Christ in Hebrews -- Our Eternal High Priest

We don’t know who wrote the book of Hebrews, but he was almost assuredly Jewish, a friend of the Jewish Christians, a friend of Timothy, and possibly one of Jesus’ apostles.  The book was a letter to Jewish Christians, probably in or near Jerusalem, but we don’t know where it was written.  We do know that it was written about 68 – 69 A.D., because of the reference to Timothy having been released from prison (13:23), and because of the references to the ongoing sacrifices being made in the temple.  The temple was destroyed by the Romans in 70 A.D.

The purpose of the book (letter) was to warn the Jewish Christians to remain steadfast in their faith in Jesus, and to warn them against returning to the Jewish sacrifices and traditions.  It is clear by the date of the writing and from the admonition in chapter 5 that these people had been believers for quite some time.  By this time, they should have been mature Christians, growing in faith and in number, reaching others for Christ, and making disciples in their area and all over the world.  But instead, many of them were still attending the temple and offering sacrifices there.  Apparently they had lost their urgency to grow in their faith and understanding of the gospel:

We have much to say about this, but it is hard to make it clear to you because you no longer try to understand. In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God’s word all over again. You need milk, not solid food! Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil (Hebrews 5:11-14).

The first chapter of the book of Hebrews is a beautiful work of praise and adoration.  I hope you will read it and study it for yourself.  Place a bookmark in your Bible at Hebrews, chapter one.  Anytime you are discouraged, worried, hopeless, depressed, doubting, weak . . . anytime you need to be reminded who Jesus is, read this chapter!  For a quick summary, Jesus is:

The radiance of God’s glory
The exact representation of God

The sustainer of all things by His powerful word
Purification for sin
Seated at the right hand of God
Superior to the angels
Rules forever with justice
Loves righteousness and hates wickedness
Anointed with joy
Creator of the foundations of the earth
Creator of the heavens

 Jesus will:

Remake all of creation

Remain the same, even after all creation is remade
Always be
Use his enemies as His footstool

Chapter two of this book built on what was taught in chapter one.  The writer said to pay attention to what we know so that we will not be deceived.  So anytime the deceiver (Satan, the world, guilt, insecurity) tries to drag you down, go back and read chapter one.  Remember who Jesus is, do not be deceived, and do not drift away from your faith:

We must pay the most careful attention, therefore, to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away (Hebrews 2:1).

The writer of this book took a lot of time and space to teach, once again, about Jesus’ sacrifice for our sins.  The Jewish Christians understood the sacrificial laws that were given to their forefathers and were still in practice at the temple in Jerusalem.  But those sacrifices were only a picture of what Christ did for us on the cross, and His perfect sacrifice eliminated the need for any further sacrifice.  That is why the veil in the temple was torn, from top to bottom, at the time of His death on the cross:

And when Jesus had cried out again in a loud voice, he gave up his spirit. At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook, the rocks split (Matthew 27:50-51). 

The sacrifices in the temple were made by the High Priest, a man who was also sinful.  So the priest had to first make a sacrifice for his own sin, then he could offer the sacrifices that the people brought for their sins.  He was to instruct the people and to gently lead them in living according to God’s laws, knowing that he, too, was a sinner, falling short of the glory of God.  He did not aspire to the position, but was appointed by God:

Every high priest is selected from among the people and is appointed to represent the people in matters related to God, to offer gifts and sacrifices for sins. He is able to deal gently with those who are ignorant and are going astray, since he himself is subject to weakness. This is why he has to offer sacrifices for his own sins, as well as for the sins of the people. And no one takes this honor on himself, but he receives it when called by God, just as Aaron was (Hebrews 5:1-4). 

In the same way, Jesus was appointed to be our High Priest: 

In the same way, Christ did not take on himself the glory of becoming a high priest. But God said to him, “You are my Son; today I have become your Father.” And he says in another place, “You are a priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek (Hebrews 5:5-6).”

High Priests served until they died, then another man would be elevated to that position until his death.  The position was not a permanent one.  However, Jesus lives forever, so His priesthood is eternal:

Now there have been many of those priests, since death prevented them from continuing in office; but because Jesus lives forever, he has a permanent priesthood. Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them (Hebrews 7:23-25).

Not only is Jesus our Eternal High Priest, but He is also our Perfect High Priest.  Although He was tempted just as we are, He never sinned.  Not once.  He understands our weaknesses, and He empathizes with us, He hurts for us, His heart breaks for us.  He offered Himself, the perfect, spotless sacrifice, taking away our sin, even all the sin of all the world:

Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has ascended into heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin. Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need (Hebrews 4:14-16).

Such a high priest truly meets our need—one who is holy, blameless, pure, set apart from sinners, exalted above the heavens. Unlike the other high priests, he does not need to offer sacrifices day after day, first for his own sins, and then for the sins of the people. He sacrificed for their sins once for all when he offered himself (Hebrews 7:26-27).

So how does this apply to us today?  There is no more temple.  It was destroyed by the Romans over 1945 years ago.  There is no more sacrifice, at least not as it was practiced in those days by the Jews.  But some people believe we have to sacrifice by doing good works, or by taking communion, or by being baptized, or by paying tithes and offerings.  If you ask most people why they should be allowed into God’s holy heaven, they will answer by saying, “Well, I was a good person,” or “I lived a good life” or “I did my best.”  Well, God says our best is not good enough.  As a matter of fact, His word says that there MUST be a sacrifice, and it must be a blood sacrifice:

“Why do you call me good?” Jesus answered. “No one is good—except God alone (Mark 10:18).

In fact, the law requires that nearly everything be cleansed with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness (Hebrews 9:22).

Well, the GOOD NEWS is, our Perfect, Eternal High Priest, Jesus Christ, took our judgment.  He died in our place.  He sacrificed Himself to take away our sins and to give us life eternal with Him:

Just as people are destined to die once, and after that to face judgment, so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many (Hebrews 9:26-27a).

Once we agree with God that we deserve punishment, and as soon as we acknowledge the sacrifice Jesus made on our behalf, He promises that He will forgive us and remember our sin no more.  No more sacrifice is needed:

For by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy. The Holy Spirit also testifies to us about this. First he says: “This is the covenant I will make with them after that time, says the Lord. I will put my laws in their hearts, and I will write them on their minds.” Then he adds: “Their sins and lawless acts I will remember no more.” And where these have been forgiven, sacrifice for sin is no longer necessary (Hebrews 10:14-18). 

Now having heard this Good News, we are obligated to act on it.  We have a choice to make – we can either accept the perfect sacrifice of Jesus and live eternally with Him, or we can reject it and face judgment:

If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God. Anyone who rejected the law of Moses died without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. How much more severely do you think someone deserves to be punished who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, who has treated as an unholy thing the blood of the covenant that sanctified them, and who has insulted the Spirit of grace? For we know him who said, “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” and again, “The Lord will judge his people.” It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God (Hebrews 10:26-31).

I hope that you will choose wisely.

My prayer for you and for me this week is the benediction found in Hebrews 13:20-21:

Now may the God of peace, who through the blood of the eternal covenant brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, equip you with everything good for doing his will, and may he work in us what is pleasing to him, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen

All scripture references are from the New Living Translation.