Christ Has a Better Priesthood, Part 2
Christ’s Superiority
Hebrews 7:15-28
Introduction.
One principle I overlooked last week was the importance of silence.
The last verse that we covered was Hebrews 7:14.
Moses spoke nothing concerning the tribe of Judah and the priesthood—he was silent on the issue.
And it’s true. You never read that there should be no priests from the tribe of Issachar, Asher, or Manasseh either.
Yet it was scandalous when Jeroboam appointed priests from any tribe (1 Kings 12:31).
When the Bible is silent on a topic, silence forbids.
When the Bible gives a specific command, it excludes all others.
If the Bible says nothing on cake and milkshakes in the Lord’s Supper, but it has said what to use (bread and fruit of the vine), then it excludes cake, milkshakes, and everything else.
If the Bible, namely the New Testament since we have a change of the Law (7:12), says nothing about musical instruments in worship, but says to sing, then it excludes all other ways to worship in song.
I say that because it shows how big a deal it is for this Man from the tribe of Judah to be appointed as our High Priest.
He cannot be a priest in the OT system, so there had to be a change in the law and a change in the priesthood.
The point being made here is that Jesus must be a priest on the order of Melchizedek, as David prophesied in Psalm 110:4.
This is the whole point of the first half of this chapter.
As we move on to the next half, we’ll see just how much better this situation is.
Preview—Christ is Superior in—
Prophecy (7:15-17).
Efficacy (7:18-19).
Oath (17:20-22).
Life (7:23-25).
Righteousness (7:26-28).
Body.
Superior in Prophecy (7:15-17).
We have spoken of Him in prophecy already.
This is not something we need to discuss much, but it is mentioned here.
Christ is a high priest in the likeness of Melchizedek, similar to him in many ways.
He was not of the tribe of Levi, having no known lineage.
He was prophesied in this manner in Psalm 110, particularly in vs. 4.
That was something we spent a lot of time on last week, so we won’t spend much time on it now.
While Christ is similar to Melchizedek, He is quite unique.
He is also another priest, unique and special, as our Lord ought to be.
Not by law but by life.
One key phrase in the prophecy of Psalm 110:4—He is a priest forever.
How can one possibly be a priest forever? We all die, even priests.
Ah, but this prophecy would indicate that death was not going to happen to Him.
Though technically Christ did die, He was raised again never to die again!
His life was superior, a point we will bring up in a little while.
Superior in Efficacy (7:18-19).
Weak and unprofitable commandment.
The former commandment, a reference to the OT Law, and to the law of the priests specifically, was annulled.
This is spoken of in Ch. 8 a great deal more fully (8:13).
This word for annulment carries with it the idea of it being declared invalid.
It it similar to when a marriage is annulled, the union is dissolved.
The Law has become invalid, obsolete, ready to vanish away.
Why? Because it is now weak and unprofitable.
It is weak because it cannot make us perfect, there is no true forgiveness of sins (10:4).
The only true forgiveness can be found in Christ.
On top of being weak, it is unprofitable—a profound statement!
Paul uses this word to describe “foolish disputes, genealogies, contentions, and strivings about the law” (Tit. 3:9).
This is the same work used in the LXX in Isa. 44:10 to describe idols.
So that OT Law is now put on the same plain as pagan, false religion!
Better hope.
Instead now we have a better hope in Christ.
It is through this hope that we can draw near to God.
He is not far from each of us (Acts 17:27).
But we must draw near to Him so He will draw near to us (James 4:8).
We do this through the hope that He offers us that is an anchor for our souls, a hope of salvation and everlasting life through Christ (6:19).
Without that hope, well, there is no hope!
Certainly not in the weak and unprofitable religions of the world.
Superior in Oath (7:20-22).
Psalm 110:4 presents us with an oath of priesthood.
As we discussed in the last chapter, the Lord made an oath with Abraham.
That oath was a promise of blessings, including the blessing of a large family, a nation that would follow him.
Now Christ was made a priest by an oath, “The Lord has sworn and will not relent,” as Psalm 110:4 is quoted in its entirety.
Granted, verse divisions didn’t exist back then, but it’s still good to understand the full context, as the Hebrews writer brings out here.
The priests after Aaron were not confirmed by an oath.
Another way in which this Melchizedek priesthood was superior was the oath itself.
Scouring the books of the OT Law, there is no mention of an oath whereby the Lord promises the priesthood would apply to Aaron’s family forever.
On the other hand, there are commands as to the eternal nature of the priesthood (e.g. Exo. 27:21).
It shouldn’t be understood as something done forever and ever, but as long as the Law stands.
Since now there is a change in the Law, we have a change in the priesthood (7:12).
The oath brings that double assurance that Christ’s priesthood is far more secure than that of Aaron’s.
This is due in no small part because of the fact that it does not rely on the fragility of human life—Christ’s priesthood is superior in life.
Superior in Life (7:23-25).
Inherent fault in the Levitical priesthood.
There was one fault that the priests in the Levitical line couldn’t escape.
It is a problem we all face, something that all humanity has to deal with.
It is death.
A plague, a battle, or a meteor strike could potentially wipe out the whole Aaronic line.
It’s true, many of them were spread throughout the land to prevent that sort of thing from happening, but it was still a possibility.
In fact, in a.d. 70 when the Temple was destroyed, the records for who could serve as priest were destroyed.
Someone today might have the last name Cohen (Hebrew for priest), but they can’t prove their lineage to Aaron so as to serve as a priest under the OT system.
In any event, the priests would die and another would take his place.
They couldn’t continue to serve as a result.
Josephus records that, up until a.d. 70, there had been 83 high priests, far more than the one that we have, that is Christ Jesus.
The priesthood of Christ is safe from death.
It was prophesied with an oath that this priesthood would last forever.
Therefore we know it is safe from change.
As stated earlier, Jesus did die, but He rose again never to die again!
So His priesthood is sure and stable—no plague, battle, or meteor can ever touch Him.
The result, the writer brings out, is that He can utterly save all who come to God through Him—as we stated earlier, the blood of bulls and goats cannot truly forgive (10:4).
The forgiveness they had was not total, was not complete, forever, or to the uttermost—that was only done through Christ.
After all, the only way to the Father is through Him (John 14:6).
And it is He who makes intercession for us, the only one who can.
He is the Mediator of the better covenant (8:6), our Advocate (1 John 2:1) and Intercessor on our behalf—the only one we need or could ever want!
He is the only one who can go between God and Man being both and understanding both.
As a result, He is superior in righteousness.
Superior in Righteousness (7:26-28).
There are several superlative words and phrases used to describe Jesus here.
Holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, higher than the heavens.
While it is true that Christians are called all of these things, and that we need to live up to these ideals, the only way we have them is through Christ.
But compare these ideals with the human high priests up to that point.
How many of them were holy, harmless, and undefiled?
Sure, while we went through Leviticus, we saw that they had to undergo ritual after ritual to maintain their holiness and being cleansed from defilement.
But the very fact they had to go through all these rituals shows they weren’t inherently holy, harmless, undefiled, and separate—they had to be made that way.
Jesus already is those things by His very nature as one without sin (4:15).
Those rituals included making sacrifices.
How many times did we read of the priests making sacrifices for themselves before making sacrifices on behalf of the people?
The writer of Hebrews mentions it later (10:11).
These sacrifices could never truly take sins away, yet these priests are slavishly offering them up daily.
These priests were sinners just like the rest of them.
Their sins had to be taken care of before they could minister to the spiritual needs of others.
Christ, on the other hand, doesn’t have to worry about that.
We can come to Him at any time asking for forgiveness, and He is always able to grant it.
We don’t have to wait for Him to take care of His sins first, because He has no sin!
He offered up Himself.
Instead, He did this once for all when He offered up Himself.
This leads us to the concept that Jesus is both High Priest and ultimate sacrifice!
What an amazing and shocking truth!
The writer develops this idea further in Ch. 9, so we will leave it by saying this is truly a remarkable priesthood, far better than anything descended from Aaron.
Men have weakness; Christ does not.
In fiction, everyone has a vulnerability, some weakness.
Even the impervious Superman has kryptonite.
But Christ has none, unlike the other high priests that have gone on before, far more feeble than the fictitious son of Krypton.
Instead the oath and the prophecy has appointed one who is perfect and without sin, who is able to serve for an eternity to take away the sins of the world, both yours and mine.
Oh how wonderful, oh how marvelous!
Conclusion.
All this has to do with the comparisons of the OT system and priesthood.
We can take from this a notion of confidence.
The writer of Hebrews wrote this to instill confidence in his Jewish readers.
They grew up with the OT system and found it difficult to transition over to this new system, many of them wanting to return to the old.
They had to be convinced that the new was far better, and the writer here does a marvelous job of proving it.
But it should also instill within us a confidence that His prophecies have come to pass, that He keeps His promises and can keep them, and that we can be confident that our sins have been forgiven through Christ and His work.
It’s not always easy to take application for some of these “meatier” things, but if you get nothing else out of this, know that we can have confidence in Christ, His Word, and His work!
His Word tells us what we must do to be saved.