Dave's Diary

Daily Readings: Hebrews 7 and Psalm 13

The author of Hebrews continues his long discussion of the superiority of Christ. In chapter 7 he comes to the matter of Jesus’ superiority as a priest. By definition a “priest” is a mediator who goes between God and humanity to build a bridge. The Latin for “priest” was “pontifex”, which literally means bridge-builder.

In Hebrews 7, the author reasons that the Jewish Levitical priesthood, which presented imperfect sacrifices to God daily, was replaced by the perfect priest, Jesus, who made His perfect once-and-for-all sacrifice on the cross. He reasons that Jesus is not a priest of the order of Levi (like the Jewish priests) but of the order of that mysterious character of the Old Testament named Melchizidek, to whom Abraham gave a tithe. Melchizidek was not made a priest by some or other law. He is presented in Genesis 14:17-20 as simply being a priest of God Most High. Similarly, Jesus is that kind of priest by God’s own decree.

All of this reasoning builds up towards the great statement of v.24-25:

²⁴ … (B)ecause Jesus lives for ever, he has a permanent priesthood. ²⁵ Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them.

Jesus is alive forever and He is forever positioned as the Perfect Bridge between us and God. He is forever ministering in such a way as to bring us home to God. His perfect sacrifice deals with our sins forever, rendering them powerless to separate us from God forever.

Jesus saves us completely. He saves us in such a way as to deal with every sort of sin we commit, to deal with them every time we commit them, and ultimately to completely transform us into His own image as children of God.

Life Application: What can we say but THANK YOU. Take time today to praise and thank the LORD for Jesus, the perfect Priest who brings us home and makes us right with God forever.