A Priest

Our Catholic friend greatly admired her priest. “He is such a kind and caring man,” she said. He is extremely busy but always has time to listen to you and he is a man of prayer.” Another friend recently expressed her disillusionment with her priest. Because of his moral failings she said that she had not been to church for several years. But let me tell you about my priest. He also is so kind and caring. He prays powerfully for me daily. The one thing that stands out about my priest in that he is totally holy and righteous and though he was tempted, he never sinned. Perhaps you have surmised that my priest is Jesus Christ who referred to himself most often as the Son of Man. No matter how good or bad an earthly priest or pastor may be Jesus is the perfect high-priest for all mankind.

The three-fold ministry of Christ reveals how wonderful he is. He is prophet, priest, and king. This week let’s consider Christ’s priestly office.

In the old covenant, God established the priesthood through Aaron and his sons. The priesthood became hereditary and restricted to the Levites. (Exodus 28; 40) The priests became mediators between God and man. God instituted animal sacrifices to cover the sins of the people and to teach valuable lessons about God and the serious consequences of sin. But because the priests were human and also born with a sin nature they had to offer sacrifices for their own sins first.

The psalmist David prophesied that the coming Messiah would be a priest of a totally different order. “The Lord has sworn and will not relent, you are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek” (Psalm 110:4 NKJV). Melchizedek was the ancient king of Salem (Jerusalem) and priest of God. (Genesis 14:18) The writer of Hebrews reveals that his name means “king of righteousness” and “king of peace. He was without father, without mother, without genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life but made like the Son of God, remains a priest continually” (Hebrews 7). The shadowy Melchizedek was a type or picture of Christ who has an eternal priesthood.

Jesus ushered in a new and better and unchangeable priesthood. Consider the greatness of Christ’s priesthood.

First – INTERCESSION. “Therefore He is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them” (Isaiah 53:12). The living Christ constantly prays for those who come to Him.

Second – COMPASSION. “For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses but was in all points tempted as we are yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly to the throne

Third – PROPITIATION. (Hebrews 2:17) Jesus, our High-priest, is holy, harmless, and separate from sinners. (Hebrews 7:26-28) Our perfect priest offered himself as a sacrifice for sins. “But with His own blood He entered the Most Holy Place once and for all, having obtained eternal redemption . . . And how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God” (Hebrews 9:14).

Why do we need such a wonderful High Priest? Because the scriptures tell us, “It is appointed for men to die once but after this the judgment” (Hebrews 9:27). Let Jesus our High Priest bear your sins. “That if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (I John 1:9).