Five Superiorities of Christ’s Priesthood

Hebrews 7:26-28

In the last three verses of Hebrews 7 we are given a marvelous display of Christ’s superiority over all the priests of the Old Testament. The Holy Spirit would have us marvel at the superiority of Christ’s priesthood over the Aaronic order, which he came to fulfill and replace.

A Sinless Priest

First, our Lord Jesus Christ is a sinless priest (v. 26). We have a High Priest who is "holy, harmless, undefiled, separated from sinners, and made higher than the heavens." No other priest could ever say that. They were all sinful, like you and me. But not Christ. He was tempted but never yielded to the point of sin.

Needed No Sacrifice

Second, because he was sinless, our Priest did not need to make atonement for himself. Therefore, he could and did offer himself as a sacrifice to God for us (v. 27). The Lord Jesus did not have to offer sacrifices for himself, but instead could offer himself as a sacrifice. He did not need, like those high priests of old, to offer up daily sacrifices, first for his own sins, and then for the sins of the people. Therefore, he was able to atone for the sins of his people, which were imputed to him, by the sacrifice of himself. This He did once for all when He offered up himself.

The Lord Jesus Christ is radically different from all those priests. They had sins of their own that had to be dealt with first. Never in a million years would it have entered their heads that they could actually be the sacrifice for the sins of others. But Christ changed everything. He needed no sacrifice for himself. Rather, he became a sacrifice in himself.

Once For All

Third, our Lord’s sacrifice of himself was "once for all" (v. 27). "This He did once, when He offered up Himself." What a great declaration! One time, conclusively, with finality, the Son of God made atonement for all God’s elect by the sacrifice of himself!

This great work of redemption is the center of all history. Every work of God's grace in history before the sacrifice of Christ looked forward to the death of Christ for its foundation. And every work of God's grace since the sacrifice of Christ looks back to the death of Christ for its foundation.

Christ is the center of world history, the center of Bible history, and the center of the history of grace. There is no grace without him. Grace was planned from all eternity, but it was planned with Christ at the center and his death as the foundation (Rom 8:28-30; Eph. 1:3-6; 2 Tim. 1:9-10; Rev. 13:8).

Divinely Appointed

The fourth superiority of Christ over all the priests of the Old Testament is this: - They were appointed by the law in their weakness; but he was appointed by the very oath of God himself as the perfect Son (v. 28).

The oath of God here is the oath given in Psalm 110:4, "The LORD has sworn and will not repent, Thou art a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek." The oath came after the law and pointed to the end of the law even in David’s day, “for Christ is the end of the law.” The Lord Jesus Christ is the termination of the law, because he is the complete fulfillment of it.

The oath was spoken to Christ as our Mediator. In Psalm 110:1, David says, "The Lord (God, Jehovah) said to my Lord (Christ our Mediator, the Messiah) sit at my right hand." Thus, David declared that the final High Priest is the Messiah, the Son of God, after the order of Melchizedek, not after the orders of Levi or Aaron, One who was installed by the oath of God, not by the law of a carnal commandment, which has now passed away. Therefore, we read in Psalm 110:3, “Thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power.”

A Priest Forever

The fifth superiority of Christ over all other priests is that He is a Priest forever (v. 28). The oath "makes the Son, (a Priest) who is consecrated forever." The Lord Jesus Christ, our great High Priest, shall never die. He shall never be replaced. He has an indestructible life. He will outlive all his foes. He will be there for us long after everyone we depend on is dead.

Children sometimes fear that their parents will not live to take care of them. And sometimes parents fear they will not be alive to take care of their children. Here is something peculiarly precious to the believer. – That One who is our great High Priest, our Advocate with the Father, that One who prays for us, with all the tenderness and sympathy of his infinite Being, has been perfected forever! -- Not for a decade. -- Not for a century. -- Not for a millennium. -- But forever!

The Point

The great point of this text is this: -- We have a great High Priest, the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who came into the world in human flesh, lived a perfectly righteous life as a man, offered himself as a perfect sacrifice for the sins of his people, rose to everlasting life, and sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on High. There he who loves us with a distinguishing, everlasting love, prays for us and bids us draw near to God through him. There is no priest between God and man, but Christ. Oh, but what a Priest he is! In John 17 we are given a glimpse of our great High Priest’s intercessory work, as he prays for his elect, seeking for us all things necessary for our souls’ everlasting good; and his prayer, the Father always grants!