Hebrews 4:14-7:28: Jesus the High Priest

Best. Introduction. Ever.

I'm going to start this blog post off by saying this won't be my best post ever. Unorthodox start you say, so then why should I keep reading? Well, I don't have a great answer.

On Thursday my little girl Eden walked up to me while I was washing dishes in the kitchen and threw up on my leg and all over the floor (and now everyone that kept reading after that introduction has truly stopped reading!). This was the beginning of a bad spiral where I got very sick over this past weekend, then my wife Meghann got sick, and then just as we thought we were pulling out of it yesterday, Eden got sick...again...yesterday. Now after a doc appointment, a diagnosis of bronchitis for our baby girl, and a night of sadly watching Eden suffer through her first bad sickness and feeling helpless and well...I'm exhausted. So, with that, you are getting an exhausted perspective on Hebrews, and let me tell you, this book, this book is already a hard one to read, understand, and write about.

Oh, and one last thing, Meghann was schedule to write a post yesterday that never came about, and now you know the story of how that happened too!

And with that, I give you an exhausted, recovering from sickness perspective on Hebrews! Get excited!

What in the world do you write about?

This section of Hebrews is thick. I mean, I could write blog posts about different points made in this section of text for the next month. Seriously. Trying to write a single blog post and keeping it short on this text is nearly criminal.

However, there is one topic, one thing that really pops out here and will continue to be talked about through Hebrews 10, the priesthood of Jesus.

This talk about Jesus being a high priest starts back in chapter 2, verse 17 when it is said:

Therefore he had to be made like his brothers in every respect, so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people.

A Quick Look at Propitiation
Propitiation is a word that we use around never times in everyday life, but it means that Jesus paid the price that had to be paid for us to be reconciled to him.

What was the price?

Well, during the time of the temple the people of Israel would bring an animal to a priest at the temple. This priest would perform a sacrifice, slaughtering the animal, shedding its blood as payment for sins committed by the people who brought the sacrifice.

Jesus, would offer one final sacrifice, one that would pay the cost for all sin for all time, by shedding his own innocent blood. That blood covers us in the same way that the blood covered the door posts of the Israelites during the Passover and just like in that story we are saved by the blood that has covered us.

But we are more than saved, we are reconciled, brought into a family. Jesus didn't pay this cost because he is some divine nice guy but because he wanted you and me. He paid the cost to get us, the people through whom he would continue establishing his Kingdom.

What is a high priest?
Here are a few things to know about the high priests of Israel:

1. They were the leader of all the priests that officiated in the temple and stand out in many ways from the other priests.
2. The high priest role was traced back to Aaron of the Levite tribe
3. The sin of the high priest is also counted against the people of Israel (Leviticus 4:3)
4. Every year, on the Day of Atonement, only he was allowed to enter the Holy of Holies to make atonement for himself and the people of Israel
5. He alone could offer sacrifices for the sins of the priests, or of the people, or of himself
6. During the time of Jesus the role had become more political in nature

You could say the job of the high priest was to represent the people in front of God and to represent God in front of the people.

Jesus as High Priest

The writer is making an argument that Jesus is superior to what was before. Looking at the role of the high priest, Jesus fulfills all of these things and more. Jesus not only is able to approach the throne of God where his Father is, but more can invite us in with him.

Guys and gals, this is crazy. The Holy of Holies in the time of the temple was the place where the very presence of God dwelt. If you ventured there unclean, dead. You would die. Only the high priest could go. Jesus, as our high priest can not only venture there, but take us with him.

He doesn't just represent us to God, he brings us TO GOD. This is such a huge difference that I can't even describe properly right now.

As mentioned before, Jesus offered himself as the final sacrifice for the sins of people forever. There is no more need for sacrifice

Now, you might ask, woah, wait, there is one thing on that list that Jesus doesn't match up with. Isn't Jesus from the same tribe as David, the tribe of Judah? He is not a Levite! 

So this guy Melchizedek comes along...

There are not many stories more confusing and out of left field for me than the one found in Genesis 14:17-24 that involves a blessing of Abraham from a king named Melchizedek. Then, we never hear about this guy again save for a reference found in Psalm 110 and then here in Hebrews. Who was this guy? Where did he come from? Why is this included in the story of Abraham? Lots of questions, but none of which will be answered here. But here is an important note, this Melchizedek is called a priest both in Genesis and in the Psalm 110.

So the writer of Hebrews notes in chapter 5 that no one can make themselves a priest but can only be called so by God. Aaron did not go out and make himself a priest, he was called a priest by God. The priests that came after Aaron, the Levites, all inherited their appointments as priests through being a part of the Levite family.

So here is the thing, Melchizedek was not a Levite, there weren't even Levites yet when Melchizedek was called a priest. I'm gonna sum up the argument of the Hebrews writer very quickly and terribly thusly: it's not the lineage that matters but the calling. In Psalm 110, a psalm written by King David, it is said "You are a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek." This whole psalm was written most likely in reference to David himself. In this statement within the Psalm, David is saying there is an order of preisthood that exists outside of the Levite order, one of calling, and one that lasts forever.

Like many things prophetic, there is a now and a later thing going down here. The early Christians saw this Psalm as talking about Jesus. The argument of Hebrews is that while yes, Jesus is not a Levite, it doesn't matter, he belongs to the order of Melchizedek, just as Melchizedek wasn't a Levite but was called to be a priest. Now here is the big kicker, in Psalm 110 there is a foreverness associated with this priesthood.

There were many priests in Israel because they were prevented from continuing in office due to death. That old nemesis would end any thoughts of an eternal run as a high priest. But Jesus, who defeated death, called into eternal priesthood, hold his office permanently. The old priests had to daily offer sacrifices, this Jesus offered himself once for all people. Now all people can draw near to God through Jesus, our High Priest. Who not only has access to God but brings us along with him!

Now for a sentimental piece...

In the beginning of this section of Hebrews, in 4:15 it said that we have a high priest who is able to sympathize with us. He gets us. He was tempted in every way that we experience and yet was without sin. Not only that, he knows the very depth of my depravity, every evil thought, all of my selfishness, my rebellion, and looks at me and says "I love him, that is my son."

He works patiently with us, restores us, disciplines lovingly. 

All that to say, nothing has taught me more practically what that looks like than becoming a Dad myself. Last night, as my daughter Eden whimpered, cried, and clutched on to me for comfort I prayed over her. My heart broke for her. And I prayed "Is this how you care for me?" My love is defined by His love, so how much more is his love for me and you.

When I'm distraught, depressed, frightened, suffering, and cry out to God my Father, does he not clutch on to me and hold me just as I held my daughter last night? In the same way that I whispered to her that she was safe and that everything will be OK, does our Father not speak lovingly to us as well.

If only I would be still and know that He is God...