Today we continued our study of the Book of Leviticus with a focus on Leviticus 8-10. Here we see how God establishes a priesthood to serve as mediators to help the people experience the Lord’s cleansing from sin as well as to communicate the Lord’s blessing for proper worship.
Why is Jesus called our Great High Priest? Like Melchizedek, King of Salem and “priest of the Most High God” (Gen. 14), Jesus is ordained as a priest apart from the Law given on Mount Sinai (Heb. 5:6). But like the Levitical priests of Lev. 8-10, Jesus offered a sacrifice to satisfy the Law of God when He offered Himself for our sins (Heb. 7:26-27). Unlike the Levitical priests however, who had to continually offer sacrifices, Jesus only had to offer His sacrifice once, acquiring eternal redemption for all who come to God through Him (Heb. 9:12).
There is another important point about Jesus’ priesthood. Every priest is appointed from among men. Though He was God from eternity, Jesus became a man in order to suffer death and serve as our High Priest (Heb. 2:9). As a man, He was subject to all the weaknesses and temptations that we are, so that He could personally relate to us in our struggles (Heb. 4:15). Jesus is greater than any other priest, so He is called our “Great High Priest” in Heb. 4:14, and that gives us the boldness to come “unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need” (Heb. 4:16).
Please note that next Sunday, Nov. 19, we will continue our study of Leviticus with a focus on Leviticus 11-16. In these chapters we see how God instructed His people to be set apart regarding how they were to avoid unclean animals, purify themselves from impure bodily discharges and diseases and how they were to annually observe the purification of the entire community on the Day of Atonement.