Christ Our High Priest and King
A Reflection on Hebrews 4:14-16; 5:1-6
BRETHREN, since we have a high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we have not 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. For every high priest chosen from among men is appointed to act on behalf of men in relation to God, to offer gifts and sacrifices for sins. He can deal gently with the ignorant and wayward since he is weak. Because of this he is bound to offer sacrifice for his own sins as well as for those of the people.
And one does not take the honor upon himself, but he is called by God, just as Aaron was. So also Christ did not exalt himself to be made a high priest, but was appointed by him who said to him, "Thou art my Son, today I have begotten thee"; as he says also in another place, "Thou art a priest for ever, after the order of Melchizedek."
RSV Hebrews 4:14-16; 5:1-6
Today, the third Sunday of Lent, we remember the cross, reminding us of the destination we are nearing on our Lenten journey. It is fitting that we are offered this reminder in the middle of the fast since the cross is the center of our salvation. Further in her wisdom, the Chruch has chosen to present us with an explanation of what the power of the offering given to us on the cross has done through today's Epistle. Within this section of Hebrews, we hear Christ referred to as a high priest who is different than any we have seen before. In His divinity, He has been shown to take flesh and live as we live. He is perfect and sinless, yet like we all are, He is tempted by sin, and in this articulation, we see He can sympathize with all facets of our lives. Yet we may be wondering what Christ's Sonship has to do with being a priest after the order of Melchizedek, and how is it that through the cross, He offers sacrifice for all our sins while sinless Himself?
First, we must remind ourselves of how the two natures of Christ connect us to Him. God's love for us has taken flesh and dwelt among us in the person of Jesus, our savior. Being fully God and fully human, our Lord shares our nature and experiences the fullness of what we experience. This is why the cross is essential in our salvation, for through the cross, we see that our Lord even suffers and dies as we all do. In sharing our human nature and experiencing its fullness, even being tempted to sin, we see that the only sinless one raises our human nature, transfiguring it in His divine presence. Thus, we see that we have a great advocate, the very Son of God, Who has offered us His life so that our lives may be transfigured in His very presence.
In the service of the Son, we see He takes this present status of high priest or chief minister, for He offers sacrifice for the sins of His people, reorienting us in a tangible way to the kingdom of God. Being sinless Himself, we see that the sacrifice of Christ is perfect in every way, for in His divinity, He is utterly different than us, yet in His willingness to share our humanity, He raises us to His presence. Thus, Christ is a God-appointed priest, presented to us by the Father to offer us salvation.
Christ differs from the priests of the line of Aaron, for the priests of the line of Aaron were appointed to offer sacrifices for their sins and the sins of the children of Israel as a means of sin mitigation. Their ministry served its purpose, making us aware of the consequences of sin, that is, separation from God, and yes, God appointed them to minister to humanity's imperfection. Yet, the priesthood of Aaron could not forgive sin, let alone dissolve its grip on us.
As God, Christ, the only sinless one, serves a priestly ministry, which differs from any other. He is thus compared to Melchizedek, for if we remember His introduction in Genesis, we see He is a priest appointed by God, for the line of Aaron had not yet begun. In the Genesis story, he is introduced to make sacrifices and then quickly leaves the narrative. Thus, it is espoused that the image of this priest-king, who has no beginning or end in the narrative, is in the image of Christ, the only begotten Son of God, Who is fully God, prefiguring His ministry of serving His people without end.
So what is it that transpired upon the cross, and how is it that we now have such a great hope in our Lord? By ascending the cross, we see that the ultimate priest-king God Himself offers Himself as a sacrifice for the whole of His creation. In His status as priest-king and Son of God, we see He is the perfect being, for He is the unoriginated creator of all, the very architect of life. Thus, when Christ entered the ultimate end of sin, death, we see that death cannot stand in His presence, for He is the very source of life. In the same way that His word and presence heal all ailments and cast out demons, when the Son of God entered into death, His ministry as priest-king continues, for He offers us new life, dissolving the bonds of sin and death. So we see that as God, Christ truly offers us salvation, for through His blood, He purifies the whole of His creation, providing us with a path toward actual transfiguration and salvation in His presence where sin is nonexistent.
Today, as we remember the offering on the cross, we are reminded of the profound hope that all Christians hold. Christ has entered into our shared humanity as the Son of God so that He may elevate our human nature so we may live in the presence of God. He is the ultimate priest and king Who has come to serve us while leading us to His saving presence. As the only sinless one, He confronts sin and death, dissolving them and showing us that we are not alone in our suffering. As we cling to Christ in all things, we see He is genuinely offering us new life, for amid our struggle, He is ministering to us, offering us all that we need for life transfigured in Him. So it is our call to constantly remember the Lord in all we do, for He continually offers us true salvation in His presence. We have no greater advocate amid our struggles than the only Son of God, Who has come to minister to us as a noble and loving priest and king. He has entered into our shared humanity to show us how much love He has for us, and in doing so, He continually elevates our fallen humanity to the state of dignity always intended by God, of being valued as children of God. So it is our call to constantly remember His love for us so we may embody it in all aspects of our lives, so that as we struggle on towards His kingdom, we may see that He is always with us, ministering to our needs, and leading us to transfigured reality within His presence, the very kingdom of God.
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