His Priestly Qualities

Jesus qualified to become our High Priest forever by participating fully in our human nature and weaknesses, including death.

The priesthood of Jesus is pivotal to the Letter to the Hebrews. Through suffering and death, he became the “merciful and faithful High Priest” who now intercedes for “his brethren.” This subject was anticipated in the Letter’s opening paragraph, including the uniqueness of his priesthood, when the Author declared that he “achieved the purification of sins,” and then “sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on High.”

His sacrificial death removed the stain of sin that defiled his people. By it, the Son accomplished “once for all” what the animal sacrifices described in the Book of Leviticus could never do. Consequently, God exalted him to “sit” at his “right hand” where he now intercedes for us as the “High Priest after the order of Melchizedek.”

[Photo by Harley Upton on Unsplash]

The Letter begins presenting his qualifications for the priesthood in Chapter 2 by citing the eighth Psalm which recalls the creation of Adam and celebrates the “crowning of man with glory and honor.”

• “For not to angels did he subject the coming habitable earth of which we are speaking, but one somewhere has borne witness, saying, What is man, that you should mention him? Or the son of man, that you should put him in charge? You have made him less, some little, than angels, with glory and honor have you crowned him, and set him over the works of your hands. All things have you subjected beneath his feet. For, in subjecting to him all things, nothing left He to him that was not subjected. But now, not yet do we see all things subjected to him, but we see Jesus, made some little less than angels. Because of the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honor, to the end that, by favor of God, in behalf of every man he might taste of death” - (Hebrews 2:5-9).

This passage refers either to Adam’s loss of the original glory he received at the creation, or to God’s plan for humanity to become filled with glory and reign over His creation, a plan thwarted for the moment by Adam’s disobedience.

Originally, the eighth Psalm was not about the Messiah but the divinely intended rule of man over the creation. Adam’s role in the “coming habitable earth” was to fulfill the mandate to “take dominion over the earth.” This “habitable earth” was referred to in the first chapter of Hebrews. It appears again later in the Letter.

The redemption accomplished by the Son includes the entire creation, for he is “heir of all things” - (“But whenever he again introduces the first-begotten into the habitable earth, he declares, Let all God’s angels pay him homage!” – Hebrews 1:6).

Before the work of Christ, humanity failed to fulfill this role. “But now, not yet, do we see all things subjected to him.” The Greek term translated as “not yet” indicates the subjection of the creation remains unfinished. The singular pronoun translated as “him” refers to humanity, or perhaps to Adam. This “subjection” will be achieved by the Son “whom God has appointed heir of all things.” However, believers see Jesus “sitting” at God’s right hand until that day arrives.

Like Adam, Jesus was “made a little lower than the angels.” The statement confirms that the “Son” was a genuine human being who partook of the same nature as Adam. However, unlike the first man, Jesus has been “crowned with glory and honor” because he endured “suffering and death.”

His death was “fitting,” and the reason for which he was “crowned with glory.” His suffering “completed” or “perfected” him, and his subsequent appointment as the High Priest for his people resulted from his faithfulness in death.

The Son qualified for exaltation through his human life and suffering. He became superior to the angels, “having gone beyond them.” God exalted him because of his obedience (“You loved righteousness and hated lawlessness, for this cause has God anointed you with the oil of exultation beyond your partners”).

HIS DEATH

The next paragraph explains why Christ’s death means hope, mercy, and glory for humanity. Having purposed to grant His children glory, it became “fitting” to “complete” their champion through suffering and death because he and men are “all from one.”

• “For it was becoming in him, for the sake of whom are all things, and through whom are all things, when many sons he would lead to glory, to perfect the Princely Leader of their salvation through sufferings. For both he that makes holy, and they who are being made holy, are all of one. Because he is not ashamed to call them brethren, saying, I will declare your name to my brethren. In an assembly will I sing praise unto you. And again, I will be confident in him. And again, Behold, I and the children God has given me” - (Hebrews 2:10-13).

The Greek verb translated as “perfect” means to “complete, accomplish, finish; to bring to an end.” The idea is not moral perfection but bringing something to its intended conclusion. This idea of completion is confirmed by the later application of the same verb to Jesus, “And being completed, he became the Author of everlasting salvation for all those who obey him.”

Through his death, Jesus qualified as our High Priest after the order of Melchizedek. The term “suffering” has his death primarily in view since God determined that he “should taste of death for every man” - (Hebrews 5:9).

Jesus is now “sanctifying” believers, setting them apart for service to God. Because he shares our common human nature, he calls us “brethren.” This stresses his solidarity with us. Moreover, it anticipates the later declaration that we are sanctified “through the offering of the body of Jesus.”

Three citations from the Old Testament are placed on his lips to emphasize his kinship with his “brethren” and to validate the genuineness of his human nature - (2 Samuel 22:3, Psalm 22:22, Isaiah 8:17-18, Hebrews 10:10).

Thus, it was his oneness with mankind and kinship with his “brethren,” his subjection to mortality, and his doing so on our behalf, that qualified Jesus as the “High Priest forever” and “achieved the purification of sins.”

[PDF Copy]

SEE ALSO:

• Purification of Sins - (Having achieved the purification of sins, Jesus sat down at the right hand of God to intercede for his people as their faithful High Priest)

• Then he sat down - (Jesus is the Son whom God appointed as our merciful and faithful High Priest after his suffering, death, and resurrection)

• Once for all - (The promise a New Covenant finds its fulfillment in the once-for-all sacrifice of Jesus and the permanent priesthood he now holds)