March 27: Jesus our high priest

Wiley Richards is a retired professor of theology and philosophy at The Baptist College of Florida in Graceville.

Jesus came through the royal line of David (Matthew 1:1-16), not of the priestly line. One order of the priests derived their position through the tribe of Levi. Both Moses and Aaron were Levites (Exod. 2:1; 4:14). Aaron was the first high priest (Exod. 28:1, 40-43). The other order was derived from Melchizedek, king of Salem, who also functioned as a priest. He derived his ordination from “the most high God” (Gen. 14:18). Jesus, our High Priest, ordained after the order of Melchizedek (Heb. 7:17 with Psalm 110:4), has a superior standing to that of the Levites.

• Unlike the other high priests, Jesus possesses a living ministry (Mark 16:1-7). Aaron and all his successors have one thing in common. All are dead. Because of their human limitations and sinful natures, their sacrificial ministries were doomed to be repeated by succeeding generations until the sequence was put on hold in 70 A.D. At that time, the Roman general Titus destroyed the temple, the only place sanctioned in Judaism for animal sacrifices.

In contrast, Jesus rose from the dead on the first day of the week. His breaking the bonds of death was so revolutionary that Christians soon abandoned the Sabbath day of worship in favor of Sunday. By 55 A.D., they had set aside the first day of the week to signify the breaking forth of a new life (Acts 20:7, 1 Cor. 16:2; Rev. 1:10).

• Because He lives, our High Priest now possesses an everlasting ministry (Heb. 7:23-25). In biblical language He has an “unchangeable priesthood” (v. 24), unlike his predecessors whose work was terminated by death (v. 23). The Bible then ascribes to Jesus a ministry for believers which never ceases to thrill their hearts when they read He saves “them to the uttermost,” completely and forever, because He makes constant intercession for them before God the Father. What a wonderful insight this passage opens up for us. The Holy Spirit “on this end” makes intercession for us with unspeakable groanings (Rom. 8:26) while Jesus on the “other end” intercedes for us, creating a constant prayer line between earth and heaven.

• To add a different dimension to the work of His priesthood, Jesus uniquely assumed a fitting ministry (vv. 26-28). In that He is morally perfect, He need not offer daily sacrifices as did the previous priests. In His nature being “holy, innocent, undefiled, separated from sinners and exalted above the heavens” (v. 26, HCSB), He offered Himself once and for all time and eternity as God’s perfect sacrifice. Note that with the word “sacrifice,” the emphasis shifts from His work as priest to that of the Sacrificial Lamb. He is the Priest/Victim.

• Appropriately, then, our great High Priest has an eternal ministry (9:11-14). The Bible alludes again to the eternal, perfect tabernacle in the heavens in which our Lord ministers (v. 11). When He entered that glorious “holy of holies,” His access was gained by His own blood. Even though sin was atoned through His death on a wooden cross planted on Golgotha, He nevertheless purchased an “eternal redemption” (v. 12).

The Bible does not say what our Lord was doing during the time His body reposed in a new sepulchre obtained by Joseph of Arimathaea and Nicodemus (John 19:39-42). We disregard the faulty interpretation based on 1 Peter 3:18-22 that He spent part of His time in Hades, witnessing to those who died in Noah’s day. On the contrary, the Spirit witnessed to them through Noah (vv. 18c, 19). We like to think Jesus had a more exalted work while His body was in the tomb. He was making the eternal offering in the tabernacle made without hands.