First, there is the contrast of physical versus powerful. The only requirement of priests under the old covenant was based on a genealogy. Christ, however, is not a high priest because of a physical requirement, but because of resurrection power. The second contrast is temporary versus eternal. Under the Law, there were many priests because of death, but under the new covenant, there is one, eternal priest: Jesus Christ.
What does it mean that Jesus is our prophet, priest, and king? Like all theological questions, more is at stake than merely intellectual comprehension. The Gospel calls us to put our trust in Jesus for salvation. How, though, can we believe in Jesus if we do not know who He is or what He has done? We are therefore asking a critical question when we investigate the office of Christ as prophet, priest, and king, coming to the Scriptures so our faith in Him is not grounded on speculation, but on who He is and what He has done and is doing today.
Now we consider what it means that Jesus Christ functions as the Great High Priest, for His new covenant people. Scripture, especially the book of Hebrews, is really a tour de force on the priesthood of Jesus.
First, we need to understand the requirements of priesthood.
We should label the requirements of priesthood under two headings. First, there are the absolute requirements, which all true priests of God must always meet – Old Covenant priests and believers The second category of priestly requirements are covenantal requirements – old and new covenants.
Let’s start with the absolute requirements. The first requirement is priests must be human beings. says, “Therefore, He had to be made like His brethren in all things, so that He might become a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God.” Because of sin, people cannot come into God’s presence on their own. We need a mediator – a human person – who can represent us before God. The Son of God thus had to become flesh, so He could be our great High Priest and represent us before God.
We see here the importance of the incarnation. If the Son of God had not entered our world as a man, we could never have been saved. We would have no one to represent us before God, who would have only spoken words of judgment without the incarnation.
The second requirement is a priest must be appointed and called by God. Hebrews 5 brings this point out clearly. In , we see that a priest represents men in God’s presence – but he does not do this on his own; rather he is appointed. makes it plain that Jesus meets this requirement. The Father appointed the Son to be our high priest.
The last absolute requirement of all priests is their faithfulness to God. says, “… consider Jesus, the Apostle and High Priest of our confession; He was faithful to Him who appointed Him…” God appointed Jesus, who faithfully fulfilled His charge as high priest.
Now, what about old versus new covenant? There are four contrasts to see the superiority of Christ’s priesthood compared to the old covenant priests, demonstrating how believers are heirs of a much better covenant.
First, there is the contrast of physical versus powerful.