"The Power of an Indestructible Life"
Hebrews 7:11-28
Chapter 7 is an explication of Psalm 110:4.
What does it mean that Jesus is a high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek?
In 7:1-10 we saw how Melchizedek is set forth as an example of a non-levitical priesthood
that is greater than the Levitical priesthood.
Having established that Melchizedek's order is greater than Aaron's order,
and having established that Melchizedek's order is-by definition-an order of one,
Hebrews now will show how Jesus' priesthood is similar to the Levitical,
but superior.
The comparison consists of two sections:
1) the imperfection of the Levitical priesthood (11-19)
2) the oath that inaugurates Christ's priesthood (20-28)
You will note that verses 11-19 open and close with the reference to the lack of perfection
in the levitical priesthood,
and that verses 20-28 open and close with the reference to the oath establishing Jesus's
priesthood.
Hebrews frequently uses this device (called an inclusio) to structure his narrative.
(We saw it last week in verses 1-10 with respect to the meeting of Abraham and Melchizedek)
1. The Imperfection of the Levitical Priesthood (7:11-19)
Whereas the focus in the first part of Hebrews 7 was on Genesis 14,
now the emphasis turns back to Psalm 110.
Remember that we are dealing with the implicit question in Hebrews,
why is the eternal covenant with David (regarding the Son) maintained,
when the eternal covenant with Phineas (regarding the priesthood) is abandoned?
Why does Psalm 110 say that the Levitical priesthood would be replaced?
Obviously, if Psalm 110 speaks of a new priesthood,
then the Aaronic priesthood was defective.
"If perfection had been attainable through the Levitical priesthood...,
what further need would there have been for another priest to arise
after the order of Melchizedek?" (7:11)
In other words, the fact that David spoke of the need for a priest after the order of Melchizedek
demonstrates the imperfection of the Levitical priesthood.
Hebrews hasn't said what that imperfection is yet.
Rather, he is showing that the Old Testament itself declared that Aaron's order
would be replaced.
And if Aaron's order must be replaced, then the law of the priesthood itself
must be replaced.
"For when there is a change in the priesthood,
there is necessarily a change in the law as well." (7:12)
The OT law made it clear that the priesthood belonged solely to the family of Aaron,
of the tribe of Levi.
If the OT law of the priesthood remains in effect,
then there is no way that Jesus could serve as a priest.
But our Lord, who arose from the tribe of Judah,
plainly did do the work of a priest.
How can this be?
Because God had said that the son of David would become "a priest forever
after the order of Melchizedek."
The Levitical priesthood was based upon "a legal requirement concerning bodily descent"
(Literally, "the law of commandment of fleshly descent")
What is the problem with this law?
It lacks power.
The Levitical priesthood is weak and useless.
That is strong language!
The priestly garments were designed to show the glory and beauty
of the Aaronic priesthood.
The Levites were given an exalted place in the life of Israel.
Of them it is said that the LORD himself was their inheritance.
But Hebrews says that the commandment regarding the Levitical priesthood
is set aside because of its weakness and uselessness.
In my office at home I have some old copies of the building plans for this building.
There was a time when those plans were useful.
They served as the law by which this building would be made.
We loved those plans and the building committee labored over them with care.
Now they sit abandoned and gathering dust,
honored only for what they reveal about the process
by which this building came to be.
Now that the building has come,
the plans are weak and useless.
That is what the Levitical priesthood is like.
It showed the pattern of what our great High Priest would do,
but once he himself came, the pattern is set aside.
There was nothing intrinsically wrong with the old priesthood,
it was just that it was designed as a pattern or shadow.
You might think that because Christ is of the order of Melchizedek
he has an entirely different sort of priesthood.
But that is not the case.
The rest of Hebrews 8-10 is going to show how Jesus does everything that Aaron did-
only Jesus does it once for all!
The order of Melchizedek does not refer to what the priest does,
but to how the priest is constituted a priest.
As we've already seen,
Jesus is "like Aaron" in that he is able to sympathize with our weakness.
But he is better than Aaron, because Jesus is without sin,
and therefore he is able to do what Aaron could not do:
he can bring us near to God.
Aaron could draw near to the throne of grace on our behalf,
but he could not bring us there.
But now we have this "better hope" through which we draw near to God.
Because Jesus has entered the holy place, not through the blood of bulls and goats,
on the basis of a legal code that required fleshly descent from a priest,
but through the power of an indestructible life.
It is only when one who is the very radiance of God's glory,
and the very stamp of his substance,
God of God, light of light, very God of very God,
begotten, not made,
being of one substance of the Father,
by whom all things were made,
it is only when He learns obedience through what he suffered,
and only when HE offers himself as the sacrifice for our sins,
that we may finally now draw near to God.
Do not forget this, beloved.
Are you thankful to God for what he did in Jesus?
Do you thank your Savior for enduring through suffering,
so that you might have access to the Father?
2. The Oath of Jesus's Priesthood (7:20-28)
There is a second way in which Christ's priesthood is shown to be superior to Aaron
His priesthood is rooted in God's oath.
We've already seen in Hebrews 6 the importance of an oath.
A promise is good, but an oath is better.
When you promise to do something, the penalty for non-performance
is merely that you lose your credibility.
But when you swear an oath you open yourself up to more serious consequences.
To lie under oath in a courtroom is to commit perjury.
Even so, God has sworn an oath that the son of David would be a priest forever-
at whatever cost to himself.
This oath, in Psalm 110:4, is at the very heart of Hebrews argument about Jesus's priesthood.
Because it is this oath that makes Jesus the guarantor of a better covenant.
What does this mean?
A guarantor (the old word was "surety")
is one who promises to pay another person's debts.
This is stronger word than "mediator."
A mediator is one who stands in between two parties and reconciles them.
Jesus is certainly the mediator of the covenant.
But he is more than a mediator.
He is a guarantor-he is the surety of a better covenant.
A mediator may just step in and help reconcile two parties, and then bow out.
A guarantor has staked his person and his character on fulfilling his word.
A mediator says,
"I will find some way of helping Joe work out his difficulties with his landlord"
A guarantor, or surety, says,
"If Joe is unable to pay his rent, I will certainly pay it for him."
What does this mean for God?
His oath to David, swearing the eternal priesthood,
makes Jesus the guarantor of a better covenant.
In other words, God obligated himself to deliver his people,
because as the history of the house of David demonstrates,
the only way that God's oath could be fulfilled was if God himself
came in the flesh.
The implications of God's oath are spelled out more fully in verses 23-28-
and in this we see the full power of Christ's indestructible life!
First, the oath states that he will be a priest forever.
The Levitical priesthood was a perpetual priesthood,
but they were many in number.
And the death of the Levitical priest demonstrated the ultimate futility of their order.
God gave to Phineas the covenant of a perpetual priesthood-
a line of priests passed down from father to son,
but God swore to Jesus that he would hold his priesthood permanently,
because he has the power of an indestructible life.
Consequently (v 25), 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.
As we've seen, Hebrews tends to think of salvation as both "already" and "not yet."
We are saved, but we still await our salvation.
Our salvation in Hebrews is identical to our inheritance in Christ-
an inheritance in which we have already begun to participate,
but for which we still long.
And Jesus saves "to the uttermost."
That is, both fully and finally.
This is not a partial salvation,
nor is it a temporary salvation.
He saves to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him,
since he always lives to make intercession for him.
This contrasts nicely with what he said in 6:4-6.
Those who draw near and those who fall away.
Those who fall away, and crucify the Son of God again to their own harm,
are not saved to the uttermost.
But those who draw near through him are those whose only hope
is that whether through life or through death,
they belong to our faithful savior, Jesus Christ.
Jesus is the sure and steadfast anchor of our souls.
He does not save us part way, and then wait for us to come the rest of the way.
He saves to the uttermost-both fully and finally-
those who draw near to God through him.
Why is Jesus such an effective high priest?
Remember that the high priest in the OT was separated out from among his brothers.
He could never leave the temple area.
He could never mourn the loss of his relatives.
He had to remain ceremonially clean practically for his whole life.
Jesus is such a great high priest, because he was even better than Aaron!
He was "holy, innocent, unstained, separated from sinners,
and exalted above the heavens."
You might say,
but Jesus didn't remain ceremonially clean.
He mingled with tax collectors, prostitutes-even touching lepers!
According to the law of Moses, Jesus was contaminated by uncleanness!
He even touched dead people-something forbidden of the High Priest!
In the OT, the unclean contaminated the clean.
The impure contaminated the pure.
The unholy contaminated the holy.
But in Jesus the world is turned upside down.
Jesus touches lepers, which should have rendered him unclean. (Mt 8)
But instead, the lepers are instantly cleansed-
and you'll notice that no one suggests that Jesus therefore became unclean.
It was too obvious that there was a "cleanness" about Jesus-
a holiness that oozed out of him and purified everything he touched.
If the High Priest had touched a coffin or a grave, that would render him unfit for office!
(Lev 21:10-15)
But Luke 7:14 makes a point of saying that Jesus touched the bier of a dead man.
There you have it!
Jesus is unfit to be high priest, right!?
But Jesus touch brings life to the dead.
What does it mean that Jesus, as high priest, is holy, innocent, unstained, separated from sinners,
exalted above the heavens?
You might think at first blush, that these words are designed to put Jesus at a distance from us.
But that is not the point.
It is only because we have such a high priest that we can draw to God.
This is what separates Jesus from the Levitical priesthood.
The Law appoints weak men as high priests-
sinners who need to offer sacrifices for themselves-
but the word of the oath appoints a Son who has been made perfect forever.
Again, the word "perfect" here refers to his "vocational" perfection.
He was morally perfect all along.
He never sinned.
But Jesus only became a perfect high priest when he offered up himself,
bringing his own blood as the perfect sacrifice to remove our sins.
Verse 28 summarizes beautifully the whole point of chapter 7.
The Son is the High Priest.
The law appointed weak men as high priests,
but God's oath in Psalm 110:4 appoints a Son-
the Son of David, who is revealed in his glory as the Son of God.
3. Drawing Near
In this central section of Hebrews we are going to see the same basic exhortation throughout.
So each week, I'll focus on a different aspect of it.
But in verse 25 we heard the language of "drawing near"--
"He is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him."
How do you draw near to God through Christ?
This is priestly language.
The priests draw near to God in the temple.
In Heb 10:22 we'll hear the concluding exhortation to draw near to God in confidence,
because of our priestly consecration in baptism.
We have confidence to draw near to God,
because we have been united to Christ.
In his sacrifice, he died in our place.
The death we deserved has been placed upon him.
And so we now draw near to God through his blood.
As PRIESTS.
Most of you already know this.
Why am I saying it again?
Because you need to hear it again.
What do you have coming up this week?
Any major projects at work?
(Sorry, didn't mean to remind you of that on the Lord's Day!)
Any interpersonal conflicts that you are trying to resolve?
What does it mean to be a priest?
What does it mean for you to be a priest.
You have a high priest whose holiness cleanses the unclean!
And that holiness dwells within you.
Therefore you need to have confidence that the power of Christ's holiness
will cleanse the uncleanness in and around you.
As you live in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation,
you draw near to the holy God himself,
and so you need not fear the contamination of the unclean.
This is not an antinomian application.
I'm not saying that you can pursue the desires of the flesh with impunity!
Far from it!
Rather, I am saying that you need not fear your encounters with unbelievers.
Befriending unbelievers cannot contaminate the one who lives
by the power of Christ's holiness.
Paul warns against those who call themselves brothers, but live in an ungodly fashion
(1 Cor 5-6)
but he urges you to associate with godless pagans!