The special priesthood of Christ!

I feel like I owe an apology for last Sunday afternoon, I was less than well prepared for a subject which is by far and away one of the most precious subjects to us as believers. So, I'm going to try and make up for it here a little.

I did a concordance check for the word 'priest' in the NT epistles and was interested by the fact that in relation to Christ, it only appears in the book of Hebrews. I say, only - it appears continuously in the book of Hebrews. So, basically speaking, if you want to understand the priesthood of Christ you should find a lot of your time spent in the book of Hebrews; particularly between chapters 5 and 10.

There is a good reason why Hebrews is the NT hub for this subject and it's to do with the people who the Apostle Paul (? or Barnabas?) was writing to. These Hebrews like the name suggests, were Jews who had made Christian professions. They had Jewish blood running through their veins but they had come to understand that salvation was by faith alone in Christ alone, not by their Jewish heritage.

However, as time had gone on, they had come under persecution, probably from unbelieving Jews, and as a result were seriously thinking of turning their backs on the gospel and placing themselves back under the old Jewish system, thinking that it would give them the same advantage without persecution. (Check out chapter 5:11 -6:12; 10:19-39; and the whole of chapter 12). Bascially, the writer of the letter spends 13 chapters showing them that if they do such a thing Christ will be of no benefit to them, because that old system cannot produce life; in fact it can't do anything but produce death!

One of the main devices that he uses to prove that the old system is useless for bringing about salvation, is that of the old priesthood. From chapter 5 through to 10 he continuously contrasts the old covenant priesthood with the priesthood of Christ. The old one was just a picture of the new one, and as a picture it couldn't do anything. The new priesthood of Christ on the other hand, accomplishes everything.

I'll write more soon, in the meantime have a read of these chapters (it doesn't take long!). If you have any questions or comments, post them to me and I'll have a look.