Jesus: The High Priest

David

2019 Sunday Morning Sermons - Who is this King of Glory? • Sermon • Submitted 5 years ago

Psalm 110

Hebrews 9:23–28

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What is a Priest?

Old Testament Priesthood

Development of the Priesthood

first sacrifices

Genesis 4:3–4 ESV

In the course of time Cain brought to the Lord an offering of the fruit of the ground, and Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat portions. And the Lord had regard for Abel and his offering,

gen 4:

Moses as proto-priest

Job 1:5 ESV

And when the days of the feast had run their course, Job would send and consecrate them, and he would rise early in the morning and offer burnt offerings according to the number of them all. For Job said, “It may be that my children have sinned, and cursed God in their hearts.” Thus Job did continually.

Moses as proto-priest

Exodus 10:25 ESV

But Moses said, “You must also let us have sacrifices and burnt offerings, that we may sacrifice to the Lord our God.

familial priests -

Job 1:5 ESV

Levitical Priests

Exodus 28:1 ESV

“Then bring near to you Aaron your brother, and his sons with him, from among the people of Israel, to serve me as priests—Aaron and Aaron’s sons, Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar.

Purpose of priests

Exodus 28:30 ESV

And in the breastpiece of judgment you shall put the Urim and the Thummim, and they shall be on Aaron’s heart, when he goes in before the Lord. Thus Aaron shall bear the judgment of the people of Israel on his heart before the Lord regularly.

Whereas the prophet speaks to the people for God, so the priest speaks to God for the people.

He is set apart to collect and take the prayers and petitions of the people to God as representative.

Exodus 32:11–14 ESV

But Moses implored the Lord his God and said, “O Lord, why does your wrath burn hot against your people, whom you have brought out of the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand? Why should the Egyptians say, ‘With evil intent did he bring them out, to kill them in the mountains and to consume them from the face of the earth’? Turn from your burning anger and relent from this disaster against your people. Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, your servants, to whom you swore by your own self, and said to them, ‘I will multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven, and all this land that I have promised I will give to your offspring, and they shall inherit it forever.’ ” And the Lord relented from the disaster that he had spoken of bringing on his people.

He is set apart to offer sacrifices on behalf of the people; he is their representative

Exodus 28:37–38 ESV

And you shall fasten it on the turban by a cord of blue. It shall be on the front of the turban. It shall be on Aaron’s forehead, and Aaron shall bear any guilt from the holy things that the people of Israel consecrate as their holy gifts. It shall regularly be on his forehead, that they may be accepted before the Lord.

The seriousness and immediacy of priesthood

Exodus 28:42–43 ESV

You shall make for them linen undergarments to cover their naked flesh. They shall reach from the hips to the thighs; and they shall be on Aaron and on his sons when they go into the tent of meeting or when they come near the altar to minister in the Holy Place, lest they bear guilt and die. This shall be a statute forever for him and for his offspring after him.

High Priest and Atonement

Hebrews 9:25 ESV

Nor was it to offer himself repeatedly, as the high priest enters the holy places every year with blood not his own,

Leviticus 16:33 ESV

He shall make atonement for the holy sanctuary, and he shall make atonement for the tent of meeting and for the altar, and he shall make atonement for the priests and for all the people of the assembly.

For whom did the priests minister?

for God

Exodus 38:1 ESV

He made the altar of burnt offering of acacia wood. Five cubits was its length, and five cubits its breadth. It was square, and three cubits was its height.

Exodus 28:1 ESV

“Then bring near to you Aaron your brother, and his sons with him, from among the people of Israel, to serve me as priests—Aaron and Aaron’s sons, Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar.

for God’s people, Israel

Exodus 38:1 ESV

He made the altar of burnt offering of acacia wood. Five cubits was its length, and five cubits its breadth. It was square, and three cubits was its height.

Exodus 28:9 ESV

You shall take two onyx stones, and engrave on them the names of the sons of Israel,

Exodus 28:30 ESV

The ministry of the priests was always Godward, and always only for the Covenant People of God. Never once did the High priest make atonement for pagan peoples or foreign kings and their nations.

Why would we need a priest?

We are banished from the presence of God

Genesis 3:24 ESV

He drove out the man, and at the east of the garden of Eden he placed the cherubim and a flaming sword that turned every way to guard the way to the tree of life.

We are unclean and unworthy

Matthew 15:10–11 ESV

And he called the people to him and said to them, “Hear and understand: it is not what goes into the mouth that defiles a person, but what comes out of the mouth; this defiles a person.”

God has commanded

Just as we see that God rejected the substance of the sacrifice by Cain in Genesis, so also we see that God cares about the who as well

1 Samuel 13:13–14 ESV

And Samuel said to Saul, “You have done foolishly. You have not kept the command of the Lord your God, with which he commanded you. For then the Lord would have established your kingdom over Israel forever. But now your kingdom shall not continue. The Lord has sought out a man after his own heart, and the Lord has commanded him to be prince over his people, because you have not kept what the Lord commanded you.”

1 Samuel 13:13 ESV

Priesthood of All Believers

1 Peter 2:9 ESV

But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.

Hebrews 10:19–20 ESV

Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh,

The priesthood of all believers speaks to the direct access now granted to all who are united to Christ in faith because of His finished work on Calvary; it does not establish or retain the office of one person bearing or relieving the sin of another.

Matthew 16:19 ESV

I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”

shall have been bound

Before we think we can be our own priests apart from Christ, note that all the OT priests’ sacrifices were repeated perpetually (they never finally and fully accomplished the purpose of atoning for sins), and before each one they had to undergo strict preparations and ritual cleansing to be ceremonially prepared; ceremonially clean in order to minister.

Both they and their imperfect sacrifices lacked sufficient righteousness to actually bring about the forgiveness of sins for themselves, much less of Israel

Jesus as our High Priest

Hebrews 9:23 ESV

Thus it was necessary for the copies of the heavenly things to be purified with these rites, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these.

Christ has the superior ministry

Christ has the superior ministry because while He is Emmanuel; with us in our weakness and suffering, He is sinless and thus doesn’t need to minister for Himself

Perfect substitute

Hebrews 4:14–16 ESV

Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

heb 4:14

The ministry of Christ is Eternal

Psalm 110:4 ESV

The Lord has sworn and will not change his mind, “You are a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.”

Hebrews 7:25 ESV

Consequently, he is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them.

Christ has the superior sacrifice

The blood offered was His own

Hebrews 9:25 ESV

Nor was it to offer himself repeatedly, as the high priest enters the holy places every year with blood not his own,

Hebrews 10:4 ESV

For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.

Hebrews 10:10 ESV

And by that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.

It was once for all time

Hebrews 10:12 ESV

But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God,

Hebrews 10:11–12 ESV

And every priest stands daily at his service, offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God,

Christ has accomplished atonement for all who would believe

Hebrews 9:28 ESV

so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him.

John 3:16 ESV

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

The salvation found in Christ Jesus is assured, not potential.

There is no believer who is in danger of losing what was obtained on Calvary.

We thank God today for Jesus, our High Priest; that His is the perfect and eternal ministry that rescues men from judgment by means of a perfect sacrifice; Himself.

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