Project 119: Hebrews 8:1-7
| Project 119 | Dr. Wayne Splawn
"The Uniquely Qualified High Priest"
Sometimes it can be difficult to find the right candidate to fill a job opening. Because of the nature of some jobs, many applicants do not meet the educational requirements. Other applicants do not have the necessary experience. And still others are passed over because they do not have the character that meets the expectations of the company or a personality that would be a good fit with others on the team. Human resource managers and hiring agencies often feel as if they are looking for a needle in a haystack when trying to find the ideal candidates to fill certain positions.
In Hebrews 7, we read about the inadequacy of the many priests who served through the Levitical priesthood. According to the job description, the ideal high priest would be holy, innocent, unstained, separated from sinners, exalted above the heavens, and immortal. Talk about high qualifications! Every Levitical high priest was guilty and stained by sin, and because of their sins, they would eventually die. No human could ever expect to be the ideal candidate to serve as high priest.
In Hebrews 8:1, the author of Hebrews pronounces the good news that in Jesus, we have finally found the High Priest we need. In the incarnation, Jesus—the pre-existent Son of God—took on flesh and became the only Person qualified to serve as a High Priest of the new, eternal Covenant that has eclipsed the temporary Covenant regulated by the Levitical code. During this week, we will learn more about the more excellent ministry Jesus has in comparison to the Old Covenant that has passed away. Thank God today for providing Jesus to be the uniquely qualified High Priest who ever lives to intercede for us.
Hebrews 8:1-7 (ESV):
1 Now the point in what we are saying is this: we have such a high priest, one who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in heaven, 2 a minister in the holy places, in the true tent[fn] that the Lord set up, not man. 3 For every high priest is appointed to offer gifts and sacrifices; thus it is necessary for this priest also to have something to offer. 4 Now if he were on earth, he would not be a priest at all, since there are priests who offer gifts according to the law. 5 They serve a copy and shadow of the heavenly things. For when Moses was about to erect the tent, he was instructed by God, saying, “See that you make everything according to the pattern that was shown you on the mountain.” 6 But as it is, Christ has obtained a ministry that is as much more excellent than the old as the covenant he mediates is better, since it is enacted on better promises. 7 For if that first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no occasion to look for a second.