#DailyDevotion Jesus Is Our Perfect High Priest
Heb. 7 26 Here is the High Priest we needed – holy, innocent, spotless, separated from sinners, and risen higher than the heavens, 27Who doesn’t need to bring sacrifices every day like those high priests, first for His own sins, then for the sins of the people. He did this only once when He sacrificed Himself. 28The Law appointed weak men to be high priests, but when God speaks with an oath later than the Law, He appoints the Son, Who was made perfect forever.
So the Levitical priesthood was the best God could deal with until the fulfillment of time. They were only holy because God declared them so. They were only ritually spotless because of preparations from the Law. They were always sinners like the rest of us who offered up sin offerings for himself before offering them up for others.
Our High Priest, the one we needed, is Jesus of Nazareth. He is Holy in Himself. He is God in flesh and holy by nature. He is innocent and spotless. There is no fault with Him. He was tempted in every way just as we are yet did not sin. He even asked His enemies to charge Him with any sin if they could and they could not. He is separated from sinners in as much as He never joined them, participating in their sinful behaviors. He has risen into heaven and sits at the right hand of God interceding for us night and day.
He does not need to bring sacrifices every day like the Levitical high priests, for his sins and the sins of the people. The author is probably conflating the day of atonement and the daily sacrifices. Jesus, just once, on the cross offered up the one perfect sacrifice, Himself, on the cross. He died once for sin and having risen from the dead will never die again. He has gone into the heavenly Holy of Holies and poured out upon the mercy seat of God, when He died, His own blood which made atonement for our sins. His blood propitiated the Father whose holiness and righteousness says, the soul that sins must die. Since He is God and Man, His lifeblood superabundantly enough for sins of the people up to the point of His death and for all people, in all places and in all times. You cannot sin so much that there isn’t enough of His blood to cover it.
The Law of Moses, the Old Covenant, had weak men like ourselves be high priests who had to offer continually night and day, year after year, sacrifices for sin. But the LORD God made an oath, after the Law was instituted, to establish a new priesthood and a new Law. Remember, to instituted a new priesthood, the old covenant had to be abrogated and a new covenant established. In this New Covenant, God appoints His Son, Jesus Christ, as our High Priest forever. When it says He was made perfect forever, you should hear complete. It is the same as the word Jesus used on the cross, “It is finished.” In time, Jesus needed to complete, fulfill the things of the Law. He needed to fulfill everything written of Him in Moses, the prophets and the writings. Having completed all those things He is now our perfect, complete, fulfilled High Priest forever. As our High Priest, Jesus is always interceding for us according to the will of the Father. His prayers there are always answered with, “Yes, yes, it shall be so.” We need not fear there is not enough sacrifice for our sins. Such thinking is blasphemous to the work and person of Jesus Christ. We can always be assured and have a certain hope, our sins have been taken care of by our High Priest, according to the order of Melchizedek, Jesus Christ of Nazareth.
Heavenly Father, we give You thanks for sending Your Son, Jesus to be our High Priest. Always look upon His blood, forgive us our sins, and give us new life through Your Holy Spirit. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.