High Priest

“Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession.” Hebrews 4:14

As we draw nearer to the celebration of the birth of Jesus, we must fix our eyes solely on Him. While the Christmas season is filled with joyous things and family activities, our satisfaction is only made complete in the worship of Jesus the Christ, our great high priest.

In the days before Jesus, the high priest was the only one allowed into the presence of God. The high priest would enter the Tabernacle into the Holy of Holies and intercede on behalf of the Israelites. The high priest himself would have to be clean and pure in the sight of God or he would die, for he would not be able to be unholy in the physical presence of God.

The high priest was also the supreme religious leader over the people of God and was selected by God to lead His people. Although men like Aaron and Zadok served the Israelite’s as high priests, they ultimately were flawed. No high priest was ever perfect and they themselves needed intercession and forgiveness from God in order to be cleansed and purified.

Jesus, however, is the perfect high priest. He not only was in human flesh – He was fully human while also fully God. Meaning, He experienced all things that we as humans experience on this earth. His gauge was not limited to what he experienced at Golgotha, but all the way from Bethlehem to His ascension. His life, perfectly lived, was full of the same experiences and temptations we face. His death was tormenting and painful, as He fully experienced the weight of all sin upon himself. His resurrection is one we will experience and declare freedom and life for God’s people in Christ. We know that Christ fully and personally understands what it means to be human, and this gives us confidence when we bring our needs to Him.

The birth of Jesus introduces us to our high priest in the flesh. The ultimate high priest, who needs no process of purifying to approach God because he is God. He is the ultimate intercessor, who intercedes to the Father for us continually. He is the ultimate leader of God’s people, who himself bore the weight of our sins and failures and always intercedes on our behalf so that we may have a relationship with the Almighty Creator.

The intercession of Jesus is not just a one-time thing but an eternal constant. As we live our days, we have Jesus continually interceding for us with the Father, leading us to repentance. We need not sacrifice animals at the altar for our sins, for Christ has already shed his blood once and for all. We need not work to attain our salvation, for Christ has already fulfilled the law and prophets and risen from the grave. We need not die for our sins, for Christ has forgiven us and intercedes on our behalf until we rest in his sweet embrace in heaven forever. Through the birth of Christ, we also are born again.