“Jesus the High Priest” (Ch. 25); "Believe" (Ch. 26)

Created to Draw Near: Our Life as God’s Royal Priests

by Edward Welch

 

“Jesus the High Priest” (Chapter 25)

 

The Priesthood of Jesus Christ

• Not from the line of Levi and Aaron
• Patterned after the Priesthood of Melchizedek

Psalm 110:4 NIV

⁴The Lord has sworn and will not change his mind: “You are a priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek.”

 

Our High Priest is from the earth.

• Like Melchizedek, Jesus shares in our humanity.
• Experienced weakness and need
• Experienced temptation to sin
• But remained sinless
• Empathetic and gracious intercessor

Hebrews 4:14–16 NIV

¹⁴Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has ascended into heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. ¹⁵For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin. ¹⁶Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.

 

Our High Priest is from heaven.

• No record of Melchizedek’s lineage, birth, death, or place of origin
• By analogy, this pictures Jesus the one from heaven with no beginning or end.

Hebrews 7:3 NIV

³Without father or mother, without genealogy, without beginning of days or end of life, resembling the Son of God, he remains a priest forever.

 

Our High Priest is our King from heaven.

• Jesus has divine, heavenly authority.
• Jesus returned the priesthood to the true meaning and intent of the Law of God.

Matthew 7:28–29 NIV

²⁸When Jesus had finished saying these things, the crowds were amazed at his teaching, ²⁹because he taught as one who had authority, and not as their teachers of the law.

 

Matthew 28:18–20 NIV

¹⁸Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. ¹⁹Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

 

Our High Priest is eternal.

• The eternal Son of God came from heaven and has now returned to heaven.
• He finished the work his Father sent him to do and now is seated at the right hand of God.
• His sacrifice is the final sacrifice, and his priesthood is eternal.
• No need for any more sacrifices or any more priests

Our Heavenly Lineage

• Our heavenly lineage now surpasses the importance of our physical lineage.
• We have been born of God.

John 3:5–6 NIV

⁵Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit. ⁶Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit.

 

“Believe” (Chapter 26)

“With the temple and its sacrifices fulfilled in Jesus, the way to be cleansed and close to God is to follow him. In short, it’s to believe.” - Edward Welch

Signs Pointing Us to Faith in Jesus

Signs “are moments when heaven is opened, when the transforming power of God’s love bursts in to the present world.” - Tom Wright

• Turning water into wine - Jesus’ disciples believed.
• Healing a nobleman’s son - he believed.
• Healing a lame man on Sabbath - some believed; other rejected.
• Feeding 5,000 with one boy’s lunch - many believed.
• Healing a man born blind - he believed and worshiped him.

Final Sign: Raising of Lazarus

• The purpose of Lazarus’s death was to reveal Jesus’ glory, leading to faith in him.

John 11:25–26 NIV

²⁵ Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; ²⁶and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?”

 

John 11:26–27 NIV

²⁶and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?” ²⁷“Yes, Lord,” she replied, “I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, who is to come into the world.”

 

John 11:45 NIV

⁴⁵Therefore many of the Jews who had come to visit Mary, and had seen what Jesus did, believed in him.

 

Summary of John’s Gospel

 

John 20:30–31 NIV

³⁰Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. ³¹ But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.

“These are just a few of the signs that Jesus is the one who descended from heaven. They all point to the glory of the Lamb slain for us. Look at the signs. Listen to his words. Then believe.” - Edward Welch

“John puts the question before us: “Do you believe that he is the one sent by the Father?” A simple response of believing becomes a sign both to ourselves and to the world that we belong to the family of God through Jesus. If you believe him, you belong to him.” - Edward Welch

“So true worship is founded on believing what God has said and done. That has always been the foundation of life with God.” - Edward Welch

“As Jesus said to the Samaritan woman, you don’t have to be close to Jerusalem. Rather, you come to Christ, the living water, the living tabernacle. You come to him, the truth, the embodiment of the invisible spirit God who cannot be contained by a temple.” - Edward Welch