Jesus As Priest

By Dr. Michael Weis

“Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me’” (John 14:6).

Jewish Significance
Jesus just told His disciples He would be leaving them. One of the disciples, Thomas, had asked Jesus where He was going and how he could be with Him.

Jesus replied by saying He was the way, the truth, and the life. These three phrases have special meaning in Jewish culture. For instance, the first phrase, the “way,” can refer to the Priesthood in the Old Testament.

In Israel, a nation ruled by God (a “theocratic kingdom”), God ordained three offices: priest, prophet, and king. No one held all three offices, though some held two. Moses was a priest and prophet. David was a king and prophet. But the Messiah would hold all three.

Aaron, Moses’ brother, was the first High Priest, and from his genealogy came the priesthood. The priests were the “way” to God – they were the mediators between the people and God. They offered the daily animal sacrifices, and grain and wine offerings in the Tabernacle or Temple.

They interceded, or prayed, for the people and were also the teachers of the Law. Once a year, every year, the High Priest would sprinkle animal blood for the sins of the nation on the Day of Atonement on the “mercy seat” – or “God’s presence” – of the Ark of the Covenant.

The Perfect Priest
While the people could pray for themselves, only the Priests could shed the blood of the animals to cover sin for a period of time. Their work was never completed because sacrifices always needed to be made for the people’s ongoing sin (see Hebrews 10).

When the Messiah Jesus came, He perfectly fulfilled this priestly office. The Book of Hebrews explains that Jesus is our Great High Priest (Hebrews 7:26), who offered Himself as the perfect sacrifice (7:26).

The final perfect sacrifice of our High Priest was Himself (Hebrews 9:27-28; 1 Peter 2:24), and when He finished His work and “sat down” (Hebrews 1:3); His work was completed.

The blood Jesus shed on the cross was the fulfillment of priestly wine offering, which symbolized the forgiveness of sins. Furthermore, Jesus’ death brought salvation to a harvest of abundant souls, the fulfillment of the priestly grain offering, which was offered in hopes of an abundant harvest.

And just as the priests were to serve as teachers, so was Jesus the greatest teacher the world has ever known. Nowhere is this more evident than in the “Sermon on the Mount” (Matthew Chapters 5-7), where Jesus corrected centuries of Mosaic Law misinterpretation.

Priesthood of Believers
As our Great High Priest, Jesus assigned priesthood to every believer in one sense (1 Peter 2:4-5, 9-10; Revelation 1:6, 5:10, 20:6). As “priests,” you and I can come to God anytime, anywhere, and for any reason!

While it’s a blessing to ask other believers to pray for us, it is also a blessing to know that we have direct access to God the Father, through God the Son.

In contrast to ancient Israel’s priesthood, as a “priesthood of believers” we have no obligation to offer sacrifices in order to be accepted by God. Christ our High Priest IS our one and only permanent sacrifice for sin.

He is The Great High Priest who has given us access to the throne room of Heaven, shedding His blood and dying as the perfect Lamb of God.

Is He your Great High Priest? If not, will you not confess your sin to Him today, ask forgiveness, and trust in Him alone?

Dr. Michael Weis is a pastor, video operator, editor, and social media manager at Zion’s Hope.