Useful Bible Studies > Hebrews Commentary > chapter 7
God gave his law to show people how they could have a relationship with him.
So the law appointed priests. That shows people that nobody can achieve a right relationship with God by their own efforts. They must have a priest who will speak to God on their behalf. And now, the priest that God has chosen for this purpose is his Son, Jesus.
Also, the law appointed men who were weak to be those priests. They were weak because of the bad and wrong things that are in people’s lives. That shows that everyone has done wrong things against God. But now God has appointed Jesus to be our priest. And he never did anything that God considers wrong (Hebrews 4:15).
But the law appointed men to be priests. And that shows clearly that God wants to have a relationship with people. And he wants to establish this relationship by means of a man. Jesus is God’s Son. But he became a man so that men, women and children can have a right relationship with God.
God did not use his law to appoint Jesus as our chief priest. He used something that was stronger than law: his oath. His oath is his serious declaration; you can read it in Psalm 110:4. The law showed people how to have a right relationship with God. But the oath made it possible for people to know that relationship, because the oath appointed Jesus as priest.
Jesus has always been perfect, because he is God’s Son. But he became the perfect priest. His sacrifice was his own death on the cross. And that made it possible for God to forgive people. They receive a relationship with him because of Jesus’ work, not because of their own efforts. And Jesus will always be their chief priest.
Next part: A simpler explanation of Jesus’ work as priest (Hebrews 8:1-2)
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© 2014, Keith Simons.