Daily Liturgy and Scripture

The Jewish audience had heard about the new High Priest, the new sacrifice, and the new temple. Now the writer of Hebrews brings it together: because Jesus fills the role of High Priest, we are sons and daughters, but this also means we are held accountable when we hold that honor. We have been made whole, and wholeness should be something we give to others.

Not to separate the new priesthood of Christ away from the tradition of the Jews, the writer of Hebrews now brings the narrative back to Jewish history, but with an emphasis on faith. This is not a reliance on the Law of old, but on the way of new believers and previous believers alike, united with a history of the faithful established by God.

The end result of this reframing of Jesus as both sacrifice and high priest is this: we have great hope in the future with a God who is near, and enduring persecution cannot remove us from him. This was important to the early church, and it remains our promise.

The sacrifice offered by the priest was also a central tenet of Jewish belief, and that comes to the forefront in this section. Not only is Christ's sacrifice the final sacrifice because it satisfies the full offering forever, it is also the dawn of a new covenant in the Sprit, where God's Word is written on our heart as his people.

Christ is the high priest and the fulfiller of the covenant, which was put into effect at his death. That death was also the final sacrifice which ended sin's bondage.

With Jesus as the High Priest, a re-imaginging of the temple is also necessary. The holy place where the high priest once entered required the transporting of the sacrificial blood as well, but Christ is both priest and the carrier of the sacrifice. We are freed by his sacrifice to enter the presence of God boldly.

Jesus is established as a high priest in an order that precedes Aaron, and his priesthood includes a new covenant that establishes a new fellowship with God. Through our connection to Christ, we are part of the work of that priesthood and heirs of his promise.

To trace Jesus as a priest in the order of Melchizedek is to connect him with more than the line of Abraham. The Abraham line establishes the Jewish people, but being a priest before that line existed makes the priesthood for all people. This was important because Jesus as a priest doesn't come away from the Jewish people to join the rest of the world, but he is part of a priesthood that already existed for the world.

The writer of Hebrews has covered Jesus's status as a high priest, but here we return, confirming the salvation that Jesus truly brings. His assurance is our motivation to love and serve the body of Christ, and imitating those already at work is how our faith is passed on.

A Jewish audience would have been very intrigued by this description of Jesus, their new high priest. Sacrifice and priest come together in him, and God's covenant is fulfilled in that sacrifice.