The Better Priest Series

Christmas is quickly approaching. We’ve been looking at the book of Hebrews to recognize that Jesus is better. The gifts of the wise men remind us that Jesus is the better Prophet, Priest, King, and Sacrifice. Today, I’m going to focus on what it means for Jesus to be our better Priest. Read Hebrews 5:1-10. Pray.

The first few verses of our text today point out that Jesus fills the role of priest better. Some of you may know that when I ask someone to meet me at my office, they should plan to come to McDonald’s. Some of the people that I see there almost every day like to joke that I sit there to get stories for my sermon. Monday, I told them it’s their big chance. I’m preaching today and they can help me out. When you hear the word priest, what comes to mind. They started out by pointing out that the Catholic and Episcopal Churches have priests. They said it was another word for preacher. Then they had some choice words about all the news stories of priests who have abused their power. One of them then turned the talk to the Jewish high priest in the Old Testament, the day of atonement, how Zechariah was a priest who was visited by an angel, and how Jesus is our high priest.

God set up a system for priests as He formed the nation of Israel. Moses’s brother Aaron and his descendants were set apart to act on behalf of men to come into the presence of God to worship. The priest was needed to offer gifts and sacrifices for sin, first for themselves, then for the rest of the worship community. It was expected that the priest would be the one to help the ignorant and wayward because they would be able to handle the most difficult people with gentleness.

As the Roman Catholic and Greek Orthodox churches formed their leadership structure, they chose to continue this idea that the common person needed someone to go to God on their behalf. This separation of priests from the common person has created a power system within these churches that God never intended. However, Peter tells us that all believers now have the status of being priests. Read 1 Peter 2:4-5,9.

So how does Jesus fill this role better? Because He never sinned, He doesn’t have to make sacrifices on His own behalf to be able to serve mankind. He is the best example we have of how to focus on the needs of people. Think about how He responded to people. Those who were often looked at as outcasts and sinners, Jesus treated with compassion and respect, allowing Him to challenge them to turn to God. It was those who thought they had it all together that Jesus dealt with harshly when needed. Of course, Jesus offered Himself as the ultimate sacrifice for all sin for all time so that we no longer have to offer sacrifices to God. Because of how Jesus filled the role of priest, we are able to come directly to God and ask forgiveness for our sins. Jesus fills the role of priest better.

In Hebrews 5:4-6, we see that Jesus fills the qualifications of priest better. The author of Hebrews points to Aaron as the example of how one qualifies to be a priest. First of all, they are called by God. For Aaron, that happened as God directly instructed Moses to appoint Aaron to be the first high priest.

Now, often when someone in ministry is interviewing for a new position at a church, they are often asked to share about how they were called into ministry. Here’s my story. Early in high school, I was sure that I would follow my father’s footsteps and become an engineer. Between my sophomore and junior year, however, I had the opportunity to attend a summer camp to learn about different types of engineering. I went expecting to figure out what kind of an engineer I would want to be and begin mapping out my classes for the next few years to get there. Instead, I found myself so bored that I knew I could never be an engineer and have to sit at a desk 9-5 for 5 days every week. I had no idea what I was going to do with my life, it was not a good place to be. A few weeks later, I attended my week of church camp. It was a great week and gave me plenty to think about. On the last night during campfire time, we were singing and it was as if God was giving me a nudge. We were singing, “God is so good,” and as I sang I thought about how true that is. Then we started singing, “I’ll do His will,” and as the words we were singing sank in, I began to cry. We continued to sing, “I’ll live for Him,” and I knew that I couldn’t just sing those words, I had to live those words. It was then that I knew what God wanted me to do with my life. I needed to go into ministry. I went forward at the invitation and committed my life to ministry. When I got home, I called my high school guidance office to change my class schedule from a heavy math focus to more of a language arts focus so that I could prepare to fulfill what God had called me to do. I’ve never looked back nor regretted that decision.