Jesus is your Savior, Redeemer, King, Lord, etc. But in the Hebrews letter, He is the new covenant High Priest. Now that would mean a lot to a Jewish Christian. The first high priest was Aaron. His role was to act as a mediator between God and the Israelites, offering sacrifices and performing rituals, most notably entering the Holy of Holies once a year on the Day of Atonement (Leviticus 16). On the holiest day of the year, he would enter the Holy of Holies (only he was ever allowed to enter there and only on this one day) for two trips: one to sprinkle blood on the mercy seat on the ark of the covenant for his own sins and then a 2nd trip to sprinkle blood on the mercy seat for the sins of the people to cover (atone) for their sins for the entire past year. You can imagine the relief of the people if and as he came out of the tabernacle after that 2nd trip! He then would place his hands on a goat, putting the sins of the people on the goat, and send the goat off into the wilderness to never return. Thus, the “scapegoat”.

The Law was about to “disappear” (Hebrews 8:13) in just a few years after the time of writing of Hebrews in 70 AD when the temple was destroyed by the Romans. After that there would be no more temple, no more sacrifices, no more day of Atonement, no more High Priest going into the Holy of Holies. That would be quite a shock to Jewish Christians, even hard to believe that God would send the Romans to destroy His own temple! Some Jewish Christians were even leaving faith in Christ and the church to return to Judaism, probably enticed to do so by the non-Christian Jews who were rebelling against Rome.

But the Hebrews writer gave the assurance that there is a much greater High Priest, Jesus, for the greater new covenant that would be replacing the old covenant. This new High Priest, Jesus, would enter the Holy of Holies, the dwelling place of God, in heaven, not on earth, in a spiritual tabernacle in heaven. The Aaronic old covenant high priests died physically and would have to be replaced, but not Jesus as he was eternal. The old high priests had to make a trip into the Most Holy Place to sprinkle blood for their own sins, but not Jesus since he was sinless. Jesus would only make one trip in to the Most Holy Place in heaven to offer, not the blood of animals which could not forgive sins permanently, but to offer his own blood to forgive sins once for all time (Hebrews 10). The Aaronic high priests had to enter to enter the Most Holy Place on the Day of Atonement every year, but Jesus only had to enter the Most Holy Place in heaven one time, once for all time. After making that offering of his blood, he would come out of the Most Holy Place in heaven to make his 2nd coming, but the 2nd coming was not to make an offering for sin but to provide salvation and immortality to believers. 9:²⁸ so Christ also, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time for salvation without reference to sin, to those who eagerly await Him.

Jesus’ high priesthood was after the order of Melchizadek and not Aaron (Hebrews 7). Melchizadek was a mysterious figure to whom Abraham offered tithes and who blessed Abraham, showing his superiority over Abraham. Abraham was greater than Levi, his great grandson Levi. So if a>b and b>c then a>c (the transitive property of inequality). Melchizadek is greater than Abraham and Abraham is greater than Levi so Melchizadek is greater than Levi. The high priesthood of Melchizadek is greater than that of Levi. Also Melchizadek is described with no genealogy as if he is eternal, which is a type of the eternal high priesthood of Jesus, his antitype.

This discussion of the new greater high priesthood of Jesus being superior to Aaron should have helped Jewish Christians who might have been struggling in their faith. Their non-Christian Jewish brethren are telling them that there is no way God would allow His temple to be destroyed by the Romans and certainly no way that sacrifices, the Most Holy Place, the High Priesthood of Aaron, etc. would totally disappear in just a few years. They expected Jesus to make his 2nd coming (which he predicted would be within their lifetime) to be soon to rescue them from the Romans, defeat the Romans, and restore the Jewish kingdom to the power it had in the days of David. No doubt many Jewish Christians had that same false expectation. Fortunately, they trusted what Jesus had told them to do (Matthew 24), which was to get out of Jerusalem when they could before the final siege of the city began in the spring of 70 AD. Eusebius, the 3rd century AD church historian, tells us that the Jewish Christians did escape Jerusalem and fled to Pella before that final siege. After the temple was destroyed in 70 AD, maybe they finally realized that the new kingdom (that Jesus said was “at hand”) was a spiritual kingdom, not of this world (John 18:36), that would not defeat the Romans and restore the physical power of the kingdom of the old covenant. Jesus had predicted that some of those he was speaking to would still be alive to see “him coming in His kingdom” (Mark 9:1) and that’s what happened in 70 AD. Thus, Hebrews was a valuable letter for the Jewish Christians at the time of writing as the temple was about to be destroyed. It certainly would mean more to them than to us Gentile Christians living 2,000 years later.

So what is the lasting message from the book of Hebrews for us Gentile Christians about this new high priest. Since Jesus is an eternal High Priest of the new covenant, then He is our High Priest. What does that mean for us today? Why do we need a high priest? Obviously we need the sacrifice for the forgiveness of our sins and the analogy of Jesus our High Priest entering the Most Holy Place in heaven to offer his blood for the forgiveness of sins once for all time. That’s a beautiful analogy that reassures our faith as we struggle with sin. To know that He is at the right hand of the Father as our “Advocate” (1 John 2:1-2), making “intercession” for us to the Father (Romans 8:26,27) when we sin.

But there is more to the high priesthood of Jesus than just that. Hebrews 5:1 For every high priest taken from among men is appointed on behalf of people in things pertaining to God, in order to offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins; ² he can deal gently with the ignorant and misguided, since he himself also is clothed in weakness.” Jesus did not have to offer blood for his own sins, but he did undergo suffering to enable him to be able to “deal gently with the ignorant and misguided” (i.e. sinners). His suffering perfected Him to be able to do that. Hebrew 5:⁸ Although He was a Son, He learned obedience from the things which He suffered. ⁹ And having been perfected, He became the source of eternal salvation for all those who obey Him.” This makes it more personal than just a high priest who maybe sacrifices for our sins but doesn’t really relate to us b/c he is a sinless high priest who really isn’t sympathetic to our sins. He did not sin, but His own weakness showed how the Father prepared him for the role of sympatizer. 5:⁷ In the days of His humanity, He offered up both prayers and pleas with loud crying and tears (i.e. in the Garden of Gethsemane) to the One able to save Him from death, and He was heard because of His devout behavior.” In the Garden He was to the point of depression (not clinical depression but depression). He began to feel “sorrow and distress, sorrowful to the point of death” (Mt 26:37,38). His sweat became like drops of blood (Luke 22:44). On the cross He cried, “My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?”

The Jewish Christians were suffering. 10:³² But remember the former days, when, after being enlightened, you endured a great conflict of sufferings, ³³ partly by being made a public spectacle through insults and distress, and partly by becoming companions with those who were so treated. ³⁴ For you showed sympathy to the prisoners and accepted joyfully the seizure of your property, knowing that you have for yourselves a better and lasting possession.” Their new high priest Jesus was not just the forgiver of their sins, but He could sympathize with their sufferings and weaknesses b/c he also experienced suffering and weakness. That would be comforting to know. That might help them “endure their suffering to the end” (i.e. 70 AD and the end of the Jewish Age and the end of the last days of the Jewish Age). 12:1b let’s run with endurance the race that is set before us, ² looking only at Jesus, the originator and perfecter of the faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. ³ For consider Him who has endured such hostility by sinners against Himself, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.”

Thus the Hebrews writer says this of the new high priest Jesus: 2:¹⁷ Therefore, in all things He had to be made like His brothers so that He might become a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. ¹⁸ For since He Himself was tempted in that which He has suffered, He is able to come to the aid of those who are tempted.” 4:¹⁵ For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things just as we are, yet without sin. ¹⁶ Therefore let’s approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace for help at the time of our need.” Was he tempted to quit when things got rough as in the Garden He faced the thoughts of being crucified? Yes. He had seen many victims of crucifixion hanging on crosses by the roads, suffering for 2 or 3 days usually before they died. How would you feel if you knew you had to go through that in the next 24 hours. I mean we have great dread just knowing we are going to have to go through a painful surgery in the next 24 hours. I can’t imagine the dread that martyrs of the faith like Polycarp went through. Polycarp died as a martyr in 155 AD at the age of 86, refusing to renounce his Christian faith. He was first burned at the stake, but when the fire failed to consume his body, he was stabbed to death with a dagger. John Huss died by being burned at the stake on July 6, 1415, after being declared a heretic by the Council of Constance. BTW Huss’s “heresy” was that he believed the same fundamentalist beliefs that I hold and that the Reformation movement held, i.e. Jesus, not the pope, is the head of the chruch and we are all priests (not Catholic priest system). I can’t imagine the dread of knowing that in 24 hours I will be burned at the stake.

So this new high priesthood of Jesus meant more to a Jewish Christian in a way, but it presents a picture of Jesus that the terms Redeemer, King, and Lord do not give. Yes, Jesus makes “propitiation” (2:17) for our sins, once for all time, and intercedes for our sins daily. The Greek word is hilaskomai: To propitiate, to appease, to atone for: appeasement/satisfaction of divine wrath on sin. This is the equivalent of the Hebrew word for “atonement” and the mercy seat on the ark where blood would be sprinkled to make atonement or covering of the sins of the people of the past year. But he is more than just the propitation for our sins. He is not just an impersonal high priest. He can sympathize with any sin, temptation, or struggle that you face. You know what it means to have someone you can talk to when you struggle, someone you trust, someone who can sympathize with what you are going through. You have that in Jesus 24/7. But you must feel the need for that spiritually. If you just face trials on your own strength, you will eventually fall.

So right now, look up into heaven (wherever that is!). Can you see Jesus your high priest sitting at the right hand of the Father? When you sin today (and you will), can you look up and see Jesus asking the Father to forgive you b/c He died for you? When you struggle with problems, spiritual or physical, today can you look up and hear Jesus talking to you, sympathizing with you encouraging you to stay strong? To me, that’s what the Hebrews writer is saying in 4:16 Therefore let’s approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace for help at the time of our need.” You want mercy and grace for your sins, but you need “help in the time of your need”. When faced with danger, we cry out “help me”. We should be asking for Jesus’ help 24/7, especially in the midst of a spiritual crisis. He will “come to our aid” (2:18) when we need it. The Greek for “aid” and “help” is the same Greek word: boétheó: To help, to come to the aid of, to assist: a brand of help, especially critical assistance that meets an urgent situation (delivering very needed aid). 

You have a great High Priest Jesus. Try turning to Him all day today in every circumstance you face. You are not alone in your struggles.