The Ultimate Priest, Part 1

If you have your Bible, turn with me to Hebrews chapter 7. Hebrews chapter 7, verses 11 to 19. Christ is the ultimate priest. And we're going to continue looking at what the writer of Hebrews said when he explains to us that because Christ is in the order of Melchizedek and not in the order of Aaron, that he is a superior priest.

In fact, the key verse is down in verse number 19, where it says that, "For the law made nothing perfect, but the bringing in of a better hope did." Jesus is the better hope. Jesus is our hope. The gospel is our hope.

So let's imagine for a moment that you're a Jew and you lived during the time of the Old Testament. You would live in a way that you are always anticipating something great from the Messiah. You lived a life of anticipation. Today we are to live a life of anticipation. We are looking for the second coming of the Messiah. But imagine, if you would, how you would be if you were in the Old Testament. You don't have the full revelation that you and I have today.

But listen to the words of the psalmist in Psalm 27, verse number 4: "One thing I have asked from the Lord that I shall seek, that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord and to meditate in his temple." There is a craving that the psalmist has. The craving is centered around the pleasure in God's presence. "One thing I seek, one thing I desire. That I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, that somehow I'll be able to behold the beauty of the Lord." But he never did. He lived in anticipation of that.

If you read down to verse number eight, it says, "When you said, 'Seek my face,' my heart said to you, 'Your face, O Lord, I shall seek.'" There was this longing, there was this passion to seek the face of God. But they would never see the face of God. The psalmist would go on to say in Psalm 84, verse number 10, "That one day in your courts is better than a thousand places elsewhere." Just to be in the courts, centered around the beautiful temple is so great. It's better to be there than any place else, although I can never see your face.

You see, if I'm a Jew in the Old Testament, there was something that was inadequate. There was something that was insufficient, something that was incomplete, something that would never truly satisfy. And that was the Levitical priesthood, the sacrificial system. It was always meant as a shadow, a foretaste of the things to come. But it never truly granted me access to God in its fullest sense. There was always something about it that was inadequate. And yet, over and over again, the psalmist would speak to those who were longing to see the face of their Messiah.

And so although they lived with limited access, there was never that full access because between them and the presence of God was this huge veil, as thick as a man's hand, that hung in the temple. And that only the high priest could go in only once a year into the presence of God to offer sacrifices for the nation of Israel. And yet the common man was unable to access the presence of God. So there was always a limit to what an Old Testament Jew was able to do.

And that's why the writer of Hebrews, painfully, takes these Jewish people in the synagogue through this long ordeal of the priesthood. To help them understand that there is a better priest who offers a better priesthood. And so on Calvary's cross, when Jesus Christ died, he ratified the new covenant with his blood. And over the weeks to come, we'll show you Jeremiah 31, Ezekiel chapter 36, the promise of that new covenant. Where Christ says, "I will put my spirit within you, I will walk within you, and you will keep my word, and you will be my people." Very important. And they lived in anticipation of all that. That's what they looked for.

And so when Christ shed his blood, he ratified that new covenant. And in so doing, when he died, that veil in the temple was torn in two to show now that access into the presence of God was now available not just for the high priest once a year, but for anybody who would come to saving grace and embrace Jesus Christ as their Messiah. Very symbolic.

And now this writer of Hebrews is showing these Hebrew people that Jesus is that better hope. Everything that they had longed for, everything in the Old Testament where every Jew would just pine away to see the face of the living God. The pleasure of his presence. But they are always reminded that although the old covenant could reveal sin, and although the old covenant could cover sin, the old covenant could never take away man's sins. So they kept looking for that.

And so when you come to Hebrews 7, verse 11, we are continuing to look at how Christ, from the order of Melchizedek, is of a better priesthood than the order of Aaron and his sons. So let me walk you through the text, Hebrews 7, verses 11 to 19. And there's only two points I want to cover with you this morning. Only two. It's very simple, okay? It deals with the insufficiency of the inferior priesthood. And the sufficiency of a superior priesthood. That's it. The insufficiency of an inferior priesthood. That was under the old covenant with Aaron, and the superiority or the sufficiency of a superior priesthood, and that is Jesus Christ, who is a better hope. You with me? Good.

Hebrews 7, verse number 11, reads as follows: "Now, if perfection was through the Levitical priesthood, for on the basis of it the people received the law, what further need was there for another priest to arise according to the order of Melchizedek, and not be designated according to the order of Aaron?" In other words, if the Aaronic priesthood was sufficient, was completely adequate, why would there be a need for the Messiah to rise from another priesthood, that of Melchizedek? If what you already had was sufficient, you don't need anything else. But what you have is insufficient.

Now, if I'm a Jew and I'm hearing this, I'm thinking, "Wait a minute, I've spent my whole life. My whole life making this trek to the temple. I spent my whole life buying animals, purchasing animals, offering sacrifices over and over again for my sins. This is what I've done. I've grown up in this ceremonial system. I've grown up in this ritualistic system. This is all I know. And now you're going to tell me it's all been done away with? Now you're going to tell me it's all null and void? Now you're going to tell me that it doesn't really matter anymore?" They have a hard time swallowing that. They have a hard time understanding that. So that's why the writer of Hebrews takes them step by step through the new covenant, to show them exactly the better hope that they have in Jesus Christ.

So he says, "Look, if perfection came because of the old covenant under the Aaronic priesthood, you don't need a better priesthood. You don't need a better hope because everything was there. But it didn't."

Now, some confusion might come with the word perfection. Because what does that mean? And usually when you're looking to define a term, usually within the text it does define the term. Sometimes we think of perfection as the Apostle Paul talks about it. Like in Ephesians 4, verse 12, where he talks about gifted men given to the church to equip the saints for the work of ministry. It's for the perfecting of the saints, the maturing of the saints, right? Or he says in Colossians 1:28 that he teaches and admonishes every man that he might present every man perfect in Christ.

So, when we think of what the Apostle Paul said, he uses the word perfection in a different sense than the writer of Hebrews does. That's why I know that the writer of Hebrews is not the Apostle Paul. Because he uses it in terms of maturity. But the word perfection in Hebrews is different. It's different.

Look at verse number 19 of Hebrews chapter 7. It says, "For the law made nothing perfect." It didn't. "And on the other hand, there is a bringing in of a better hope through which we draw near to God." Perfection is equivalent to drawing near to God. Hebrews chapter 10, verse number 1: "For the law, since it has only a shadow of the good things to come, and not the very form of things, can never, by the same sacrifices which they offer continually year by year, make perfect those who draw near." Again, perfection deals with drawing near.

Hebrews 10, verse number 14: "For by one offering, he has perfected for all time those who are sanctified." He has given complete fulfillment, complete access to God through his one-time sacrifice. So, the writer of Hebrews uses the word perfection in terms of being able to access the presence of God. It deals with the salvation of a person.

So if perfection came through the old system, there's no need for a new system because the old one's just fine. But it wasn't sufficient. It was inferior. That's why it's the insufficiency of the inferior priesthood, because it was inferior. It was a shadow. It was a foretaste of things that were to come in their complete fulfillment. That's why when Christ came in Matthew 5, he said, "I didn't come to abolish the law, I came to fulfill the law."

So when you move on to verse number twelve, it says these words in Hebrews chapter seven: "For when the priesthood is changed, of necessity there takes place a change of law also." Wait a minute. If the priesthood changes, does that mean now the law changes? What does that mean? How can the law change?

Well, we know that the priesthood changes, and the word used for change means to replace. So there is something being replaced, and what is being replaced is the old priesthood. You're not adding Christianity to Judaism. I'm not a Jew, and I continue to do my sacrificial thing, and I can just add Jesus to what I'm doing. That's what Paul called the Judaizers. They always tried to get these Christians to go back and do what they did in order to be accepted to do the Jewish ceremonies, to do the Jewish rituals. But you're not adding Christianity to Judaism because it replaces Judaism.

But what about the law? How can the law be replaced? How can the law change? Well, whenever you see the word law in Scripture, you've got to determine whether it means the moral law, the civil law, the ceremonial law, you have to understand what it means. And the law associated with the priesthood is the ceremonial law. The law of all the rituals and all the sacrifices and all the things that the Jewish people did. So if the priesthood changed, then everything about the ceremonies, they too now change.

And so when you read on, it says in Hebrews 7, verse number 13: "For the one concerning whom these things are spoken belongs to another tribe, from which no one has officiated at the altar. For it is evident that our Lord was descended from Judah, a tribe with reference to which Moses spoke nothing concerning priests." In other words, there is this priesthood that Moses spoke nothing about. And that was the priesthood from another tribe, because there wasn't one. It only came from the tribe of Levi. So there was no speaking of Moses talking about a priest coming from another tribe because there were no other priests, only from the tribe of Levi.

And so Jesus is from the tribe of Judah. He's from the kingly tribe. And we know that no kings were ever able to offer up sacrifices. If they did, they were punished by God. Because in God's economy for Israel, never should priests and kings change jobs. In other words, kings can't offer up sacrifices, and priests weren't able to rule. So, therefore, there wasn't this interchange of the ministry. And yet, through the order of Melchizedek, the king priest, in which Christ would come from, the order of Melchizedek. Therefore, there would be a whole new change in the priesthood.

And so, the writer of Hebrews is making it very clear that Jesus is a descendant of Judah, which is the kingly tribe. Genesis chapter 49, verse number 10, right? "The scepter shall not depart from Judah until Shiloh comes." Shiloh being translated, "the one to whom it belongs." So the scepter which a king holds shall never depart from Judah until the one to whom it belongs arrives, which is Jesus Christ the Messiah.

Also in Micah 5, verse number 2, when it prophesies the birth of the Messiah, it talks about this one who will come from Judah, who will be the ruler of the nations. So the Jews understood and they knew about the kingly tribe. And that's why Christ is in the order of Melchizedek and not in the order of Aaron. Because he would be a king priest as Melchizedek was a king priest. And so he goes and he shows the insufficiency of an inferior priesthood to show you the sufficiency of a superior priesthood.

And this is what he says. He says very simply these words: "And this is clearer still." So he said, "Now I'm going to make it even more clear to you so you can understand this. This is clearer still if another priest" – and the word another is not allos, another of the same kind, but it's heteros, another of a different kind. So there's another priest from a different order, from a different kind, not from the Levitical side, but from a whole different side. Because it's not from the line of Aaron.

So he says, "And this is clearer still: if another priest arises according to the likeness of Melchizedek." Now, if you're a Jew and you're in the audience, all your alarm bells will begin to go off just at reading this verse. For just a cursory reading of it by us, Gentiles don't necessarily understand it. But if you're in the audience, he says, "I'm going to make this even clearer to you. I'm going to make this so crystal clear to you that you're going to understand exactly what I'm saying." And that is, very simply, this. There is another priest. There is another order. It's not Aaron. It's from Melchizedek.

And it says another priest who arises according to the likeness of Melchizedek. And that word arises has messianic credentials written all over it. Because they would all know this. How would they know? Now the word arise is a word that means to arise by oneself. Very important. Because if I'm in the tribe of Aaron, how do I arise or how do I ascend to the priesthood? I'm born into the right line, the right tribe, right? My mother and father provide that for me. But not this one. This priest arises on his own.

And every Jew, and they were all Jews, they were all Israelites, that's why it's called the Hebrews, they would all understand this. Because listen to what the Bible says in the book of Numbers. Just see if you can pick it up. Numbers 24, verse number 17: "I see him." This is Moses speaking about the coming Messiah. "I see him, but not now. I behold him, but not near. A star shall come forth from Jacob. A scepter shall rise from Israel." A scepter shall rise in and of himself from Israel.

Now, if you're a Jew, outside of Abraham, Moses is your guy, right? I mean, you and Moses are, you know, same two peas in a pod. You understand this. So you understand Numbers 24:17 and then you go all the way to the end of the Old Testament book of Malachi, Malachi 4, verse number 2. It says this: "But for you who fear my name, the Son of righteousness" – now we know that Christ is the Son S-O-N of righteousness, but he's also the sun S-U-N of righteousness. "The Sun of righteousness will rise with healing in his wings."

Two very prominent verses in the Old Testament that speak clearly about how this Messiah, who is a prophet greater than Moses, who will have a scepter in his hand, will arise from Israel. And this Messiah, who's called the Sun of righteousness, will rise with healing in his wings. He rises by himself. With no help from his genealogy, no help from anything other than the fact that God has prepared a body for him. And he would be in the order of Melchizedek. And he would be the priest king.

In fact, all you got to do is go back to Jeremiah 23:5 and 6, Zechariah 6:12 and 13. We know that the branch of Messiah will be the Lord of righteousness. And the Lord of righteousness will rise to the priesthood, ascend his throne, and rule over Israel. So Zacharias, in Luke's Gospel, the first chapter, when he realizes that his son John has been born, he says this, verse 78: "Because of the tender mercy of our God, with which the sunrise from on high will visit us." A quotation from Malachi 4, verse number 2. That this Sun will rise. He will come forth from Israel.

And that's why Peter calls him the day star that arises in your hearts. That's why in Revelation 22, verse number 16, Christ says, "I am the bright and morning star. I am the star that rises in the morning. I am the brightest that comes forth in the morning." Same thing said in Revelation 2, verse number 28. So everything about this verse would scream to those in the synagogue that this is a promise of the coming Messiah. That's why he would be superior over the inferior priesthood, because he truly is the king who is the priest.

And so the writer of Hebrews says, "And this is clearer still, if another, another of a different kind of priest arises according to the likeness of Melchizedek, who has become such not on the basis of a law of physical requirement, but according to the power of an indestructible life." In other words, he didn't become priest because of a physical requirement.

Remember, we told you last week, or the last two weeks, when it comes to Melchizedek, he was a priest of a different order other than the Aaronic priesthood because everything about the Aaronic priesthood was all about pedigree, it was all hereditary. And so there were 14 different qualifications, and they were all physical qualifications when it came to being a priest in Israel. There were no spiritual qualifications given because you can be a bum in the tribe of Levi and be a priest. As long as you met all the physical requirements. And if you go back to Leviticus 21 and you begin to read through all those requirements, it's amazing. But they didn't focus on the character of a person. The quality of the person, the integrity of the person. It didn't focus on the inner man.

And that's why Christ in the order of Melchizedek is a superior priest. That's why it is absolutely sufficient because it says very clearly that he became not on the basis, a priest, not on the basis of a law, a physical requirement, but according to the power of an indestructible life, an indissoluble life. It's not that he wouldn't die, no, but that he would die and that he would rise again.

And how did Jesus rise from the dead? Simply because he said, "No one takes my life from me. I lay it down on my own initiative, and if I lay it down, I will take it up again." As he became priest because he would arise by himself, so too, when he died as a sacrifice, he would arise by himself. Because he has an indestructible life. He has an indissoluble life. It is an eternal life. It is a quality of life. It is the inner man that makes him who he is. And nobody in the tribe of Levi could do that. No one could accomplish that feat, but Christ.

And so he says, "For it is attested of him, 'You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.'" Second time he quotes it from Psalm 110 and verse number 4, which is all messianic, and the Jews know that. Before that, it was Genesis chapter 14, three verses there. So four verses in the Old Testament set the framework for an entire theology in the New Testament.

And so, therefore, he says, "For on the one hand, there is a setting aside of a former commandment because of its weakness and uselessness." In other words, the old covenant was weak. The old covenant was useless. Not useless in the fact of it not accomplishing what God wanted it to accomplish. It did. But it wasn't, in the fullest sense, giving you access to the presence of the living God. It was useless to do that, because there's one mediator between God and man, that's the man, Christ Jesus. Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man comes to the Father, but by me. I'm the only way to get there."

And so the old covenant couldn't get you into the presence of God. But yet Christ says, "I can get you there because I am that one sacrifice that atones completely for your sins." And so he says, "For the law made nothing perfect." The law didn't give any access to God. You were separated from God by that veil that was there. And the priests, they were in essence separated too because they could only go in once a year, the high priest.

"And on the other hand, there is a bringing in of a better hope through which we draw near to God." A better hope, which is Christ. And all that was anticipated. And when you read the Old Testament, there was this longing that was unmet, that kept people focused, that kept them moving toward the arrival of the Messiah. That kept them energized from day to day. They were looking to have what the rituals and ceremonies could not give them. Access to the presence of God. Full access, because there would be full atonement. And with that full atonement, full access, with that full access, full assurance. That they would be in the presence of God.

That's why Paul says that all the promises of God are yes in Jesus. They all are. Without Jesus, there is no access to the Father. There just isn't. And so when we gather together on the first Sunday of the month to partake of the Lord's table, it's that constant reminder that it's that one sacrifice. Because if the blood of bulls and goats could help us attain access to God, we wouldn't need the one sacrifice. The one sacrifice that was promised, that when it came, would tear the veil and the temple in two and open up access to all who will come to him.

That's why the Bible says, "Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved."

Let me pray with you. Father, we thank you for this great day. What a beautiful opportunity you give us to be reminded once again that you are sufficient, that you are superior, that you are supreme. Because, Lord, you are our God. And we are so grateful. And as we partake this morning of the Lord's table, may we be reminded once again that without the shedding of blood, there is no remission of sins. We thank you, Lord, that not just have our sins been covered, they have been removed, separated from us. That now, because they have been, we can truly stand in the presence of the living God. For that, we are grateful. In Jesus' name, amen.