We all need help. We all need a priest. But not the kind we see today in fancy robes—those who claim to be God’s representatives to modern society. We need a perfect and sinless priest to represent us before a holy God. We need a representative to stand for us in the place where our sinful lives could not possibly survive—someone to successfully petition God for mercy, kindness, and compassion on our behalf. And the Pharisees understood this better than most.
Among the first things a Jew might have asked about another religion were, “Who is your high priest? Who mediates between you and God? Who offers the sacrifices to atone for your sins?” A Jew during the time of the early church may well have asked a Christian, “How are your sins going to be pardoned when you have no one offering sacrifices and no one interceding for you? How can you claim that this New Covenant supersedes and is superior to the Old Covenant made through Moses, when it leaves you without a high priest?”
The Christian would have replied, “But we do have a high priest, a perfect High Priest. He has offered sacrifice for our sins. He does not confine Himself to an earthly temple, nor does He have to sacrifice yearly, much less daily. He made one sacrifice that atones for all sins ever committed by His people, from the beginning to the end of time. That is how great a high priest He is and how great His sacrifice was. Not only that, but our High Priest is seated at the right hand of God and continually intercedes for those of us who belong to Him.”
The heart of the book of Hebrews (chapters 5–9) focuses on Jesus’ high priesthood. His superior priesthood, more than anything else, makes the New Covenant better than the Old. He has done what all the priests together of the old economy did not do and could never have done.
Every high priest is a man chosen to represent other people in their dealings with God. He presents their gifts to God and offers sacrifices for their sins. And he is able to deal gently with ignorant and wayward people because he himself is subject to the same weaknesses. That is why he must offer sacrifices for his own sins as well as theirs. And no one can become a high priest simply because he wants such an honor. He must be called by God for this work, just as Aaron was. That is why Christ did not honor himself by assuming he could become High Priest. No, he was chosen by God, who said to him, “You are my Son. Today I have become your Father.” And in another passage God said to him, “You are a priest forever in the order of Melchizedek.” While Jesus was here on earth, he offered prayers and pleadings, with a loud cry and tears, to the one who could rescue him from death. And God heard his prayers because of his deep reverence for God. 8Even though Jesus was God’s Son, he learned obedience from the things he suffered. In this way, God qualified him as a perfect High Priest, and he became the source of eternal salvation for all those who obey him. And God designated him to be a High Priest in the order of Melchizedek. Hebrews 5:1-10 NLT
The priests under the Old Covenant were bridge builders to God. Men could not come directly into God’s presence, and God therefore appointed certain men to be ushers, as it were, to bring men into His presence. The way to God was opened only as the priests offered sacrifices—day in and day out, year after year—presenting the blood of animals to God. The priests were God’s mediators.
But with the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross, the need for the Temple and for the Levitical priesthood was ended. There was no longer a requirement for a high priest such as those who succeeded Aaron, or for any merely human priest at all. Jesus was both High Priest and sacrifice, and provided eternally for man an opening into God’s presence. At His crucifixion, the curtain of the Temple was torn in two, exposing the Holy of Holies to anyone who would come to God through the Son. In one perfect act of sacrifice, Jesus Christ accomplished what thousands upon thousands of sacrifices by a multitude of priests could never accomplish. He opened the way to God permanently, so that any human being at any time by faith in Christ might enter into God’s presence.
Praise God for what He has done for us. May you feel the embrace of our loving God. May you know how much He has done to adopt you. May you see there is now nothing to keep you from a beautiful relationship with your Heavenly Father. Blessings on your journey.