Hebrews 4:14-16 NLT
[14] “So then, since we have a great High Priest who has entered heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to what we believe. [15] This High Priest of ours understands our weaknesses, for he faced all of the same testings we do, yet he did not sin. [16] So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most.”

Following his warning to his readers not to allow unbelief to disqualify them from entering God’s rest, our writer introduces the next role of Jesus as the fulfilment of Old Testament pictures.

In the Old Covenant, the high priest had a pivotal role to play in the system of worship and in the government of Israel. He was not only God’s representative and voice to the people, but he was also their support. As a human, he stood in the the shoes of all the people, feeling what they felt and experiencing what they experienced. Just so, Jesus, because He was also human, was able to participate with His people in the hardships of human life. This High Priest, as the sinless Son of God, was also able to represent them to the Father in heaven, not just as a human but as a perfect Son and Saviour. He knows what it’s like to be human. He understood their temptations but, unlike them, He never fell for the allurements of sin. He could support and succour them in their weakness if they continued to believe in Him.

How imperative, then, that his readers cling tenaciously to Jesus despite the pull of the old nature and the fear of the powers ranged against them that threatened their lives because of their loyalty to Jesus.

Our writer presents Jesus as superior to the high priests of the Old Covenant. In what way is He superior?

Hebrews 5:1-3 NLT
[1] “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. [2] And he is able to deal gently with ignorant and wayward people because he himself is subject to the same weaknesses. [3] That is why he must offer sacrifices for his own sins as well as theirs.”

Following his explanation for yet another reason to remain faithful to Jesus, our writer continues his defense of Jesus as superior to the high priests of the religious system of Israel. Did Jesus qualify to be greater than their high priests? How did He qualify?

It was the very humanity of Israel’s high priests that contributed to their religious system’s weakness. They were both mortal and sinful like the ones they served. Death had two powerful effects on their worship. First, there was no continuity. Each high priest served for a while and then died. Second, their high priests were sinful, the very reason for their deaths. They had to offer sacrifices for their own sin since they were all as fallible as the ones they represented.

In what way, then, was Jesus superior to Israel’s high priests? How could He do more for the people than Aaron and his descendants could do?

God chose Aaron and his line to carry this responsibility through the generations. Just as Aaron didn’t take it upon himself the be the first high priest, so also, Jesus was God’s choice to replace the Levitical priesthood.

Hebrews 5:4-6 NLT
[4] “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. [5] 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.” [6] And in another passage God said to him, “You are a priest forever in the order of Melchizedek.”

Psalms 110, a psalm that predicts Messiah’s role as both victorious king and high priest, declares…

Psalms 110:4 NLT
[4] “The Lord has taken an oath and will not break his vow: “You are a priest forever in the order of Melchizedek.”

Jesus’ priesthood is superiour to the Levital priesthood first, because, like Mechizedek, a mysterious king-priest figure in Genesis of whom there is no record of his birth, death, or lineage, Jesus lives forever to continue His ministry, uninterrupted by death…

Hebrews 5:7-10 NLT
[7] 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. [8] “Even though Jesus was God’s Son, he learned obedience from the things he suffered. [9] 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. [10] And God designated him to be a High Priest in the order of Melchizedek.”

…and, second, unlike the animal sacrifices of the Levitical priesthood, Jesus offered Himself as the perfect sacrificial lamb able to atone for the sin of His people.

How, then, could his readers think of returning to a system of worship that could not guarantee a permanent solution to the sin that separated them from a Holy God? Jesus alone in His person and in His role as priest and sacrifice, has the perfect answer.

To be continued…