March 22, 2019 -- Hebrews 8:1,13 -- Jesus the Final High Priest

Now the point in what we are saying is this: we have such a high priest, one who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in heaven…

In speaking of a new covenant, he makes the first one obsolete.

And what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away.

Hebrews 8:1,13 ESV

Jesus is the High Priest—the last one ever needed. It is made clear in the last verse of our reading today. The Mosaic Covenant is obsolete. It is ended because Jesus Christ is the full and final sacrifice Who takes away the sins of the world. We still follow the Ten Commandments, because they are the Moral Law. The Ten Commandments show us the way of holy living, as followers of Jesus Christ.

Hebrews was written a few years before the destruction of the temple in Jerusalem. Even though Jesus Christ had come. Even though Jesus Christ had taken away the sins of the world. Even though Jesus Christ was the last priest ever needed. Still the Jewish people were sacrificing at the temple. Still the Levites and priests were going through the rituals prescribed in the Old Testament as if these were needed. Soon even the empty forms would be wiped away and there’d be no more temple, no more priesthood, no more sacrifices: these were becoming obsolete. Hebrews makes it clear why this is so: Jesus is the fulfilment of all of these things and the work of all these people.

The Jewish faith is obsolete. As it currently stands it is an insult to the work of Jesus Christ. They refused the very Messiah they had waited for all those centuries upon centuries. And the Jewish people today refuse the very Messiah they claim they await.

Today, pray for the Jewish people, that they will receive Jesus as the True Messiah, their long-awaited King.

Pray for the Jewish people, that they will not look backwards at all that was, but embrace Jesus Christ, Who is now seated at the right-hand of the Father—the very righteous One Moses foretold would come. Jesus Himself when He walked on this earth said to Jewish leaders, “If you had believed in Moses, you would have believed in Me, for Moses spoke of Me. (John 5:46).

King Jesus blessed are You. Our High Priest, thank You for Your sacrifice. Thank You that by Your accomplished work believers are called sons and daughters of the Most High God. Thank You Jesus, for Your Holy Spirit given to believers to lead us in all truth! Thank You for the rich truth of the Bible illuminated by the Spirit, the same Spirit Who inspired the original authors, so that we can know Your will. Thank You Jesus for Your love for all people, and Your special love for the Jewish people. This day, may the knowledge of Who You are, the Messiah of the Jews and the Gentiles, become ever clearer and ever dearer especially to the Jewish people. May the longing of every Jewish heart finally be fulfilled in You, Jesus. Amen.