The Perfect and Eternal Priest
- jacarroll71
- Nov 10, 2015
- 2 min read
Fallen mankind needed a priest to intercede for them before God, but only the perfect and eternal priesthood of the Son of God Himself would prove to effectively bring man and God together.
Today’s reading: Lamentations 1-2; Hebrews 7
6 He has laid waste his booth like a garden, laid in ruins his meeting place; the Lord has made Zion forget festival and Sabbath, and in his fierce indignation has spurned king and priest.
7 The Lord has scorned his altar, disowned his sanctuary; he has delivered into the hand of the enemy the walls of her palaces; they raised a clamor in the house of the Lord as on the day of festival. Lamentations 2:6-7
28 For the law appoints men in their weakness as high priests, but the word of the oath, which came later than the law, appoints a Son who has been made perfect forever. Hebrews 7:28
The Book of Lamentations tells the sad, bitter story of the consequences of the sin of Israel and Judah. Despite the law of God which established the priesthood of Aaron, the sacrifices, the worship in the temple, none of this was done without sin. The glories of the past were wiped away as God sent Babylon to kill and destroy the city that had been called “the joy of the whole earth” (2:15). The writer of Lamentations was completely clear that this had occurred as a result of the sin of the people. God brought about the wreckage for the gross failures of king and priest and citizenry.
But He had another plan all along. He would send His own Son as a king and priest. The destruction only served to prepare the way for that Messiah who would come. The letter to the Hebrews explains eloquently how the ministry of Jesus Christ, the High Priest who is perfect and lives forever far exceeds the flawed and tarnished priesthood under the law.
It was necessary for God to show the world that only Christ could be the Priest that was needed, One who had no sin to atone for and who would live forever to make intercession for His people.
All we need is Christ as our High Priest. His priesthood is after the order of the king of righteousness and the king of peace. In Him we find righteousness and peace forever. Look no further for the way to be accepted before the Holy and Eternal God. It is found in Christ alone.
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