Hebrews 7:11-28

The Guarantee of Better Covenant

Have you ever seen the bumper sticker that says simply, "Jesus is the answer"?  I remember seeing a funny response to that one time at the park.  Someone had spray-painted, "Jesus is the answer" on a wall.  Then the next day I came by, someone else had spray-painted under it, "What's the question?"

Well, what at first seems to be a rather trite and flippant statement, really at the end of the day is the foundational answer to all of life.  But when we state that "Jesus is the answer" we are referring to our awful condition of sin and depravity in the face of a Holy God. 

How can we who are rebels, standing opposed to the kingdom of God, ever draw near to Him with hope that He will accept us and welcome us into His loving presence?  How can we know that the many religions of man throughout the history of the world are not the answer, but that faith in Jesus Christ alone is the answer to our corruption and rebellion against God?

The preacher is addressing this very question in his sermon to the Hebrew Christians.  You will remember that he is addressing former Jews who have embraced Jesus as their Messiah.  And because of their faith in Jesus they are being persecuted by their former Jewish brothers and sisters for having rejected Judaism.  And now, because of the severity of the persecution and suffering they are experiencing for the gospel, some of them are ready to give up faith in Jesus Christ and return to Moses and the Temple, to keep the peace.  So the preacher writes to these weakened and discouraged believers to hold firm to the true anchor of their souls and not retreat to their former way of life.  Why?

Because they have not only a promise but a sworn oath from God Himself that they will be fully accepted before Him through faith in His Son, Jesus Christ, who has come to fulfill the priestly order of Melchizedek (READ 6:17-20).

Now notice that the preacher roots your eternal hope in the fact that Jesus has come in this order of Melchizedek.  Why?

Well, remember the preacher's point from last week (7:1-10) that the order of Melchizedek, the king-priest from Salem, to whom Abraham (and with him all of Israel), honored and paid a tribute from all his choicest spoils of war.  In this one act, the preacher explains that the order of Melchizedek is superior in every way to the Mosaic order of Levi.  The greater order is Melchizedek and the Levitical priesthood is only a shadow of the greater.  The Levitical priesthood is the servant of the Melchizedekian order.

As we said last week the Levitical order refers to the law of Moses, while Melchizedek refers to the promises of the gospel (vv. 5-7).  The Levitical order leads to the way of death, while Melchizedek leads to the way of life (READ v. 28).

Now why is this contrast so important to the preacher?  Remember his audience.  They are Hebrew Christians who want to return to Moses thinking that Moses is superior to Jesus.  After all, Jesus came from the tribe of Judah -- not the priestly tribe of Levi.  Perhaps the blood of bulls and goats at the Temple are superior to the sacrifice Jesus made on the cross, they are thinking.  After all, we can see the priests offer the sacrifice and take the blood into the Temple to atone for our sins.  But we cannot see Jesus, who, we are told, has passed through the Heavens and sits at the right hand of God.

So the preacher's point here is absolutely crucial in his argument that Jesus is superior and has forever fulfilled and completed the Mosaic system so that it is now obsolete and has passed away.  There is no hope in Moses (READ vv. 18-22).  Moses has completed his mission -- to get us to Jesus.  Now that his work is complete, he now takes a backseat to the glorious guarantor of a greater and more blessed covenant in which we have eternal hope that we will be saved and forever may draw near to God.   

In v. 11, the preacher begins with a rhetorical question to show the weakness and imperfection of the Law of Moses (READ).  If the Mosaic system brought about the necessary perfection we need as sinners to approach a holy God, then why did King David ever speak about another priestly order coming in the future?  In Psa. 110 (see v. 17), David spoke of another priesthood -- one distinct and far greater than the present priesthood in David's day.  David looked forward to God's promise that he would send a new priesthood who would come and bring true perfection to God's people that they may forever draw near to Him. 

We are living in a glorious day in redemptive history.  We are no longer living in the shadows and types that King David lived in.  We now have the substance that all those things pointed to in Jesus Christ.  That's why we have a better hope than even King David had. 

It should not lead to discouragement that Moses has ended.  We are not somehow handicapped because the Temple has been torn down and the Levitical priests can no longer offer daily streams of blood for our sins.  No!  We have the perfect priest and sacrifice that God always intended to send to us, but was only pictured for us through the Levitical priests and the many bowlfuls of blood.

The change is not by subtraction, but by multiplying by infinity the blessings of God.  This new priesthood is the Sun rising in the morning to cast the brilliant light of the billions of stars in the heavens away. 

So there is a change in the priesthood.  The baton has been passed and with the change in the priesthood is a change in the Law of Moses, which now gives way to the greater promise of Melchizedek (READ v. 12).  The greater surpasses the lesser and with the greater comes a change in administration from Moses to Jesus.

First, the preacher emphasizes the negative side of the change -- that Jesus is not like Aaron.  Why?  Because the Aaronic priesthood was based upon the Law of Moses.  Through that Law, God set aside the tribe of Levi to serve him in the tabernacle and temple.  By law, only the sons of Aaron were able to officiate at the altar of God. 

But Jesus did not come from the tribe of Levi, but Judah.  And no son of Judah ever officiated at the earthly altar in the presence of God.  So how could Jesus be superior to Aaron?  Because Jesus came to fulfill the greater priesthood of Melchizedek and by fulfilling the superior, he necessarily completed the lesser at the same moment in redemptive history (READ vv. 13-17).

By coming according to the order of Melchizedek then, you hope is not based on something that is temporary and passing away.  The Mosaic administration was based upon a physical requirement that is necessarily limited by its servants being sinful man.  Those who served at the Temple were both sinners and mere men, who had to sacrifice for their own sins first and suffered from the same limitations that we all suffer from. 

But Jesus comes with the eternal, divine power of an indestructible life.  He comes in the power of God Himself and appointed directly from Heaven's throne.  While Jesus could never have served as a priest according to Moses, since he did not physically descend from Aaron, He came rather at the direct appointment of God to fulfill the greater priesthood of Melchizedek. 

And so His priesthood remains forever because He is indestructible.  His life never ends.  Even the cross -- the self-sacrifice itself -- could not end His life.  But rather, He was raised from the dead and ascended into the Heavens on high where He now sits forevermore as your High Priest to bring you to God.  His resurrection and ascension is the absolute proof of Jesus' indestructible life and His superiority to Moses.

The preacher concludes in vv. 18-19 that the Law of Moses is necessarily set aside because of its weakness and uselessness and now, in Jesus Christ, we have a better hope based upon better promises from God.          

But why was the Law of Moses weak and useless?  It wasn't because the Law itself was weak.  The Law is the expression of God's holy character and served his purpose in giving it to Israel.  Rather, the weakness and uselessness of the Law was found in those who could not fulfill it.  The Law did not bring about the necessary perfection that we require -- not because it was imperfect -- but because we were imperfect.  And that was the whole purpose of the Law -- to bring us to a clear understanding that we cannot be perfect -- we cannot accomplish the righteous requirement that God demands of us -- and so the Law lead us to Christ for that righteousness.  It was our tutor -- given to drive us out of ourselves -- and to drive us to our only hope of salvation -- in the blessed arms of Jesus Christ.

And now in Him we have a better hope, that Moses could never have imagined, a hope in Jesus Christ through whom you can daily and forevermore draw near to God.  Never despair that Moses has been taken away and fulfilled in Jesus.  The old has been replaced by a better hope based upon an indestructible life who is able to bring you to God.

Now, in vv. 20-25, the preacher spells out two glorious benefits of this change in priesthood.  First, in vv. 20-22, he reminds you that this new hope is based upon the unchangeable oath of God. 

The old priesthood of Moses was not based upon an oath but upon the law (v. 21; cf. v. 28).  But the new priesthood is based upon a divine oath in which God will never change His mind.  Now what does that mean for you?  God states His own existence upon the promise that He will fulfill all He has promised you or He is not God.  The promise is made to His own Son, who has become for you the down payment, the guarantor of the promise. 

The guarantor is greater than the mediator.  A mediator simply stands in between two parties but the guarantor lays his life and possessions on the line for the one who owes the debt to assure both parties that the debt will be paid in full.  You might look at it in a very crude and earthly manner, that you have taken out a loan -- an infinite load that you can never possibly pay -- from God.  Your debt is simply too infinitely large to be repaid.  But Jesus has come to your aid as the guarantor of the debt.  He is the co-signer upon the contract that is now liable for your inability to repay.  And so all the weight of the debt has fallen on Him and He gives up His own life to pay it. 

And now because Jesus, God's only beloved Son, has paid your debt in full, thereby completing the Law of Moses and finishing anything left to do, you are blessed eternally with a better covenant made with better promises as the bedrock of a better hope.

But secondly, the change in priesthood brings you yet another incredible benefit.  The old priesthood of Moses contained continual supply of priests to serve in the Temple, while only one priest fulfills the priesthood of Melchizedek.  But this multiplicity of servants is not a sign of superiority but inferiority.  The necessity of so many priests serving in the earthly Temple was because they kept dying and needed others to be raised up to take their place (v. 23).  So with every generation there was a need for a fresh supply of younger priests who could be trained and equipped to take up the mantle of serving at the altar.

But not so with Jesus.  Because Jesus comes in the power of an indestructible life, He continues forever and holds his priesthood permanently (v. 24).  That's why there is need for only one priest.  There is only one way to God and that is through His Son.  Now why is that important to you?

Your sin against God has caused you to carry an infinite debt that could never be paid even if you were good for eternity.  In your sin, you will always stand condemned before God.  But you now have had your debt paid in full by one who lives forever (v. 25).  And as long as he lives, your debt will be paid and you will never owe God another thing.

And as your priest, Jesus Christ continues to serve you to intercede on your behalf before God.  What this means is that the very one to whom you owe an infinite debt will be continually satisfied by the everlasting pleading of your defender that every sin, every act of rebellion and disobedience has been forever atoned and made right by the once-for-all sacrifice at Calvary.  He is your eternal mediator and guarantor -- and God will always accept His sacrifice for you as long as He lives.      

Truly Jesus is the answer to your sin.  He is able to meet your every need of forgiveness that you may draw near to God with boldness that you may daily and forevermore receive mercy and grace to help in the time of your need.

Finally in vv. 26-28, the preacher concludes his argument for the superiority of Jesus to the priestly order of Moses and prepares you for the main point of the sermon in which he unfolds Jesus' heavenly service as your High Priest.

In vv. 26-27, the preacher once again tells us why Jesus fits so perfectly to meet your need in a way that Moses could never touch.  The high priests under Moses suffered from the same condition that all man suffers -- they too are sinners who must first offer a sacrifice for their own sins and only then they can offer the sacrifice for the sins of God's people.  And this offering for sin was made daily with the pouring out of millions of gallons of blood over Israel's history. 

But unlike Moses' priests, this one priest -- your high priest -- comes an offers Himself once and for all, never to offer another.  Why?  Because He is not like us in one very important way -- He is perfect, holy, innocent, and undefiled.  He became like you in that he took up your human flesh -- but he was not in any way corrupted by sin and in this way he was eternally, infinitely separate from sinners and exalted above by God. 

But how could someone who is perfect fully identify with sinners?  Wouldn't the priests of Moses better identify with us by being sinners themselves?  Well, if you were drowning in deep waters, do you want the help of someone who is drowning in the water with you or do you want the assistance of someone safely anchored on the ship above who can come to your aid?  Jesus is the only one who is able to come to your aid precisely because He is perfect, sinless, and holy.  It is because He is without any sin that He can offer the perfect sacrifice to once and for all pay your debt of sin to God.

Finally in v. 28, the preacher summarizes his entire argument by driving it to His ultimate point of showing the superiority of the gospel to the law.  As John's Gospel declares:

John 1:17  For the Law was given through Moses; grace and truth were realized through Jesus Christ.

The Law only had the ability to appoint men who were in the same awful condition as the rest of us.  Those high priests were dead in trespasses and sin.  They were as corrupt as you are.  But the gospel comes very differently.  It gives what it promises.  The Law comes to require from you what you cannot possibly pay and since you cannot pay it, it offers only death.  But the gospel comes with the power of an indestructible life to give you life eternal. 

The gospel comes after the Law to heal you and bring you into God's eternal presence.  The Law has driven you outside of yourself of any hope that you can do what is required of you.  Through the Law you have no hope.  But what does the gospel give you in exchange for the Law?  Jesus Christ.  He is perfect in every way and because of Him you are declared perfect through faith alone.  You rest in His work for you and because that work is finished, complete, perfect, you are forever able to draw near to God that you may find mercy and grace in your time of need. 

Amen!

-SDG-