The Great High Priest

The Lord Jesus Christ is our Great High Priest. He is able to perform that role from heaven today because He has risen from the grave and is alive.

Heb 6: 16-20, “For men verily swear by the greater: and an oath for confirmation is to them an end of all strife. Wherein God, willing more abundantly to shew unto the heirs of promise the immutability of his counsel, confirmed it by an oath: That by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us: Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and stedfast, and which entereth into that within the veil; Whither the forerunner is for us entered, even Jesus, made an high priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec.”

We first come across Melchizedek in Genesis 14. If we only had the book of Genesis we would assume that he was just an incidental character. There was a war between some kings from Mesopotamia and other kings from the area we now know as Israel. Lot was taken captive and Abraham rescued Lot and brought him back to his home. Abraham met Melchizedek who gave him food, this man was known as a priest of the Most High God. Melchizedek blessed Abraham on behalf the Most High God. This section also contains the first mention of priest in the Bible and we learn that a priest is a man who acts for the Most High God in His dealings with people. That is a priest is a mediator between God and man, (compare 1 Tim 2: 5, “For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus;”) We learn later that Abraham also paid this priest tithes (Heb 7: 2) and that his name means king of righteousness and he is the king of peace.

However, Melchizedek’s history was raised from seeming incidental to being significant when David wrote about him in Psalm 110. The Lord Jesus Christ quoted this Psalm concerning Himself when He asked the Pharisees about Christ (see Matt 22: 41- 45, “While the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them, Saying, What think ye of Christ? whose son is he? They say unto him, The Son of David. He saith unto them, How then doth David in spirit call him Lord, saying, The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, till I make thine enemies thy footstool? If David then call him Lord, how is he his son?”) David lived during the days of the Law in Israel and knew about the Aaronic priesthood but he mentioned another order of Priests who belonged to the order of Melchizedek. This means that it is possible for kings to belong to this priestly order even though the roles of king and priest were distinct in Israel.

This order of priests is mentioned in Hebrews 5 and 6. The major theme of the book of Hebrews is the superiority of the Lord Jesus Christ. So this priestly order is related to the Lord Jesus Christ even though the first priest of that order was called Melchizedek.

We have been given information about this order of priests in Hebrews 5. We know that high priests of the old order were men who were chosen, according to the conditions laid down by the Lord, to deal with things concerning God. They were qualified to offer gifts to the Lord and sacrifices for sin. As men these priests came from a sinful background and were able to understand the needs of other sinners. The high priest was required to offer sacrifices for his own sins before he could perform his role on behalf of other men. The high priest didn’t choose this role for himself, all high priests were like the first high priest, Aaron, whom the Lord called to his office (see Ex 28: 1, “And take thou unto thee Aaron thy brother, and his sons with him, from among the children of Israel, that he may minister unto me in the priest’s office, even Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar, Aaron’s sons.”)

The same was true of the Lord Jesus Christ, He was appointed as High Priest, as we have already seen from Psalm 110. However, the Lord Jesus Christ had to become a man to perform His role as Saviour because it is impossible for God to die but He had to die to be the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sins of the world. This is why Psalm 2: 7 was quoted in Heb 5 (“I will declare the decree: the LORD hath said unto me, Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee.”)

When the Lord Jesus Christ was living on the earth as a man, He carried out His priestly role; we know that He was a man of prayer (see, for example Luke 5: 16). Samuel, who was prophet and judge of Israel stated that he would not sin against the Lord by ceasing to pray for Israel (1 Sam 12: 23, “Moreover as for me, God forbid that I should sin against the LORD in ceasing to pray for you: but I will teach you the good and the right way:”) The Lord Jesus Christ, as the rejected King and priest prayed for Israel (compare Matt 23: 37, “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!”)

The Lord Jesus Christ prayed in agony in the Garden at Gethsemane (Matt 26: 39, “And he went a little further, and fell on his face, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt.”) The Lord was able to deliver Him from this agony but He was the only Person Who could actually pay the full price of salvation. The Lord Jesus Christ was not looking to avoid the cross but satisfying prophecy when He prayed in the Garden (see Is 59: 16, “And he saw that there was no man, and wondered that there was no intercessor: therefore his arm brought salvation unto him; and his righteousness, it sustained him.” and 63: 5, “And I looked, and there was none to help; and I wondered that there was none to uphold: therefore mine own arm brought salvation unto me; and my fury, it upheld me.”) He showed at that time that He was the only Person Who was able to bring salvation and, having done that, He went ahead, alone and unassisted, and brought salvation. He was filled with anger and sorrow at the damage that sin had done to His own people, the apple of His eye (Deut 32: 10, “He found him in a desert land, and in the waste howling wilderness; he led him about, he instructed him, he kept him as the apple of his eye.”)

The Lord Jesus Christ suffered and then became the author of eternal salvation.

When the Lord confirmed His promise to Abraham, He completed the sacred and ancient ritual to confirm a contract alone (See Gen 15: 17, “And it came to pass, that, when the sun went down, and it was dark, behold a smoking furnace, and a burning lamp that passed between those pieces.”)

The Lord was unable to make an oath by using the name of someone who was greater than He, because He is God and the greatest of all. It is also impossible for God to lie (

Titus 1: 2, “In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began;”) Therefore the Lord made that promise by Himself and it would stand forever. This gives us a sure hope, guaranteed by the Lord Himself, and this secure hope is an anchor for our souls. We can trust the truth of the Lord’s word for we know that it will stand the test of time and eternity (1 Pet 1: 23, “Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever.”)

The Lord Jesus Christ, Who was the only Person with sufficient resources to pay the full price of salvation completed this task and was made a high priest of the order of Melchizedek. This, however, is not the end of the story but the beginning of the story. We know that the Lord Jesus Christ said “It is finished” (John 19: 30) just before He died on the cross. So that part of His work is complete and He moved on to another phase of His ministry.

We also know that the Lord Jesus Christ is the Great High Priest. Even though He belongs to a new priestly order, He is the greatest of that new order. (Heb 4: 14, “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.”)

Under the old priesthood access to the Lord’s presence was restricted by the veil. The high priest was able to go behind the veil once a year but he had to offer a blood sacrifice before he was able to do that (Heb 9: 7, “But into the second went the high priest alone once every year, not without blood, which he offered for himself, and for the errors of the people:”) However, we know (Heb 4: 16 “Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need”) that we can come confidently into the very presence of the Lord now. After the Lord Jesus Christ died on the cross the veil of the Temple was torn from the top to the bottom (Mark 15: 38). This shows us that the restriction, our sin, has been dealt with forever and we can now come before the Lord whenever we need to.

This leads to the Lord Jesus Christ’s role as the Great High Priest of the order of Melchizedek.

We saw earlier that the high priest were men from a sinful background so that they could understand the needs of the people they served. The Lord Jesus Christ, however, is completely sinless but He is still able to understand sinners because He was tempted by Satan during His time as a man on the earth (Heb 4: 15, “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.”). He is able to play that role to perfection.

The Lord Jesus Christ is also our Mediator (1 Tim 2: 5, “For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus;”). The former high priests played that role under the Law but now we have been freed from the obligation of the Law by the finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ (Gal 2: 16, “Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified.”). However, we still need to have the Great High Priest so that we can deal with our daily lives as we live in a sinful world.