Jesus, the Ultimate Priest
We are working our way through the book of Hebrews. The theme of this letter to Jewish Christians thinking of going back to Judaism is ‘Christianity is greater than any other religion because Jesus is better than any other religious leader.’ Jesus is:
(1) greater than the prophets (1:1,2) who brought the Word of God in pieces while Jesus brought the whole of God’s Word in Himself
(2) greater than the angels (1:4-2:18) because angels are servants but Jesus is the Son
(3) greater than Moses and Joshua (3:1-4:13) because neither of these great leaders could bring God’s people into a place of rest – only Jesus could do this through the cross
(4) greater than the priests because only He understands us wholly (4:14-16), was appointed by God (5:1-6) and has built a record of righteousness through suffering (5:7-10)
In the next section of Hebrews, the writer will go back to where his readers were at – to the Old Testament. He goes back to the first man ever called a priest in the Bible: Melchizedek (7:1-10). This man was both a priest and a king and ruled over the area later called Jerusalem. After a momentous battle in which Abraham successfully overcame a combined army, Abraham was confronted by this priestly king, Melchizedek, and gave him a tenth of all the spoils of the battle. The writer of Hebrews likens Melchizedek to Christ. Melchizedek was both a priest and king (as was Jesus) and was honoured above Abraham, the greatest Jewish father of-the-faith (as is Jesus). The lesser honours the greater.
The Jewish priesthood failed to bring God and man together (7:18,19). Men became priests because of their family but Jesus was appointed by God (7:20-22). The priests aged and died but Jesus lives forever (7:23-25). The priests had to offer sacrifice after sacrifice but Jesus offered the single sacrifice of Himself, completely satisfying God forever (7:26-28).
So Jesus is the ultimate priest, the only One able to bring God and humanity together.


