The Bible is made up of the Old Testament and the New Testament. The simplest division is the OT was written before Christ and the NT after Christ. Many people decide to read the Bible, open it and begin to read at Genesis, literally meaning beginning. However, there are actually 66 individual books that make up our Bible. They are approached as books, not chapters in one great book called the Bible. Those in the Old Testament teach about life before Christ; those in the New Testament teach about life after Christ. For those who are students of studying the Scriptures (the Bible) they will see much crossover between the two.
Once sin entered the newly created world, God promised that one day there would be a solution, Jesus Christ. Genesis 3:15 And I will put enmity between you [Satan] and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he [Jesus; woman’s offspring] will crush your head, and you will strike his heel. This is the first reference or ‘foreshadowing’ that one day Christ will come and will defeat death. Yes, Satan strikes out at Jesus and Jesus dies on the cross. But God is victorious over death and raises Jesus from the dead.
The Old Testament goes on to teach this whole need of mankind by setting up the Temple and the sacrificial system. The High Priest was to come from the line of the Levites, the ‘priestly’ tribe (of the 12 tribes of Israel). All Levites would be priests and as such, received a 10th tithe of everything: spices, crops, livestock, money. Their full-time work was as priests or in the work of the temple. Every year, on the Day of Atonement, one priest, dubbed the High Priest, would make purification for his own sins and then enter the most sacred section of the temple; the Holy of Holies. This is a small portioned off room in the Holy Place. It was divided off by a curtain, and entering this area meant immediate death. But on the Day of Atonement, the designated high priest, once he had offered a sacrifice for his own sins, would enter the Holy of Holies and would offer a sacrifice for the rest of the people. This had to be done year after year after year. It was not a lasting sacrifice, and annually the people of God were reminded that sin came with a great cost, hence, the shedding of blood.
When Jesus died on the cross, that curtain separating the Holy Place from the Holy of Holies was torn in two. Figuratively and physically, the very ‘throne room of God’ was opened to all. No longer was a mediator needed between God and man; the old was gone, and the new was come. Jesus became the ultimate High Priest. Because He had never sinned, He was able to make an offering on our behalf. That offering was Himself, the perfect, unblemished lamb of God. Hence, no sacrifice was needed every again. And that is the difference between the OT and the NT. Jesus is our eternal High Priest.
There is one problem, though. Jesus did not come from the tribe of Levi. He was not of the Levitical line but rather from the tribe of Benjamin. How can this be?
Back in Genesis we learn of another priestly line, higher than that of the Levites, for the ‘Levitical line’ bows to this priest and presents him a tithe. Genesis 14:18-20 Then Melchizedek king of Salem [Peace—Jerusalem] brought out bread and wine. He was priest of God Most High, and he blessed Abram, saying, ‘Blessed be Abram by God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth. And blessed be God Most High, who delivered your enemies into your hand.’ Then Abram gave him a tenth of everything. In the New Testament, Hebrews 7 comments on this:
This Melchizedek was king of Salem and priest of God Most High. He met Abraham returning from the defeat of the kings and blessed him, 2 and Abraham gave him a tenth of everything. First, the name Melchizedek means “king of righteousness”; then also, “king of Salem” means “king of peace.” 3 Without father or mother, without genealogy, without beginning of days or end of life, resembling the Son of God, he remains a priest forever.
4 Just think how great he was: Even the patriarch Abraham gave him a tenth of the plunder! 5 Now the law requires the descendants of Levi who become priests to collect a tenth from the people—that is, from their fellow Israelites—even though they also are descended from Abraham. 6 This man, however, did not trace his descent from Levi, yet he collected a tenth from Abraham and blessed him who had the promises. 7 And without doubt the lesser is blessed by the greater. 8 In the one case, the tenth is collected by people who die; but in the other case, by him who is declared to be living. 9 One might even say that Levi, who collects the tenth, paid the tenth through Abraham,10 because when Melchizedek met Abraham, Levi was still in the body of his ancestor.
And Hebrews 5:6 God the Father says, You [Jesus] are a priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek.
Hebrews 5-8 develops this whole theme further, summarizing with ‘The point of what we are saying is this: We do have such a high priest, who sat down at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in heaven, and who serves in the sanctuary, the true tabernacle set up by the Lord, not by man.’
Jesus is the greatest high priest; a high priest from this other priest/king line, in the line of Melchizedek. He is the greatest and only mediator between God and man; and through faith in Him, we can enter the very throne room of God. Jesus is much more than a good teacher, great man, perfect model. He is our friend, our brother, and our ultimate high priest.
Hebrews 7:27 Unlike the other high priests, he has no need to offer sacrifices day after day, first for his own sins, and then for those of the people; this he did once for all when he offered himself.
Our song for today is Jesus by Chris Tomlin.