Jesus the Superior Priest

Christians need a priest who intercedes for sin and provides help in times of need. Jesus is able to sympathize with humanity because he was tempted in every way that we are yet he remained without sin (Heb 4:15). He represents us before the Father, intercedes for us, and speaks on our behalf so that those who have drawn near to the Father through him are now united to him. No other intercessor is needed. Christ lives to intercede for Christians, and Christians have direct access to him. He is the guarantee of a new and better covenant and remains the permanent high priest who intercedes for his people.

Hebrews 7:26-28

Permanence is not the only characteristic that distinguishes Christ’s priesthood from previous ones. His priesthood is also perfect in every sense. In this passage, the author turns to the perfection of Christ both in his sinlessness and in the sacrifice he offers to God on behalf of the people. Jesus Christ is a superior priest because he is a perfect priest.

“Need” does not suggest that we deserved such a high priest. Instead, the author communicates that it was necessary to have such a high priest. Christ is the specific kind of priest we require because his priesthood provides the perfect answer to our need. He fulfills all the just requirements of the law. His priesthood is perfect because he himself is perfect. The old covenant made nothing perfect, but Christ is perfect.

His holiness bears witness to his perfection. Only a holy sacrifice could meet the just requirements of the law. He is also “innocent,” for he was tempted in every way as we are yet remained without sin (Heb 4:15). He was “undefiled.” The word is most often used regarding being defiled by the world. God calls Christians not to bear the stain of worldliness. Nonetheless, all people are stained. In one sense, Christ identifies with us in our humanity. In another sense, he remains “separated from sinners” because he did not sin. The Father exalted him “above the heavens,” which can be said of no other human being. Christ, however, is no mere man. Christ is both fully human and fully divine. He is the God-man.

The Levitical priests offered their sacrifices “every day” because their priesthood was temporary. Their sacrifices anticipated what would come, but their sacrifices were incomplete themselves. The priests needed to repeat both the daily sacrifices and the annual sacrifices. Christ, however, had no need to offer sacrifices repeatedly. He accomplished the full forgiveness of sins in his one and only sacrifice when he offered up himself on the cross.

Every previous priest had to perform his sacrifice first with reference to his own sin. Only after dealing with his own sins could he appropriately offer a sacrifice for the sins of the people. Christ, on the other hand, did not need to offer any sacrifice for his own sin because he had none. He is sinless, perfect, holy, undefiled, innocent, and separated from sinners. Jesus does not need to offer up sacrifices repeatedly because the cross and resurrection are not repeated events; they are “once for all time.” Christ’s sacrifice is not perpetual but historical. It was made once for all and is finished. Nothing can be added to it or taken from it. It was the perfect sacrifice, and it was completed all at once.

Jesus did not accomplish this perfect sacrifice by offering up the blood of another. Instead, he offered up himself. When the Levitical priest went into the most holy place, he carried blood with him. He took the blood from an appropriate animal for the corresponding sacrifice. As he carried in this blood, he was carrying blood that something else had shed. The priests had to cart off the sacrifice’s carcass, serving as a clear sign of the costliness of sin and forgiveness. Without blood, there is no forgiveness of sins. When Christ offered his sacrifice, he offered the unthinkable. He gave himself and paid the penalty of sin with his own blood. Christ’s offering of himself displays why his singular priesthood is definitive, permanent, perfect, continuous, and unrepeatable.

In Hebrews 7:28 the author stresses the difference between the lesser and the greater, a common theme in Hebrews. Christ is a superior great high priest because his priesthood came through an oath. This oath came later than the law, so it is superior to the law. In this new covenant, God “appoints a Son, who has been perfected forever.” The sacrifice of an animal was not perfect even though it might appear so perfect. It was not fitting because it did not fulfill what was needed.

Even if a Levitical high priest had gone into the temple and spilled his own blood, it would still not have achieved our salvation. It would fail to accomplish atonement for our sins because the priest was not perfect. Only one without sin can atone perfectly for sins. This is precisely why we have Jesus Christ as the guarantee of a new and better covenant.

Scripture shows a seemingly innumerable succession of priests throughout Israel’s history. This succession was important and vital, and it was under a covenant that faithfully pointed to its own inadequacies. Modern Christians can easily misunderstand these passages and the entire system of the priesthood within God’s plan. It is tempting for Christians to believe that God had an initial plan and that this initial plan failed. This initial plan was the covenant that God made with Abraham. Since humanity was unable to meet the righteous demands of the old plan, God had to form a new plan in Christ. Scripture, however, teaches that this is not the correct understanding. God’s plan from the beginning was Christ. He is the Lamb of God slain before the foundation of the earth (Rev 13:8). The old covenant was not an initial plan that failed. It succeeded gloriously. Its purpose was never to save; it was to demonstrate man’s need for a Savior.

Under the old covenant, aging priests performed daily sacrifices knowing they would have to do so again and again. When God made the perfect sacrifice, Jesus uttered these fitting words: “It is finished.” The old covenant faithfully demonstrated the forbearance of God until Christ came. It brought the conviction of sin and showed the need for a Savior. Without the law, man would not know of his need for a Savior. But now that Savior has come. And we understand that Savior as one who was witnessed to by the old covenant. Christ is a priest—a great high priest and the perfect high priest. We can only grasp the fullness of what that means when we see how Christ fulfills the expectations in the old covenant by being for us the great high priest of the new and better covenant.