The Great High Priest and Perfect Sacrifice

Upon reading the book of Hebrews, it is evident to view Jesus and what He has accomplished through His death and resurrection on the cross. However, without a proper understanding of Jesus and the role that He came to fulfill, His death and resurrection will not hold the appropriate weight. By exploring what the Scriptures express about the life of Jesus, it will be evident that Christ, the Great High Priest, has atoned for all sins. This paper will discover the need for the law by defining the origin of sin, and an exploration of the role of the priest will be determined and their failings discovered. However, through Jesus as the Great High Priest, it will be evident that He fulfilled the laws that humanity failed and that He was the perfect priest because He presented Himself as the perfect Sacrifice.

Context

The Purpose of the Law

Jesus is both the great High Priest and Perfect Sacrifice, and to know this, it is vital to assess the purpose of His position. By evaluating the context, we can fully understand the significance of Jesus' death and resurrection. Therefore, it is crucial to explore the function of the Levitical Law in Israel and to do so, the origin of sin must be established. The Old Testament laws were specific in how they functioned in Israel, and these laws were ultimately built so that man could have a relationship with God. Originally, God and man lived in perfect harmony in the Garden of Eden. However, we see sin enter this world because of men's desire to see glory for themselves instead of glory for the Lord. In Genesis 3, the first sin is recorded from Adam and Eve, and their sin was eating the fruit of a tree that God had explicitly commanded them not to.

While eating of the fruit may not seem to be something morally wrong, by taking of the fruit they believed the lie of the enemy rather than trusting in the Absolute Truth (John 15:4) and destruction resulted. Their decision represented disobedience to what God had expressed and commanded. Therefore, anything apart from God or against God's will is sin, imperfect, and evil. After they sinned, Genesis stated that the result would be death. The result of their sin affected their now temporary bodies and created a transient world. The next chapter immediately shows how their sin influenced all creation. Corruption is seen through its death, destruction, and deterioration. Just by their one act of disobedience, the entire world was affected.

Yet, just as Adam and Eve sinned, the rest of humanity has fallen short of God's command. Millard Erickson draws a clear connection by expressing, "Adam, the entire human race violated God's will and fell from the state of innocence in which God had created it. Consequently, we all begin life with a natural tendency to sin."[1] It is seen that the root of sin is driven by men's inability to obtain perfect goodness and Truth. Therefore, now it has impacted humanity and even creation. In Romans 8, Paul writes about how the bondage of sin and death has affected all of creation.

Although our relationship with God was broken, God's heart was always to create a way for His people. God's heart and desire have never been that His creation would live in eternal suffering. 1 Timothy 2:4 speaks of God's desire for humanity by expressing, "God our savior, wants all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of Truth," (NIV). As stated previously, Romans shows clearly, how the world has been affected by sin. However, it also shows how God specifically ordained it to happen for His glory and love for humanity. God has had redemption in mind the entirety of the time, and God knew it was necessary for complete restoration.

Ultimately God knew in the beginning how salvation would be required to save His people. In the meantime, before He sent His Son, we see a mediation through the Law in the Old Testament related to His sovereignty. In His authority, God understood the most efficient way to fulfill it, which is how we see the Levitical Law revealing the purpose and significance of God's heart for the Ancient Israelites. God loved what He created, so even though we were imperfect, these 613 laws paved the way for us to be unified with God.[2] As we break down these laws, we will understand that they point to God's wisdom. Each law is built to accomplish His holiness, justice, sacrifice, and sacred time.[3] It is also evident that some laws were created to separate God's people from other nations while others were made to protect against sickness, death, and a broken morality.

The Purpose of the High Priest

According to Scripture, the theological function of the law shows God's wisdom and protection to humanity for the ultimate purpose of us obtaining a relationship with Him. To stay in a relationship with God, the Israelites were expected to follow the law through Sacrifice because they failed to uphold the law. The sacrificial practice was demonstrated only through the high priest. Once a year, the high priest would enter into the holy of holies, and through the Sacrifice of a spotless animal, it would atone for their sins.

However, not just any man could obtain the role of the priest. Hebrews 5 gives a straightforward narrative about the criteria of a high priest. By looking at Hebrews 5:1-4, four principles become evident that are qualified for the priest's office. The High Priest originates from among his people. He embodies the community in front of God, can have compassion for the people because of His weaknesses and offers sacrifices before God for himself and his community.[4]

Immediately upon the first three verses, some new and exciting concepts come into play about the ideas regarding the high priest. Initially, the high priest is chosen from among the people, and this appointment, to some extent, shows the high priest's solidarity with his ethnicity and his people. In other words, he is not a "stranger" representing people before God, and he is one of them. This picture is particularly evident in verse 3, where Yom Kippur, or the day of the atonement sacrifice, appears to be considered.[5] Following concise evidence of the high priest being of the same ethnicity. However, he is also similar in his guilt and needs to be cleansed of sin. In the second verse, there is a description of the high priest as "humble" or aware of his faults, showing the reader that the exalted position of the high priest also revealed his meekness or weakness. Because of the sin within the high priest's heart, he contained the capacity to empathize with the people's sins. As a result, he was to sacrifice not just for the people's sins but also for himself. Therefore, even the high priest must be humbled not to "choose" his position; He was chosen there.[6]

Yet, the result of sin as evidential within made the role of the high priest not sustainable. Even from the beginning, the Israelites failed to be obedient and uphold the law, and the priest's position could not be sufficed. God raised many who could have been this royal priest, such as Abraham, Moses, or David, yet they all failed. From the very beginning, this structure could not be upheld. For example, Aaron, our first given high priest in Exodus, breaks the ten commandments even as Moses was on the mountain receiving them. As Moses gets the Word from the Lord that Aaron was going to be a high priest, mediating and leading the Israelites, Aaron, meanwhile, is building an altar to false idols, leading their people to worship something other than the one true God (Exodus 20).

Viewing the effects of all these things, a year's sacrifice would have never paid the price in full for all of sin. The system for Sacrifice has been broken from the beginning, all of which points to the idea that God needs a different kind of priesthood. Therefore, each story points the reader to the dire need for the ultimate high priest. The only one who could uphold these laws is God Himself. As a result, God sent himself in human form as Jesus Christ to accomplish and fulfill the law (Matthew 5:17, Romans 13:8). The mark of this fulfillment is through His death and resurrection on the cross, which will be further explored.

Analysis of the Text

Jesus As High Priest

During the time of Jesus, all Jewish people were under the reign of the Roman Empire. However, it was by their priest that they were governed. Within this timeframe, the man who was their priest was Caiaphas.[7] However, we see Jesus enter the scene as He is baptized by John the Baptism in Mark 1. Once He is baptized, the heavens open, and God himself looks upon Jesus and states, "You are my son, with whom I love and am well pleased." Here it is evident to view the blending of three Hebrew Scriptures, all of which express the coming of the Royal High Priest. Psalm 2:7, Genesis 22:2, and Isaiah 42:1 all affirm how Jesus will be the King from the line of David, the beloved son as Isaac was to Abraham and the suffering servant expressed in Isaiah.[8] Through Jesus alone, He will fulfill and accomplish the role of the High priest to deliver His people and bring them back into restoration with God.

Interestingly, right after Jesus' baptism, he begins to take on the role of a priest within His ministry. He begins to heal people, teach people, and forgive people of their sins. Although this was Jesus' role, His ministry was done outside the temples' walls and beyond the priest's authority. Instead of viewing this as the coming of the Messiah, the priest instead was only threatened. Jesus enters Jerusalem, confronts the temple sacrifices and practices, and reveals that He truly is the High Priest. While this led to His death on the cross, it is evident that He proves His claims of being the High priest because he fulfills the primary roles of the priest, as previously discussed. However, what differentiates Him from the others is that He accomplishes this work perfectly, which is a true reflection of His deity.

Hebrews 5:4 explains how the position of the High priest must come from His people and be appointed by the people. This is fulfilled as Jesus is called and appointed by God Himself and as this is also prophesied within Psalm 2:7 and 110:4. Here we see that Christ in no way exalted Himself, but God exalted Him. Christ did not take the honor for Himself, and therefore, Christ's humility is evident and necessary to be the high priest. The author's discussion in Hebrews of the interaction between Aaron and Jesus begins with introducing the High Priest's humility. There is a conflict here, though it is not as overt as the prior one with Moses. Compared to Moses, Jesus continues and models Aaron, but he also outperforms him. Jesus, like Aaron, was made a high priest, but unlike Aaron, he was made an eternal high priest by Melchizedek's order (Psalm 110:4; this idea is discussed at length in Hebrews 7).[9] Psalms 2:7 and 110:4 provide the fundamental evidence of why Jesus needed humility to be a high priest, highlighting God's explanation work.[10] Jesus was called by God Himself, and it was a declaration of God's appointment.

There is specific evidence of how Jesus was appointed specifically through the Greek language used within these verses. Verse 4 emphasizes the importance of the word "honor" and expresses how it accomplishes the filling of the high priest.[11] The Word for "honor" used initially can be translated to the term office, which also points the reader back to verse one, which focuses on the qualification for the high priest.[12] From these intervening verses, we see how this was a declarative appointment by God and the ultimate purpose for the office of the high priest, which perfectly is accomplished. This honor of the priesthood is not to take, but one is "taken for the office by God."[13] Jesus, the anointed one, was entirely taken, called, for the great honor to be the high priest by God.

Jesus also embodied the community in front of God. A reference to the high priest's meekness or weakness may come from Hebrews 4:14-16 which indicates what the High Priesthood "should" be. The weaknesses of the high priest himself should temper his anger or resentment justified by the people's sins. He must offer sacrifices for his sins and those of his people. He was not "sinless"; therefore, he had to sympathize with others. As the priest would sacrifice on behalf of themselves and their people, Jesus did the same. Jesus entered into the holy of holies and played the role of the mediator and go-between. Although the priest was able to sympathize with our weaknesses because he had experienced sin himself, Jesus did not sin; however, he shared it in full.

Let us not forget the deity of Jesus, fully God and man, who walked this world and experienced the pain of sin. To become like his brothers and sisters, God became like man to experience this world fully so that He could be a faithful and merciful high priest (Hebrews 2:17). Hebrews 2:18 states, "For He has suffered when he was tempted he is able to help those who are tempted." Here we see the legitimacy of Jesus as the Great High Priest. Like a high priest, he has experienced the suffering that comes from sin, yet separately, He chooses to withstand the temptation of sinning.

Jesus’ lowliness is even seen in the very first chapter. Hebrews 1 focuses on the exaltation of Jesus resulting from His humility. Precisely, he does this by showing how Psalms 8 is referenced within Hebrews 2. As referenced, it lays the foundation for how Christ is understood. As Schenk states Himself, "Hebrew's use of this Psalm implies that while Christ became lower than the angels to atone for sins, he is now crowned with glory and honor."[14] This reveals to us how Christ has experienced on this earth; He now receives the unique position of exaltation as he is now seated on the right hand of God. As a result, we can confidently approach the throne of grace and view Jesus as our great high priest, ready to display mercy and help us in our time of need.

Additionally, it encourages the audience to be obedient as Jesus was and to follow His example. Truthfully, no other high priest could accomplish a life without sin yet fully experience its pain. As a result, we can trust that our great high priest can have compassion for the people because of His weaknesses. Jesus, our great high priest, embodies sin on behalf of His people.

Jesus As the Perfect Sacrifice

Every high priest offers sacrifices before God for himself and his community. We see how Jesus, our great high priest, has made complete one-time atonement for humanity. As every high priest offers a sacrifice on behalf of His people, so too our great high priest Jesus is in need to offer (Hebrews 8:3). In evaluating Jesus' life as a high priest, chapter 9 of Hebrews provides a clear demonstration of how Jesus as High Priest was proven to be confirmed through His presented Sacrifice, which was Himself.[15]

Some things that we can note from Jesus' Sacrifice, similarly to the Levitical Sacrifices, Jesus as the priest passed into the second compartment for His people to satisfy complete atonement. However, there are significant differences that we must evaluate. Unlike the Levitical practice, the location that Jesus entered was not earthly but heavenly. Within verses 11-12, the author of Hebrews points out how Jesus will enter into the holiest place that is not present within handmade creation but is seen within heavenly realms. We can see the defining factor because the sanctuary he entered is God's raw, unfiltered, and completed presence. While priests offer the blood of animals, Christ, in His deity, shows His blood on the heavenly altar. By Jesus' perfect blood presented at the sacred altar, eternal life and complete access to God can now be given freely.[16]

Simply said, Christ has presented himself as the perfect unblemished Sacrifice. Additionally, Jesus' Sacrifice sufficed once and for all. No longer does there need to be a yearly sacrifice; Jesus paid the price in full. Therefore, the overall results of His Sacrifice were not limited but contained an eternal impact. Truthfully, we see here that the only thing that could completely purify sin was the blood of Jesus Christ. Lane states clearly, "In this final section of the development of Christ's high priestly office, the notions of the inadequacy of the Levitical priesthood and the sacrifices sanctioned by the Law, and of the adequacy of Christ and his sacrifice are strikingly brought before the readers."[17] Jesus is the only one that could create away. As a result, He is the one that mediates and goes before God as a High Priest would, but He also wholly removes the sin that so easily entangles us by the sacrifice of His own blood. Jesus purifies what we cannot.

2 Corinthians 5:21 tells us, "He made Him who knew no sin to become sin for us so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him" (CSB). We view our great high priest offering Himself as our perfect sacrifice and taking on all sin to become the perfect, one-time sacrifice. Therefore, Jesus is fully qualified. His priesthood replicates God's complete plan and purpose for the entire restoration. Jesus accomplishes this purpose by developing a new and better covenant, formed on the perfect promise. By His Sacrifice on behalf of all people, we can approach the throne of God. Therefore, we are introduced to a more excellent ministry than previous priests attempted to accomplish (Hebrews 2). Because Jesus became the Great High Priest, who was eternal and final, so too his sacrifice is infinite and absolute.[18] Unlike the old covenant, this covenant is built upon faith in the one true God who paid the price in full, not in the confidence of a sinful man who could never sacrifice enough for full atonement.[19] Truthfully, this covenant is built upon better promises.

Now because Jesus was able to approach the Father to mediate on behalf of His people, Jesus can save those who come to God in full. Jesus is our intercession, and it is our role to approach God through Him.[20] Ultimately, it reveals the significance of Jesus going from our great High priest to our perfect Sacrifice.

Application

As a 21st century Christian, we must know how to apply this knowledge. As we view God through the Old Testament and the New, it is easy to see how we have the same God, who works for us through different dispensations. The function of old laws is still crucial for us to understand. These laws teach us God's morals, but its ultimate purpose is that we are to understand God's Holiness. Paul even shows us through Romans that it is through the old law that our sin is revealed to us. Therefore, if we do not understand the old testament, then we will never fully understand God's wisdom and why Jesus even had to die for us in the first place. As Hebrews has revealed to us, if we rightly take in the old law, we will better comprehend how God's Spirit within us is at work. No longer is it the law that separates us from others, but His Spirit is within us.

However, Christ's as the great high priest and perfect sacrifice begs the question, how does the law impact us now? Romans 7:6 answers clearly, "But now we have been released from the law, for we died to it and are no longer captive to its power. Now we can serve God, not in the old way of obeying the letter of the law, but in the new way of living in the Spirit." We desperately needed to be freed from the old law. The Old Testament Law shows fault because it showed the Holiness of God and revealed how unholy we were (Hebrews 7:7, Jeremiah 31:31-34). Yet, on the new covenant, we relate to God in a new way because we see that Jesus is our mediator, and He has established for us consistent and better promises. Overall, Christ finishes the Mosaic Law as the great high priest, and its covenant is fulfilled in Jesus's perfect sacrifice. We can live under that new covenant with a restored relationship with God.

Additionally, Jesus's payment on the cross has now given all men access to the Holy Spirit. The veil was torn, and according to Ephesians 2:22-23, we see that we are the new temple and the Spirit lives within us. Within Isaiah 63, an exciting thought is produced on the priesthood. Given Israel's abundance of priests, verse 6 prophecies of men being called priests and ministers. Exodus 19:6 and 1 Peter 2:9 confirm that God's people will soon become the Kingdom of Priests, despite Israel's reputation as a priestly kingdom. God chooses to use His people and establishes a temple within them for His Holy Spirit. [21]

Finally, these passages serve as a reminder of God's covenant with His people. God hopes for His people's restoration, reminding them that they will no longer live in the world's shame or dishonor but rather in everlasting delight. All men will be restored as a result of the anointed one's restoration, and it is a promised covenant. Therefore, if the Spirit lives within us, are we living as though this is the Truth? What is one area that you need to repent from to cleanse the temple of God and to carry the Truth of the Gospel to others?

Ultimately, we have seen that God's grace was not cheap, it came with a great price, and we need to remind ourselves daily. From Jesus as our high priest and Sacrifice, He has provided us full access to God. If this is true, how are we living as though we have full access to go before the Lord. We can practically apply this by setting aside just 15-30 minutes before God in prayer. We can trust in these moments that the Holy Spirit is interceding on our behalf and that Jesus empathizes with every experience that we have. If Jesus has paid the price in full, then our repentance to follow Jesus goes far beyond one decision, and we need to seek Him daily!

Conclusion

To be the perfect priest means that the priest also contains the perfect Sacrifice (Hebrews 8). Jesus accomplishes both of these things. Here it is evident to view the relation of Jesus both as a high priest and our greatest Sacrifice. Before chapter 10, it is prominent to examine` how the author had been leading the audience to the grand explanation of Jesus' Sacrifice. While chapter 5 gives a more profound synopsis of Jesus as a high priest, chapter 10 reveals to the audience what Christ's priesthood demonstrates about His Sacrifice. In chapter 7, the high priest Melchizedek was used as an example to exemplify the character of Christ. Next, Chapter 8 shows how Jesus' superior ministry fulfilled the old Levitical Law and developed a new law. By Jesus' ministry and perfect Character, Chapter 9 shows how He made up for the perfect one-time Sacrifice that atoned for all sin and succeeded in humanity's complete and whole entry to God. Each chapter, precisely and meticulously crafted to bring about chapter 10, expresses Christ as a high priest and a perfect sacrifice.

Within these verses, it becomes evident that Jesus' role results in eternal salvation for those who choose to obey him. Within Hebrews 2:10-16, the author understands that God desired to bring his many sons and daughters to glory. The glory placed on God's children is shown through Christ's suffering. Christ experienced the most significant suffering, yet through verses 10-13, it is evident that His suffering was essential to relate to humanity. Jesus even suffered the weight of sin as He was nailed to the cross. In verse 11, the ultimate goal is revealed, Jesus stands alongside humanity so that humanity could stand under God's call of holiness.

Instead of trying to uphold an unsustainable law, we now see Christ enter into the Holy place and atone for our sins through the perfect, spotless Sacrifice of Himself. Specifically, this means that Jesus is our substitutionary punitive atonement. He was our substitute, he took the punishment that we deserved, and then He paid the price. A one-time sacrifice that is proven to be enough for all our sins (Hebrews 9). His death restored our broken relationship with God, and we can live in unity with Him once again. We only need to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God (John 20:31). It has brought us ultimate forgiveness, and God's Spirit is open to anybody.

Bibliography

Allen, David Lewis. Hebrews. Nashville, TN: B & H Publishing Group, 2010.

BGEA Staff. "The 613 Laws of the Old Testament ." Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, 2004. http://www.friendsofsabbath.org/Further.

Erickson, Millard J. Christian Theology. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker, 1984

Evans, Tony. The Tony Evans Bible Commentary: Advancing God's Kingdom Agenda.

Nashville, TN: Holman Reference, 2019.

Koester, C. R. Hebrews: A New Translation with Introduction Commentary. Anchor Bible 36. New York: Doubleday 2001.

Lane, William L. "Hebrews: A Search in Search of a Setting." Southwestern Journal of Theology 28 (1985):13-18.

Kenneth. Understanding the Book of Hebrews: The Story Behind the Sermon. Westminster John Knox Press, 2003.

Percer, Leo. 2022. "Hebrews Lecture Notes." Lynchburg, VA: Liberty University.Schenck,

"Priest." BibleProject. Accessed April 18, 2022. https://bibleproject.com/.

Tyndale. New Living Translation Study Bible. Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House Publishers,

Incorporated, 2011.

Watts, John D. W. Isaiah 34–66. Vol. 25. Word Biblical Commentary. Nashville, TN: Zondervan, 2005.

[1] Millard J. Erickson, Christian Theology, (Baker Academic, 2015), Retrieved from https://app.wordsearchbible.lifeway.com. 395.

[2] BGEA Staff, “The 613 Laws of the Old Testament ,” Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, 2004, http://www.friendsofsabbath.org/Further. [3] “Priest: Bible Project™,” accessed April 17, 2022, https://bibleproject.com/.

[4] Leo Percer. 2022. "Hebrews Lecture Notes." Lynchburg, VA: Liberty University. [5]Ibid. [6]Ibid [7] “Priest: Bible Project™,” Ibid.

[8] “Priest: Bible Project,” accessed April 17, 2022.

[9] Leo Percer. 2022. "Hebrews Lecture Notes." [10] Ibid. [11] David Lewis Allen, Hebrews (Nashville, TN: B & H Publishing Group, 2010). 317. [12] Lane, Hebrews 1-8, 107-8; Josephus, Antiquities, trans. H.S. Thackeray (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1930), 3:188-89. [13]Craig R. Koester, Hebrews: A New Translation with Introduction and Commentary (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2010). 287.

[14] Kenneth Schenck, Understanding the Book of Hebrews: The Story behind the Sermon (Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 2003). [15] Leo Percer. 2022. "Hebrews Lecture Notes."

[16] Leo Percer. 2022. "Hebrews Lecture Notes." [17] David Lewis Allen, Hebrews (Nashville, TN: B & H Publishing Group, 2010).

[18] Leo Percer. 2022. "Hebrews Lecture Notes." [19] Tony Evans. The Tony Evans Bible Commentary: Advancing God's Kingdom Agenda (Nashville, TN: Holman Reference, 2019). [20] Leo Percer, Ibid.

[21] CSB Worldview Study Bible. (Holman Bible Publishers, 2018.)