Set Apart: Holiness Restored
Notes prepared by William Murrell
Focus: Jesus displayed perfect holiness as a man and bore our sins so that we could share his holiness.
Hebrews 7:23–28 ESV
23 The former priests were many in number, because they were prevented by death from continuing in office, 24 but he holds his priesthood permanently, because he continues forever.
25 Consequently, he is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them.
26 For it was indeed fitting that we should have such a high priest, holy, innocent, unstained, separated from sinners, and exalted above the heavens. 27 He has no need, like those high priests, to offer sacrifices daily, first for his own sins and then for those of the people, since he did this once for all when he offered up himself.
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.
The Text in the Story of Redemption
The Hebrews’ author wrote to first-century Jewish Christians tempted to give up because of severe persecution.
Some were tempted to stop gathering for corporate worship—perhaps to protect themselves from the social consequences of following Jesus (10:25). Others were tempted to abandon their Christian confession and return to the familiar rituals and practices of Judaism (10:23)—and in some cases paganism.
To encourage this group of beleaguered disciples, the author of Hebrews calls them to focus on the person of Jesus—our only hope in life and death.
Throughout this rich letter, the author develops two interrelated themes to help us see Jesus more clearly—the Word of God (revelation) and the Work of Christ (redemption). Recognizing that his primary listeners were Jewish believers, the anonymous author roots these themes in the story of Israel in the Old Testament.
Many potential authors have been suggested for the book of Hebrews. Some have suggested Paul while others have suggested one of Paul’s close ministry associates—like Barnabas, Apollos, or Priscilla.
For the first ten chapters, he demonstrates how Jesus brings about “a better covenant” (7:22) as the ultimate revelation of God (Hebrews 1:2) and the redeemer of God’s people (1:3). Then, in the last three chapters, the author explains how these truths about Jesus can help us live in confidence (10:19), perseverance (12:1), and holiness (12:10).
Because of these thematic links with the Old Testament, Hebrews is an appropriate place to continue our holiness study—and to bridge this theme in the Old and New Testaments. While every New Testament book testifies to Jesus as the Messiah and fulfillment of God’s covenant to Abraham, Hebrews systematically works through specific elements of the Jewish sacrificial system and demonstrates how Jesus brings about “a better covenant.” This theme crescendos in our passage in Hebrews 7.
1. The Problem with Priests
In this passage, the author of Hebrews highlights two weaknesses of the sacrificial system. Priests die and priests are sinners.
7:23: The former priests were many in number, because they were prevented by death from continuing in office . . .
7:27: . . . those high priests, offer sacrifices daily, first for his own sins and then for those of the people . . .
• On Priestly Finitude
It is important not to run past this point without considering the significant implications of human mortality.
Throughout the Old Testament, great spiritual leaders arose, like Moses, Samuel, David, etc., and everyone died. This is a feature of our mortality and a typical pattern in Scripture and history. A great leader emerges who leads the people well and oversees an era of covenant faithfulness, and then they die. No matter how outstanding and beloved these spiritual leaders are, their work is temporary.
• On Priestly Fallenness
However, most priests weren’t great leaders. For every Moses on the mountain, there is an Aaron in the valley molding a golden calf. For every Samuel serving God from his childhood, there are the sons of Eli preying on women serving in the Tabernacle. For every David—a man after God’s heart, an Ahab leads the people away from God. Even the great priests and spiritual leaders were sinful. Moses, Samuel, and David were all deeply flawed spiritual leaders who needed a substitute to atone for their sins.
This highlights the perennial problem with priests. They all die. They all sin. None of them live forever, and none of them—even the good ones—are holy.
2. The Problem with Lambs
In this passage, the author of Hebrews highlights two weaknesses of the sacrifice itself. All lambs die, and because people keep on sinning, they need more lambs.
• On Sacrifice and Mortality
Most of us live in modern societies that are not structured around a sacrificial system, so it is easy to forget that sacrificial animals are slaughtered at the altar. Because we don’t see it (and smell it) regularly, it is easy to forget that the animal brought to the temple does not come home. When the worshiper returns to sacrifice, he must always bring a new animal. How many goats and lambs were killed to atone for the sins of God’s people over thousands of years? This was an unsustainable solution to the sin problem because “in these sacrifices there is a reminder of sins every year. For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins” (10:3–4).
• On Human Fallenness
The reason why sacrificial animals have been slaughtered in the thousands (millions?) over the millennia is not because they deserved death. It’s because unholy people deserved death. Because of human fallenness, more animals were needed day after day, year after year, and century after century. (How often have we repented of our sins and vowed never to do “that” again—only to find ourselves back where we started?) Another day, another innocent lamb killed.
This is the perennial problem with lambs (and all sacrificial animals). They all die. And we all sin. None of them live forever (as perpetual sacrifices), and none of us—even the “good” ones—is free from sin.
3. The Promise of Jesus
In this passage, the author of Hebrews tells us how Jesus offers “a better covenant” as a better priest and a
better sacrifice.
• A Better Priest
Jesus’ priesthood is the ultimate fulfillment of the Old Testament priesthood. But he is different from every other priest because he lived a perfectly holy life (7:27) and lives forever (7:23). This is good news because, in Jesus, humanity has finally found a truly holy priest who won’t die.
7:24: . . . he holds his priesthood permanently, because he continues forever.
7:26–27: For it was indeed fitting that we should have such a high priest, holy, innocent, unstained, separated from sinners, and exalted above the heavens. He has no need, like those high priests, to offer sacrifices daily . . .
• A Better Sacrifice
The author points to the stunning fact that our perfect high priest also “. . . once for all . . . offered himself up” as the sacrifice (7:27). Not only did Jesus solve the problem with priests but he also simultaneously solved the problem with lambs. All sacrificial victims die, but Jesus, the perfect sacrifice, was sacrificed and rose again from the dead. Moreover, Jesus’ sacrifice was the ultimate sacrifice—the last one ever needed for sins. Though people keep sinning, Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross satisfied the wrath of God and atoned for the sins of his people—the dead and living saints and those who will one day put their trust in him.
7:27: He has no need, like those high priests, to offer sacrifices daily, first for his own sins and then for those of the people, since he did this once for all when he offered up himself.
4. The Promise for Us
The author packs a lot of good news into this pivotal text in the middle of Hebrews. Even though every priest in human history has sinned and died, Jesus lives forever as a sinless priest making intercession for us. He was the perfect sacrifice who died and rose again, satisfying the problem of sin and death once and for all.
There’s one more promise we should not miss—implied in this text and developed elsewhere in the New Testament. Not only is Jesus our better priest and our better sacrifice, but his mediatorial and sacrificial work also makes us holy.
7:25: . . . he is able to save to the uttermost . . .
The verb to save (sozo) is used absolutely, which means that Christ will save in the most comprehensive sense; he saves us from all we need saving from. Christ’s salvation is a complete deliverance no matter what our need is.
The verb is able (dynatai) refers to power. Christ has the capacity (as other priests did not) to bring complete salvation to all who approach God through him. This is salvation from the guilt of sin, the effects of sin, and the power of sin. Christ’s mediatorial priesthood empowers us to be holy as he is holy.
Through Jesus, God secured our pardon from sin and restored our purpose as humans—to be kings and priests with God. This idea is put beautifully by Peter.
1 Peter 2:9–10
But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.
This idea of God’s people being redeemed by Jesus to be made holy and to participate in the priestly work of God on the earth is reiterated and cherished in church tradition.
Athanasius, the 4th-century African theologian, discussing God’s goal for our holiness, put it succinctly, “He became what we are so that He might make us what He is.”
Martin Luther, discussing one of his favorite theological topics—the priesthood of the believer, wrote this: “Not only are we the freest kings of all, but we are also priests forever. This is more excellent by far than kingship because through the priesthood we are worthy to appear before God, to pray for others, and to teach one another the things that are of God. For these are the priestly duties that absolutely cannot be bestowed on anyone who does not believe. Christ obtained this priesthood for us if we trust in him so that as we are colleagues, coheirs, co- rulers, so we are co-priests with him, daring to come with confidence into God’s presence in the spirit of faith and cry, ‘Abba, Father,’ to pray for another and to do all the things that we see are done and prefigured by the visible and corporeal office of priests.”
Conclusion
1. No priest was holy, and no priest was immortal—until Jesus, the resurrected and holy high priest.
2. All sacrifices died, and their atoning efficacy always fell short—until Jesus, the resurrected and holy lamb of God.
3. Jesus’ work as a perpetual priest and a holy sacrifice saves us completely.
4. Jesus’ saving work enables us to live a holy life.
Four Questions
1. How is God glorified in the text?
God is glorified in this text because he is the hero of the story. Jesus is the better high priest and the better sacrifice. He is the primary “grammatical subject” in almost every sentence, and we [believers] are the “grammatical objects” of God’s gracious actions.
2. How is our heart transformed in the text?
Our hearts are transformed when we contemplate the reality that Jesus saved (past tense) us as the perfect sacrifice and is interceding for us (present tense) as our high priest. More than any mentor, pastor, or parent, Jesus cares about the state of our soul and wants to lead us into holiness, worship, and mission.
3. How is the mission accelerated in the text?
When we understand that Jesus’ redemptive work has a “missional telos”—that of being a royal priesthood—
then we realize, as Luther put it, that “we are worthy to appear before God, to pray for others, and to teach one
another the things that are of God.”
4. What is the gospel application of the text?
Athanasius says it best: “He became what we are [human] so that he might make us what he is [a holy priest].”
Second City Church - Pastor Rollan Fisher