Jesus, the Ultimate Priest

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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.

Jesus - The Whole of God's Word

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The constant theme of the book of Hebrews is that Christianity is greater than any other religion because Jesus is greater than any other religion’s founder.
(1) Jesus is 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) Jesus is greater than the angels (1:4-2:18) because angels are servants but Jesus is the Son.
(3) Jesus is 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 – something finally achieved by Jesus through the cross.
The writer will now prove that Jesus is greater than the priests of the Old Testament. The priests and particularly the high priest had dual functions. They went to God as representatives of the people, and they went to the people as representatives of God. They were the vital link between God and man because no ordinary person dare approach God. They had to have a priest do it for them. Jesus was the perfect priest. He was both God and man.
Hebrews argues that Jesus was greater than the human high priest in three ways:
(1) Jesus can sympathise because He has been tempted (4:14-16)
While Jesus was the eternal Son of God He was also fully human. In His humanity He was tempted by the devil in every area we are but to a far greater degree, meaning He understands our battles perfectly.
(2) Jesus can offer sacrifice because He has been appointed (5:1-6)
In the Old Testament only priests selected by God dare take on the priestly role. But even then, to safeguard themselves, they offered sacrifices both for themselves and for the people. Jesus was sinless and only needed to offer a sacrifice for us.
(3) Jesus has been perfected because He has suffered (5:7-10)
Jesus was born innocent but built a record of perfectly obedience through His trials and temptations.
 So Jesus is greater than any priest or high priest of the old covenant.

Nothing More to be Done!

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Christianity is greater than any other religion because Jesus is greater than any other religion’s founder. This is the constant theme of the book of Hebrews.
In chapters 3 and 4 the writer of Hebrews says Jesus is greater than either Moses or Joshua. These were the two men appointed by God to bring His people out of Egypt and into the Promised Land.
God wanted the Promised Land to be a land of rest for His people – a land where the people trusted God implicitly and so gave up both their striving and their rebellion.
Jesus is said to be greater than Moses in two ways. Firstly, Moses was a servant in God’s house but Jesus is the Son of the house’s creator (3:1-6). A son always has greater standing than a servant.
Secondly, Moses was not able to bring God’s people into the land of Canaan, their Promised Land. The people constantly rebelled against the Holy Spirit (3:7-16).
Joshua was appointed leader after Moses’ death, just as the nation reached the edge of Canaan. Even though this was a younger generation (all adults that left Egypt had died – except Joshua and Caleb), and even though they entered the land, they were never able to enter into God’s promise of implicit trust in Him (4:8-13). As with the former generation, their striving and rebellion failed them.
What neither Moses nor Joshua could do, Jesus has now done. He has brought a people into a place of implicit trust where they no longer strive to be acceptable to God. God Himself rested on the seventh day after creating the world (4:1-6) and when we trust in Jesus, we enter into His rest. On the seventh day God had completely finished His work.  There was nothing more to be done. There is no more work on our part to be done to be accepted by God. Jesus has done all that had to be done. We enter His rest by faith in Jesus.

Jesus is Greater!

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Christianity is greater than any other religion because Jesus is greater than any other religion’s founder. This is the constant theme of the book of Hebrews.
In the first two chapters the writer of Hebrews says Jesus is greater than the angels. Because he was writing to Christians of Jewish background, this had profound impact on his hearers. Jews at that time put more emphasis on angels than Christians do today. They pictured God on a magnificent and glorious throne surrounded by thousands of angels. They rightly believed that angels were God’s messengers on earth and that if God had something to say to any of His people, He usually did so through angels.
There are three great contrasts made between Jesus and angels and the first two chapters of Hebrews.
(1) while angels continue to do their work as God’s servants, Jesus is the Son seated at God’s right hand
(2) while God in times gone by spoke through angels, and judged those who refused to obey, He has now spoken through His Son (2:1-4)
(3) Jesus did not suffer and die for angels, but for humanity (2:5-18)
Jesus is the eternal Son of God. He was not created like the angels were. He is eternally greater than angels and lifts redeemed humans even above these wonderful created beings. Jesus is Lord of all!

Jesus IS:

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In the opening verses of Hebrews, the writer makes seven extraordinary statements about Jesus. Three are in relation to the creation; two relate to the Creator; and two to the creatures in the creation.

In relation to the creation, Jesus is:
(1) the heir of all things – as a father would make his eldest son the chief heir of all he owns, God has declared the entire universe is His Son’s
(2) the one who created everything at the beginning – under God the Father’s authority, Jesus was the actual creator of our universe
(3) the one who holds everything together by His powerful word – Jesus is this world’s stability

In relation to God the ultimate Creator, Jesus is:
(4) the radiance of His glory – just as the sun’s rays bring the sun’s warmth and light to us, without harming us, so Jesus brings the Father’s warmth and light to us, without His glory harming us
5) the exact representation of His being – coins are stamped out from a dye that carries the perfect imprint and image the coin is to carry. Jesus is the dye, capturing perfectly the Father’s nature and character

In relation to the creatures in the creation, Jesus is:
(6) the purifier of sins – Christianity is the only world religion whose leader claims to have made it possible for God to forgive human sin by He, himself, becoming the substitute sacrifice for those sins
(7) seated at the right hand of God – a king who entrusted his authority to another person to rule on his behalf had that person sit at his right hand. Jesus is ruling the universe for His Father and rightfully sits at God the Father’s right hand.