A PRIEST FOREVER (Hebrews 4:14-5:10 October 12, 2003)

A PRIEST FOREVER (Hebrews 4:14-5:10 October 12, 2003) The historian Josephus gives us an account of one of the great tragedies in Jewish history. In the first century, Israel was under the iron fist of Rome. But one group of Jews, the Zealots were seeking any means to free Israel. In November of 66 A.D. against all odds, they won an impressive victory over the Roman Twelfth Legion commanded by Cestius Gallus. But, this only served to infuriate the Romans and they determined to eradicate the rebellious city of Jerusalem. Rome laid siege to Jerusalem. The latter days of the siege were indeed terrible. The famine had became so bad in the city that mothers killed, roasted and ate their own children. Finally, as the Roman forces overwhelmed the city, the Jews panicked and began to kill each other indiscriminately. Fathers tearfully slaughtered their own families to prevent them from falling into the hands of the Romans. Dead bodies were everywhere littering the shores and bloating in the sun. Roman soldiers captured those who attempted to escape and crucified them at the rate of 500 per day. By the time it was over, 1.1 million Jews in Palestine were dead and only 97,000 from Jerusalem were left to be taken off into captivity. And throughout the whole empire another million were sent into slavery. Initially, Titus gave orders to spare the Temple, but when the whole city including the Temple was ravaged by fire, he commanded that it be demolished. Josephus notes that the Temple and the city were so thoroughly dug up and destroyed that there was nothing left to make anyone who came later to ever think it had been inhabited let alone that one of the most magnificent buildings had rested there. Only the foundation remained. When the dust finally settled, the Temple was gone, the priesthood annihilated and even the very records that showed which tribe the Jews belonged to were destroyed. Now imagine that you were one of the surviving Jews. Can you imagine what it would mean to have no Temple and no priesthood? How do you get right with God? Without sacrifices, without priests, without a Temple, without Yom Kippur how do you get right with God? That is a problem the Jews have faced right to this day. If you go to the local synagogue and ask a rabbi how does he get right with God? he will tell you that as a covenant child of God he need only keep the Law. But since the Law requires sacrifice and the shedding of blood he knows that he can t keep those parts of the Law. 1

That is why a radical group of orthodox Jews want to destroy the mosque on the Dome of the Rock and rebuild the Temple and reinstitute the priesthood and sacrifices. But, what every Jew should have realised is that the priesthood of Aaron was always meant to be temporary. In the Scriptures God had revealed that another priesthood a superior, enduring and everlasting priesthood would replace the priesthood of Aaron. And in the book of Hebrews, the author of Hebrews picks up on this. Most likely Hebrews was written before the fall of the Temple in Jerusalem. But the fact that it points out that the priesthood of Aaron would be replaced tells us why God allowed the destruction of the Temple and the priesthood in 70 AD. And what every Jew should have realised is that in the coming of Christ, the true priesthood moved from Aaron to Christ. But even more importantly, every Jew and indeed everyone should realise why the priesthood had to change. Because the old priesthood of Aaron could not deal with the sin of man. It required the new priesthood of Christ to deal with the sin of man. Remember that from chapter 3 onwards, the focus of this book has been on Jesus as a faithful High Priest who saved His people. What the author of Hebrews does now is to show the superiority of the priesthood of Jesus. The first thing he does is show us how and why Jesus became our Great High Priest. In these verses the author of Hebrews gives us the two qualifications that made Christ our Great High Priest and how we should respond to these qualifications. Hebrews 4:14-16: Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin. Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. First, Christ is our Great High Priest because He has passed through the heavens. Remember, what marked Jesus out as both the divine Son of God and the Great High Priest was His death and resurrection. In terms of Jesus as the High Priest His task is to build the house of God, to make the great sacrifice for our sins, to intercede with God on our behalf. 2

And it is His death and resurrection that qualifies Him to do this. This reference to Jesus passing through the heavens talks about His ascension to the right hand of God in heaven. He has died and risen again and ascended to glory which qualifies Him to fulfil the role of a divine High Priest in saving us. Therefore, we need to hold fast our confession. The point is this. Throughout the book of Hebrews the death, resurrection and ascension of Christ become pivotal. We have already seen many allusions and references to them. They are meant to b beacons that point out who the Messiah is, who the true Son of God is, who the divine High Priest is. You find this throughout the New Testament. In the Gospel of John the great authenticating miracle is the resurrection of Christ. Repeatedly in Acts Peter, Paul and others point to the resurrection and ascension of Christ as proof He is the Messiah. You find it throughout Paul. Listen to how he speaks of Christ in Romans 1:3-4: [He is the One] who was born of a descendant of David according to the flesh, who was declared the Son of God with power by the resurrection from the dead. Revelation introduces Jesus as the One who is and who was and who is to come the firstborn from the dead. And why this is so crucial is that as we saw in chapter 1 the Old Testament anticipated that One would come who would rise from the dead and this One would be the Son of God and the faithful High Priest to come. For a Jew who accepts the Scriptures as the Word of God the resurrection and ascension of Christ is a beacon crying out THIS ONE is the Messiah. And even for someone without a knowledge of the Old Testament the resurrection and ascension of Christ is a powerful sign that this is no ordinary prophet. We know where Mohammad s tomb is. We know Buddha s bones lie buried. We know Moses lies buried in the valley in the land of Moab. But, Jesus rose from the dead. Jesus ascended to glory. Jesus is God. There is a second qualification that made Jesus a divine High Priest. He shared in our humanity. This is a recurring them in Hebrews. One reason that Christ became man is so that He could sympathize with our weaknesses. 3

Hebrews 2:10: For it was fitting for Him, for whom are all things, and through whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to perfect the author of their salvation through sufferings. Similarly Hebrews 5:8: Although He was a Son, He learned obedience from the things which He suffered. Here we encounter hints about a crucial aspect of the incarnation. Yes God became man to show us what our Creator is like and to die for us. But, there are other reasons that Jesus left the splendour of heaven for the squalor of earth. Look again at Hebrews 4:15: For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin. Think about what it means to be human in this fallen world. Think about man after the fall. For the first Adam and Eve would experience hunger and thirst they who had known only plenty. For the first time they encounter the traumas of the common cold they who had known only perfect health. For the first time they know fear when they stand on the edge of a cliff they who had not known mortality. For the first time they know the anguish of separation from God they who had walked and talked with God. For the first time they know the heartache of temptation and sin they who had known only obedience. And Adam who is hungry prays a prayer that is so different to any he ever prayed in Eden: Oh Lord, help me I am hungry. But then it strikes him. Can God even comprehend this prayer? God cannot go hungry. He does not need food. He cannot even choose to deprive Himself of food. Can God understand anything he is going through? God cannot experience pain, fear, disease, temptation. The very fabric of who we are in our fallen humanness. Can God comprehend anything about human life as it is after the fall? I have been hungry I have never experienced famine. My children have been ill I have never sat by a bedside watching a beloved child die. I have been lonely I have never been rejected and cast out. 4

I have had pain but nothing like the crushing pains of life so many have experienced. I can barely understand, I can barely empathise with the traumas so many men and women of this world go through Yet I am human. I have tasted a very mild variety of these traumas. I know a little of what they are going through. But, how can God understand His creation? God can t understand when I stub my toe let alone when I suffer my coronary. God can t understand when I look at a woman in lust, let alone when if I succumb and take her in adultery. So how can God be a priest who intercedes for us and deals with us in our weakness? So now: For it was fitting for Him, to be perfected through sufferings. He learned obedience from the things which He suffered. We have a high priest who can sympathize with our weaknesses. One incredible reason for the incarnation was so that God could understand what it is to be human and in this way fulfil one of the functions of a priest ministering to men in their weakness. Christ cam to this world and He hungered and thirsted. Forty days in the desert without food. He collapsed exhausted in the back of a boat. He suffered. He suffered as no man ever suffered. He was rejected by men and even forsaken by God. Christ gave up more than anyone. Christ suffered more than any one. Christ knows the weakness of humanity. Because of this, verse 16: Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. How can Christ, how can God, understand when I give in and lie, blow my top or hoard my wealth? How can God know what I am going through in this battle against the flesh? While it is true that Christ s humanity was sinless. Christ understands sin. Not by succumbing to sin. But by being the victim of sin. Think of the life of our Lord. He lived the greatest life in the history of creation. He obeyed God, He taught truth, He offered life, He lived life to the full. Yet this incredible man had the full fury of human sin descend on Him. 5

Jesus understood sin. He saw first-hand the effect of wars, anger, murder, lust. He wept over disease and death. He dined with prostitutes, revolutionaries, and sinners of every stripe. He touched lepers and Gentiles. He confronted pride, greed, sex, lies and betrayal. And not only did He live among sin and sinners. Though He was without sin, the sin of man fell upon Him. His family called Him mentally unbalanced. His disciples failed to grasp who He was and why He came. His closest friend denied Him not once but three times. One of His chosen men who had followed Him for three years betrayed Him for a handful of silver. The leaders of the nation found the One without sin worthy of death. The nation that had adored Him days before chose to spare a criminal over Christ. He was punched, kicked, lashed, spat on. He had His beard plucked, His face lacerated. Then the sin of man dressed Him in royal robes with a crown of thorns to scorn Him. The robe clung to the clotting blood on His back but was then torn away reopening His wounds. He carried a cross through the streets while the crowds tormented Him. Finally, sin punched crude iron nails through the flesh, tendon, nerve and bone of the One who was without sin and He was deserted on the tree of shame His disciples fled and His Father forsook Him. And the sinless One who created the universe breathed His last. He was tormented and killed by the sin of His own creation. In these sufferings He was perfected. In these sufferings He learned obedience. In these sufferings He came to sympathise with our weaknesses. Christ understands sin. None of us can ever utter But, God You just don t understand. Christ our mediator, seated at the right hand of the Father in heaven He knows what it is like to be human. He knows what it is like to thirst, to suffer, to be rejected, to be scorned, to be betrayed to die. He knows what your life is like. Therefore we can draw near to Him who understands our weakness and humanity and receive mercy and grace. Christ became man so that He would understand our weakness. He died and rose again so that He could overcome our weakness and perfect us through His mercy and grace. Augustine described it this way: 6

Man s maker was made man that He, Ruler of the stars, might nurse at His mother s breast; that the Bread might hunger, the Fountain thirst, the Light sleep, the Way be tired on its journey; that the Truth might be accused of false witnesses, the Teacher be beaten with whips, the Foundation be suspended on wood; that Strength might grow weak,; that the Healer might be wounded, that the Life might die. 1 Having shown us how and why Christ became our Great High Priest He now shows us how and why that priesthood surpasses the priesthood of Aaron. He begins by showing us what priests in the line of Aaron did. Basically, priests were to offer gifts and sacrifices on behalf of men. Chapter 5 verse 1: For every high priest taken from among men is appointed on behalf of men in things pertaining to God, in order to offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins. In particular, these priests offered sacrifice for the ignorant and misguided. Verse 2: He can deal gently with the ignorant and misguided. This is referring to sins committed in error or unwittingly. Numbers 15:28: The priest shall make atonement before the Lord for the person who goes astray when he sins unintentionally, making atonement for him that he may be forgiven. But there was no such provision for deliberate lawbreakers. But, then the author of Hebrews moves on to the limitations of the human priesthood. The end of verse 2 and into verse 3: Since he himself also is beset with weakness and because of it he is obligated to offer sacrifices for sins, as for the people, so also for himself. Priests were human. They sinned. They had to offer sacrifices for their own sin. On the day of atonement the high priest had to offer a bullock as a sin offering for himself and his family before he would make atonement for the sins of the people. This point is one the author of Hebrews will return. Because the priests even the High Priest are sinners they cannot deal with sin. In fact they even have to make atonement for their own sins. 1 Quoted in Philip Yancey, Reaching For the Invisible God (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2000) p. 136. 7

What is needed is a High Priest who is sinless. Look over to Hebrews 7:26-27 here we find of Christ: For it was fitting for us to have such a high priest, holy, innocent, undefiled, separated from sinners and exalted above the heavens; who does not need daily, like those high priests, to offer up sacrifices, first for His own sins and then for the sins of the people, because this He did once for all when He offered up Himself. The priesthood of Aaron had to be superseded because they were sinners could not deal with sin. Chapter 5 verse 4: And no one takes the honour to himself, but receives it when he is called by God, even as Aaron was. No one volunteers for the position of priest. God himself said from what tribe a priest may come and what families within that tribe can serve Him. And then there were certain requirements of age and physical wholeness. Aaron was called out and set apart by God as the High Priest. The point being that if a priesthood replaces that of Aaron it must not be someone who appoints themself but someone appointed by God. And that leads us to Christ. Verses 5 and 6: So also Christ did not glorify Himself so as to become a high priest, but He who said to Him, You are My Son, Today I have begotten You ; just as He says also in another passage, You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek. Christ did not appoint Himself. It is God who raised Christ from the dead. It is God who in this way appointed Him His Son and a priest of the order of Melchizedek. Melchizedek shows up only twice in the Old Testament Genesis 14 and Psalm 110. In Genesis 14 he shows up after Abraham returns from the slaughter of the kings. And in the Hebrew there are all sorts of links between chapter 14 and chapter 15 where the Abrahamic covenant is described. You are meant to read them together. Melchizedek is the king of Salem almost certainly what later became Jerusalem. Abraham returns from the battle with the kings who raided and took Lot. 8

The king of Sodom is quite content for Abraham to keep the plunder but Abraham only wants to keep enough for the young men who went with him. He doesn t want this wicked city state to be able to say that they made Abraham rich. But our attention is on Melchizedek the King of Salem who is there. Abraham pays him a tithe a tenth of all the plunder. Salem is peace. Melchizedek means king of righteousness. But of note is that he has no genealogy. Everyone in Genesis who is important has their genealogies spelled out. As well as Abraham, there were others alive at that time who worshipped the true God who had been told of the faith of Noah after the flood. Job was one. Melchizedek was another. Melchizedek is king of a city state. Abraham paid him a tithe and Melchizedek blessed him. All of this happens in two verses. Then you never hear of this man again for a millennium. A millennium goes past, and then in an oracular Psalm, King David writes in Psalm 110:4: The Lord has sworn and will not change His mind, You are a priest forever According to the order of Melchizedek. By this time, the Levitical priesthood was installed. But here in this oracular Psalm a Messianic Psalm David writes the Lord says to my Lord. David s Lord can only be God. And the Lord addresses this Psalm to David s Lord who can only be the Messianic King. It is an enthronement Psalm. But as well as the coming divine King this Psalm also promises that this Messianic King would also be a priest in the order of Melchizedek. Now how Melchizedek comes to have a priesthood we come to in chapter 7 so I won t go into that now. But, Psalm 110 was quite a shock. No human King could be a priest, because priests came from the order of Levi and kings came from Judah. But here there is a promise that a king would come a divine king who would also be a priest not of the order of Aaron but of the order of Melchizedek. 9

And this one would be divine his priesthood would last forever. We are going to deal with Melchizedek in more detail in chapter 7 the point for tonight is that the Scriptures promised that a priesthood would come that would supersede Aaron and that this priest would be divine a priest forever. Verse 7: In the days of His flesh, He offered up both prayers and supplications with loud crying and tears to the One able to save Him from death, and He was heard because of His piety. The key to this verse is the word translated piety or reverent submission or godly fear. The human priests had to make an offering for themselves. But Christ was godly, Christ was obedient. He did the will of His Father and this earned him the right to intercede for us. In His earthly life He offered up both prayers and supplications with loud crying and tears to the One able to save Him from death. God is the one with whom we must do. God could have saved Jesus if it was His will. He is the One Christ has earned the right to intercede with on our behalf. Verses 8-10: Although He was a Son, He learned obedience from the things which He suffered. And having been made perfect, He became to all those who obey Him the source of eternal salvation, being designated by God as a high priest according to the order of Melchizedek. In this fallen world if you are obedient to God you will suffer. Jesus was perfectly obedient and He suffered the ultimate price He paid with His life. But in His obedience and suffering - He became to all those who obey Him the source of eternal salvation. Because as one designated by God as a high priest according to the order of Melchizedek he could do what no other priest could do. He could become a perfect priest and a perfect sacrifice. What does all of this mean for us? Take a step back from the detail of the text and look at the big picture. 10

We know that in eternity past out of the love relationship of the Father and the Son the plan of salvation was determined. But here we begin to see a portion of the complexity of what that required. To redeem us, to become our Saviour Christ had to become human to taste pain and humiliation and temptation and suffering and death. He had to be raised again to become the divine King and Great High Priest. And every one of these themes had to be set in motion. When Abraham met Melchizedek two thousand years earlier God was working one theme kings would come through Abraham and another theme a high priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek. And these themes would be fleshed out in Israel and finally in the true Israel. Even before the priesthood of Aaron was instituted God had determined it would be surpassed by a greater priesthood a priest forever. A holy priest who could do what Aaron could not become the source of eternal salvation. The Temple is gone, the priesthood of Aaron has passed but this is a blessing. The Jews gather at the wailing wall to lament what is gone. But we can tell them Wail no more for a better priesthood and a better Priest has come a priest who can do what Aaron could not a priest who was spoken of in the Word Jesus Christ. Our salvation was not an easy thing. It required a plan from eternity past. It required the development and working of themes in history. It required God to become man. It required the power of the resurrection. And God did all of this because of His love for those He calls. Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. 11