The book of Hebrews tells us that Jesus is far better than anything else! Jesus is the better Prophet, Priest, King, and Sacrifice. Today, I want to focus on what it means for Jesus to be our better Priest.The writer of Hebrews tells us in chapter 5 how Jesus is the better priest. He starts in verse 1-4 showing the system of priest that was established in the Law of Moses. God ordained Aaron, Moses’ brother, to be the first high priest and his descendants would be the ones who would follow and serve as a priesthood. So their “calling” did not involve any glory on their own part. Simply God chose the tribe of Levi to serve. Now since they were human, and sinners, they first had to offer a sacrifice for their own sin before they could offer a sacrifice for the sins of the people.The choice of Jesus as our high priest was different. As he explains in verses 6-10, Jesus Christ was chosen not because of being in the tribe of Levi, but because he was God’s Son. He also points out the similarity with Melchizedek. We don’t know much about Melchizedek. His entire story is contained in four verses, Genesis 14:17-20. So the example of Melchizedek pointed towards Christ. Neither Melchizedek nor Jesus were appointed by people or the regulations of the Law of Moses.Verses 7-10 explain why Jesus is the perfect high priest—how he fulfills the prophecies of being a priest. First, Jesus offered up prayers on our behalf and describes the pain He felt on our behalf (see John 17). Then verse 8 learned obedience through suffering, that is, he showed His compete obedience to God. So, as verse 9 continues, Jesus became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey Him.The writer of Hebrews explains what this should mean for us in Heb. 10:19-25. First, we now have confident—each believer— to enter the Most Holy Place where the Ark of the Covenant was kept. We are able to do that because of Christ’s shed blood. Now this most holy place where only the high priest could enter, and he could not that only once a year to offer sacrifice for the sins of the people. But there was a curtain that separated it from the rest of the Temple.Matthew, Mark, and Luke all tell about how when Jesus died, there was ...
