Jesus the Priest-King

Hebrews 7:11-22

Main Idea: Jesus Christ is the perfectly sufficient Priest-King who has made a final, effective atonement for his people.

1. The Perfect Priesthood of the Son (7:11-12)
   1. Putting the priesthood in context
   2. The need for a greater high priest
2. The Royal Priesthood of the Son (7:13-14)
3. The Eternal Priesthood of the Son (7:15-18)
   1. The permanence of the perfect priest
   2. The inability of the law
4. A Better Hope in the Perfect Priest (7:19)
5. A Better Priest for a Better Covenant (7:20-22)

Imagine that a college student submits a paper to a professor in one of his classes. After reading the paper, the instructor decides that the paper should receive an A+. Is this paper truly as perfect as the grade implies? Even if you could not find a mistake on it, the paper is still not perfect because human beings, by definition, are not capable of perfection. The fall stains everything, even our greatest architectural designs or most amazing technological wonders. Nothing is impeccable. Nothing is perfect.

The word perfect is central to the meaning of this passage, but we must make sure that we are understanding the word in the way that the author of Hebrews is using it. Often we use the word perfect sloppily, sometimes even implying that we can reach a level of perfection this side of eternity. We describe people as being perfect. We describe certain achievements as being perfect. We use perfect much as we use better or best, as a comparative or superlative term instead of as a statement of objective fact.

The author of Hebrews, however, uses perfect according to the true sense of the word. Jesus is not simply a high priest who is more excellent in comparison to other high priests. He is the perfect high priest. When the author of Hebrews speaks about the perfection of Jesus (2:10; 5:9; 7:28), he does not mean that Jesus is merely better than previous high priests. Christ’s perfection is not merely a superlative category. It is an intrinsic attribute. It means that Jesus Christ, the perfect high priest, is true perfection in a way that only one who is both fully divine and fully human can embody. Moreover, the intrinsic perfection of Christ is the defining characteristic of his priestly ministry. An A+ paper is not perfect in the way Jesus’s priesthood is perfect. Christ’s priesthood is perfect because he, the God-man, is actually and objectively perfect.

The Perfect Priesthood of the Son

Hebrews 7:11-12

Putting the Priesthood in Context

This passage does not shock us like it should because we are so far removed from its original context. We need to understand what the writer is proclaiming in these verses. The author of Hebrews sets the superiority of Christ as our great high priest over the entire Levitical priesthood. He is proclaiming that Christ brings an end to the Levitical priesthood, the backbone of Jewish society and a major feature of God’s covenant with Israel.

The priesthood defined the Jewish people. God established it through the male heirs of the tribe of Levi. These descendants of Jacob had certain priestly duties to perform. Due to the weighty responsibility entrusted to the Levites, other tribes actually took up contributions to feed and care for them.

The particularity and preservation of the line of Levi was paramount to Israelite society. As the mediators between Israel and God, the Levitical priests represented the people of Israel before Yahweh. They were the people’s proxy. They also represented God back to the people through the fulfillment of their priestly duties. The writer of Hebrews declares that a greater priesthood exists than the one covenanted through the Levitical tribe. The priesthood of Jesus Christ is truly superior because Levi’s priesthood did not achieve perfection. As right and righteous as Levi’s priesthood was, it was imperfect. Thus, the Levitical priesthood could not accomplish the salvation of God’s people.

The Need for a Greater High Priest

The fact that so much of the Mosaic law concerned the Levites reveals the significance of their priesthood. Yet even though the Levitical priests were central to the Mosaic system, they were not capable of truly accomplishing the task of mediating between God and men. Israel would not have been waiting for a great high priest if the Levitical priesthood had been sufficient. There was, however, a need all along for a great high priest to perform one final act atoning for sin. Levitical priests were not to blame for the insufficiency of their priesthood. The very conception of the Levitical priesthood demonstrated the cause of its insufficiency. If the Levitical priesthood itself could obtain perfection, there would have been no need for another one to come. Melchizedek would not have needed to appear in Genesis 14. Furthermore, the reference to Melchizedek in Psalm 110 would be stripped of its meaning. More importantly, there would have been no need for the Messiah to come and serve as mediator between God and his people. The insufficiencies of the Levitical priesthood as an entire system stand as shadows to the fully sufficient great high priest, Jesus Christ.

The people of Israel did not go and find this priest. They did not search the highways and hedges for a perfect priest. Israel did not intellectually ascend and discover that the Levitical priesthood was imperfect and thus know that they needed to find the priest or the priesthood that could establish perfection. Rather, God sovereignly and graciously initiated the sending of the great high priest to atone for the sins of the people. This great high priest, in his triumphal resurrection, arose according to the order of Melchizedek. Thus, Jesus Christ is without precedent and eternal. His priesthood is not patterned and perishable like the order of Aaron.

The Royal Priesthood of the Son

Hebrews 7:13-14

Jesus is “the one these things are spoken about.” Yet he is not of the tribe of Levi; he is of the tribe of Judah. And no descendant of that tribe ever served as a priest “at the altar” of God. The distinction between tribes and their societal functions in the nation of Israel must be understood. Distinct and definitive lines were strictly drawn in Israel between the roles of the priest and the king. The priest was not to be a king, and the king was not to be a priest. The tribe of Levi produced the priests, and the tribe of Judah, the tribe primarily remembered as the tribe of King David, produced the kings. Jesus Christ is not merely from the tribe of Judah, though. He is no ordinary member of the tribe. He is the Messiah who is going to reestablish David’s throne. Nevertheless, the distinction remains: no king was ever to function as a priest and no priest was ever to function as a king.

The work of Christ in his threefold office—prophet, priest, and king—demonstrates a very different kind of perfection, one completely absent in the old covenant. No category for such a thing in the old covenant exists. In that covenant, different tribes performed the different societal responsibilities, and no tribe performed them eternally. Christ, on the other hand, performs all of these roles and does so singularly, continually, and eternally. The author of Hebrews demonstrates the newness of Christ’s work by showing that even Moses knew nothing about a priest from the tribe of Judah serving at the altar of God. The writer of Hebrews deliberately references Moses because Moses was the final authority in these types of deliberations. Moses was the metaphorical trump card in Jewish debate. Yet in demonstration of the amazing new work that God has done in Christ, the author of Hebrews lays down a new trump card: the interweaving of priest and king in the person and work of Jesus Christ.

The Eternal Priesthood of the Son

Hebrews 7:15-18

The author of Hebrews continues to tighten the cords of reasoning around his courtroom-like argument. The appearance of Jesus Christ as a high priest according to the order of Melchizedek should instantly reveal the limitations and inadequacy of the Levitical priesthood. The Aaronic priests were used by God to prepare his people for the coming of the Messiah who would achieve the final, complete atonement. God, when he sends Christ, establishes his Son as the final priest.

The Permanence of the Perfect Priest

As already noted, Christ does not descend from the tribe of Levi. Christ’s priesthood is not predicated upon blood lineage—his priesthood runs much deeper. Christ’s priesthood is founded on “the power of an indestructible life.” This is one of the fundamental differences between Christ’s priesthood and Aaron’s priesthood. The Levitical priests died. Not one of them could fulfill the responsibilities in his mediating work as a priest forever. Yet the priest who arises according to the order of Melchizedek endures forever. This priest is not merely a priest because of lineage, but because his priesthood never ends—because it is predicated upon the power of an indestructible life.

The contrasts between the basis of the legal requirement and the power of an indestructible life are stark. Fulfilling the legal requirements of familial lineage does not render Jesus the great high priest. Something infinitely greater and eternally superior qualifies him for the position—namely, an indestructible life. This refers to the resurrection of Jesus Christ. “For it has been testified,” the author of Hebrews notes, “You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek” (Ps 110:4). The word forever is a weighty word. Our human minds, in their finitude, cannot grasp the reality of it. We cannot fathom what it means for something to never end. We can sing it, we can say it, we can read it, but we cannot fully grasp it. We can know, however, that it is forever that sets Christ apart from and above every Levitical and earthly priest. Christ is a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.

The Inability of the Law

The author of Hebrews then, following his assertion of Christ’s eternality, tells his audience about the shortcomings of the former commandments and the former law, which they held in high regard. The writer is not alone in pointing out these shortcomings. Paul also points them out. In Romans Paul reminds the church that the law was powerless to do what Christ did for us. Jesus accomplished and effected our salvation, while the law was incapable of doing such a wonder. The law is perfect in the sense that it does all that God designed it to do, but it does not lead to salvation. Only Christ can do that.

The author combines two words in verse 18 that are incredibly powerful: unprofitable and weak. The law was not unprofitable in regard to its utility—it still adequately performed its given responsibilities. Paul tells us we should be grateful for the law since it exposes great need for a Savior. In Romans 7:7 Paul explains that he would not know he was a covetous person without the law. The law, therefore, is not unprofitable in the sense that it has no use at all but in the sense that obeying it does not provide any ultimate, eternal rewards. The law is used to condemn, but it can never be used to save. For effecting salvation, the law is unprofitable.

This is the heart of the law’s weakness, as well. On the one hand, the law is so strong that it is stamped into the hearts and minds of every single human being in such a way that none are left untouched (Rom 2:15). That’s how powerful the law of God is. Yet on the other hand, it is not able to save. The law is weak in this regard. The law is weak and unprofitable where salvation is needed because God did not design it to save sinners.

A Better Hope in the Perfect Priest

Hebrews 7:19

The author of Hebrews again makes a statement about perfection. This time he highlights the inability of the law to perfect anything. This contrasts with Christ the great high priest, who, through union with him by the working of the Holy Spirit, washes wretched rebels spotless before God. The law never made anyone perfect—it never produced a truly holy, perfect people, and it certainly never produced perfect individuals. The law reveals sin and the law kills—it certainly cannot save, for it was never intended to do such a thing. The former commandment is laid aside in order to give way to a better hope that is ours in Christ. In the old covenant, the law functioned in many ways the Israelites desperately needed, but it could not draw them closer to God. The law exposed the pervasive sinfulness of man and, as a result, the great need for a great Savior. Christ, however, does precisely what the law could never do. He saves. Jesus accomplished our salvation and gave us a new hope—a hope through which we now draw near to God.

A Better Priest for a Better Covenant

Hebrews 7:20-22

These final verses once again highlight the fact that Jesus, the true and great high priest, is incomparably superior to the Levites. God may have established the Levitical priesthood, but he never swore an oath to them that their priesthood would continue into eternity. In fact, the fabric of their priestly responsibilities bore witness to their insufficiency.

But the author of Hebrews shows that in Psalm 110:4 God actually based Christ’s priesthood and its eternality on an unchangeable oath. The author is adding layer upon layer to his case for the superiority of Christ over the old covenant. Christ’s priesthood is rooted in the unshakable promises of God.

In verse 22 the author also connects priesthood to covenant. This is an idea that he will more fully explain in chapter 8. Yet for the time being, the author hints at the fact that not only is Jesus a better priest, but his priesthood is actually part of a better covenant, the “new covenant” spoken of in Jeremiah 31. Because Christ is the “guarantee” of this covenant, Christians can be assured that all the blessings of the new covenant will be infallibly applied to them. God’s covenant promise cannot fail because God’s priest, Jesus Christ, cannot fail.

Reflect and Discuss

1. How do modern notions and usages of the word perfect muddy the meaning of the word perfect in this passage? Describe a situation in which you heard Christ’s perfection confused with that of created things.
2. Why is Christ’s priesthood more perfect than other priesthoods? How does Christ’s divine nature play into his perfection?
3. What does it mean that Christ is now, through his perfect work, the sufficient priest who mediates between God and man? How is Christ’s final act of atonement superior to the Mosaic law?
4. What makes the concept of legalism and works-merited righteousness so enticing? Do you still find yourself slipping into a religiosity that denies Christ’s sufficient, atoning death? Do you try to justify yourself by behaving morally and doing good rather than by faithfully following the new law inaugurated by Christ’s death and resurrection? If you answered yes to one or both of the preceding, explain your reasoning.
5. How was the Old Testament law profitable and strong? How was it unprofitable and weak?
6. Why is the indestructible life of Christ so important to his work as the great high priest? How might his eternal ministry encourage us as Christians?
7. What does God’s sending of his Son to be the perfect mediator reveal about God’s nature and character?
8. How can you actively remind yourself of God’s sovereign grace and redeeming love for you in Christ, the sufficient priest? How does our salvation and new hope in Christ enable us to draw near to God?
9. Why do we need Christ to fulfill the offices of prophet, priest, and king? In what ways does Christ fulfill these? How does this threefold office demonstrate Christ’s perfection?