May 20, 2002
BaptistWay Bible Study for Texas lesson for June 23
Jesus intercedes before God as our high priest
___By Gerald Aalbers
___Hebrews 7:11-17, 26-8:13
___7:11 If perfection could have been attained through the Levitical priesthood (for on the basis of it the law was given to the people), why was there still need for another priest to come--one in the order of Melchizedek, not in the order of Aaron? 12 For when there is a change of the priesthood, there must also be a change of the law. 13 He of whom these things are said belonged to a different tribe, and no one from that tribe has ever served at the altar. 14 For it is clear that our Lord descended from Judah, and in regard to that tribe Moses said nothing about priests. 15 And what we have said is even more clear if another priest like Melchizedek appears, 16 one who has become a priest not on the basis of a regulation as to his ancestry but on the basis of the power of an indestructible life. 17 For it is declared: "You are a priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek." ...
___26 Such a high priest meets our need--one who is holy, blameless, pure, set apart from sinners, exalted above the heavens. 27 Unlike the other high priests, he does not need to offer sacrifices day after day, first for his own sins, and then for the sins of the people. He sacrificed for their sins once for all when he offered himself. 28 For the law appoints as high priests men who are weak; but the oath, which came after the law, appointed the Son, who has been made perfect forever.
___8:1 The point of what we are saying is this: We do have such a high priest, who sat down at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in heaven, 2 and who serves in the sanctuary, the true tabernacle set up by the Lord, not by man.
___3 Every high priest is appointed to offer both gifts and sacrifices, and so it was necessary for this one also to have something to offer. 4 If he were on earth, he would not be a priest, for there are already men who offer the gifts prescribed by the law. 5 They serve at a sanctuary that is a copy and shadow of what is in heaven. This is why Moses was warned when he was about to build the tabernacle: "See to it that you make everything according to the pattern shown you on the mountain." 6 But the ministry Jesus has received is as superior to theirs as the covenant of which he is mediator is superior to the old one, and it is founded on better promises.
___7 For if there had been nothing wrong with that first covenant, no place would have been sought for another. 8 But God found fault with the people and said: "The time is coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah. 9 It will not be like the covenant I made with their forefathers when I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt, because they did not remain faithful to my covenant, and I turned away from them, declares the Lord. 10 This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after that time, declares the Lord. I will put my laws in their minds and write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. 11 No longer will a man teach his neighbor, or a man his brother, saying, 'Know the Lord,' because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest. 12 For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more."
___13 By calling this covenant "new," he has made the first one obsolete; and what is obsolete and aging will soon disappear.
___Sharon Rainwater is a Floydada farmer's wife and mother of three. Some years ago, she went with her family on vacation to South Padre Island. While playing in the surf with her oldest son, Matt, who at the time was 14, they noticed the best waves appeared to be near a sandbar in what appeared to them as close by.
___Since it looked easy to get to, they decided to swim out to the sandbar. That meant swimming across some very deep waters. As they neared the sandbar, the power of the surf overwhelmed them. They struggled and struggled but the waves kept pushing them away.
___Nearing the point of exhaustion and thinking they were both going to drown, a wave crashed over her and spun her around. As she bobbed in the water, she caught sight of the shore. It dawned on her that instead of fighting the water, they should use its strength to get back to shore. They both relaxed, floated and the surf carried them to the shore's safety.
___The surf that had been their worst enemy became their savior.
___Our lesson reminds us who Jesus is--our high priest. Jesus passed through the ultimate curtain, the heavens, to gain access to God for us. Whereas the water's force was a saving grace for Sharon, Jesus is the spiritual living water for those who trust him.
___Who was Melchizedek?
___The concept that Jesus is our high priest is woven throughout Hebrews. It is first mentioned in 2:17 and again in 3:1. The significance of that office is introduced in the section 4:14 through 5:10. By the time we reach 7:1, we have already been informed twice (5:10 and 6:20) that Jesus has become a high priest in the order of Melchizedek.
___Just who was that mysterious fellow named Melchizedek? His name occurs 10 times in the Bible--once in Genesis (Genesis 14:18-20), once in Psalms (Psalm 110:4) and eight times in Hebrews.
___When Abram was returning from rescuing his nephew Lot from captivity, Melchizedek, who was priest of God Most High at Salem, met him and blessed him, and in return Abram gave him a tenth of all the spoils. The Genesis account is so brief--just 47 words--that there are more distinct statements about Jesus' high priestly ministry in Hebrews than words about Melchizedek in Genesis. Our writer employs a rabbinic argument to prove Melchizedek is greater than Levi.
___First, the greater person blessed the lesser person--Melchizedek blessed Abram. Second, the lesser person gave the tithe to the greater--Abram gave the tithe to Melchizedek. Therefore, Melchi-zedek was the greater person.
___When Abram met Melchizedek, Levi wasn't even born, and furthermore, that meeting took place before God's covenant with Abraham (Genesis 15) and even before circumcision (Genesis 17). Therefore, because Levi wasn't even born yet, and Melchizedek was greater than Abraham, Melchizedek would be greater than Levi. Since Jesus is a priest forever like Melchizedek, Jesus is a greater high priest than Aaron, and the way of Christ is superior to Judaism.
___Jesus is superior as high priest
___Perfection (7:11) is often used in the sense of maturity or completion, but here it means coming to faith in Christ or salvation. If the old order had been effective in bringing people to God, there wouldn't have been a need for another priest. The Aaronic priesthood could not bring men to God. It was never intended to do so. But what the old order could not do, Jesus did.
___When there is a change in the priesthood, there is a change in the law (7:12). What was changed? Well, God's moral law, which is part of his very nature, could not change. If anything, that moral law was strengthened by Jesus because he came to fulfill the law.
___What changed were the required rituals and ceremonies of the old covenant. The sacrifices described in Leviticus were removed, and God guaranteed their end with the destruction of Jerusalem in A.D. 70. The "former regulation" was set aside (7:18) because the law never saved anyone (7:19) and consequently, a better, completely sufficient way was inaugurated (7:19). A new covenant was even brought in (8:7).
___Some biblical episodes illustrate that setting aside. On the Mount of Transfiguration, Moses and Elijah appeared with Jesus. Peter was overwhelmed, but God said, "This is my son, listen to him" (Matthew 17:5). It's as if God were saying, "Moses and Elijah are indeed great men, but this is my son, hear him and him alone."
___Think about it, the people were fenced off from God at the foot of Mount Sinai. A curtain in the temple prevented people from getting to God. But Jesus saves completely (7:25) those who come to God through him, and we can approach the throne of grace with confidence (4:16).
___The Hebrews needed to hear this message. Some believers wanted to hang on to their old worship practices. Still others wanted to make those old practices mandatory for everyone. In this section, the Jews are told that old system is gone forever. It has been replaced permanently. It is obsolete (8:13).
___When the Bible says, "The point of what we are saying is this" (8:1), you better take notice. The point is Jesus is our high priest. Jesus is the "another" priest described in 7:11 and 7:15. That word translated as "another" comes from the Greek "heteros" meaning completely different. Not just another like the other, but different.
___Jesus came from the tribe of Judah, and as early as Genesis 49:10 the Bible says he would. He didn't become a priest because of his ancestry, but by his life (7:16). God called him (5:4-6) and designated him to be a priest in the order of Melchizedek.
___Jesus won't be replaced, because he lives forever (7:3, 8, 16, 24). He became high priest because of an oath from God (Psalms 110:4; Hebrews 7:21). He is the guarantee of a better covenant (7:22). He saves completely (7:25); he is holy, blameless, pure and set apart from the heavens (7:26).
___Jesus doesn't have to offer any more sacrifices, because he sacrificed for sins once for all (7:27, 9:12, 26; 10:2, 10, 12; 1 Peter 3:18). He sat down at the right hand of God (8:1) indicating his atoning work is completed, but even at that location he always intercedes (7:25) and sometimes, he even stands (Acts 7:55). He serves in the true sanctuary of the Lord (8:2) and had to have something to offer in God's presence (8:3), namely, his own blood (9:12; 10:19; 13:12).
___That's merely a brief summary of what he has done. There are more distinct statements of his unique priestly acts in Hebrews than there are words in Genesis that describe Melchizedek. If that doesn't bring a holy "Wow!" out of you, you don't have one in you. Furthermore, Melchizedek is the first priest mentioned in the Bible, and Jesus is the last one. It's just another way our Lord is the first and the last, the Alpha and the Omega.___
___A better covenant
___The comparisons in Hebrews continue with Jesus' ministry being superior to that of the Levitical priesthood (8:6) and the new covenant better than the old (8:7).
___Hebrews 7:8-12 is a direct quote of Jeremiah 31:31-34. Jeremiah served God during the declining days of the southern kingdom leading up to and into the exile. His message went largely unheeded, but it is rich and pregnant with significance for those who do hear the message.
___One of those areas is the new covenant. "A time is coming, declares the Lord" (Hebrews 8:8), when he would make a new covenant. It would not be like the old one, written on tables of stone, but written on hearts.
___The priesthood of the individual believer comes shining through in the statement, "they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest" (8:11). It's that way because Jesus gained our individual access to God when he tore down the curtain in the temple. Every one of us has equal access to God.
___Finally, the new covenant promised, "For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember there sins no more" (8:12). With the "once-for-all" time sacrifice of Jesus, God has removed our sins as far as the east is from the west (Psalm 103:12).
___This section concludes with the fact that God called this covenant "new." Our writer points out that when something is new, what it replaced is obsolete, and what is obsolete will soon disappear (8:13).
___If we assume that the book of Hebrews was written about A.D. 64, it would have been only six years before Titus destroyed the temple in Jerusalem. When the Holy Spirit inspires someone to say something "will soon disappear," we shouldn't be surprised when it happens.
___Is one religion just as good as another? Far from it. Jesus is the perfect high priest, a high priest forever in the order of Melchizedek. He prays for us. He offers forgiveness when we come to him with confession and repentance. He always lives to intercede to God for us. Wow! What a Savior!
Questions for thought and discussion
___Are you the type of person who hangs on to old physical possessions as long as possible before replacing them? Or do you like to trade-in and trade-up on a regular basis? Why?
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