Christ, The Priest Forever

Christ, The Priest Forever

But He, because He continues forever, has an unchangeable priesthood.

Hebrews 7:24

As we continue our meditations upon Christ, the Mediator, we come today to consider Him in His function as the High Priest of His people. Whereas the Prophet speaks to people on behalf of God, the Priest acts toward God on behalf of the people. The Old Testament priesthood began with Aaron, the elder brother of Moses, whom God appointed as the first High Priest. The priesthood of Christ, however does not come from the Aaronic Order rather, Hebrews 7 makes clear, the Priesthood of Christ arises from the Order of Melchizedek. Melchizedek is a somewhat mysterious character who appears in Genesis 14. He appears, almost out of nowhere to Abraham, who was returning from his rescue of Lot out of the hands of marauding chieftains. Melchizedek means, ‘King of Righteousness,’ The Scripture also identifies Him as ’King of Salem,’ which means, ‘King of Peace.’ It is frankly difficult to avoid the implications that his appearance is a Christophany, a pre-incarnate appearance of Christ. Prior to our text today, Hebrews 7 asserts , of Christ, ‘And it is yet far more evident if, in the likeness of Melchizedek, there arises another priest who has come, not according to the law of a fleshly commandment, but according to the power of an endless life. For He testifies: “You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.”’ What we should draw from this, in conjunction with our text for today, is that Christ is our Priest, of a higher Order than that of the Old Testament. This guarantees for us a Perpetual Representative, Who shall never cease to act on our behalf before the Eternal God.

O, Christ, our Great High Priest,
we rejoice that You never fail to act on our behalf.
We praise You, that You will forever succeed
in all that you attempt on our behalf.

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning