In Old Testament times, God often spoke to His people through messengers, met with His people through intermediaries, and governed His people through rulers. These were the prophets, priests, and kings. In New Testament times, Jesus, the Savior of the world, fulfilled all these offices. Hebrews 1:2 establishes that Jesus fulfills the office of prophet, saying that God “hath in these last days spoken unto us by his son.” In Hebrews 4:14, we read that Jesus also fulfills the office of high priest. It says, “Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession.” And in 1 Timothy 6:15, we read that Jesus is “the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings, and Lord of lords,” fulfilling the office of king. Today, Jesus sits at the right hand of God as our Prophet, Priest, and King.

The Book of Hebrews expounds on Christ’s role as our High Priest. The author, generally accepted to be the Apostle Paul, devoted a significant portion of his letter to this topic, so he must have felt that this was important information for strengthening the faith of his audience. He was writing to converted Jews—those who had received a knowledge of sins forgiven through a born-again experience, which the Bible calls “salvation.” These new Christians were wavering in their faith, thinking it would be better to return to the laws, ceremonies, and system of works they had practiced in the Jewish religion. To persuade them against this, Paul demonstrated that Jesus is in every way better than what they had known before. He told them that not only did they have a High Priest in Heaven, but they had a “great” High Priest.

We too can be encouraged by the knowledge that we have a great High Priest in Heaven. Today, let’s briefly consider why God created the office, its functions, and the superior way in which Jesus fulfills this role in our lives.  

The office of high priest

The imagery of the high priest that is used in Hebrews originated in the Old Testament and in the Law of Moses. After the Israelites fled Egypt, God gave Moses instructions for building a tabernacle in the wilderness. To oversee the worship practices that took place in the Tabernacle, He instituted the office of high priest and called Aaron, the brother of Moses, as the first to fill it. He named Aaron’s descendants as his successors and appointed the other Levites to assist as priests.

Though the high priest had charge over the Tabernacle priests, sacrifices, and worship, his most important function was to serve as an intermediary between God and man. He represented God to the people, and the people to God. In representing God to the people, he was the nation’s spiritual leader, responsible for upholding God’s laws and moral standards. When the Children of Israel looked to their high priest, they were supposed to see a godly example—someone who taught and lived in accordance with God’s will and reflected who He is.

In representing the people to God, once a year on the Day of Atonement, the high priest offered animal sacrifices for the sins of the nation and himself. Then he alone was permitted to enter the Holy of Holies where the presence of God dwelt and sprinkle the blood from the sacrifices on the mercy seat. This provided atonement for the sins of the people for that year, making it possible for God to dwell among them.  

By carrying out this annual task, along with the various other sacrifices and observances, the high priest performed another important function of the office. His actions portrayed to the people that they were separated from God by sin, and a remedy was needed to bridge the divide. In addition, the repeated sacrifices illustrated that the blood of animals could not permanently remove sin.

A better way

The Mosaic Law, with its use of animal sacrifices performed by carnal men, was never intended by God to be a permanent solution for reconciling sinful people to Himself. Instead, it foreshadowed a better way. When God created the office of high priest, He was pointing forward to the day when the Messiah would come and fill it.

Jesus is that Messiah and great High Priest. He came representing God to the people of this world. He told His disciple Philip, “He that hath seen me hath seen the Father” (John 14:9). The people saw the Father in Jesus’ compassion and authority. He had power to cleanse from sin and cure every disease, and He delivered and healed all who turned to Him. He also calmed a storm, multiplied food, raised Lazarus from the dead, and performed many more miracles.

The people saw the Father in Jesus’ righteousness. He was tempted but did not sin, and they could look to Him as an example of how to live according to God’s will. Jesus also revealed God in His teachings. We read in Matthew 7:28 that after He concluded His Sermon on the Mount, the people were “astonished at his doctrine.”

With His death and resurrection, Jesus took on the role of high priest and became the intermediary for the people, representing them to God. Paul wrote to the Christians at Rome, “Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us” (Romans 8:34).

At the time the Book of Hebrews was written, the Temple in Jerusalem was still standing and a high priest was there representing the people. Paul’s audience needed to understand that a better High Priest was representing them in Heaven. This superior Mediator did not just offer their sacrifice for sin to God; He became the sacrifice. The writer of Hebrews told them, “And being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him” (Hebrews 5:9). By shedding His Blood on the Cross to make atonement for sin, Jesus confirmed that He was the very Author of salvation.

Jesus is superior

In chapter 4 of Hebrews, we find three more ways in which Jesus is superior to the high priests of the Old Covenant. Paul wrote, “For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need” (Hebrews 4:15-16).

He can relate to our struggles. No one can truly empathize with another person’s plight without walking the same path. We can tell people that we are praying for them, but unless we have experienced what they are going through, we can’t say, “I know how you feel.” However, there is Someone who does understand, who cares, and who can help.

Have you ever felt rejected? Jesus knows what that is like. The Bible tells us, “He came unto his own, and his own received him not” (John 1:11). When He preached in His hometown of Nazareth, His countrymen were “filled with wrath” and “thrust him out of the city” (Luke 4:28-29). Even His half-brother, James, did not believe until after the Resurrection.

Have you ever been without a place to call “home”? The Bible tells us that Jesus had nowhere to lay His head at night. Are you overwhelmed with sorrow? When facing the Cross, Jesus went to the Garden of Gethsemane to pray and told His disciples, “My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death” (Matthew 26:38). As He prayed, His sweat became as great drops of blood falling to the ground.  

Jesus knows what it is like to be betrayed by a friend, mocked while being falsely accused, and He is familiar with pain. If you have ever been despised or persecuted for your faith, Jesus can empathize. He said, “If the world hates you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you” (John 15:18). He gave this encouragement: “Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness’ sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:10).

We have a great High Priest in Heaven who can identify with whatever we are facing today. He is touched by our infirmities, moved with compassion for us, and through His sacrifice on the Cross, He is able to save, heal, and deliver us. There is no one better to turn to with our struggles.  

He gives victory over temptation. The high priests who came before Jesus needed to offer a sacrifice for their own sins before they could perform the sacrifice for the people. However, our great High Priest “was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.”

Jesus can relate to the trials of being tempted—though He came to earth as the Son of God, He was also fully human. He was subject to the same types of temptations as we are. At the start of His ministry, He was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to fast and pray for forty days. At the end of that time, when He was hungry, tired, and alone—vulnerable both physically and mentally—the devil came to tempt Him. Jesus resisted by quoting Scripture, and His triumph opened the way for our victory.

A key reason why Jesus suffered temptation is given in Hebrews 2:17-18. It says, “Wherefore in all things it behoved him to be made like unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people. For in that he himself hath suffered being tempted, he is able to succour them that are tempted.” We can look to our great High Priest for encouragement, strength, and an example of how to prevail over temptation.

He grants us access to God. Jesus offers us the greatest invitation ever extended. He invites us into the Holy of Holies, to the throne of grace. The moment He died, the veil in the Temple that separated the people from the Holy of Holies tore in two—from the top down. The Ark of the Covenant with its mercy seat, where the presence of God dwelt, was exposed. Where once only the high priest could go, and even then only once a year, now everyone has access.

Through His death, Jesus, our great High Priest, made a way for us to approach the very throne of God. Animal sacrifices could not remove sin, but through the Blood of Jesus, we can be saved and sanctified—our sins forgiven and our hearts cleansed from all unrighteousness. We can be reconciled to God, made ready to enter His presence.

Because Jesus opened the way, we can “come boldly to the throne of grace,” approaching God with confidence that He will hear and answer our prayers. The writer of Hebrews explained, “Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh; and having an high priest over the house of God; let us 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” (Hebrews 10:19-22).

God is waiting to hear from us. Day or night, we can call on Him. Jesus has invited us into His presence.

One Mediator

Under the Old Covenant of the Law, people relied on fallible men to represent them before God. We are blessed to live in the dispensation of a better way; we have a superior Mediator. He is Jesus, and He is the only way. “For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus” (1 Timothy 2:5).

Today, Jesus is at the right hand of the Father interceding for us. How wonderful to know that the Son of God is representing you and me to the Father right now! With Jesus as our advocate, we can have victory. He “is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them” (Hebrews 7:25). We thank God for our great High Priest!