Jesus Christ fulfilled every aspect of Old Testament Law to be a complete savior. In the early church, some Christians from a Judean background did not fully understand this. So, the Epistle to Judean Christians was written to show from many Old Testament truths how Christ is God’s better and more fully completed solution than the Law of Moses.
This is the third in a five-part series that will reveal truths from this Epistle to the Hebrews. Scriptures are from The New Testament in Modern English by J. B. Phillips unless otherwise noted. The series includes:
(Part 1) Background and Structure
(Part 2) Chapters 1-4: The Son Brings Rest
(Part 3) Chapters 5-8: The High Priest Brings a New Testament
(Part 4) Chapters 9-11: The Perfect Sacrifice Brings Faith
(Part 5) Chapters 12,13: The Seated Lord Brings Hope in Life
Part 3 is given the Title: “The High Priest Brings a New Testament” because it shows Christ as the true High Priest after the order of Melchizedek bringing a new agreement with the Father that is greater than the first agreement through Abraham and Moses.
Structure of Hebrews Chapters 5-8
Note that Chapters 5-8 include the following sections from the Structure of Hebrews. They are part of the central section that includes 5:1—10:18. This central section shows that Christ was qualified and appointed by God as High Priest (after the order of Melchizedek, not the Levitical priesthood); and that Christ is High Priest of a New Agreement with God.
A.) 5:1—8:5 – Christ’s qualifications and appointment as High Priest
B.) 5:1-6 – Christ as High Priest qualified and appointed by God
C.) 5:7—7:19 – Christ’s Qualifications:
D.) 5:7-10 – Christ High Priest as a Son after the order of Melchizedek
E.) 5:11—6:3 – There is much truth about this for the mature to understand that is beyond foundational truths
E.) 6:4-12 – Some reject the truth, but we are to adhere to the truth (6:9 – we have kreittōn things with salvation in Christ)
D.) 6:13—7:19 – Melchizedek is greater than the Levitical High Priest; Christ as High Priest after the order of Melchizedek supersedes the Levitical priesthood (7:7 – Melchizedek was kreittōn than Abraham; 7:19 – we have a kreittōn hope since Christ is after the order of Melchizedek, not Aaron)
C.) 7:20—8:5 – Christ is Appointed by God:
D.) 7:20-25 – Christ is High Priest on God’s oath (7:22 – we have a kreittōn testament)
E.) 7:26-28 – Christ as the High Priest made one final sacrifice for all
D.) 8:1-5 – Christ is High Priest in the heavens
A.) 8:6—10:18 – New Agreement:
B.) 8:6-13 – Christ is High Priest of a new agreement (8:6 – Christ mediates a kreittōn covenant established on kreittōn promises; with a diaphoros ministry)
Christ as High Priest is Qualified and Appointed by God
Hebrews 5:1-6:
Note that when a man is chosen as High Priest he is appointed on men’s behalf as their representative in the things of God – he offers gifts to God and makes the necessary sacrifices for sins on behalf of his fellow-men. He must be able to deal sympathetically with the ignorant and foolish because he realises that he is himself prone to human weakness. This naturally means that the offering which he makes for sin is made on his own personal behalf as well as on behalf of those whom he represents. Note also that nobody chooses for himself the honour of being a High Priest, but he is called by God to the work, as was Aaron, the first High Priest in ancient times. Thus we see that the Christ did not choose for himself the glory of being High Priest, but he was honoured by the one who said [in Psalms 2:7]: ‘You are my Son, today I have begotten you’. And he says in another passage [Psalms 110:4]: ‘You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek’.
God appointed Aaron as the first High Priest so that he could make sacrifices on behalf of the people. Aaron did not choose this honor for himself. In the same way, Christ was appointed by God as the true High Priest. Although a person, Jesus was literally God’s only begotten Son and had sinless blood. God made His Son High Priest after an order (Melchizedek) entirely different and greater than Aaron and the Levitical order. As God’s Son, Jesus became a High Priest “forever,” making intercession for all time.
Christ is High Priest as a Son after the Order of Melchizedek
Hebrews 5:7-10:
Christ, in the days when he was a man on earth [the Greek text says, “in the days of his flesh,” before he was raised from the dead with a spiritual body], appealed to the one who could save him from death in desperate prayer and the agony of tears. His prayers were heard; he [respected God and] was freed from his shrinking from death but, Son though he was, he had to prove the meaning of obedience through all that he suffered. Then, when he had been proved the perfect Son [the text reads, “his consecration was accomplished”], he became the source of eternal salvation to all who should obey him, being now recognised by God himself as High Priest “after the order of Melchizedek.”
Jesus was a man who had the same pressures and earthly challenges that we have. He knew from Isaiah 53 that he would need to be the suffering savior that endured the most horrendous torture and death imaginable. In the Garden of Gethsemane, he implored His loving Father to find some other way if possible to accomplish mankind’s redemption–but Jesus was willing to do whatever the Father’s will required of him [Matthew 26:36-46; Mark 14:32-42; Luke 22:39-46; John 17:1-26].
Jesus appealed to God, Who “had the ability to save [sōzō] him out of death.” Jesus obeyed the Father’s will and thereby was raised to eternal life three days and nights after his death. Similarly, when we beseech God and obey His will [Romans 10:9,10] by confessing Jesus as Lord and believing that God raised Jesus from the dead, we are saved [sōzō].
When Jesus had accomplished his “consecration” as the perfect sacrifice and High Priest, he became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey him as their Lord. This is the same word used in Hebrews 2:10: “For it became Him [God], through whom are all things, and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to consecrate by sufferings the captain of their salvation.”
There is Much Truth about This for the Mature to Understand that is Beyond Foundational Truths
Hebrews 5:11—6:3:
There is a great deal that we should like to say about this high priesthood, but it is not easy to explain to you since you seem so slow to grasp spiritual truth. At a time when you should be teaching others, you need teachers yourselves to repeat to you the ABC of God’s Revelation to men. You have become people who need a milk diet and cannot face solid food! For anyone who continues to live on “milk” is obviously immature – he simply has not grown up. “Solid food” is only for the adult, that is, for the man who has developed by experience his power to discriminate between what is good and bad for him.
There is so much background that could be explained regarding the Levitical Priesthood and the things it foreshadowed of Christ’s accomplishments for us. However, some of these Judean Christians needed to be reminded of the “basics” regarding God’s plan in Christ.
Let us leave behind the elementary teaching about Christ and go forward to adult understanding. Let us not lay over and over again the foundation truths – repentance from the deeds which led to death, believing in God, baptism and laying-on of hands, belief in the life to come and the final judgment. No, if God allows, let us go on.
Some of these foundational truths of the Christian faith include: repentance from sinful deeds and believing God’s solution in Christ [Romans 10:9]; baptism into Christ’s death [Romans 6:3,4] and laying on hands to help others manifest God’s power through the holy spirit [Acts 6:6; 8:18; I Timothy 4:14; 5:22]; anticipating the return of Christ and final judgment [I Thessalonians 4:13-18; Romans 14:10; II Corinthians 5:10; Matthew 25:32,22].
Some Reject the Truth, but We Are to Adhere to the Truth
Hebrews 6:4-12:
When you find men who have been enlightened, who have experienced salvation and received the Holy Spirit, who have known the wholesome nourishment of the Word of God and touched the spiritual resources of the eternal world and who then fall away, it proves impossible to make them repent as they did at first. For they are re-crucifying the Son of God in their own souls, and by their conduct exposing him to shame and contempt.
This warning can encourage us to be faithful each day as we serve our Lord Jesus Christ. I Corinthians 3:11-15 shows that with a foundation of salvation in Christ, we have eternal life assured. But we will only be rewarded for those things that we do for God in love (gold, silver, precious stones). Those worthless things (wood, hay, stubble) will be “burned up,” yet we are saved in Christ’s work for us. Those who have been saved and seen the blessings of God’s Word can “fall away” and not obey the Father. Sadly, it is as if Christ’s sacrifice on the cross was worthless to them, and they bring shame upon Christians by their lifestyle.
Ground which absorbs the rain that is constantly falling upon it and produces plants which are useful to those who cultivate it, is ground which has the blessing of God. But ground which produces nothing but thorns and thistles is of no value and is bound sooner or later to be condemned – the only thing to do is to burn it clean.
This is the same analogy that Paul presents in I Corinthians 3. God causes plants to grow when they are planted and watered. Yet, plants that produce worthless fruit are only fit to be burned. We should endeavor each day to follow our Savior, Jesus Christ, and be well pleasing to the Father as he is. We have blessings in this life and the life that “is to come” [I Timothy 4:8].
But although we give these words of warning we feel sure that you, whom we love, are capable of better [kreittōn] things and will enjoy the full experience of salvation. God is not unfair: he will not lose sight of all that you have done nor of the loving labour which you have shown for his sake in looking after fellow-Christians (as you are still doing). It is our earnest wish that every one of you should show a similar keenness in fully grasping the hope that is within you. We do not want any of you to grow slack, but to follow the example of those who through sheer patient faith came to possess the promises.
What great encouragement to these Judean Christians and to us today! We should expect the best of each other, and pray that we all may “enjoy the full experience of salvation.” That is when we receive our new bodies and enjoy the rewards and blessings of eternal life with the Lord [Philippians 2:12; Colossians 3:24; I Thessalonians 5:9; II Timothy 2:10]. Then we will have “keenness in fully grasping the hope that is within” us. We want to follow the Biblical examples of those who through patient faith possessed God’s promises. Abraham is one such example.
Melchizedek is Greater than the Levitical High Priest; Christ as High Priest after the Order of Melchizedek Supersedes the Levitical Priesthood
Hebrews 6:13—7:19:
When God made his promise to Abraham he swore by himself, for there was no one greater by whom he could swear, and he said: ‘Surely blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply you’. And then Abraham, after patient endurance, found the promise true. Among men it is customary to swear by something greater than themselves. And if a statement is confirmed by an oath, that is the end of all quibbling. So in this matter, God, wishing to show beyond doubt that his plan was unchangeable, confirmed it with an oath. So that by two utterly immutable things, the word of God and the oath of God, who cannot lie, we who are refugees from this dying world might have a source of strength, and might grasp the hope that he holds out to us. This hope we hold as the utterly reliable anchor for our souls, fixed in the very certainty of God himself in Heaven, where Jesus has already entered [within the veil] on our behalf, having become, as we have seen, “High Priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek”.
Now this Melchizedek was, we know, king of Salem and priest of God most high. He met Abraham when the latter was returning from the defeat of the kings, and blessed him. Abraham gave him a tribute of a tenth part of all the spoils of battle. (Melchizedek means “king of righteousness,” and his other title is “king of peace”, for Salem means peace. He had no father or mother and [that was listed in] no family tree. He was not born nor did he die, but, being like the Son of God, is a perpetual priest.)
Melchizedek, like Jesus Christ, was a real person and not a spirit being. The text says he was “without a table of descent.” His mother and father were not significant as to his calling by God. Whereas Levites get their responsibilities and service to God by their family line, Melchizedek was called directly by God to serve as His priest. He had neither “beginning of days” that were reckoned in a family line, nor “end of life” that was recorded. God chose him and kept track of Melchizedek’s true service. The Aramaic text reads: “Whose father and mother are not written in the genealogies, nor the beginning of his days, nor the completion of his life.”
Now notice the greatness of this man. Even Abraham the patriarch pays him a tribute of a tenth part of the spoils. Further, we know that, according to the Law, the descendants of Levi who accept the office of priest have the right to demand a “tenth” from the people, that is from their brothers, despite the fact that the latter are descendants of Abraham. But here we have one who is quite independent of Levitic ancestry taking a “tenth” from Abraham, and giving a blessing to Abraham, the holder of God’s promises! And no one can deny that the receiver of a blessing is inferior to the one [the better, kreittōn] who gives it. Again, in the one case it is mortal men who receive the “tenths”, and in the other is one [Jesus Christ] who, we are assured, is alive. One might say that even Levi, the proper receiver of “tenths”, has paid his tenth to this man, for in a sense he already existed in the body of his father Abraham when Melchizedek met him.
Melchizedek sets the pattern of a priesthood apart from Levi. It predates the Levitical priesthood, with its first priest being “better” than even Abraham who believed God’s promise.
We may go further. If it be possible to bring men to spiritual maturity through the Levitical priestly system (for that is the system under which the people were given the Law), why does the necessity arise for another priest to make his appearance after the order of Melchizedek, instead of following the normal priestly calling of Aaron? For if there is a transference of priestly powers, there will necessarily follow an alteration of the Law regarding priesthood. He who is described as our High Priest belongs to another tribe, no member of which had ever attended the altar! For it is a matter of history that our Lord was a descendant of Judah, and Moses made no mention of priesthood in connection with that tribe.
That Jesus Christ as the Messiah would someday be a priest after the order of Melchizedek was written in the Psalms. But Moses knew nothing of this priesthood that does not come out of the tribe of Levi.
How fundamental is this change becomes all the more apparent when we see this other priest appearing according to the Melchizedek pattern, and deriving his priesthood not by virtue of a command imposed from outside, but from the power of indestructible life within. For the witness to him, as we have seen, is: ‘You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.’
Notice that God’s promise in Psalms 110:4 was the Messiah would be a priest forever. This means that the Messiah would live forever after being raised from death. That is far beyond a priesthood temporarily handed down from father to son.
Quite plainly, then, there is a definite cancellation of the previous commandment because of its ineffectiveness and uselessness – the Law was incapable of bringing anyone to real maturity – followed by the introduction of a better [kreittōn] hope, through which we approach our God.
Our hope in Christ is that he will return for us and that we will be forever with the Lord. He can do that because he has a new body that will live forever.
Christ is High Priest on God’s Oath
Hebrews 7:20-25:
This means a “better” hope for us because Jesus has become our priest by the oath of God. Other men have been priests without any sworn guarantee, but Jesus has the oath of him that said of him: ‘The Lord has sworn and will not relent, You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek’.
Whereas each Levitical High Priest was based on the Law, the Messiah’s priesthood was based on God’s own oath. The Lord [Jehovah] has sworn and will not take back His Word on this promise!
And he is, by virtue of this fact, himself the living guarantee of a “better” [kreittōn] agreement. Human High Priests have always been changing, for death made a permanent appointment impossible. But Christ, because he lives for ever, possesses a priesthood that needs no successor. This means that he can save fully and completely those who approach God through him, for he is always living to intercede on their behalf.
We have a Lord and Savior who ever lives to reconcile us to the Father. What a joy to be born again of God’s spirit.
Christ as the High Priest Made One Final Sacrifice for All
Hebrews 7:26-28:
Here is the High Priest we need. A man who is holy, faultless, unstained, beyond the very reach of sin and lifted to the very Heavens. There is no need for him, like the High Priest we know, to offer up sacrifice, first for our own sins and then for the people’s. He made one sacrifice, once for all, when he offered up himself. The Law makes for its High Priests men of human weakness. But the word of the oath, which came after the Law, makes for High Priest the Son, who is perfect for ever!
Levitical High Priests had to offer sacrifice for their sins, for they were born as “sons of Adam” in sin. But the Messiah, Jesus Christ, as God’s own Son, was born without sin. That is why Psalm 2:7 is quoted here–God’s Son is our mediator.
Christ is High Priest in the Heavens
Hebrews 8:1-5:
Now to sum up – we have an ideal High Priest such as has been described above. He has taken his seat on the right hand of the heavenly majesty. He is the minister of the sanctuary and of the real tabernacle – that is the one God has set up and not man. Every High Priest is appointed to offer gifts and make sacrifices. It follows, therefore, that in these holy places this man has something that he is offering. Now if he were still living on earth he would not be a priest at all, for there are already priests offering the gifts prescribed by the Law. These men are serving what is only a pattern or reproduction of things that exist in Heaven. (Moses, you will remember, when he was going to construct the tabernacle, was cautioned by God in these words: ‘See that you make all things according to the pattern shown you on the mountain’).
Jesus Christ passed through the heavens in his new body as our perfect priest and sacrifice. Although earthly priests still offered sacrifices in the Temple at Jerusalem when this epistle was written, they were only performing a pattern of what truly exists in heaven. God showed Moses how to build the tabernacle and the Holy of Holies–all of which symbolizes what Jesus Christ would one day accomplish.
Christ is High Priest of a New Agreement
Hebrews 8:6-13:
But Christ had been given a far higher [diaphoros] ministry for he mediates a higher [kreittōn] agreement, which in turn rests upon higher [kreittōn] promises. If the first agreement had proved satisfactory there would have been no need for the second.
Just as Hebrews 1:4 said Jesus was greater [kreittōn] than angels with a more excellent name [diaphoros] than they, Christ is the mediator of a greater [kreittōn] agreement with greater [kreittōn] promises so that his ministry is higher than Moses’. Jesus carried our salvation all the way through [diaphoros].
Actually, however, God does show himself dissatisfied for he says [Jeremiah 31:31-34] to those under the first agreement: ‘Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah – not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt; because they did not continue in my covenant, and I disregarded them, says the Lord. For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel: After those days, says the Lord, I will put my laws in their mind and write them on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. None of them shall teach his neighbour, and none his brother, saying, Know the Lord, for all shall know me, from the least to the greatest of them. For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more’. The mere fact that God speaks of a new covenant or agreement makes the old one out of date. And when a thing grows weak and out of date it is obviously soon going to be dispensed with altogether.
Look at God’s vision for our lives. We have his law in our minds and written on our hearts. We are God’s people and all know the Lord directly by way of His spirit within us. We have full pardon and forgiveness for our sins through Jesus Christ. That is a much more excellent reality than anything that Moses and the Levitical priesthood could bring.
