For most of us, Jesus as our Great High Priest sounds good, but the idea of a priest, in the biblical sense, is not something we see or experience in our daily lives. But this idea of Jesus as our Great High Priest is essential in understanding his sacrifice on our behalf. Hebrews 5:7-9 says:
During his earthly life, he offered prayers and appeals with loud cries and tears to the one who was able to save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverence. Although he was the Son, he learned obedience from what he suffered. After he was perfected, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him…
The job of the priest, before the life, death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus, was to intercede on behalf of the people with God. The priests made atonement for the sins of the people by sacrificing a lamb symbolically placing the people’s sin the lamb. The problem with this system is that it could never totally satisfy the wrath of God. The Earthly priests were also imperfect people themselves, so they had to also make atonement for their own sin.
The priesthood of Jesus, while comparable to earthly priest, was different because Jesus’ priesthood was final. His priesthood as final because the sacrifice that he made on behalf of us was perfect. It was final because the sacrifice he made on our behalf didn’t stay dead. It was final because the sacrifice that he made on our behalf was himself. He, the eternal lamb of God, sacrificed himself, rose from the grave, and then sat down at the right hand of the Father continuing to intercede for us, his followers.
Understanding the self-sacrifice of Jesus, our Great High Priest, should give us a greater love and affection for Jesus, because his self-sacrifice was the greatest act of love ever displayed. We had nothing to offer Jesus except our broken selves. We didn’t deserve his life, we deserved death in the form of eternal separation from. But thanks be to God, Jesus, our Great High Priest has done everything necessary to save us from our sin. We couldn’t earn salvation, we don’t deserve salvation, but have salvation in the name of Jesus Christ.
This post is written by Shaq Hardy, and is published as a companion to Unit 3, Session 2 of The Gospel Project for Adults Vol. 1 (Fall 2021): From Creation to Chaos.
