PRIESTLY MINISTRY OF JESUS
Reference Scripture: Hebrews 10:1-12 NLT
The old system under the law of Moses was only a shadow, a dim preview of the good things to come, not the good things themselves. The sacrifices under that system were repeated again and again, year after year, but they were never able to provide perfect cleansing for those who came to worship. If they could have provided perfect cleansing, the sacrifices would have stopped, for the worshipers would have been purified once for all time, and their feelings of guilt would have disappeared. But instead, those sacrifices actually reminded them of their sins year after year. For it is not possible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins. That is why, when Christ[a] came into the world, he said to God,“You did not want animal sacrifices or sin offerings. But you have given me a body to offer. You were not pleased with burnt offerings or other offerings for sin. Then I said, ‘Look, I have come to do your will, O God— as is written about me in the Scriptures.’”[b] First, Christ said, “You did not want animal sacrifices or sin offerings or burnt offerings or other offerings for sin, nor were you pleased with them” (though they are required by the law of Moses). Then he said, “Look, I have come to do your will.” He cancels the first covenant in order to put the second into effect. For God’s will was for us to be made holy by the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ, once for all time. Under the old covenant, the priest stands and ministers before the altar day after day, offering the same sacrifices again and again, which can never take away sins. But our High Priest offered himself to God as a single sacrifice for sins, good for all time. Then he sat down in the place of honor at God’s right hand.
I encourage you get time and read the scripture in context and take time to meditate on it. It will truly bless you! But in summary, the writer is contrasting the old system established by Moses and the New covenant under which we are operating now. To fully appreciate Hebrews 10, you need to read Numbers chapter 28, which I encourage you to take time and read. The writer of Hebrews always reminds us that those things commanded in the Old Testament were only a shadow of the things revealed in the New Testament.
Every single day in the old covenant, a sin offering had to be presented twice a day, morning and evening, without fail, in addition to the weekly offering on the Sabbath, the monthly offering at the beginning of every month and the annual offering on the day of atonement! This does not include all the other sacrifices that had to be made depending on different circumstances as prescribed under the law such as childbirth, touching of a corpse, personal sins, and so much more!
Just reading and meditating on the reality of this should make you wonder about a few things: there had to be a priest available at all times to present these sacrifices and only the descendants of Aaron could perform this task besides teaching the children of Israel about the law, and you also as an Israelite had the responsibility for making sure you adhered to these commands. Since we are talking about sacrifices, imagine the burden that was on these people to keep track of the sacrifices that needed to be offered on their behalf both corporately and individually.
Now, when Hebrews 10:11-12 in the NLT says, "Under the old covenant, the priest stands and ministers before the altar day after day, offering the same sacrifices again and again, which can never take away sins. 12 But our High Priest offered himself to God as a single sacrifice for sins, good for all time. Then he sat down in the place of honor at God’s right hand", you need to take a moment and meditate on that!
All the collaboration between the priests and the people of Israel concerning these sacrifices, no matter how labor intensive the process was and not to mention the financial cost of the sacrifices was enough to cleanse them of their sins, and that was if the priests were doing everything according to the law because when you read through scripture, you will find that there were some less than honorable priests and according to history, if the High Priest did not offer the sacrifice for the Day of Atonement right, he would die in the presence of the Lord which also meant the sacrifice had not been accepted thus no atonement had been made.
However, here is the good news, the gospel; like the writer of Hebrews points out, what those sacrifices under the Old Testament could not do, Jesus was able to do once and his sacrifice is good for all time, for all eternity. While under the old covenant the worshipper was constantly reminded of their sins, with one sacrifice our High Priest Jesus has redeemed us back to God with his precious blood, the same blood that purges our conscience from dead works to serve the living God!
Still examining the priestly ministry of Jesus, let us look at Hebrews 8:6 AMP.
"But as it is, Christ has acquired a [priestly] ministry which is more excellent [than the old Levitical priestly ministry], for He is the Mediator (Arbiter) of a better covenant [uniting God and man], which has been enacted and rests on better promises."
We have briefly examined how Jesus’ sacrifice has forever dealt with the sin issue between God and man and we can now freely serve our God with a guilt free conscience. That is only a tip of the proverbial iceberg of what Jesus’ priestly ministry has done and is still doing for us to this day. As noted in the scripture above, the covenant Christ is the mediator of is far superior to the old covenant because it rests on far better promises. For one, man’s representation is Jesus Christ Himself, who lives forever to make intercession for us before God! You don’t have to worry about him living his post. Like it is pointed out in Hebrews 7:23-24, the priests in the old covenant eventually died but Jesus lives forever. That alone should make you want to shout!
About us having better promises, simply put, whatever was promised in the Old Testament is the foundation of what we have today. What was a ceiling for them is now the floor for us. A relatable example: David prayed in Psalm 51 that the Lord take not His Spirit from him after he sinned.
Under the new covenant, let’s take a look at Ephesians 1:13-14, it reads: The truth is the Good News. When you heard the truth, you put your trust in Christ. Then God marked you by giving you His Holy Spirit as a promise. The Holy Spirit was given to us as a promise that we will receive everything God has for us. God’s Spirit will be with us until God finishes His work of making us complete. God does this to show His shining-greatness. Hallelujah! Until God is done with His work of making you complete, the Holy Spirit will always be with you! I am not saying it’s ok to sin, what I am saying is How God relates to us today is different from how he related to humanity back then. The difference, Jesus, our High Priest! And the promises of the new covenant are exceedingly better!
And if you take the time to read and meditate on Ephesians chapter 1, you will discover some rather unconventional truths and yet these make up the Gospel, the almost too good to be true good news. Before you had ever made a decision for Christ, God had already chosen you before the foundation of the world and not only made you His own, ownership that was guaranteed by the blood of Jesus, but loves you just as much as He loves Jesus because you are in Jesus. He loves you so much that you are seated with Christ Jesus in the heavenly places, far above all authority, power, principality and whatever can be named in this age and the age to come. He has already not only blessed you with all spiritual blessings available, but you also have an inheritance that you are entitled to once our redemption is complete and to show you the seriousness of the promise, God has given you of Himself through the Holy Spirit as the downpayment, guaranteeing the full pay out will be made.
All this and more is available to us because of Jesus's priestly ministry. Hallelujah to the Lamb of God that was slain!
