Prophet, Priest, King, God: Jesus the Priest

Prophet, Priest, King, God 

Pastor Rollan Fisher

Last week:

We worship Jesus because he is our great prophet, priest, king and God.  

 

Jesus the Prophet 

We follow Jesus because he is our great prophet. 

 

We are told to beware of false prophets and false teachers.  

 

Why did God glorify his servant Jesus?

 

Jesus is not just a prophet - he is God’s unique prophet pointing to reconciliation with God through his death on the cross, burial and resurrection from the dead. 

But the importance and uniqueness of Jesus continues.  

 

Acts‬ ‭4‬:‭8‬-‭12‬ ‭ESV‬‬

“Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, "Rulers of the people and elders, if we are being examined today concerning a good deed done to a crippled man, by what means this man has been healed, let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead—by him this man is standing before you well. This Jesus is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone. And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved."

 

Focus: God the Father has us look to Jesus because he is our merciful and faithful high priest, forever able to sympathize and save.  

 

Jesus the Priest 

We trust Jesus because he is our merciful and faithful high priest.  

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Hebrews‬ ‭2‬:‭14‬-‭18‬ ‭ESV‬‬

“Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery. For surely it is not angels that he helps, but he helps the offspring of Abraham. Therefore he had to be made like his brothers in every respect, so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. For because he himself has suffered when tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.”

 

A priest was one who stood as an intermediary to minister to God on behalf of the people and to the people on behalf of God.  

 

The priests were to remind the people of God’s commands, accurately facilitating worship that was pleasing to God. 

 

The high priest was the intercessor between God and the people, acting as their representative before God.  

 

The high priest in particular was:

  1. Appointed to offer the most important sacrifices of worship. He was the sole individual to enter the Holy of Holies in the temple, particularly on the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur) where he would offer sacrifices for the people to cleanse the people of their sins.

  2. Appointed to direct the practical affairs of our worship - he had authority in temple operations, directing finances and priestly duties.

 

The problem was that all other high priests prior to Jesus and after him were both fallible and mortal.  

 

This meant that the high priest was neither a perfect example of the righteousness which he preached or was able to continue in office to make continual sacrifices for the people.  

 

Jesus was different in that he was a perfect example of God’s righteousness - so his authority was pure and complete. 

 

Jesus would also live forever to maintain the duties of his office. 

 

In these ways, Jesus would become our merciful and faithful high priest. 

 

Because Jesus was made like us in every way, he too suffered when tempted and is merciful towards us, understanding our fight to do what is right.  

 

His mercy means not only that he cares, but that he is compelled to move and do something about the suffering in which he finds us.  

 

‭‭Matthew‬ ‭20‬:‭30‬-‭34‬ ‭ESV‬‬

“And behold, there were two blind men sitting by the roadside, and when they heard that Jesus was passing by, they cried out, "Lord, have mercy on us, Son of David!" The crowd rebuked them, telling them to be silent, but they cried out all the more, "Lord, have mercy on us, Son of David!" And stopping, Jesus called them and said, "What do you want me to do for you?" They said to him, "Lord, let our eyes be opened." And Jesus in pity touched their eyes, and immediately they recovered their sight and followed him.”

 

Because Jesus understands, he is faithful to show up in our battles as we come to him. 

 

Jesus offers us the help that we need to overcome.  

 

Ultimately, Jesus would end our slavery to the fear of death by defeating the devil who tries to not only steal, kill and destroy our lives, but held the power of death.  

 

John 1:29-32

*It matters that Jesus not only offered sacrifices for our sins as our priest, but as our faithful High Priest offered himself, once for all, as the Passover Lamb to make atonement and take away the sins of the world"

 

The power of death is now gone and we need to walk out of our slavery into the freedom that Jesus provided!

 

My days, weeks, months and years are different because I am walking into the abundant life that God planned for me from the beginning.  

 

“We modern people think of miracles as the suspension of the natural order, but Jesus meant them to be the restoration of the natural order. The Bible tells us that God did not originally make the world to have disease, hunger, and death in it. Jesus has come to redeem where it is wrong and heal the world where it is broken. His miracles are not just proofs that he has power but also wonderful foretastes of what he is going to do with that power. Jesus' miracles are not just a challenge to our minds, but a promise to our hearts, that the world we all want is coming.”

-Timothy Keller, The Reason for God: Belief in an Age of Skepticism

 

Why is there salvation in no one else and why is Jesus the only name by which we must be saved?

 

Jesus is not just a priest - he is our perfect merciful high priest before God. 

 

*It matters that Jesus was and is perfect when I am not. 

 

We look to Jesus as our high priest because he was tempted in every way that we are, yet was without sin. 

 

‭‭Hebrews‬ ‭4‬:‭14‬-‭16‬ ‭ESV‬‬

“Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”

 

Jesus is our sympathetic high priest. 

 

Because Jesus was tempted in every way as we are, he sympathizes with our struggles. 

 

Because he was without sin, he knows the way out and is ready to give mercy and grace to help us in our time of need.  

 

Always remember, the grace of God doesn’t just remove the consequences of sin - it empowers us to say no to sin (Titus 2:11,12)!

 

This means you can win your fight!!!

 

“Our Lord has many weak children in his family, many dull pupils in his school, many raw soldiers in his army, many lame sheep in his flock. Yet he bears with them all, and casts none away. Happy is that Christian who has learned to do likewise with his brethren.”

-J. C. Ryle (1816-1900)

 

We’ve all had seasons when we are these people.  

 

Let us remember this as we love one another and treat one another as our great high priest would. 

 

We trust in Jesus because he is our high priest forever who is able to save completely those who come to the Father through him since he always lives to intercede for us. 

 

‭‭Hebrews‬ ‭7‬:‭17‬-‭28‬ ‭ESV‬‬

“For it is witnessed of him, "You are a priest forever, after the order of Melchizedek." For on the one hand, a former commandment is set aside because of its weakness and uselessness (for the law made nothing perfect); but on the other hand, a better hope is introduced, through which we draw near to God. And it was not without an oath. For those who formerly became priests were made such without an oath, but this one was made a priest with an oath by the one who said to him: "The Lord has sworn and will not change his mind, 'You are a priest forever.'" This makes Jesus the guarantor of a better covenant. The former priests were many in number, because they were prevented by death from continuing in office, but he holds his priesthood permanently, because he continues forever. 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. 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, first for his own sins and then for those of the people, since he did this once for all when he offered up himself. 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.”

 

Jesus is our perfect high priest who forever lives to save. 

 

Two things needed to be done for our salvation and reconciliation with God that we could not fulfill.  

 

The first is perfect obedience to the law of God to receive God’s approval by satisfying his justice.  

 

The second is paying the price for our sins, as the wages of sin is death. 

 

Either I will pay the price for my sins in the judgment, or Jesus in his mercy and grace already paid it for me.  

 

I enter into this grace through repentance from my sin and faith in Christ’s finished work at the cross - his death, burial and resurrection from the dead. 

 

Since in both of these cases we are left wanting, we need a perfect mediator to satisfy the demands of a relationship with a holy God. 

 

That perfect, merciful high priest is Jesus who not only perfectly fulfilled the righteous requirements of the law our behalf (Romans 8:4), not only died on the cross to take the penalty for our sins, but now lives forever to intercede for us as we are daily seeking God to be set apart for his pleasure and purposes.  

 

Why is there salvation in no one else and why is Jesus the only name by which we must be saved?

 

Jesus is not just a priest - he is our perfect merciful high priest before God. 

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Hebrews‬ ‭7‬:‭25‬ ‭NIV‬‬

“Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them."

Jesus was not only the unblemished sacrifice for our sins, but the perfect, merciful priest who lives forever to mediate the benefits of that sacrifice before almighty God.

 

“Jesus is the “High Priest of our confession” (Hebrews 3:1). Our confession enlists Jesus as our High Priest, but the opposite, unfortunately, is also true.  If we make no confession, we have no High Priest.  It’s not that Jesus has ceased to be our High Priest, but that we give Him no opportunity to minister as our High Priest.  

 

He is the High Priest of our confession.  if we say the right things with our mouths in faith, according to Scripture, then Jesus has eternally obligated Himself to see that we will never be put to shame - that we will always experience what we confess   But if we do not say the right things, then, alas, we silence the lips of our High Priest. He has nothing to say in heaven on our behalf.  

 

Jesus is also called our “Advocate” (I John 2:1).  The word advocate is similar to the modern word attorney.  Jesus is the legal expert who is there to plead our case in heaven.  He has never lost a case.  But if we do not make a confession, he has no case to plead, so the case goes against us by default.  

 

We can see how important confession is; therefore, it is very important that we give heed to this third “Let us” passage in Hebrews: “Let us hold fast our confession” (Hebrews 4:14).  This principle of right confession has a central place in the gospel, as well as in our experience of salvation. In fact, there is no salvation without right confession.“

-Derek Prince, Declaring God’s Word

 

Benediction:

“Now may the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the eternal high priest himself, the Son of God Jesus Christ, build you up in faith and truth and in all gentleness and in all freedom from anger and forbearance and steadfastness and patient endurance and purity.”

-Polycarp