Hebrews Chapter Seven, The Son's Preeminence

 

Hebrews 7:28 For the law appoints as high priests men who have weakness, but the word of the oath, which came after the law, appoints the Son who has been perfected forever.

 

This is the author’s summarized thoughts as he finishes his parenthetical pause, beginning around Hebrews 5:11 and culminating in this verse. The diversionary teaching came on account of the readership’s poor understanding, and how, though they were Christians for some time they needed to rehash the fundamentals of the Christian faith.

A contrast was made between Melchizedek and Jesus Christ, affirming the numerous similarities between them. A secondary contrast was made between the Aaronic priesthood and Jesus’ eternal one, revealing an utter dearth of similarity. The Mosaic priesthood existed under the Law, and for the tabernacle. Christ’s priesthood is enduring and eternal. One is weak in that it has no power to perfect the penitent that performs it, while Jesus in the power of an endless life saves to the uttermost all who come to God through Him since He always lives to make intercession for us.

 

What is the weakness spoken of? It is the same weakness all humanity shares. We have a sin nature. We are under the curse of sin, living in bodies doomed to die. Our lives are very finite, and they are often filled with desires incongruent with God’s revealed will. The priests appointed by the Law recognized their own shortcomings. “He can have compassion on those who are ignorant and going astray, since he himself is also subject to weakness,” Hebrews 5:2. The next verse carries on that thought, demonstrating that, because of the inherent weakness in them—referring to the sin nature—the priests needed to sacrifice not only for the people, but themselves, too. We know contextually this weakness means sinful conduct, or else sacrifice would be unnecessary.

 

Laid out against this picture of a succession of men, prevented by death from continuing, is Jesus our Lord. Whereas these men, because of weakness, sacrificed even on their own behalf, we are informed Jesus did not, because He did not need to. Why? The inference strongly suggests our Lord had no sin. The Law appointed fallible men; the word of the oath, spoken in David hundreds of years later, appointed the Son.

 

What does the verse mean, that Jesus has been perfected forever? The NIV and ESV both agree with the translation, “has been made perfect forever.” This brings to recollection Hebrews 2:10, which states, “For it was fitting for Him, for whom are all things and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings.” That suffering is a reference to His death on the cross, Hebrews 2:9. Christ’s obedient death, going to the cross, was His purpose for coming to this earth, John 12:27. Jesus referenced His impending death as being “perfected” when He was warned by the Pharisees that Herod wanted Him dead, Luke 13:32. His obedience was vindicated on the cross, and the sacrificial Lamb became the mediatory Priest.

 

Indeed, our Lord has been made perfect forever. But it was not a process of trial and error, or a passionate struggle between obeying the Father or the lusts of the flesh. These are blasphemous thoughts to attribute to Jesus Christ. God knew His intentions to save mankind before creation, Acts 15:18, 2 Timothy 1:9, Titus 1:2. Paul writes of our Lord’s perfection, that He has, “forgiven you all trespasses, having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. Having disarmed principalities and powers, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it,” Colossians 2:13-15.

 

Our perfected High Priest will save the Jews by faith, and the Gentiles through faith. He has been given all power in Heaven and earth, vested with the title of High Priest in the order of Melchizedek by an oath from the Father. As the author encourages his Jewish audience, so this epistle encourages all to come to Christ and abandon human effort and works. Jesus Christ is greater than all, and saves to the uttermost.