Unsearchable Riches

Some of the Relationships of Christ to His People

By Edward Dennett

Chapter 7

CHRIST OUR HIGH PRIEST.

THE priesthood of the Lord Jesus Christ was strikingly foreshadowed in many particulars, albeit of another order, by that of Aaron. Thus in his consecration we find that in one point he is made to differ from his sons. Together they were washed with water, and then, after putting the priestly garments upon Aaron, Moses "poured of the anointing oil upon Aaron's head, and anointed him, to sanctify him" (Lev. viii. 6-12). "When alone —apart from his sons—he is anointed without blood; while afterwards, together with his sons, the sprinkling of the blood preceded the anointing oil (vers. 13-30). The reason of the difference is evident. Aaron together with his sons prefigures the Church as the priestly family; but Aaron alone is a type of Christ; and hence his anointing without the blood, to set forth the truth that his great Antitype was " harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners," and needed not, therefore, the blood, seeing that He was without spot or blemish, that He was holy before God.

But in one respect it was impossible for Aaron to adumbrate Christ. Having been washed with water, he was made a figure of His purity; but he could not —except officially —prefigure His personal dignity. Accordingly, in the Epistle to the Hebrews, and where the subject of the Lord's priesthood is specially exhibited, the first thing to which our attention is directed is the dignity of His person. The epistle opens with it: "God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, hath in these last days spoken unto us by His Son" (ver. i); and then we have a long list of His personal glories detailed. He is Son, Heir, and Creator (ver. 2); then He is the brightness of the glory, and the express image of His person, upholding all things by the word of His power; the One who, having by Himself purged our sins, has sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high. Compared with angels, He is shown to have obtained by inheritance a more excellent name than they; to be the Son—the First-begotten. To Him, as God, is said to belong the eternal throne of righteousness; He is anointed with the oil of gladness above His fellows; thereon His unchangeable divinity as Creator of all things is indicated, and His place at the right hand of God, while waiting until His enemies be made His footstool. In the next chapter He is set forth as Son of Man— the heir of all things; as Jesus made a little lower than the angels, for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour; then, as suited to the glory of God, as the Captain of the salvation of His people, made perfect through sufferings; taking part in flesh and blood; in all things made like unto His brethren, that He might be a merciful and faithful High Priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation (ἱλάσκεσθα) for the sins of the people.

Such is the wonderful character of the person of our High Priest. He is God; and He is man; and there fore when the angels, Moses, Joshua, and Aaron, are brought into comparison with Him, they fade away and disappear before His surpassing glory. And surely a lesson is hereby conveyed. We think much of the work and the office of our High Priest, and it is well that we should do so; but the first thing the Holy Ghost presents to our notice is His person. For, indeed, His qualification for, and His ability to execute, the office depend upon the character of His person. For had He not been God as well as man, He could not have made propitiation for the sins of the people; and had He not been man as well as God, He could not have through death destroyed him that had the power of death, that is, the devil, and delivered them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage; nor indeed could He have been made perfect through sufferings (Heb. ii.). It is His person, therefore, that gives security for His office; and hence the Spirit of God would assure and comfort our hearts by unfolding to us His distinctive glories and dignities, before directing us to the functions of His office as Priest.

The next point to be considered is—those for whom He acts as Priest. It is needful to be particular here; first, because it is a vital question, and, secondly, because there is so much confusion abroad respecting it. Many of the hymns, for example, in popular hymnbooks speak as if He were a Priest for all without exception! Is it so? Nothing could be further from the truth. The analogy with the Jewish priesthood should have prevented such a misconception, for Aaron executed the priest's office, not for all men, but only for the people of Israel, for those who had been brought into a distinct and known relationship with God. It is true that amongst these were those who had been born again, and those who were not; but this is not the point to be considered. The whole of Israel were a redeemed people; all alike had been brought out of Egypt, and through the Red Sea; and all, therefore, were typically saved. Hence Israel as such prefigures those who are now saved —the people of God on the earth; and consequently Christ only fulfils the office of Priest for believers, for those who are His. It is, in fact, for a redeemed people, though, as passing through the wilderness, like Israel of old, they are looked at as pilgrims and strangers, journeying on toward the rest of God. Thus in the very first chapter it is said, " When He had by Himself purged our sins " (ver. 3). Again, we are told that it " became Him, for whom are all things, and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons unto glory, to make the Captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings. For both He that sanctifieth, and they who are sanctified, are all of one: for which cause He is not ashamed to call them brethren" &c. (Heb. ii. 10, 11). These terms, which we have emphasized, define most distinctly the class for whom He acts; and we find also such descriptions as these: " Holy brethren," " partakers of the heavenly calling," those "that come unto God by Him" (Heb. vii. 25)—i.e., those that approach into the presence of God for worship —those who are entitled to access within the rent veil, into the holiest by the blood of Jesus (Heb. x. 19-21). He thus discharges His office only for those who have been redeemed, who have been sanctified through the blood, whose sins are gone, and who, there fore, have no more conscience of sins; in a word, for the sanctified who have been perfected for ever by the one offering of Christ (Heb. x. 1-14). There must be no mistake here; for it is only to deceive ourselves, and that in the most fatal way, if we think, as men so often teach, that we go to a priest to obtain the forgiveness of our sins. The Word of God never so teaches; the truth is, that we do not go to the priest at all, but we approach God, through the priest, on the ground that our sins have for ever been put away.

We may now glance at His special qualifications for the office. We have seen that had He not been God and man, He could not have fulfilled it; and now we propose to notice some other features which are brought before us in this epistle. We read, "And no man taketh this honour unto himself, but He that is called of God, as was Aaron. So also Christ glorified not Himself to be made an High Priest; but He that said unto Him, Thou art My Son, to-day have I begotten Thee. As He saith also in another place, Thou art a Priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek. Who in the days of His flesh, when He had offered up prayers and supplications, with strong crying and tears, unto Him that was able to save Him from death, and was heard in that He feared; though He were a Son, yet learned He obedience by the things which He suffered; and being made perfect, He became the Author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey Him; called of God an High Priest after the order of Melchizedek " (Heb. v. 4-10).

The essential qualification of all from this scripture is His Divine appointment. No man taketh this honour unto himself; neither did Christ. And this fact is full of consolation to the believer—that He who acts as our Priest—the One through whom we approach God—has been appointed by God Himself; One, therefore, who is acceptable —yea, infinitely acceptable. This is one of the credentials of His office; and one, we may add, which destroys for ever the claims of any human priest hood. True all God's people are priests —they are an holy priesthood (1 Peter ii. 5); but if any claim to act as such on behalf of other believers, they must be able to prove their qualification to have received their office from God Himself. The blessed Lord Jesus did, and under circumstances of the greatest solemnity: for when contrasting His priesthood with the Levitical, the writer of this epistle says, " Those priests were made without an oath; but this with an oath by Him that said unto Him, The Lord sware and will not repent, Thou art a Priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek" (Heb. vii. 21). There are, in fact, three things here pointed out: as to His personal glory, He was the Son of God; in His official glory, He was a Priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek; and the source of His office was in the Divine will.

But we now pass to another order of qualification, which He acquired in the days of His flesh, when He learned obedience by the things which He suffered. Though He were Son of God, He was down here as man, and hence all this bitter experience to which allusion is made, when He offered up prayers and supplications, with strong crying and tears, to Him that was able to save Him. In a former chapter, we are told that He suffered, being tempted (chap. ii. 1 8); and again, that He was tempted in all points like as we are—sin apart (χωρὶς ἁμαρτἴας); but the reference here is primarily to His conflict in the garden of Gethsemane, when satan was pressing the power of death upon His soul, and when in spirit He went down into the deeps of death; and when, as a consequence, His anguish was so great that His sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground (Luke xxii. 44). He thus as man drank this bitter cup, and accordingly was tempted as we are—apart from sin; and thereby learned by His own experience what it was to suffer, being tempted, that He might be able to succour those that are tempted. He learned obedience by the things which He suffered; for being the Son of God, He knew not what it was to obey until He took upon Him the form of a servant, and was found in the likeness of men, and being found in fashion as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross (Phil. ii. 7, 8). All that He suffered, therefore, was in obedience: He was doing God's will (Heb. x.), and He did it perfectly, ac cording to the perfection of God's thoughts. Hence when He cried, in His bitter sorrow, to Him that was able to save Him from death, He was heard in that He feared, or, on account of His piety (ἀπὸ τῆς εὐλαβείας): God responded to the cry of Him who thus glorified Him in His perfect obedience.

But the point here is, that, passing through this bitter sorrow and agony, in obedience to God's will, " He was made perfect." How? Not morally, seeing He was ever perfect—the One in whom was all God's delight; but He was made perfect as to qualification for His office, and so He became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey Him, saluted of God an High Priest after the order of Melchizedek. How blessed for us to know that He is, therefore, not one that cannot be touched with a feeling of our infirmities; that, by His experiences down here, He is enabled to enter into and sympathise with us in our weaknesses and sorrows, and that He consequently understands how to present our case before God, discerning exactly what we need. Those around may fail to understand, and disappoint us in withholding their sympathy; but He never, for He has trodden the same path, and knows every step of our way. Blessed be His Name!

Other qualifications —such as the efficacy of the sacrifice which He once offered, and the perpetuity of His priesthood (Heb. vii. 23, 24, 26, 27; ix. 24-28) —we may touch upon in another connection. What has been pointed out is sufficient to show how wondrously adapted our great High Priest is for the office which He fills for us in the presence of God.

The office—the work of His priesthood—will now occupy our attention. Two or three preliminary remarks will clear our way to this part of our subject. First, the scene of the exercise of His office is heaven, and not earth. We have already pointed out that, at the commencement of the epistle, He is shown as having sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high (Heb. i. 3). Again, " We have such an High Priest, who is set on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens; a minister of the sanctuary, and of the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, and not man; " and again, " If He were on earth, He should not be a Priest, seeing that there are priests that offer gifts according to the law" (Heb. viii. 1, 2, 4). But it is sometimes asked if He did not as Priest make propitiation for the sins of the people. It was the Priest; but this was only because what He was in Himself cannot be separated from what He did. It was no part of the priest's office to slay the victim, and hence we may say that this was not a priestly act on the part of Christ, though He was the Priest that did it. The passages above cited make it very plain, that it was not until He had sat down on high, that He really commenced the work of His priest hood.

Secondly, He is a Priest, as we have seen, after the order of Melchizedek. But the Melohizedek priesthood has relation to the millennium, as the name itself imports—" First being by interpretation King of righteousness, and after that also King of Salem, which is, King of peace" (Heb. vii. 2). It is not, therefore, until our Lord leaves His present place at the right hand of God —not, indeed, until after He shall have come for His saints, and returns with them, and comes forth in the characters of King of righteousness (the true David) and the King of peace (the true Solomon), that He will enter upon the functions of the Melchizedek priesthood. The order of His priesthood remains, but throughout the present interval of grace, during the present dispensation, while He remains inside the rent veil, His present service as Priest corresponds rather with that of Aaron.

One other preliminary remark remains. The foundation of His priesthood lies in the one sacrifice which He has offered. Having " by Himself purged our sins, He sat down," &c. (Heb. i. 3). " Who needeth not daily; as those high priests, to offer up sacrifice, first for his own sins, and then for the people's: for this He did once, when He offered up Himself" (Heb. vii. 27). " Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by His own blood, He entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption" (Heb. ix. 12). His intercession, therefore, as the Priest is based upon the everlasting virtue and efficacy of that one oblation which He offered upon the cross. Consequently as Priest He has nothing to do with our sins. This is a point as important as it is undeniable. It is important as cutting away the whole foundation on which human, ecclesiastical sacerdotalism rests. The office of the Romish or the Anglican priest were obsolete if it were dissevered from the question of sins; and yet there is nothing clearer, from the teaching of this whole epistle to the Hebrews, than that Christ as Priest has no connection with sins. Thus, He had purged our sins before He sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high. He made propitiation for the sins of the people before He entered upon the office (Heb. ii. 17). He had obtained eternal redemption before He entered into the holy place (Heb. ix. 12). He was once offered to bear the sins of many (Heb. ix. 28). Hence those who come (have access) unto God by Him are looked upon as having no more conscience of sins (mark, that it is not sin, but sins), as having been perfected for ever by His one offering, as those whose sins and iniquities are remembered no more (Heb. x. 1-18). This, indeed, is a fundamental truth of Christianity, that the believer's sins are gone for ever from the view of God, on the ground that Christ once bore them, suffering for sins, the just for the unjust, to bring us to God (1 Peter iii. 18). Having been expiated in the precious blood of Christ, they can never more be recalled; and thus we are qualified for access into God's presence, to enter the holiest by the blood of Jesus, and to be inside the rent veil as worshippers (Heb. x. 19-22); and it is for us as such, for only such, that Christ carries on the office of His priesthood.

Passing now to consider the actual work of the office, we remark: (1.) That He is there before God on our be half. "For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us " (Heb. ix. 24). He is our Representative before God. It was so with Aaron. We thus read, "And thou shalt take two onyx stones, and grave on them the names of the children of Israel: six of their names on one stone, and the other six names of the rest on the other stone, according to their birth.... And thou shalt put the two stones upon the shoulders of the ephod for stones of memorial unto the children of Israel: and Aaron shall bear their names before the Lord upon his two shoulders for a memorial." And we have similar directions as to the breastplate. There were to be twelve stones in it, " and the stones shall be with the names of the children of Israel And Aaron shall bear the names of the children of Israel in the breast plate of judgment upon his heart, when he goeth in unto the holy place, for a memorial before the Lord continually " (Exod. xxviii. 9-29). In like manner, the Lord Jesus bears us on His breast, and on His shoulders in the presence of God—i.e., He upholds us there by His intercession. The breast is an emblem of the affections, and the shoulders of strength; and we learn, therefore, that He has the ability—the strength— derived, indeed, from the prevailing, and ever-abiding efficacy of His sacrifice —and the heart to maintain us before God; and hence that His intercession for us is so effectual that we can well say—

      "Our cause can never, never fail,
      For Thou dost plead, and must prevail."

This is no small comfort to us as we are journeying onward through the desert —to look up and see our great High Priest ever bearing us up before God, and to remember in all our weakness and coldness that His strength and His affections are in exercise through His intercession on our behalf; and that, therefore, our cause is presented to God, not according to what we are, but according to all that He is.

What confidence this should impart to us— and will, when our eye is not on ourselves, but on our High Priest. Thus if a poor, sick, feeble believer should be tossed with doubt, under the temptation of Satan, because he can neither think nor pray, let him look upward, and recollect that though he cannot pray, Christ has under taken his case, and, even while he himself is doubting, is engaged in intercession on his behalf. Oh! it is sweet beyond expression to know that I am borne on the heart and shoulders of Christ —a heart of such love that the many waters could not drown, nor the floods quench it, and shoulders of such strength that He up holds all things even by the word of His power. And the very fact of His presence before God on our behalf is the everlasting witness that our sins are for ever gone. (2.) It is through the action of Christ as our High Priest, that we obtain mercy at the throne of grace, and find grace to help in time of need (Heb. iv. 16). The High Priest, as pointed out, is in connection with a people in the wilderness (see Heb. iii. and iv.); and we, therefore, looked at in relation with priesthood, are on our way to the rest of God, even as Israel were on their way to Canaan. While thus on our pilgrimage, God uses His Word to judge everything in our hearts that might lead us aside from the path of faith and induce us to seek a resting-place in the desert. Hence the apostle says, " Let us labour therefore to enter into that (God's) rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief. For the Word of God is quick and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in His sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of Him with whom we have to do " (Heb. iv..11-13). This might deter us —and would, were we left to ourselves. " But there is another succour, one of a different character, to aid us in our passage through the wilderness; and that is priesthood.... We have a High Priest who has passed through the heavens, as Aaron passed through the successive parts of the tabernacle—Jesus, the Son of God. He has in all things been tempted like our selves, sin apart; so that He can sympathise with our infirmities. The Word brings to light the intents of the heart, judges the will, and all that has not God for its object and its source. Then, as far as weakness is concerned, we have His sympathy. Christ of course had no evil desires. He was tempted in every way apart from sin. Sin had no part in it at all. But I do not wish for sympathy with the sin that is in me; I detest it, wish it to be mortified —judged unsparingly. This the Word does. For my weakness and my difficulties I seek sympathy, and I find it in the priesthood of Jesus." Having, therefore, such an High Priest—One who Himself suffered, being tempted, and One, therefore, who is touched with the feeling of our infirmities —we are encouraged to come boldly to the throne of grace, to receive mercy, and to find grace to help in time of need —for seasonable succour (εἰς εὔκαιρον βοήθειαν).

(3.) We have access into God's presence by virtue of the efficacy of the blood of Christ, and also of His own presence there as our High Priest (Heb. x. 19-22). We may say more; our place is inside the rent veil in virtue of that one sacrifice which has put away our sins for ever; and having an High Priest over the house of God, we can draw near with a true heart, in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water (ver. 21, 22). The place where Christ is, is the place of our worship, and that is inside the rent veil; but we could not be there were it not that He is there as the High Priest, having obtained eternal redemption.

     "By Him, our Sacrifice and Priest,
     We pass within the veil."

(4.) It is through Him as our Priest that our praise and adoration ascend to God. " By Him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name " (Heb. xiii. 15). What an unspeakable mercy that we have such a Priest —One who knows how to separate the precious from the vile, and who, therefore, only permits that to come up before God which is acceptable to Him! Just as the priests of old had to examine every offering that was brought, and to reject any that were blemished, so that nothing could be burnt upon the altar which did not meet the Divine requirements, so Christ as our High Priest acts in regard to our sacrifices of praise. This is no small consolation as we remember our ignorance and weakness; for while we ought to possess priestly discernment ourselves, and while we should not extenuate our failure in present ing what is suitable to God, it is yet a gracious encouragement to us to know that nothing will come up before His throne but what is accepted and offered for us by our great High Priest. He knows how to apply the priestly knife, and to cast aside everything that God cannot receive. (See Lev. i. 14-17.)

(5.) Once more, we may add that His continued presence before God as our High Priest is the assurance that we shall be brought through all our difficulties, be completely saved. " Wherefore He is able to save to the uttermost " (completely—all the way through —altogether —εἰς τὸ παντελὲς) " them that come (approach) unto God by Him, seeing He ever liveth to make inter cession for them" (Heb. vii. 25). Having once died, He dieth no more; He is alive for ever; and hence He has an unchangeable priesthood. Having, therefore, undertaken our cause, He will never lay it down; and consequently, the perpetuity of His office, and His un interrupted, effectual intercession afford us an absolute guarantee that we shall not perish in the wilderness; that if Joshua did not give Israel rest—and there remaineth a rest for the people of God—the Lord Jesus, by means of His priesthood, since He has been victorious over death, and lives for evermore, will surely bring us into it.

We have now traced in outline the priesthood of Christ; and surely, as we meditate upon Him in this character and office, our hearts will be filled with adoring gratitude to God, in that He in His grace has made such wondrous provision for us while passing through the wilderness. He gave Israel a Moses, an Aaron, and a Joshua; but He has given us His own beloved Son, the Lord Jesus, the brightness of His glory and the ex press image of His Person—an assurance to us, absolute and unqualified, that He will bring us into all the glory which He has purposed and secured for us in Christ.

What, then, should be the effect upon us of contemplating Christ as our High Priest? " Seeing, then," says the apostle, " that we have a great High Priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us holdfast our profession" (or confession) (Heb. iv. 14). Again he says, " Let us hold fast the confession of the hope without wavering" (Heb. x. 23); and he also speaks of Christ within the veil being our Hope, as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast (Heb. vi. 18-20). The effect, therefore, should be to encourage us to confidence — confidence in Him—boldness, and per severance. Christ is there before God as our High Priest; therefore let us hold fast, knowing that, spite of all our weakness and infirmities, and the strength, activity, and hostility of our foes, we shall be brought through all the perils of the wilderness into the possession and enjoyment of the everlasting rest of God.

"And though awhile He be
     Hid from the eyes o£ men,
His people look to see
     Their great High Priest again.
In brightest glory He will come,
     And take His waiting people home."

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