Verse of the Day (April 26, 2020)

Verse of the Day (April 26, 2020) #BMSeminary – Happy Lord’s Day! Jesus is superior to the Old Testament high priests. They were high priests in the order of Aaron, and it was impossible for Jesus to belong to that order because in his humanity he was descended from Judah, not Aaron. So what did God do? He established another priesthood, this one after Melchizedek, the mysterious figure who appears in Genesis 14 as a “priest of God Most High” (Gen. 14:18). Melchizedek receives a tithe from Abraham and then disappears until Psalm 110. Old Testament priests became such “on the basis of a legal requirement” (Heb. 7:16), but Christ became one by God’s oath: “You are a priest forever, after the order of Melchizedek” (v. 17; cf. Ps. 110:4). Aaronic priests died and were succeeded in office by their sons. But Christ is a priest in the order of Melchizedek and as such needs no successor because he is a priest “by the power of an indestructible life,” seen in his resurrection from the dead (Heb. 7:16). All this and more “makes Jesus the guarantor of a better covenant” (v. 22). There had to be many Old Testament priests, “because they were prevented by death from continuing in office” (v. 23). But the Son of God “holds his priesthood permanently, because he continues forever,” having been raised from the dead (v. 24). How does this affect us? It brings us great security of salvation because Jesus “is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them” (v. 25). The living Christ, our Great High Priest, appears in the presence of God on our behalf and presents his finished sacrifice in intercession for us sinners “who draw near to God through him” (v. 25). The Father, then, will never reject us. (Gospel Transformation Study Bible)