In many religions today, there are those who are in the position of ‘priest.’ These priests have various functions, some greater than others. However, those positions are determined by men. Before Jesus came to earth, there was always a High Priest who represented the people to God. He was the leader of the temple, and he offered sacrifices and gifts to God for the sins of the people. He was also the only person who could use the Urim and Thummin. These were engraved stones used to determine truth and help people know God’s will. He was also expected to sympathize with the people because of his own weakness. The role of the High Priest was a position served until death. When Jesus came, lived, and died, He replaced the High Priest and is now my High Priest!
My High Priest is perfect! He knew no sin. In I John 3:5, He was made known to take away our sins. He was qualified because He never sinned.
I John 3:5 “And ye know that he was manifested to take away our sins; and in him is no sin.”
My High Priest will never die! In Hebrews 7, Jesus, as our High Priest, is compared to men who were High Priests. In verse 23, we see He will never need to be replaced because He never dies. In verse 24, the priesthood will never change again.
Hebrews 7:23-24 “And they truly were many priests, because they were not suffered to continue by reason of death: But this man, because he continueth ever, hath an unchangeable priesthood.”
My High Priest also possesses the ability to save souls from eternal Hell. When we come to Him in simple faith, repenting of our sins and asking His forgiveness, He extends His grace to us. No other priest could do that. In verse 25, He saves to the uttermost. The word “uttermost” means our salvation is complete. He does not begin a work that He cannot finish. We can trust our salvation in His hands, and He will help us when we need it. He is our intercessor, the go-between us and God. Those religions that still employ priests are teaching that these men can be our go-between us and God, but when Jesus died on the cross, He ended the need for a man to intercede for us. In Romans 8:34, we see Jesus sitting at the right hand of God, speaking to God for me, “Who is he that condemneth? “It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us.”
At Jesus’ death, God gave us another symbolic event to show everyone that Jesus is now our intercessor. In Matthew 27:51, when the veil of the temple was torn from top to bottom at the death of Jesus, God proclaimed we no longer needed a manmade priest. At the time of day that Jesus died, the priest would have been burning incense in the holy place. They would have witnessed the tearing of the veil, which separated the holy from the most holy place. This signified that access to God was open to all! I imagine the priest would have been trembling in fear because only the High Priest could enter the Most Holy area, and then only once a year.
Matthew 27:51 “And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent.”
Hebrews 7:25 “Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever lives to make intercession for them.”
My High Priest is unlike any other priest. Hebrews 7:26 teaches us, “For such a high priest became us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens.” Let this sink into your minds. He is like no other; He is perfect! He is set apart from all others. His righteousness was not outward, but it was inward because He was pure in heart. Other priests were sinful men, born with a sinful nature. Therefore, they must offer us sacrifices for their sins also.
My High Priest offered up a sacrifice that was once and for all. In Hebrews 7:27, He did not need “daily, as those high priests, to offer up sacrifice, first for his own sins, and then for the people’s: for this he did once, when he offered up himself.” As the only perfect sacrifice He did not just fulfill the priest of the religious system, He superseded it as the great eternal priest that works on our behalf to reconcile us to God. He and He alone could satisfy the wrath of God against sin. His perfect righteousness is presented to the Father for our justification. Right now my High Priest is praying for me to remain faithful.
Hebrews 9:24 “For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us.”
Romans 8:34 “Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us.”
If you are saved, your High Priest wants you to live a holy life. In I John 2:1, we are told to refrain from sinning. However, if we do sin, and we will, we have an advocate, a lawyer like no other, one who never loses, who will take our pleas for forgiveness to the Father. The Father will not say no to Jesus’ request on our behalf. That’s my High Priest!
I John 2:1 “My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.”
Let us never take for granted what our High Priest has done for us. If we love Him, we will live in obedience to Him.
John 14:15 “If ye love me, keep my commandments.”
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