Pope Jesus

Pope Jesus

Hebrews 7:23-28

Intro: In the weeks leading up to Easter, the world it seems was pregnant with anticipation about who would become the next Pope. The existing pope was retiring and the college of cardinals in the Catholic Church were charged with electing a new cardinal to be elevated to the position of pope.

. The cardinals elected Jorge Mario Bergoglio as their new leader and he took the name Francis. Pope Francis is the name that he will go by from now on.

. I have been impressed with this man so far.

. He seems to be a man who understands what those who are called of God are to be.

. Servants.

. Last week as we looked at what a church leader should look like, if you remember we said that a leader must be a servant.

. Jesus said that in order to be a leader, you must be a servant.

. Look at Matthew 20:26-28

“…. Whoever wants to be a leader among you must be your servant,

27and whoever wants to be first among you must become your slave

.28For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others …”

. This man seems to fit the bill as they say.

. This man’s life has been a life of simplicity and service.

. One of the first things this man did was go to the prisons and wash the feet of the prisoners. Showing his humility and love for others.

. As I said, I have been impressed with this man.

. The thing I want us to understand this morning though is that he is just a man.

. I am not here this morning to Catholic bash.

. I don’t care what you call yourself this morning.

. If you have accepted the sacrifice of Jesus Christ for your sins and have asked Him to forgive you of your sins. If you have been born again, as Jesus told Nicodemus, and have given your life to Jesus, you are guaranteed eternal life through Him

.

. There are some serious theological differences between Baptists and Catholics but the core of Jesus Christ being the perfect sacrifice, the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world is the same.

. While the pope is the chief priest of the Catholic church, the Bible tells us that we all have a chief priest .

. A high priest as they were known to the Jewish people.

. That High Priest is Jesus Christ.

. As Baptists we believe that we don’t need a chief or high priest here on earth because we already have someone who holds that position.

. Jesus holds that position.

. That’s what our scripture addresses this morning.

Just who is our high priest and why He is worthy of that title.

. The book of Hebrews was written to people who were steeped in tradition and who had always had priests and a high priest who had made sacrifices to God for them and had interpreted the scriptures in order to tell them how to live.

. In the 7th chapter of Hebrews the writer gives the readers a history lesson about the

conception and evolution of the priesthood in order to bring them to our scripture this morning.

. Hebrews 7: 23-28

. 23There were many priests under the old system, for death prevented them from remaining in office.

24But because Jesus lives forever, his priesthood lasts forever

.25Therefore he is able, once and forever, to save those who come to God through him. He lives forever to intercede with God on their behalf.

26He is the kind of high priest we need because he is holy and blameless, unstained by sin. He has been set apart from sinners and has been given the highest place of honor in heaven.

27Unlike those other high priests, he does not need to offer sacrifices every day. They did this for their own sins first and then for the sins of the people. But Jesus did this once for all when he offered himself as the sacrifice for the people’s sins.

28The law appointed high priests who were limited by human weakness. But after the law was given, God appointed his Son with an oath, and his Son has been made the perfect High Priest forever.

. The first thing we see here is that Jesus is our high priest because He is:

. Eternal

. Look at verse 23,24,25 again:

. 23There were many priests under the old system, for death prevented them from remaining in office.

. 24But because Jesus lives forever, his priesthood lasts forever

.25Therefore he is able, once and forever, to save those who come to God through him. He lives forever to intercede with God on their behalf.