Jesus the Superior Priest

Hebrews 7:23-28

Main Idea: Jesus Christ is superior to Levitical priests because his priesthood is both lasting and perfect. He intercedes for those who draw near to God, and the sacrifice of himself that he offers to God accomplishes all that is necessary for salvation.

1. The Permanent Priest (7:23-25)
   1. The continuing nature of Christ’s priesthood
   2. The intercessory nature of Christ’s priesthood
2. The Perfect Priest (7:26-28)
   1. Christ’s perfect nature
   2. A once-for-all-time sacrifice
   3. God’s eternal plan

In Hebrews 7–10 the author majestically explains Jesus Christ as our great high priest. But the dominant issue for the original readers of this letter is missing from the mind of the modern reader. The sacrificial system, which was central to the experiences of the first audience of Hebrews, is a foreign subject for today’s audience. Before the incarnation, God definitively met humanity in the temple and through the sacrificial system performed by the priests. While the priests offered both daily and annual sacrifices, those sacrifices could not effect the forgiveness of sins. If they had forgiven sins, there would have been no need for Christ. Instead, those sacrifices anticipated or foreshadowed the actual forgiveness of sin. Furthermore, when the high priest entered the most holy place on the Day of Atonement, he understood that the act pictured the satisfaction of the wrath of God against sin but did not actually accomplish it.

Throughout Hebrews the author argues that Jesus is superior to all who came before: the angels, Moses, Aaron, Joshua, and the entire priesthood. He concludes his argument in 7:22: “Jesus has also become the guarantee of a better covenant.” That language likely does not shock today’s Christian. Modern believers know that the covenant God enacted in Christ is a better covenant.

Yet the Jewish believers who originally received this letter would have heard that statement much differently. A better covenant would seem almost impossible to the Jewish mind. What could be better than the covenant God made with Abraham? The answer is simple: a covenant that saves. The Abrahamic covenant did not save, even though it bestowed many blessings. It created a covenant people who survived through God’s providential care. They enjoyed the blessings of a sacrificial system, experienced the forbearance of sin, and tasted the forgiveness of sins. Nonetheless, that covenant could not save. Jesus is God’s absolute assurance of the new covenant, and he functions in this new covenant as our great high priest.

The Permanent Priest

Hebrews 7:23-25

Hebrews 7:23-25 explores the permanent nature of Christ’s priesthood and its role in his power to save. Unlike previous priests, Christ as priest endures forever. His priesthood never ends and his priesthood saves, so as a result, his ministry of intercession for those who draw near to God through him never ends. Therefore, as the author argues, Christ is a superior priest.

The Continuing Nature of Christ’s Priesthood

In Hebrews 7:1-22 the author completely redefines the priesthood, but that is not the end. He continues his argument by pinpointing specific ways Jesus as the great high priest supersedes the previous priesthood. Over the course of Israel’s history, there were thousands from the tribe of Levi in the Aaronic priesthood. The priestly ministry needed to continue, yet they all died. As a result, every generation had to produce new priests. Christ, on the other hand, is a priest forever. There is now no need to produce any other priest. This great high priest is singular because he continues. Previously, the priesthood was a continual succession of many priests. Now it is a continual ministry of one priest: the great high priest, Jesus Christ.

On this basis, Christ “is able to save completely.” It is helpful to picture a horizon when reading verse 25. As far as one can see, Christ has accomplished everything necessary for salvation. This horizon has at least two dimensions:

• Comprehensive
• Temporal

First, Christ saves in a comprehensive sense by accomplishing all that the sinner needs. The ground for salvation comes from no other source but Christ. Jesus completed every criterion necessary for the redemption of his people. The sinner seeking salvation does not have to appeal to any authority or person other than Christ. His priesthood leaves nothing undone.

Second, Christ saves in a temporal sense. Just as his priesthood is forever, so also the salvation he accomplishes is effective forever. The sinner does not need to look for anyone to come after Christ. He presently serves in his permanent priesthood, and Christ’s eternal priesthood grounds our eternal salvation.

Israel knew it needed a continuing succession of priests. Indeed, an entire tribe was devoted to serving in that capacity. Even today believers desperately need a priest—a mediator, a liaison, an intermediary between us and God. Without a priest, no one is saved. The priest who saves the church is the great high priest, and he continues forever. Therefore, he is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him. That work is his priestly ministry. Jesus Christ draws sinners near to God through himself.

The Intercessory Nature of Christ’s Priesthood

In the last half of Hebrews 7:25 the author shifts his focus from Jesus’s past work on the cross and in the resurrection to the present intercessory work of his priesthood. Christians are dependent right now on the superior priesthood of Christ not only for his past death and resurrection but also for his present intercession at the right hand of the Father. Christians need an intercessor and mediator. Jesus obtains vastly different results from those of a conventional mediator, such as one helping to resolve a labor dispute. A federal mediator in a labor dispute would bring two opposing parties together and pursue a compromise. To accomplish this compromise, he would undoubtedly have to convince each party to relinquish some desire or demand. In other words, both parties must be willing to forfeit some of their demands in order for a true compromise to be reached. The divine mediator, however, achieves perfect peace. He in no way compromises the holiness of God. Instead, he fully satisfies the justice of God.

Christians need a priest who intercedes for sin and provides help in times of need. Jesus is able to sympathize with humanity because he was tempted in every way that we are yet he remained without sin (Heb 4:15). He represents us before the Father, intercedes for us, and speaks on our behalf so that those who have drawn near to the Father through him are now united to him. No other intercessor is needed. Christ lives to intercede for Christians, and Christians have direct access to him. He is the guarantee of a new and better covenant and remains the permanent high priest who intercedes for his people.

The Perfect Priest

Hebrews 7:26-28

Permanence is not the only characteristic that distinguishes Christ’s priesthood from previous ones. His priesthood is also perfect in every sense. In this passage, the author turns to the perfection of Christ both in his sinlessness and in the sacrifice he offers to God on behalf of the people. Jesus Christ is a superior priest because he is a perfect priest.

Christ’s Perfect Nature

“Need” does not suggest that we deserved such a high priest. Instead, the author communicates that it was necessary to have such a high priest. Christ is the specific kind of priest we require because his priesthood provides the perfect answer to our need. He fulfills all the just requirements of the law. His priesthood is perfect because he himself is perfect. The old covenant made nothing perfect, but Christ is perfect.

His holiness bears witness to his perfection. Only a holy sacrifice could meet the just requirements of the law. He is also “innocent,” for he was tempted in every way as we are yet remained without sin (Heb 4:15). He was “undefiled.” The word is most often used regarding being defiled by the world. God calls Christians not to bear the stain of worldliness. Nonetheless, all people are stained. In one sense, Christ identifies with us in our humanity. In another sense, he remains “separated from sinners” because he did not sin. The Father exalted him “above the heavens,” which can be said of no other human being. Christ, however, is no mere man. Christ is both fully human and fully divine. He is the God-man.

A Once-for-All-Time Sacrifice

The Levitical priests offered their sacrifices “every day” because their priesthood was temporary. Their sacrifices anticipated what would come, but their sacrifices were incomplete themselves. The priests needed to repeat both the daily sacrifices and the annual sacrifices. Christ, however, had no need to offer sacrifices repeatedly. He accomplished the full forgiveness of sins in his one and only sacrifice when he offered up himself on the cross.

Every previous priest had to perform his sacrifice first with reference to his own sin. Only after dealing with his own sins could he appropriately offer a sacrifice for the sins of the people. Christ, on the other hand, did not need to offer any sacrifice for his own sin because he had none. He is sinless, perfect, holy, undefiled, innocent, and separated from sinners. Jesus does not need to offer up sacrifices repeatedly because the cross and resurrection are not repeated events; they are “once for all time.” Christ’s sacrifice is not perpetual but historical. It was made once for all and is finished. Nothing can be added to it or taken from it. It was the perfect sacrifice, and it was completed all at once.

Jesus did not accomplish this perfect sacrifice by offering up the blood of another. Instead, he offered up himself. When the Levitical priest went into the most holy place, he carried blood with him. He took the blood from an appropriate animal for the corresponding sacrifice. As he carried in this blood, he was carrying blood that something else had shed. The priests had to cart off the sacrifice’s carcass, serving as a clear sign of the costliness of sin and forgiveness. Without blood, there is no forgiveness of sins. When Christ offered his sacrifice, he offered the unthinkable. He gave himself and paid the penalty of sin with his own blood. Christ’s offering of himself displays why his singular priesthood is definitive, permanent, perfect, continuous, and unrepeatable.

God’s Eternal Plan

In Hebrews 7:28 the author stresses the difference between the lesser and the greater, a common theme in Hebrews. Christ is a superior great high priest because his priesthood came through an oath. This oath came later than the law, so it is superior to the law. In this new covenant, God “appoints a Son, who has been perfected forever.” The sacrifice of an animal was not perfect even though it might appear so perfect. It was not fitting because it did not fulfill what was needed.

Even if a Levitical high priest had gone into the temple and spilled his own blood, it would still not have achieved our salvation. It would fail to accomplish atonement for our sins because the priest was not perfect. Only one without sin can atone perfectly for sins. This is precisely why we have Jesus Christ as the guarantee of a new and better covenant.

Scripture shows a seemingly innumerable succession of priests throughout Israel’s history. This succession was important and vital, and it was under a covenant that faithfully pointed to its own inadequacies. Modern Christians can easily misunderstand these passages and the entire system of the priesthood within God’s plan. It is tempting for Christians to believe that God had an initial plan and that this initial plan failed. This initial plan was the covenant that God made with Abraham. Since humanity was unable to meet the righteous demands of the old plan, God had to form a new plan in Christ. Scripture, however, teaches that this is not the correct understanding. God’s plan from the beginning was Christ. He is the Lamb of God slain before the foundation of the earth (Rev 13:8). The old covenant was not an initial plan that failed. It succeeded gloriously. Its purpose was never to save; it was to demonstrate man’s need for a Savior.

Under the old covenant, aging priests performed daily sacrifices knowing they would have to do so again and again. When God made the perfect sacrifice, Jesus uttered these fitting words: “It is finished.” The old covenant faithfully demonstrated the forbearance of God until Christ came. It brought the conviction of sin and showed the need for a Savior. Without the law, man would not know of his need for a Savior. But now that Savior has come. And we understand that Savior as one who was witnessed to by the old covenant. Christ is a priest—a great high priest and the perfect high priest. We can only grasp the fullness of what that means when we see how Christ fulfills the expectations in the old covenant by being for us the great high priest of the new and better covenant.

Reflect and Discuss

1. What is the difference between the comprehensive and temporal aspects of the salvation Christ accomplished? Why are they necessary aspects?
2. What was the role of the priest in ancient Israel, and how does Christ fulfill this role?
3. In what ways is Christ’s priesthood superior to the Aaronic and Levitical priesthoods? What was lacking in these previous priesthoods?
4. What are the two key characteristics of Christ’s priesthood, and how do these characteristics have implications for our relationship with God?
5. How does Jesus Christ function as a mediator on our behalf? How should an understanding of Christ’s intercessory role affect how we pray? How does it comfort you?
6. Why is it important that Jesus serves as a perfect priest? How does his perfect priesthood relate to both his divine and his human natures?
7. What features of Christ’s sacrifice are superior to the sacrifices made by the Levitical priests? On what ground is Christ’s sacrifice superior? Why did Christ need to be both human and divine for his sacrifice to be effective?
8. How does the sacrificial system demonstrate the costliness of sin? How does Christ’s sacrifice demonstrate it? How does the biblical understanding of the penalties of sin compare to the secular world’s understanding of sin’s consequences?
9. What is the significance of Christ shedding his own blood instead of another’s? How should this shape our understanding of Christ’s death on the cross as it relates to us?
10. How do we know Jesus Christ was not the Father’s backup plan? What does Jesus teach us in Luke 24:13-49 about the Old Testament and God’s sovereign plan from the beginning? What are the problems associated with thinking that Christ was not the initial plan?