Verse: Hebrews 7:11-22 (NLT)
11 So if the priesthood of Levi, on which the law was based, could have achieved the perfection God intended, why did God need to establish a different priesthood, with a priest in the order of Melchizedek instead of the order of Levi and Aaron?12 And if the priesthood is changed, the law must also be changed to permit it. 13 For the priest we are talking about belongs to a different tribe, whose members have never served at the altar as priests. 14 What I mean is, our Lord came from the tribe of Judah, and Moses never mentioned priests coming from that tribe.
15 This change has been made very clear since a different priest, who is like Melchizedek, has appeared. 16 Jesus became a priest, not by meeting the physical requirement of belonging to the tribe of Levi, but by the power of a life that cannot be destroyed. 17 And the psalmist pointed this out when he prophesied, “You are a priest forever in the order of Melchizedek.”
18 Yes, the old requirement about the priesthood was set aside because it was weak and useless. 19 For the law never made anything perfect. But now we have confidence in a better hope, through which we draw near to God. 20 This new system was established with a solemn oath. Aaron’s descendants became priests without such an oath, 21 but there was an oath regarding Jesus. For God said to him, “The Lord has taken an oath and will not break his vow: ‘You are a priest forever.’” 22 Because of this oath, Jesus is the one who guarantees this better covenant with God.
Devotion
There’s a lot to unpack in these verses, way more than I’m really qualified to explain and especially more than fits in a morning devotional (I don’t want your coffee to get cold!) so I’m just going to focus on one small piece: priesthood. Priests still exist today, but they aren’t really part of our particular tradition in evangelical christianity, so these verses were kind of weird to me when I first read them. I’ve never had a priest (and honestly kind of thought pastors=priests) but back in the time of this writing a priest served a very well understood role that the Hebrews were especially familiar with. Simply put, a priest was someone that would serve as my representation before God. My shame would be too great to go before God myself, so I would hire a priest and they would offer sacrifices on my behalf and do the things needed to make me right before God. Kind of like the defense attorney that is in the courtroom day in and day out and learns how to get leniency from a judge or make good deals with a district attorney, priests had the skills and relationship with God to help you establish your worthiness in His eyes.
So then enters Jesus — He establishes Himself as the ultimate high priest which means He acts as the medium between ourselves and God. He offers Himself as a permanent sacrifice on our behalf. And He does all of this not as a descendent of Levi (which would continue the order reserved for Jews only) but from a new order which opens up His priesthood to the whole world.
It might be a complex and confusing passage (thank you, Christian, for handling the first part of the chapter!) but packaged in these verses is the explanation why you and I don’t have to be Jewish to be a Christian and also explains why we don’t have to sacrifice things or be beholden to all of the Levitical laws! Thank you, Jesus!
Prayer:
Thank you, Jesus, for being my priest and representing me before God. Thank you that I didn’t have to be born into a particular lineage to get the privilege of your priesthood, but instead you’ve offered it freely to me and to anyone that wants to join your family!
Author: Matt Hale
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