Home>
Ministries>
The Pastor Nathaniel's Blog>
Pastor Nathaniel's Blog Archive>
Pastor Nathaniel's Blog Archive 2024>
Pastor Nathaniel's Blog July 10, 2024
"Why Is Jesus Our High Priest?"
Jesus is our high priest, but why does he do it? Why does Jesus serve as our high priest? Does he get a reward from God for being our high priest? Is there a personal benefit he receives from ministering as a priest on our behalf? What is the motivation for Jesus to use his humanity and deity to be our high priest? Hebrews 7:25 provides us with a surprising - and heartwarming - reason why Jesus is engaged in ministering for us as our high priest.
Hebrews 7:25 says, "Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them" (NIV). There are two points this passage is making about Jesus' intercessory work: how extensive it is and why he intercedes. It's pretty easy to understand that Jesus is able to save those who come to God through him. What is astounding is how much Jesus saves and the extent to which he saves. The word "completely" is the same word translated as "uttermost" in other English translations. Its literal meaning in Greek is "every-end." The imagery it suggests is that every goal you have will be met or everything you need to be completed will be finished with beauty and promptness. Everything will not only work out well, but it will also look amazing. And that's exactly what Hebrews 7:25 states Jesus will do!
When Jesus saves those who come to God through him, he saves completely and utterly - meeting every ending you face, satisfying every goal of your life, finishing the work of salvation in all the nooks and crannies of the person you are. Further, Jesus can and does save completely and utterly because of his motivation: he gets to intercede for you. The thought that Jesus "always lives to intercede for them" is a beautiful and encouraging promise. But the context of Hebrews 7 makes it clear that the life of Jesus that is in mind is his resurrection life, not just the fact that he lives.
According to Hebrews 7:25, Jesus came back to life and rose from the dead so that he could always intercede for you! Jesus uses his glorified humanity to serve as your high priest so that he can always make intercession for you. It is the joy and pleasure of his resurrection life to be your interceding high priest!
Friends, you can count on Jesus to use his humanity and deity to minister on your behalf as your high priest, because that's exactly what he loves and is passionate to do.
God bless,
Pastor Nathaniel Gamble
