Title: Our High Priest Who Was Perfected Forever
(42) Our High Priest made perfect forever
(Hebrews 7:26-28)
Verse 26 says, “We are worthy of such a high priest.” This high priest refers to the full high priesthood of Jesus Christ. Because he has no death, he is a priest who is not often divided like the priests on this earth. He is a priest who is without sin and has no need to offer a sin offering for him. He is a priest who is always at the right hand of God to intercede for us and who can completely save us. It is an indescribable blessing to us that such a person is sitting at the right hand of the throne of God as our high priest. Such a high priest is worthy of us.
1. The Priests Under the First Covenant
The law said that those with weaknesses were made priests. As high priests, they could enter the Most Holy and offer a ransom offering, but not because of their holiness or righteousness. They could not be holy because they were one of the sinners condemned by the law. Therefore, before entering the Most Holy, they had to make a sin offering for themselves in the blood of a calf.
Under the law, the priests said they had evil. Evil exists in the heart of a sinner. The fact that a person who coexists with evil has the office of a priest before God speaks to the fact that that office is not perfect. Not only that, but they are the ones who have filth. They have a body that cannot achieve righteousness, and they have a weak body that cannot help committing all kinds of human sins.
2. Priests under a better covenant
But our priest, Jesus Christ, is not like a priest under the law. He is perfect in every way. Because he is light, his holiness is perfect. He is equal to God, and because he is the substance of God, his essence is completely holy.
There is no evil in him. To say that there is no evil means that there is no sin. He is the Word who became flesh and came into the world, so evil cannot exist. He is not tainted with evil because he has never sinned in the world. There is no defilement in him. He is away from sinners. Even when He was on earth, He existed as a person of heavenly life. Because he was sinless, he was not subject to sin. After his resurrection, he ascended into heaven, effectively ascending to a holy place.
Jesus does not need to work as our priest on this earth. Because there is no need to slaughter sheep, there is no need to slaughter animals and offer them to the altar. The priests of this world sacrificed a calf for their sins, but Jesus does not need to do that. Because he is without sin.
The priests on this earth went into the Most Holy and stood before the ark, but Jesus will be before the throne of God, not the Most Holy on earth. Under the law, priests were only allowed to enter the Holy of Holies once a year. But Jesus does not need to go in only once a year. He is equal with God, for He is God. You are always there.
Since we do not need the sacrifices or sacrificial systems that were under the law, our priests must not necessarily be the priests of the Old Testament times.
We are people whose sins have been forgiven through Jesus Christ. His blood, once shed, atoned for our sins once and for all. We no longer need to slaughter sheep, calves, or goats and shed their blood for our sins. Because the blood of Christ still lives as our sin offering. Therefore, there is no need for a priest to slaughter sheep and offer sacrifices for our sins.
When Jesus finished his atoning work on the cross, he said that it was finished. At this time the veil of the sanctuary was torn, and a new and living way was opened into the most holy of heaven. Therefore, it is of no use to us as a priest who enters the Holy of Holies on earth, where the veil is closed.
We already have perfect righteousness through Christ. We are already freed from the curse of the law and freed from the condemnation of the law. With such marvelous qualifications, there is no need for us to sacrifice an animal of no value through the priests under the law.
Conclusion: The reason why such a high priest is worthy of us is that he is holy, blameless, undefiled, separated from sinners, and exalted above heaven. The only priest who is worthy of us is Jesus Christ, who is such a priest. Because he is our priest, by his merits we can go boldly before the throne in heaven. The belief and conviction that we have such a high priest gives us bold faith to repent before God for our sins. I hope you all put your hope in this person and become blessed saints who go before this person to make a request.