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Hebrews | Chapter 7

Hebrews 7:1-3

“J.E.S.U.S.”

  • Introduction
  • 1-3 Five superiorities Melchizedekian Priesthood

 

Introduction

In the 7th chapter of Hebrews, the author presents to his readers a portrait of Jesus. What’s interesting is that he takes the picture of Jesus as High Priest through the lens of Melchizedek.  Furthermore the snap shot is taken from a very fuzzy picture found in Genesis 14:18-20 and an incident in Abraham’s life, where Abraham met Melchizedek. The story recorded there was when Abraham was returning from a battle with the five kings, and this strange King from Salem met him and blessed him, and Abraham in response to this gave tithes to this King named Melchizedek. What we know of Melchizedek is that he was a priest of the true God, who lived in the village of Salem (later known as Jerusalem) and here in Hebrews we see that according to the writer, he fulfilled a role that foresaw and foreshadowed the ministry of Jesus Christ. The division of this section is meant to be a comparison of the two priesthoods Melchizedekian and Aaronic; the writer will do this in two ways:

  1. First in verses 1-3 we will see five positive differences that Jesus has in the Melchizedekian Priesthood, that aren’t available in the Aaronic Priesthood.
  2. Second, in verses 4-26 the writer presents three negative differences, which we will take up next week.

1-3 Five superiorities Melchizedekian Priesthood

Vs. 1-2 This section starts out with the phrase, “For this Melchizedek”, which reveals to the readers that what they are going to read is going to be a comparison between Melchizedek and the Aaronic priesthood. Then as they read a little further, they pick up a story between the father of their people Abraham and this same Melchizedek where they witness a seldom used word today, reciprocity: Which is defined as the mutual exchange of benefits. We read about when Melchizedek met Abraham and gave to him bread and wine which are the symbols of life and strength, the very things that we partake of when we come to the Lord’s table. Abraham, in turn, gave tithes of everything he possessed to Melchizedek. Now, the tithe, or tenth, is always the mark of ownership. To pay a tenth is to indicate that God owns the whole. Symbolically, therefore, Abraham was saying to Melchizedek, “You have the right of ownership over everything in my life.” The provision of strength from Melchizedek exactly equaled the degree of commitment on the part of Abraham, reciprocity. You may exercise dominion to the same degree you are prepared to submit to the dominion of Jesus Christ in your own heart. You can have as much of Christ as, in turn, you are ready to permit him to have of you. Abraham wouldn’t have done this to a mere man, that is why we are told that Melchizedek was, “a priest of the Most High God.” And it is here in this phrase where we see the first of five qualities that makes Jesus by way of Melchizedek superior to Aaron and the Levitical priesthood.

  1. 1 “Priest of the Most High God”: The first way in which Melchizedek is superior to the Aaronic Priesthood has to do with the quantity of people effected by Melchizedek’s priesthood when compared to Aaron’s. The key to noting this superiority is in the use of the phrase Most High God. When God choose to reveal Himself by use of the word Yahweh, He did so by declaring His name as the unique Covenant name that was used exclusively for Israel. The Levitical priests were priests for Yahweh, they served Him and His people Israel and no other. That describes a Levitical priesthood that was NATIONALISTIC in origin, exclusively for the Hebrews or converts to Judaism. But that is not how God is described in Genesis 14:18 or here in Hebrews, instead God is described in a more UNIVERSAL name El Elyon which is a name that represents the God over heaven and earth. Here we learn that the Melchizedekian Priesthood was above national distinctions and was instead universal in nature. Jesus is the Messiah over Jews and Gentiles, not just over Israel but over the world! This is further illustrated in the fact that the Melchizedekian Priesthood came into existence hundreds of years before the Levitical Priesthood. Of further interest it is interesting to note that only after this encounter with Melchizedek did Abraham speak to the king of Sodom using a combination of the national name along with the universal name of God.
  2. 1-2 “King”: The second thing we note is both in verse 1 and 2 where no less than four times Melchizedek is referred to as king. The comparison is obvious as the Levitical priesthood forbid any sort of rulership being associated with it. Israel never knew this kind of authority in the priesthood though it was clearly predicted in Zech. 6:13 where we read, “He shall build the temple of the LORD. He shall bear the glory, and shall sit and rule on His throne; So He shall be a priest on His throne, And the counsel of peace shall be between them both.” As such what we see that is superior is that Melchizedek’s priest had more authority because it was also a Royal priesthood.
  3. 2 “King of righteousness and King of peace”: The third aspect of the superiority of the Melchizedekian Priesthood looks at the specific aspects of that royalty in the twofold quality of His reign as “He is first, by translation of his name, king of righteousness, and then he is also king of Salem, that is, king of peace.” That is what Jesus gives us today! He can give you what only he is. These names reveal that: We need what He is in order to be what he was!
  4. First, He is the, “King of Righteousness”: He is the one who has the secret of right living, the divine plan that results in right behavior. He is the king of that, he controls it.
  5. Second, He is also the “King of Peace”. He is the king of inner peace; He alone has the power to give us the right frame of mind. He holds in His hand the secret of inner calm, that sense within that gives poise, powerand purpose ill-respective of what turmoil and confusion is going on around us.
  6. 3a “Without father, without mother, without genealogy”: The word “without genealogy” only appears here as all of Greek literature the reason for this is that it can fit no other person in history and would make no sense to anyone else. Jesus was chosen because of WHO He is, NOT because of where He came from. The point the writer is making has to do with continuity here: “He is without father or mother or genealogy..” What this verse says is that there is no mention made of Melchizedek’s ancestry, his pedigree, record of his birth or death. There are two possibilities in this regard:
  7. It may mean that Melchizedek was a perfectly normal man and that all these things were true of him, but none of the normal things were recorded.
  8. Or it could suggest that Melchizedek was a pre-incarnate manifestation of Jesus.

Either way the silence in the record by Moses as interpreted by the writer of Hebrews is taken as an illustration of the eternal, changeless, PERSONAL, unending priesthood. The point the author is making practically to his readers deals with Availability! What this practically means to us is that Jesus is available twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, fifty-two weeks a year, throughout every year over each and every lifetime. Or as the writer will later say in Hebrews 13:5 “I will NEVER leave you nor forsake you.” Because Jesus is High Priest in the order of Melchizedek those that belong to Him are never out of his presence, never shut off from His resources, never separated from his wisdom, His peace, or His truth.

  1. 3b “Having neither beginning of Days nor end of life, but made like the Son of God, remains a priest continually.”: This final aspect of the superiority of Melchizedek’s priesthood when compared to Aaron’s deals with the fact that his is eternal and not temporary. A Levitical priest served only from the age of 25 until they were 50. No priest no matter how good, faithful, or talented could serve more than 25 years. They were all temporary. Furthermore, the priesthood began in the wilderness when the covenant was established with Moses at the giving of the law until it ended at the destruction of the temple in Jerusalem in A.D. 70. But what the writer says is that Melchizedek’s priesthood had no dispensation attached to it! Jesus abides as our great High priest without end because He lives forever and because as a High Priest in the order of Melchizedek’s priesthood is also forever!

In the final analysis of the first three verse of chapter 7 we realize five superiorities of Melchizedek’s priesthood as it is: Universal, royal, righteous, and peaceful, personal and eternal! Folks, Jesus is just what we need, He is the very Person we have been looking for! Someone has well said that when we consider Jesus His name makes a perfect acronym for us: J-E-S-U-S, “Just Exactly Suits Us Sinners.”

 

 

Hebrews 7:4-19

“Side by Side comparison”

  • Introduction
  • 4-10 Three proofs
  • 11-19 Three arguments

 

Introduction

Having just given the reader in the first three verses of chapter 7 “five positive differences that Jesus has in the Melchizedekian Priesthood, that aren’t available in the Aaronic Priesthood.” The writer now anticipates in verses 4-10 the need for proof of what he has just said so he gives them three proofs that what he had just declared was true. The second thing that the writer does is present a side-by-side comparison of the superiority of the Melchizedekian priesthood by placing it next to the Imperfection of Levitical priesthood.

4-10 Three proofs

Vs. 4-10 In these verses the writer instead of focusing on the positive differences of the Melchizedekian Priesthood looks at the inadequacy seen in the Aaronic Priesthood.

  1. 4-6 The first proof is in two parts that demonstrated the Melchizedekian Priesthood superiority as seen in the actions of Abraham giving a tenth of his spoils to Melchizedek. He writes, “Consider how great this man was, to whom EVEN the patriarch Abraham gave a tenth of the spoils.” There are two things that could have obligatedAbraham to give a tenth of the spoils to Melchizedek:
  2. First, IF Melchizedek as a king had fought alongside Abraham against Chedorlaomer. But there is no mention or indication that Melchizedek was even there let alone fought or provide resources to the battle.
  3. Second, IF Melchizedek as a priest of the, Most High God, had performed some sort of priestly services on behalf of Abraham or his army prior to the battle. But there is no mention of this until after the battle where Melchizedek brought out the bread and wine and blessed Abraham with what today we call the Lord’s supper or communion.

Since neither of these two obligations occurred it implies that Abraham’s tithe was free from obligation, law or commandment and instead was freely and generously given out the best that Abraham had. Abraham simply recognized Melchizedek as deserving of the tithe based upon who he was and who he served the Most High God! It was given in thanksgiving as an act of worship!

The Second, part of this proof is a bit more complicated to understand: The Israelites were agrarian in their economy, they survived off the land. But the tribe of Levi was the priestly tribe and as such was supported by the tithes from the brothers of the other 11 tribes. So, you had 11 tribes of Abraham’s descendants tithing to one tribe. The point the writer makes is that sense Abraham the common ancestor paid tithes to Melchizedek before his future ancestors existed then all the tribes including the descendants of Levi also paid tithes to Melchizedek. As if the descendants of Levi himself, paid tithes through Abraham, even though they were yet unborn to Melchizedek through Abraham. The point is: If these Levitical priests through Abraham offered help in comparison to Melchizedek, it was incomplete, limited and temporary.

  1. 7 The second proof is found here in verse 7 where we read “beyond all contradiction the lesser is blessed by the greater.” One of the things that we learn in reading the first testament is that it is essentially the history of one man and his descendants. It starts with his introduction to us in Genesis 12:1 and ends with the prophet Malachi. That which started with God’s promise to Abraham in Genesis 15:5 with God’s words, “Look now toward heaven, and count the stars if you are able to number them.” And He said to him, “So shall your descendants be.” Continued on through out the first testament but what’s interesting is this priest-king is only mentioned in a few verses and what is mentioned about him in connection to Abraham and the promise is that he blessed him. Melchizedek is established as greater than Abraham and greater than any descendants that came from Abraham. In John 8:56-58 Jesus entered a discussion about Abraham and made this remarkable statement saying, “Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day, and he saw it and was glad.” Then the Jews said to Him, “You are not yet fifty years old, and have You seen Abraham?” Jesus said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM.” We are never given how Abraham knew about Melchizedek, and we have no idea how much Melchizedek knew about Abraham. What is not in dispute “beyond all contradiction the lesser is blessed by the greater.”
  2. 8-10 There is one last proof of the five positive differences of the Melchizedekian Priesthood as we read in verse 8 “mortal men receive tithes, but there he receives them, of whom it is witnessed that he lives.” The point is that even if the Levitical priests weren’t required to quit after 25 years of ministry, they would have had to cease at some point when they died. The argument the writer makes is that this fact reveals that the Levitical priesthood was designed as temporary because the priests were temporary. The other tribes all paid tithes to a temporary system but their forefather whom all the tribes were in his ancestry paid tithes to a priest who lived on and didn’t die since no death is recorded of Melchizedek. That makes his priesthood eternal and not temporary and clearly superior to Aaron’s. Jesus being from the Melchizedekian Priesthood is a living priest, not a dying priest. He therefore is the only priest who can without interruption bring God to humanity and humanity to God.

11-19 Three arguments

Vs. 11-19 Next the writer shows just how far the Levitical system is inferior as we learn that the ministry of Jesus Christ superseded the Law. The context in this section is found in verse 19 where the writer informs his readers that the purpose of the priesthood is to enable humanity to “draw near to God”. You can sum up Christianity in three words “Access to God”! That was also the goal of Judaism and the Levitical priesthood, but the veil was always there keeping the majority of humanity away. The veil was there because of sin and the Levitical sacrifices only symbolically anticipated the fulfillment. Now that the fulfillment had come in Christ’s sacrifice for the sin of the whole world the Levitical priesthood and system was no longer necessary. This was a difficult thing for the Hebrews to accept as they couldn’t imagine that the Mosaic order was only symbolic and temporary and fully inadequate to bring anyone to perfection, (verse 19). They struggled at grasping how something that was instituted by God couldn’t be perfect? It wasn’t that it wasn’t perfect for what God had designed it for it was just not permanent and as such it was insufficient for what these Hebrews were attempting to use it for. The outline of the writer’s argument in verses 11-19 goes as:

  1. 11-14 Imperfection of Levitical priesthood: Nowhere in scripture does God say that His intent was that the Levitical priesthood would remain forever. In fact, the first testament predicts another priesthood was coming as twice recorded in chapter 7 verse 17 and 21 quoting out of Psalm 110:4 “The LORD has sworn and will not relent,”You are a priest forever According to the order of Melchizedek.” The argument is simple as it asks two questions to those who are still fixated upon the Levitical system:
  2. “If God through His word predicted another priesthood was coming, then it is reasonable to believe that the new one was necessary and would replace the old priesthood?”
  3. “If God intended the Levitical priesthood to continue and improve or be necessary to gain access to God then why did He plan for the Messiah to be a priest from a different order, Melchizedek?”

The timing of Melchizedek’s introduction to Abraham further illustrates this as God placed this between Abraham’s calling and the covenant He made with Him. This indicates that it was always God’s intention that access to Him from Abraham’s descendants would be from a higher priestly order than the one generated from Abraham’s descendants! The “perfection” mentioned in verse 11 has to do with the purpose of the priesthood which to reconcile men to God through the sacrificial system. Because this was only a typology that pointed to the finished work in Christ it was not able to make men perfect, had those sacrifices been able to bring a person into God’s presence they would have ceased but instead, they had to done every day. The purpose of both the Levitical priesthood and the Mosaic Law were to bring people to God but both were only symbolic and awaiting the finished work of that which they pointed too, Jesus and as such were imperfect towards what the Jews were now trying to make the two do. The is why Jesus said to them in John 14:6 “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” What the Levitical priesthood could not do Jesus in the Melchizedek priesthood could do! The point the writer makes is that all the Aaronic Priesthood could do is correctly diagnose the problem they could never produce a cure! The word in verse 12 “changed” describing the priesthood being changed means to put one thing in the place of another. Through Christianity came from the fulfillment of of Judaism, it wasn’t an enhancement it was designed as a replacement as what Judaism did was point towards the completed work in Jesus. The Hebrews were rejecting the fact that Jesus didn’t come from the priestly tribe of Levi and the author doesn’t deny this instead he says that this very fact proves the temporary nature of the Levitical priesthood. As a priest he had no genealogy, and as such He ministers in the power of an endless life. Jesus had no beginning, no ending, but continues forever. The Law, which is only temporary, must go. It had an inherent weakness in that it could not supply what the flesh in its frailty lacked.

  1. 15-17 Perfection of Melchizedekian priesthood: The Greek has two words for the word “another” in verse 15, “and additional one – of the same kind” and “another of a different kind”. The differences in the meaning of these two Greek words for “another” is that the first one indicates a “quantitative difference” whereas the second indicates a “qualitative difference”. The reference here describing Jesus is that of the second word for another as Jesus in Him we do not have a High priest like the others that were limited. Instead, we are told in verse 15 that He “arises” by Himself. He didn’t come into the world as all the other priests before Him had, He was born of a virgin, no other priest from the tribe of Levi could claim that. This implies that He had no priestly ancestry, He took up the mantle of High Priest not by ancestry but by WHO He was. He also indicates that He was one of a kind in that He was the only priest who rose from the dead as the grave couldn’t hold Him. Another difference is that heredity took president over godliness a prerequisite for the priesthood but not in the Melchizedekian priesthood, which Jesus belonged too. Serving in the Levitical priesthood had nothing to do with character, ability, personality, or holiness. Instead, Jesus came in power to do what no other priest could ever do; give access to God the Father!
  2. 18-19 Summation of the argument: Aaron and the Levitical priesthood by necessity has to be replaced by Jesus and the Melchizedekian priesthood. The Greek word “annulling” means to do away with something that has been established because it was imperfect and replace by something that is new and is perfect. The old system could reveal sin but it could never remove sin! It is for this reason it had to be removed and replaced as it could never grant access to God. That is what Paul says in Romans 7:24 where we read, “O, wretched man that I am. Who can set me free from this body of death?” Did you notice that Paul asked a rhetorical question and phrased it WHO and NOT WHAT? That is exactly what the writer says in verse 19, “for the law made nothing perfect..” That is the point the author of Hebrews is making, what humanity needs isn’t going to be found in the WHAT of religion but in the WHO of Jesus! Paul went on to explain this in Romans 8:3-4 saying, “For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did, by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, judged sin in the flesh, that the righteousness that the law demanded might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh but after the Spirit.”

There is one clear fact that points to the superiority of something when compared to another: That is when it replaces the older model. The appearance of Jesus as High Priest in the order of Melchizedek proves His superiority. The new High Priest (Jesus) came with a different address and a different ancestry. That meant if the old priesthood went, the Law had to go too. This new priest had a different address; he came from the tribe of Judah instead of the tribe of Levi. Judah was not a priestly tribe it was a kingly tribe. This new High Priest was a king!

 

Hebrews 7:20-28

“The Last High Priest”

  • Introduction
  • 20-22 Guaranteed
  • 23-25 Last One
  • Perfectly Fitted For Us

 

Introduction

This morning we come to one of the most amazing sections of scripture in all the Bible as the clarity of Jesus as our Great High Priest is on display. I suppose that whenever we open our hearts and our Bibles to the power of the Holy Spirit, we are on Holy Ground but in this section, it just seems to be a little higher holy ground!

20-22 Guaranteed

Vs. 20-22 One of the things that is immediately apparent is that the writer was very aware of the knowledge that the reader would have had at Jewish tradition. Take for instance his argument here that deals yet again with the superiority of Jesus as High Priest because His priesthood is in the order of Melchizedek. The reference is to the fact that Aaron and the sons of Levi never took an oath in Exodus 29 at their ordination. That’s not a well-known fact to you and I, is it? Yet the writer naturally assumes that his readers would have known that. Because there was no oath, we realize that God never promised to Aaron or his descendants that their priesthood would be forever, this fact alone suggest that the Levitical priesthood was temporary. There in doubt that many if not all of Israel assumed that the priesthood was permanent, but they would have not of come to this conclusion based upon the word of God. Had God made an oath as He had with

Melchizedek than t would have been permanent. In Jesus the permanent plan has come, that is why His ministry was confirmed with an oath. God is saying through the oath, “I will never change my mind. You will never be able to find any other program that works. Never!” Because this is permanent, there is no shut-down, no change of plans, which means we can have complete confidence in Christ’s work as High Priest because He will never become obsolete! In Jesus we have a Great High Priest who is never out of fashion, never off duty, will never wear out, move away or anything else that would render Him in effective. He can work from the “gutter-most to the uttermost”. Four times in this letter the writer makes reference to Psalm 110:4, it’s his proof text! There were four distinct disadvantages that the Levites had in their service that Jesus doesn’t have in His:

  1. The Levites served in the temple on a temporary and repetitive basis: Their service was temporary for three reasons:
  • They could only serve for 25 years
  • They were mere mortals, died and their sons had to replace them
  • There was no oath making it permanent

Furthermore, what they offered in service was not permanent as they had to continue to offer the sacrifices, whereas according to verse 27 Jesus offered Himself once for all!

  1. The Levites themselves were sinful: According to Exodus 29 they had to daily offer sacrifices for themselves before they could for others. This pointed to the reality that they were just is as much need for atonement as those that came to them.
  2. What they offered was temporary: There was no permanence in what they offered as they had to continually, repetitively had to offer the same thing over and over as it was a temporary fix not a permanent cure!

Though not a part of the text the question lingers as to why set up a temporary priesthood if you want a permanent? What was the purpose of the Levitical priesthood? First it is important to realize that according to Exodus 29 that God is the one who instituted the Levitical priesthood and His plan included replacing it not because it wasn’t His idea or that it was bad. It was replaced because its design was temporary. When looking at the Levitical priesthood you can see three reasons why God ordained it:

  1. It promoted God’s wisdom and will: It was the Levites responsibility to distribute the Word of God to the people of God so that they would come in continual contact with the wisdom and will of God for their lives.
  2. It aided in the restraint of sin and promotion of godliness: Paul said that he would not have known sin if it wasn’t for the law and neither we would have known what God plan for us was as His word says be holy for I am holy.
  3. It pointed them to Jesus the permanent solution and prepared them for Him: The law and the Levities unknowingly were the very things that God had designed to point people to the Lamb of God our great High priest.

“Jesus has become a surety of a better covenant”, the oath made by God to Melchizedek about his priesthood was consummated by Jesus coming as He is the guarantee that He offers a better agreement than the Levitical one that wasn’t designed to be an everlasting agreement. Jesus isn’t just a mediator of a better covenant He is a guarantee of one! He has guaranteed to pay all our debts, past present and future.

23-25 Last One

Vs. 23-24 The Levitical priests had the ultimate disqualification from permanent ministry, DEATH! There would never be one priest from the linage of Aaron that could serve indefinitely, each was succeed by another priest for the priesthood to continue. The Hebrew reader would only need to look at the ordination of Aaron and his sons in Exodus 29 by Moses and then read in Numbers 20:23-29 as Aaron the first High Priest is about to die and Moses brings his son Eleazar to Mount Hor. There God reminded them that neither Moses nor Aaron would see the Promised Land. At that moment all the nation would realize that neither Moses the Law Giver nor Aaron the father of the priesthood would ever enter the land of promise. Had they understood they would have realized three things about the old covenant:

  1. It was not permanent
  2. It could not bring them to the promised land
  3. It could not save them

This is contrasted in verse 24 with Jesus who “continues forever” and has an “unchangeable priesthood”. He never needed a successor, did bring us into the promised land and does save us! He is the last High Priest!

Vs. 25 Here we read that Jesus’ priesthood is: Eternal, Unalterable and Unlimited. The 25th verse is one of the most beautiful verses in all the Bible right up there with John 3:16. And like John 3:16 we see four truths about our salvation:

  1. He is ABLE: Person of our salvation! Other priests might have been WILLING to save but Jesus alone is not only WILLING but ABLE! The old sacrifices temporarily covered sin, but they NEVER removed sin. Psalm 103:12 makes the promise that, “As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us.” Jesus said in John 14:6 that, “No one comes to the Father except through Me.”
  2. To SAVE to the utter most THOSE: Objects of salvation! The objects of those who will be saved are those who come to Jesus to be saved as they are described as those who desire to draw near to God. There are no other restrictions, no other prequalification’s than sinners who want to draw near to God! Jesus said so in John 6:37 “All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will by no means cast out.” There is no other way to the Father except through the Son but the Son is open to every person who trusts only Him! The other side of that is that Jesus can ONLY save those who come to Him, so He is able to save ALL but not all will be saved because not all will come to Him to be saved!
  3. Who COME TO GOD THROUGH HIM: Nature of our salvation! Is to bring people NEAR to God, He does this by delivering them from their sin, which qualifies them to come to God. When looking at the subject of “deliverance from sin” we can find verses that depict this being done in the threefold element of time of each sinner being delivered:
  4. Past tense: Salvation! We HAVE been freed from sin, so we can say “I have been saved!”
  5. Present tense: Sanctification! In the present tense we ARE freed from sin’s power. So, we can say, “I am saved and am being saved!”
  6. Future tense: Glorification! In the future tense, we will be free from sin’s presence, so we SHALL say, “I am saved from sin’s presence!”

All these are truths that deal with the nature of the believer’s salvation and together they represent the full and complete way in which a believer is saved!

  1. HE ALWAYS lives to make intercession for them: Security of our salvation! The security of our salvation rest upon the perpetual intercession of Jesus for us. The truth is we can’t keep ourselves saved any more than we can save ourselves, but Jesus has the power to not only save us, He alone has the power to keep us! Jesus is constantly, eternally, perpetually praying for us before the God the Father! Whenever we sin Jesus says to the Father, “Put that on my account, as I have already paid for that sin!” This is why according to Colossians 1:22 “to present you holy, and blameless, and above reproach in His sight.” And how we are able to according to Jude 1:24 “keep you from stumbling, and to present you faultless Before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy.” In Jesus we are now blameless in the Father’s sight and when we are glorified, we will be blameless in His presence!

Perfectly Fitted For Us

Vs. 26-28 To start out with the author tells His readers that it was “fitting for us” to have a high priest like Jesus. He is the only one that would do for us as He alone is absolutely essential for all humanity if God was going to save us. The Hebrew’s were rejecting Jesus along the lines that He was not a Levite, and the writer says that the fact that He was not from the tribe of Levi is not a liability it is an essential asset! If Jesus was from the tribe of Levi, then His priesthood would be just as ineffective as theirs. Here we are told that Jesus is five things that a Levitical priest could never be that Jesus was because He was from the order of Melchizedek:

  1. Holy: Jesus is from the very beginning, because of His nature, eternally HOLY! There is no sin in Jesus that satan could ever use to get a hold over Him and control or enslave Him. Jesus is not capable of sin. He was without sin eternally, He was without sin while He walked upon this earth, tempted in every way like us, and He is without sin now!
  2. Harmless: There is a difference of direction when you compare “holiness” to “harmlessness” as “holiness” direction is towards God while “harmlessness” direction is towards their fellow man. Jesus harmed no human, His whole live was summed up in living for others benefit not His own. He always acted towards the benefit of others even when others acted towards Him in hatred and cruelty. Instead of harming those who would harm Him, He healed them!
  3. Undefiled: This word refers to freedom from moral or spiritual blemish. Jesus lived 33 years upon this earth and was in this world with all of its moral and ethical decay, living among sinning humanity, touching them, going among them while they habitually practiced moral degradation. He was being continually tempted without a break from satan to sin like the rest of those in captivity. Yet in all those 33 years never once did he contract the least amount or trace of sin upon Himself. He was the like the rays of sun light upon a cesspool who in the end only shone the radiance, purity, and power of His light upon the mess and never once lost His brilliance or His purity!
  4. Separate from sinners: This phrase speaks of being of a completely different class. He wasn’t separate from sinners logistically or geographically. In fact, everyone He came into contact with were sinners, His parents, His siblings, the religious, even His own disciples. Jesus at with sinners, walked with sinners, worked with sinners, and even worshipped with sinners, but never at any time was His nature like those He lived among. If He had ever behaved like any of us He could have never saved any of us!
  5. Higher than the heavens: He is exalted because of the fur other truths about Jesus just mentioned. It is because of these things that Jesus doesn’t offer sacrifices for Himself or like the other Levitical priests. Jesus only offered one sacrifice (Himself) one time for all of humanity! The Priest was and therefore so was the sacrifice He offered, so it was once for all time! Instead of rejecting Jesus as being different than the Levitical priesthood of Aaron they should have thanked God for only Jesus could offer them what Aaron and the Levitical priesthood pointed towards!