Reading: Hebrew 5-6, Psalm 27
I think it is high time for a review of Leviticus, don’t you? I mean, there really is nothing better that a quick read through of the regulations on mold and mildew. Well, maybe the specifications for priestly garments. But for that we have to throw in a chunk of Exodus. Maybe it would be better to just think back to when we read last winter. Unless you want to go pick up Exodus 19 through the end of Leviticus and scan it real quick. I’ll wait.
No? Or done? Cool. We’re about to talk about priests, covenants, and Melchizedek. Guess maybe we should have thrown in Genesis too. Hmm. It seems like the author of Hebrews really expected his audience to understand the Hebrew Scriptures. Like, really really understand them. Like maybe they had been reading them every day for their entire lives. Which should make us stop and think about the fact that we might want to learn the Story told in the Hebrew Scriptures before we try to understand the Story in the New Testament. Just a thought. And a lot of the reason I’m writing this thing. But if you’ve stuck with me this far, you’ll have already figured that out.
We’ve already heard that Jesus was greater than Moses, but did something like what he did. That he was greater than Joshua, but did something like what he did. Greater than Angels, though he does something like what they do. Now we are going to hear that he is greater than Aaron, or any High Priest, but that he does something very much like what they do.
So what did a High Priest do? Remember the priestly garments that worked like space suits? The tabernacle throne room of God? The enormously complex process by which a single human would be able to enter the presence of God to plead the case of humanity? That was the role of the High Priest. To bear the guilt of the people before the throne of the only one who could pronounce forgiveness. Then that guilt would be sent away into the wilderness via the scapegoat. All year long sacrifices were made to transfer the impurity of the people onto the priest, culminating with the High Priest, and then finally it was all sent away on the Day of Atonement.
But it didn’t work out. The High Priests had to make atonement for their own sins. They were impure. They couldn’t bear the impurity of everyone, because they couldn’t even pick up their own. The sacrificial system of the Hebrew Scriptures broke down when the priests failed. It broke even worse when the Temple was destroyed. No throne room. No representative. No pleading. No forgiveness. No restoration.
Then this guy Jesus comes along. The author of Hebrews calls back to this crazy story about a dude named Melchizedek in the book of Genesis. We’ll talk about him at length tomorrow, but suffice it to say he wasn’t like other priests. He was a priest-king. He had no roll of ancestry. He left no heir. He stood alone and unique. Jesus is like that guy. The priests of the nation of Israel were called by God from the family of Aaron of the tribe of Levi. But Jesus is from the tribe of Judah, a descendant of David. How can he be a High Priest who carries the impurity of the people before God? Because he was called by God like Melchizedek. Without a roll of ancestry or heir. He stands alone and unique. As much better a priest than the Aaronic priests as he is a mediator than Moses.
Because of this calling, he is the means and method of salvation. The way back to the Garden. The restoration of God’s creation as he makes all things new. He is the hoped for Messiah that we first heard about in Hannah’s song way back in the book of Samuel. But unlike the various anointed ones that fill the pages of Sameul, Kings, and Chronicles, and unlike the High Priests in Ezra-Nehemiah and the minor prophets, he practiced total submission. He was heard because of his reverence. Jesus put the knowledge of good and bad where it belonged: in the wisdom of God. He refused to takes what Adam and Eve took for themselves, and so because the source of eternal salvation for all who obey. Whoa. Not trust. Not believe. Obey.
Yeah, that goes with the High Priest job too. He is the teacher of the law. The adjudicator of God’s justice. This is much of the thrust of the author here. None of this priest-king messiah stuff was revolutionary to his audience of Scripture nerds. What was crazy was the idea that it is to Jesus that their obedience pointed. They could not simply obey the law of Moses anymore. Now they had to obey the law of Christ. Which, lest we forget, is to love one another. To not be afflicted by the division, violence, and destruction that characterizes the entire story from when Adam and Eve took the knowledge of good and bad for themselves. The author of Hebrews says this is basic. It is milk to a baby not yet ready for solid food. Inability to take this in will end in death.
We get Abraham held up as an example of one who did this. Abraham was given a promise. He believed, and because he believed he obeyed. We will get a great many more examples of the faithful in chapter 11, but for not the author is sticking with the progenitor of the people of Israel. When God promised Abraham that he would be true to his word, he swore an oath by himself, because there is nothing greater than God by which to judge him. Nothing external to him that can hold sway over him. This promise is a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters the inner place behind the curtain. What curtain? The Temple curtain. The throne room of God. Where the High Priest goes to make atonement. As Abraham held to the promise and was obedient, we are now to hold to Christ and be obedient. Jesus is superior to Angels, Moses, Joshua, Aaron, and now even the promise to Abraham. We have a greater Priest, a greater Mediator, a greater Commander, and a better Promise. Now we will need a better Temple.