Psalm 110:1-4. 1The Lord says to my Lord: “Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool.” 2The Lord sends forth from Zion your mighty scepter. Rule in the midst of your enemies! 3Your people will offer themselves freely on the day of your power, in holy garments; from the womb of the morning, the dew of your youth will be yours. 4The Lord has sword and will not change his mind, “You are a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.”
Psalm 110 is the most quoted psalm in the New Testament. That means it must be a pretty important psalm, and it is. Why? Because it describes a future person who will be both a king and a priest. Back when King avid wrote this psalm, a person could not be a king and a priest. Kings in Israel had to come from the tribe of Judah. Priests from the tribe of Levi.
Every once in a while, King David would try to act like a priest. But when Jesus came to us, he was truly both our king and our priest. Our High Priest. The High Priest was the top priest who go to go into the Holy of Holies in the Temple, where the Ark of the Covenant was, God’s throne on Earth. The High Priest would go in there one day a year to offer the blood of the sacrificed lamb so that God would forgive all of the people’s sins.
In the New Testament, the book of Hebrews says more about Jesus our High Priest than any other book. And it explains how Jesus gets to be our High Priest because he ascended into Heaven, the Temple of God. Let’s look at some of the verses in Hebrews that describe Jesus as our ascended priest:
Hebrews 4:14-16. 14Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. 15For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. 16Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
When it says that our high priest passed through the heavens (the sky) it is talking about the ascension of Jesus. Jesus left Earth, passed through the sky, and went in Heaven. Jesus, who is a person like us, and understands that we are weak and tempted. Are you ever weak and tempted to sin? Me too! What should we do? We should draw near to God’s throne of grace with confidence in order to find grace and help.
Hebrews 9:12. [Christ] entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves but by means of his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption.
When it says, Christ entered once for all into the holy places, that is talking about the ascension. Jesus left Earth and entered into Heaven, the temple. He went into the holy places in the center of the temple where the throne of God is located. Why? To offer his blood, or his life, to God in order to redeem us.
To redeem something is to pay its debt. Because we are all sinners, we all owe a debt to God. We owe him our life because the penalty for sin is death. But Jesus died for us! When he ascended into Heaven and showed his blood to God the Father, that paid our debt in full and set us free. That’s good news. We have an eternal redemption. We will never be in debt to God or slaves to sin again.
Hebrews 10:21-22. 21and since we have a great priest over the house of God, 22let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.
Now, because we have a great priest over the house of God, Jesus Christ, who has sprinkled our hearts clean and washed our bodies pure, we can draw near to God.
In these verses WE are now the priests. We are the ones drawing near to God like a priest would when he entered the temple. We are washed with water and sprinkled with blood like priests were before they entered the temple. Because we are with Jesus, we ae now priests unto God too.
So let us gather together with one another.
Let us pray for one another.
Let us confess to one another.
Let us worship together.
Let us serve together.
Let us love as Christ, the great High Priest whose name is love.
You: What are some ways that people try to pay their debt to God? Do you think these can work?
You with Jesus: How can you act like a priest today? Consider the list above.
Prayer: Father, even right now I am coming close to you in prayer, but only because Jesus redeemed me and paid my debt. Thank you Jesus! Amen.
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