred to here in Hebrews 7:4. So, think about, “how great this man was, unto whom even the patriarch Abraham gave the tenth of the spoils.” Again, the ears of a Jew would perk up, “Abraham? Somebody greater than Abraham? Who can be greater than Abraham? Abraham is the greatest. He’s the first Jew called by God. How can he be better than Abraham?” I don’t know, but he is, and it’s marvelous to look at this. It actually says, “And verily they that are of the sons of Levi, who receive the office of the priesthood, have a commandment to take tithes of the people according to the law.” Now he starts breaking it down. The people who are priests from the tribe of Levi, the Bible commands them to take tithes. He’s quoting a reference to Numbers 18:21 where they’re instructed as the Levites, “to take tithes of the people…that is, of their brethren, though they come out of the loins of Abraham.” The law required the priests to take tithes of their brethren even though they came from Abraham.
Verse 6, “But he whose descent is not counted from them received tithes of Abraham,” referring to Melchizedek, “and blessed him,” that is, Abraham, “that had the promises.” So, Melchizedek is blessing Abraham, verse 7, “And without all contradiction the less,” here’s the point, “is blessed of the better.” This is an argument of the lesser to the greater. The blessing of Melchizedek to Abraham means that Melchizedek is superior to Abraham because, “the less is blessed of the better.” Notice verse 8, “And here men that die” referring to the Levitical priests, “receive tithes; but there he receiveth them, of whom it is witnessed that he liveth.” The priests from Levi would grow old and die, they’d have to be replaced; but this Melchizedek, because he’s without genealogical record like Christ, is referred to as living forever. That’s one of the qualities of his priesthood.
Verse 9, “And as I may so say, Levi also, who receiveth tithes, payed tithes in Abraham.” Then, notice the explanation, verse 10, “For he was yet in the loins of his father, when Melchisedec met him.” This all may seem kind of strange to our western minds, but it’s something that in the eastern mind was very clear and understandable. In the New Testament, the same concept is used when we think of Adam sinning and acting as a federal head and bringing sin and death upon the entire human race. Do you know when Adam sinned, in Adam’s fall, we fell all. We were in Adam. Everyone came from Adam and Eve. Did you ever think about how crazy that is? Every human being came from Adam and Eve, then, of course, Noah was saved and his family, but it can all be traced back to two individuals. The Bible doesn’t teach evolution. We all came from God’s created individuals, Adam and Eve, in the Garden of Eden, and Adam’s sin brought condemnation and death upon the entire human race. We were in Adam’s loins, and we were actually considered sinners because of that.
Now, we begin to consider Melchizedek, verses 11-22, from a legal standpoint, from the law versus the new covenant of God’s grace. Jesus, our High Priest, brings the new system, not after the Mosaic law and Levitical priesthood, that is now being set aside. Notice the prediction of change in verses 11-17. “If therefore perfection were by the Levitical priesthood,” if you could be perfected through the Levitical priesthood, “(for under it the people received the law,)” then the question is asked, “what further need was there that another priest should rise after the order of Melchisedec, and not be called after the order of Aaron?” If there was going to be a fulfillment of the perfection through the Levitical priesthood, why would you have to have another order after Melchizedek and not just consider with the priesthood after Aaron questioned, verse 11? And, that’s a good question. Why would God prophetically, Psalm 110:4, prophesy a new order that would come after Melchizedek if there was no need for that?
Verse 12, “For the priesthood being changed, there is made of necessity a change also of the law.” There’s going to be a change as he describes—the old is going to pass away, Christ is going to bring the new—and he’s telling them not to go back. Beginning in verses 13-17, he is the new priest. “For he of whom these things are spoken pertaineth to another tribe,” he’s quick to point out to the Jews that yes, he’s from the tribe of Judah, not from the tribe of Levi, “of which no man gave attendance at the altar,” he recognizes that. “For it is evident that our Lord sprang out of Juda; of which tribe Moses spake nothing concerning priesthood. 15 And it is yet far more evident: for that after the similitude of Melchisedec there ariseth another priest,” he recognizes that he’s from Judah, no priest from Judah, yet God spoke in Melchizedek another order that would come on the scene.
Notice verses 16-17, “Who is made, not after the law of a carnal commandment,” which is the Levitical priesthood, “but after the power of an endless life.” He’s talking about the fact that Christ is a whole new priesthood and has an eternal priesthood, “…endless life,” not after the law but after Melchizedek who is an eternal priest. Verse 17, “For he testifieth,” and here’s the quote from prophecy, quoting Psalm 110:4, “Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec,” so not after Levi but after Melchizedek. Notice, “…for ever,” and the reference to the new order, “after the order of Melchisedec,” so the prophecy would be fulfilled in Christ.
We begin in verse 18, down to verse 22, to see the fact of that change. He says, “For there is verily a disannulling of the commandment going before for the weakness and unprofitableness thereof.” What he’s saying is that the old covenant with the Levitical priesthood and the ceremonial law—listen carefully—not the moral law, would actually be disannulled or passed off or put aside and that Christ would come in as a new Priest bringing in grace. John, in his gospel, said, “For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.” A lot of Christians today want to go back to legalism rather than following Christ and living in the grace of God, so we don’t want to do that.
Notice the commandment that’s set aside, verse 18. This is not the law that’s moral that God gave, but it’s the ceremonial law that is set aside. The law is powerless to save anyone, the Bible is very clear. Notice verse 19, “For the law made nothing perfect, but the bringing in of a better hope did; by the which we draw nigh unto God.” This is the theme all the way through the New Testament. We’re not saved by works, we’re not saved by law, we’re not saved by the Old Testament covenant keeping, we’re saved by grace. Even Abraham was saved by believing God, and God imputed righteousness to him through his faith, so “the law made nothing perfect, but the bringing in of a better hope did,” which is the new covenant, the grace of God, Christ our High Priest, “by the which we draw nigh unto God.” Again, that theme in the book of Hebrews: Let us draw near, let us come with a full assurance into the holy of holies through our High Priest, Jesus Christ.
It says in verse 20, we see the new covenant is sure. So, the commandments are set aside, verse 18; the new hope brings perfection, verse 19; and then verses 20-22, we have a new covenant that is sure. “And inasmuch as not without an oath he was made priest,” so he was made a priest with an oath, “(For those priests were made without an oath; but this with an oath,” so the Old Testament priests weren’t made with an oath by God, but Melchizedek and Christ were sworn to be priests forever. “…The Lord sware and will not repent,” notice verse 21 again, “Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec),” the King of righteousness. He’s quoting Psalm 110:4. Verse 22, “By so much was Jesus made a surety of a better testament,” or covenant. Again, he’s just reminding them that this new priest is a better order, better covenant, and we can be perfected by Him, not under law but under the grace of God.
From verses 23, down to 28, which is the end of the chapter, we look at Melchizedek practically. We see him typically, we see him practically revealed here in these verses. Now, I want you to get ready because there are some real clear summaries. There are five superior points of Jesus Christ, five of them. First of all we see that He lives, verses 23-24. “And they truly were many priests,” that is, the Levitical priests, “because they were not suffered to continue by reason of death: 24 But this man,” in my King James Bible the word “man” is italicized which means it’s not there in the original Greek, “But this,” referring to Christ, “because he continueth ever, hath an unchangeable priesthood,” so Jesus is alive, He is eternal, and He has an unchangeable priesthood. In the old covenant you got a great priest, and he would start doing his priestly duties at age 30. He would probably retire maybe at 50 but could only be a priest for a few years and then would get old and die, and you’re like, “Oh, bummer! Now, we gotta have another priest.” But God, in Christ, has an eternal priesthood, and He never has to be replaced.
First, He’s superior because He lives eternally, so we have Jesus lives. The second point is in verse 25, He saves, which the priests in the Old Testament could not do, “Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him,” that’s Jesus Christ, “seeing he,” —what?— “ever liveth to make intercession for them.” This is a great, great summary. First, He’s alive and He saves. In the Old Testament the priests could not save, they were sinners, and a sinner cannot save anyone. He can’t even save himself. Jesus is the sinless Son of God, and He’s the God-man, perfectly suited to be our Priest, and He can save us. I love verse 25. I love that reference to His ability, “Wherefore he is able also to save…to the uttermost.” Billy Sunday, one of the evangelists of the early 19th century in America used to translate that, “He is able to save to the gutter-most all that come to God by Him.” Jesus Christ is able to save, and then notice that those who “…come unto God,” —how?— “by him,” —why?— “seeing he ever liveth,” —what is He doing?— “to make intercession for them.”
You know, I talked about my frustration on Sunday morning preaching on the doctrine of Christ and how we can’t really put it all into one message, we could spend weeks doing it, but when you think about His present ministry and a lot of times we don’t think about that. Do you know that Jesus Christ is doing something right now? He’s not just playing checkers or twiddling His thumbs in heaven, He’s actually praying for you and me. I don’t know about you, but I need those prayers, and I thank God that He’s actually praying for me, interceding for me, and He’s at the right hand of the Father. What a blessing! And, I can come to Him at any time, in any moment, and I can have access into His presence. Do you know that in the Old Testament the Levitical priests could only go once a year into the holy of holies and sprinkle blood on the mercy seat representing the people of God? Once a year. Can you imagine, “Lord, I need You!” “Oh, you gotta wait til next year.” The priests could only go once a year into the presence of God representing the people to God.
What a thing that we can come at any moment. Before you leave church tonight you can turn to God and be in His presence. When you’re driving home tonight you can pray to God and you can be entering in through the holy of holies through the veil. When you’re lying on your bed tonight, maybe you live alone and you feel like no one’s there, you can talk to the Lord. He’s in the room with you, and you can come right into the throne room. Someone said, “From your own room to the throne room, you can enter into His presence anytime, day or night.” If you wake up in the middle of the night, you can call unto the Lord and He’s there. You have access immediately right into the presence of God, and you have Jesus Christ your intermediator, your Priest. You don’t have to go to confession. You don’t have to go to an earthly priest, you can go directly to God through Jesus Christ. What a marvelous truth that is! He saves.
Write down the third, He is perfect. First, He lives, verses 23-24; secondly, He saves, verse 25; thirdly, He’s perfect, verse 26. “For such an high priest became us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens.” That’s a description of our great High Priest, Jesus Christ. What a contrast to the earthly priests who were not always holy or not always harmless, who are not always undefiled, who are not always separate from sin. You can read about some of the priests in the Old Testament who were corrupt. Eli had sons, who were priests, who were corrupt and were ripping off the people, but Jesus Christ is perfect, “…who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens.” This is what we call the impeccability of Christ—He’s sinless, He’s holy.
Fourthly, write it down, verse 27, He offered Himself. “Who needeth not daily, as those high priests, to offer up sacrifice, first for his own sins, and then for the people’s: for this he did once, when he offered up himself.” He doesn’t need to keep offering up sacrifices for His own sins, He doesn’t need to offer up sacrifices for the people, Jesus died once and for all. This is a really very important verse that indicates Christ doesn’t need to be crucified afresh. I know that some people like to have what they call crucifixes, where they have a cross and Jesus on the cross, but Jesus is not on the cross anymore. Jesus was buried, and He rose victoriously from the grave in a glorified body. Amen? He rose and ascended back into heaven, He’s seated at the right hand of God the Father, He ever lives to make intercession for us, and there’s no need in the sacraments or the communion service, the Eucharist, for Christ to be crucified again—once, He died. Once, He died forever to be able to forgive and justify those who believe in Him. He died once, “…when he offered up himself,” on the cross, so now we have His cross.
We have He lives, He saves, He’s perfect, He died on the cross, verse 27, and last, but not least, in verse 28, He has an oath. God the Father swore to Him, “For the law maketh men high priests which have infirmity,” or sins or weaknesses, “but the word of the oath, which was since the law,” came after the law, “maketh the Son,” Jesus Christ, “who is consecrated for evermore.” He is sworn by God to be a High Priest forever after the order of Melchizedek, Psalm 110:4, so we have this great and marvelous High Priest and we can enter anytime of the day or night boldly into His presence and have access to God. Amen? Let’s pray.
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About Pastor John Miller
Pastor John Miller is the Senior Pastor of Revival Christian Fellowship in Menifee, California. He began his pastoral ministry in 1973 by leading a Bible study of six people. God eventually grew that study into Calvary Chapel of San Bernardino, and after pastoring there for 39 years, Pastor John became the Senior Pastor of Revival in June of 2012. Learn more about Pastor John
