Lesson 3: Jesus is the high priest

Last week, we talked about how the early Christians believed Jesus fulfilled the promise made to David in 2 Samuel 7:13: that his seed (The Messiah) would build a house for God’s name. And we saw that the early Christians believed Jesus built this house, not by using Gold or cedar as was done in the Old Testament, but instead by cleansing people of their sin through repentance and baptism in Jesus' name so that God’s Spirit could come and fill them much like how God's Spirit filled temples in the Old Testament after they had been built and sancified. 

But we must recognize that a temple built for God in the Old Testament could only be useful as long as there was a priesthood ministering in it. The High Priest is where the people would go to have their sins atoned for. He was the one who was to teach the people, and in Malachi 2:7, it even says that the high priest was the messenger for God. He served as the mediator between God and man, and without the High Priest, the temple was of little use.

So, if this was the method of construction which God was foretelling in the Old Testament, what happened to the priesthood? How did early Christians reasonably interpret this transition if they believed Jesus was the Temple of God?

This is a necessary question to ask because under the law, Jesus could not be a Levitical priest since he was born a descendant of Judah and not of Aaron, which is the only lineage from which priests could lawfully come. In fact, there were times recorded in the bible where men tried to rise and do the duties of the priesthood when they were not children of Aaron, and they were judged. The earth opened up and swallowed some (Numbers 16:3 & 16:31), and others were immediately struck with Leprosy (2 Chronicles 26:16-19).

So let us first examine some Old Testament scripture speaking of the type of priesthood the prophesied Messiah would occupy. 

If the Messiah was to be a Levitical priest under the law, could Jesus have been the Messiah?

Zechariah 6:12-13 “Behold the man whose name is the BRANCH; and he shall grow up out of his place, and he shall build the temple of the LORD: Even he shall build the temple of the LORD; and he shall bear the glory, and shall sit and rule upon his throne; and he shall be a priest upon his throne: and the counsel of peace shall be between them both.”

In this verse, we see the Messiah would be both King and Priest. But remember, the Messiah would have to be a descendant of David (descendant of Judah) to fulfill God’s promise to him. And if the Messiah was a descendant of Judah, he could not also be a full-blooded descendant of Aaron (Descendant of Levi), which is what the priesthood under the law would require. So obviously, this priesthood spoken of through Zechariah could not have been the Levitical priesthood. 

So what priesthood? We can find another Messianic prophecy written in the Psalms where this is elaborated:

Psalm 110:1-4 “The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool. The LORD shall send the rod of thy strength out of Zion: rule thou in the midst of thine enemies. Thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power, in the beauties of holiness from the womb of the morning: thou hast the dew of thy youth. The LORD hath sworn, and will not repent, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek.”

In this Psalm, David is describing a dialogue between “The LORD” and his promised seed (“my Lord” or the Messiah). He describes the power of the Messiah’s Kingship and then describes the order of his priesthood, saying, “The LORD hath sworn, and will not repent, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek.”

So he says this future Messiah would be a priest “forever” after “the order of Melchizedek”.

What does it mean that Jesus is a High Priest forever, unlike the priests of the Old Testament?
Priests in the Old Testament were men, and they did not live forever, so they could not be priests forever. But this is saying the Messiah would be a priest forever, meaning that the Messiah would also live forever.
If Jesus didn’t live forever, he couldn’t be the Messiah according to Old Testament prophecy.

Who is Melchizedek? Melchizedek is a mysterious character who appears in the book of Genesis after Abraham comes back with victory after fighting five kings to save his nephew, Lot, who had been abducted.

Genesis 14:18-20 “And Melchizedek king of Salem brought forth bread and wine: and he was the priest of the most high God. And he blessed him, and said, Blessed be Abram of the most high God, possessor of heaven and earth: And blessed be the most high God, which hath delivered thine enemies into thy hand. And he (Abraham) gave him tithes of all.”

The bible mentions Melchizedek being a priest of the Most High God even before the Levitic priesthood was established under the law (Which would have been established about 500 years later). So one may ask, what made him a priest? He was a priest because the Word of God said he was a priest, and this is the order of his priesthood.

And this is the same order that God is saying the Messiah would be of in Psalm 110, saying, “The LORD hath sworn, and will not repent, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek”. So what makes the Messiah a Priest? The fact that God said the Messiah would be a priest in Psalm 110. The order of Priesthood for the Messiah would not be based on lineage.

If the Messiah’s priesthood were not based on lineage, could Jesus have been the Messiah?

So let’s stop here and look to the New Testament writers and examine what they believed about Jesus regarding the priesthood.

Hebrews 5:1-10 “For every high priest taken from among men is ordained for men in things pertaining to God, that he may offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins: Who can have compassion on the ignorant, and on them that are out of the way; for that he himself also is compassed with infirmity. And by reason hereof he ought, as for the people, so also for himself, to offer for sins. And no man taketh this honour unto himself, but he that is called of God, as was Aaron. So also Christ glorified not himself to be made an high priest; but he that said unto him, Thou art my Son, to day have I begotten thee. As he saith also in another place, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec. Who in the days of his flesh, when he had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto him that was able to save him from death, and was heard in that he feared; Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered; And being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him; Called of God an high priest after the order of Melchisedec.” 

So the writer of Hebrews is saying that Aaron and his sons were called of God to be high priests. And in the same way, Jesus was called of God to be high priest in  Psalm 110.

Let’s continue to follow the writer of Hebrews into chapter 7.

Hebrews 7:1-3 - “For this Melchisedec, king of Salem, priest of the most high God, who met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings, and blessed him; To whom also Abraham gave a tenth part of all; first being by interpretation King of righteousness, and after that also King of Salem, which is, King of peace; Without father, without mother, without descent, having neither beginning of days, nor end of life; but made like unto the Son of God; abideth a priest continually.”

He was not saying that Melchisedec did not have a father or mother, but rather that his lineage was never recorded, which is significant because without a recorded lineage, a person could not be a priest under the law of Moses, since they had to be descendants of Aaron. But this order of priesthood did not require recorded lineage.

Hebrews 7:4-10 - “Now consider how great this man was, unto whom even the patriarch Abraham gave the tenth of the spoils. And verily they that are of the sons of Levi, who receive the office of the priesthood, have a commandment to take tithes of the people according to the law, that is, of their brethren, though they come out of the loins of Abraham: But he whose descent is not counted from them received tithes of Abraham, and blessed him that had the promises. And without all contradiction, the less is blessed of the better. And here men that die receive tithes; but there he receiveth them, of whom it is witnessed that he liveth. And as I may so say, Levi also, who receiveth tithes, paid tithes in Abraham. For he was yet in the loins of his father, when Melchisedec met him.”

Abraham was the father of Levi, who would eventually be the father of Aaron, through whom the priesthood under the law would be established. And the people of Israel, under the law, were to pay tithes to Levi. But the writer of Hebrews makes the argument that since Abraham paid tithes to Melchizedec while Levi was still in his loins (or yet to be born) and Melchizedec blessed him, he was greater than Abraham. And the writer takes it one step further to say, Levi also paid tithes in Abraham to Melchisedec, showing the superiority of the priesthood of Melchisedec over the priesthood which was after the order of Aaron. 

So basically, the writer is saying, we see the priesthood after the order of Melchisedec is superior to the priesthood after the order of Aaron, which was under the law of Moses.

Would Jesus being of this priesthood solve his lineage problem?

Very good question and in fact, we see a cause in the Old testament. In the last book of the Old Testament, Malachi. After the Jews came back from Persia and rebuilt the temple, the Levitic priesthood became corrupt. They began manipulating people and not performing their duties correctly. So because of their corruption, God says to the priests in Malachi 1:10 “..I have no pleasure in you, saith the Lord of hosts, neither will I accept an offering at your hand.”

And then things get interesting and he says in Malachi 1:11 “For from the rising of the sun even unto the going down of the same my name shall be great among the Gentiles; and in every place incense shall be offered unto my name, and a pure offering: for my name shall be great among the heathen, saith the LORD of hosts.”

He rejects the sacrifice of the Levitic priesthood and says that Gentiles would soon be offering insense and a pure offering in every place. But something like this could only be done with a new priesthood. So we find, ultimately the cause of God establishing this greater priest and priesthood after the order of Melchizedek was because he wanted to set up a priesthood that could never be corrupted ever again. And in the next book, Matthew, the Christians new high priest enters the scene.

The writer of Hebrews continues in Hebrews 7:11-13 “If therefore perfection were by the Levitical priesthood, (for under it the people received the law,) what further need was there that another priest should rise after the order of Melchisedec, and not be called after the order of Aaron? For the priesthood being changed, there is made of necessity a change also of the law. For he of whom these things are spoken pertaineth to another tribe, of which no man gave attendance at the altar.”

David said in Psalm 110 that the Lord swore and would not repent, saying to his promised seed, the Messiah, “Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek.” David says this while the Levitical priesthood is in full operation. So the writer of Hebrews concludes that if the Levitical priesthood (and the law that came with it, saying “don’t touch and don’t eat”) was as good as it gets, why was there a need for another priest to rise after the order of Melchisedec?

And he continues to say, if the priesthood is changed, then the law must also be changed, since the priesthood after the order of Melchizedek not based on genealogy or the commandments of the law, but on God’s appointment and the power of an endless life.

And the writer of Hebrews gives us a summary of what he is saying in Hebrews 8:1-2 “Now of the things which we have spoken this is the sum: We have such an high priest, who is set on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens; A minister of the sanctuary, and of the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, and not man.”

Hebrews 4:14-16 “Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession. For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.”

The writer says, we have a high priest who understands us so we can come boldly to his throne in grace and obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

If the priesthood changed, why would the law connected to that priesthood also have to change?
How do you think knowing Jesus endured the pain and suffering of life encouraged the early Christians to go boldly to him for help?

In conclusion, the first Christians believed Jesus was their High Priest, not through the Law or by lineage, but because Jesus rose again from the dead they claimed he fulfilled Psalm 110 in that he would be a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek. This had startling repercussions for the early Christians because no longer did they believe they had to go to a person called a High Priest on earth for their prayer to be answered or to be cleansed of sin, but they could go straight to Jesus, their eternal High Priest, for whatever they needed.

This also had great repercussions on how the early Christians perceived the Old Testament Law. So next time, we will be discussing how this transition changed how these early Christians lived their lives. Join us next time!