2023_02_24 Insight Post- Emma Keeton
This week’s reading- Genesis 22, Hebrews 7, Genesis 26-27, Acts 7
I will never fully grasp what it means that Jesus paid for my sin on the cross, not until eternity. I am guilty of being blasé about the gravity of my sin which is easy to do in this age of grace. How can a perfect God look over my faults and see me as redeemed? Jesus can do this for each one of us because Jesus is our great high priest. There are many priests in the Bible, but Hebrews 7 shows us how Jesus’ priesthood is different. Jesus is the “guarantor of a better covenant” (Hebrews 7:22). Let’s pull together some evidence about priesthood today and see what it means for us.
The first priest mentioned in the bible was Melchizedek (Genesis 14:18-20). He was a priest of the ‘God most high’ and shared some uncanny resemblances to Jesus. Melchizedek was the king of a place called Salem (meaning peace); Jesus was the Prince of Peace (Isaiah 9:6). Also, the name Melchizedek translates as ‘king of righteousness’; Jesus was the king of righteousness because he purchased righteousness for us on the cross. Yet again, we see Jesus foreshadowed in the book of Genesis, this time pointing to how His priesthood would bring us salvation.
Some 600 years later the Levitical priesthood was introduced, but the Levites system of sacrifice was imperfect, it could not permanently take away the sin of the people. Hebrews 7:11 says there “was still a need for another priest to come.” That priest was Jesus, and His office was a permanent priesthood. This means Jesus can save us completely, and He is always interceding for us. Hebrews 7:26-28 shows what Jesus our Great High Priest does for us each day:
“Such a high priest truly meets our need-one who is blameless, pure, set apart from sinners, exalted above the heavens. Unlike the other high priests, he does not need to offer sacrifices day after day, first for his own sins, and then for the sins of the people. He sacrificed for their sins once for all when he offered himself. For the law appoints as high priests men in all their weaknesses; but the oath, which came after the law, appointed the Son, who has been made perfect forever.”
Praise God! He knew what we would need and provided Jesus to meet all our needs!
Emma Keeton
Prayer Team Lead