The Great Prophet, Priest, and King

As Pastor Josh mentioned last week, during the month of December here we’re taking a break from our regular sermon series through the gospel of Mark. And in this Christmas Season, we’re reflecting on the significance of Christ’s first coming – and the significance of what he came to do. Specifically, in this preaching series we’re pointing out how Jesus fulfills certain Old Testament predictions and prophecies, by coming to serve God’s people as their Great Prophet, their Great Priest, and their Great King.

See, for centuries before Jesus’s arrival, prophets, priests and kings were the special classes of leadership that God set up over his people. God sent prophets to reveal his Word. He sent priests to make sacrifices for the people, and to lead them into acceptable worship. And he sent kings to rule over his people and to rescue them. And yet, the people God raised up to take these roles were hindered by the same weaknesses and deficiencies that you and I have. None of these leaders were capable of reversing the spiritual deadness and corruption of humanity. None of these leaders were able to remove or cover over our guilt, in order to make us right with God and acceptable in his sight. None of these leaders were able to rescue us from death, darkness, and the devil.

And yet in various parts of the Old Testament, God promised that he would soon be sending an ultimate prophet, an ultimate priest, and an ultimate king – who would succeed where the other ones had failed. And so as we celebrate Advent – Christmas time – we’re celebrating the coming of Jesus, and his fulfillment of all three of these role. He’s the perfect prophet, priest, and king because he’s not just a great Son from among men – but he’s the true Son of God himself. And he has come to decisively, irreversibly save sinners and to make us right with God.

And so in our Advent Series, we’re explaining how Jesus fulfills God’s promises – and how he helps us as our prophet, priest, and king. Last week, Pastor Josh explained how Jesus is the Great Prophet. And this morning, I’ll be preaching from Psalm 110, to explain how Jesus is the Great Priest. So if you haven’t opened your Bibles, go ahead and turn with me to Psalm 110.

As I read from Psalm 110, you’ll see that God is promising that the great priest who arrives will also be a great king. We’ll get into the kingship of Jesus next week. But after I read Psalm 110 for us, we’ll just be focusing on verses 1 through 4, which are particularly relevant for God’s promise of his Great High Priest. Before I read our text this morning, though, let’s ask for God’s help. Please pray with me.

[Pray and Read Text]

Why a Priest is Needed

When people are in conflict, it’s common for them to see the value of an advocate or a mediator – some sort of third person, who can stand in the gap and help to set things right. A husband and wife in a struggling marriage might seek out a counselor, to help bring resolution. For two middle school girls who have stopped talking to each other – they might have a mutual friend who labors to resolve the disagreement and get them back together.

And in some respect, this is similar to what the work of a priest is, according to the Bible. Because there’s a huge rift in the relationship between guilty human creatures like us, and the good God who created us. Our natural status when we’re born, and the natural inclination of every person’s heart, is to resist God – to rebel – to be in conflict with him. And so the role of the priest is to deal with that conflict, and to work on our behalf to bring rightness and peace.

Now, in human relationships, having some sort of advocate or mediator like this might be helpful, but it’s not necessary. And that’s because we can sometimes just act on our own behalf to apologize and to get the relationship back on track. But when it comes to our relationship with God, something more is needed. We can’t just represent ourselves. Because we haven’t just wronged someone who’s on the same playing field as us. But we’ve done violence against the King and Creator of the Universe. We’ve rejected his goodness in order to choose evil. We’ve broken his cosmic laws. And as we’ve committed this treason against heaven, we’ve enjoyed it.

And so the conflict we’ve caused with God is much worse than any of the little disputes we’ve had with friends or family. Our conflict with God involves so much pollution and guilt and scandal and wickedness – that you and I can’t do what it takes to remove our offensiveness. We can’t clean up our own mess. And that’s why having a priest isn’t just convenient or helpful for us. But having a priest is necessary.

God laid out the Old Testament law with rather elaborate rules about the priesthood, to highlight how important it was. The law made it absolutely clear that depraved, defiled people are not fit to enter into the sacred presence of God. You and I are disqualified to draw near for worship, unless a special someone takes action on our behalf to mediate for us. Sinners like us – we need someone to wash us, to represent us, and to present us as pleasing in God’s sight. We need a great priest who can meet the perfect requirements of a Holy God, and who can make peace.

And what’s really wonderful, here, is that in our text – here in Psalm 110, God promises to provide that priest for us. This is a Psalm written by a famous king from Israel’s history –by King David. And the Lord speaks through David to announce the coming greatness of Jesus’s priesthood. And it’s remarkable – this is about a thousand years before Joseph and Mary had a baby in Bethlehem: God tells us about his Christmas gift of Jesus. And he specifically makes promises here about the success and splendor of Jesus’s work as our great priest.

So there are two main things we’ll give attention to as we work through the text this morning. First, I’ll briefly point out what Jesus does that’s priestly – how he functions as a priest. And second, I’ll point out six unique features of his priesthood – the things that make it better than priesthood that God temporarily established in the Old Testament. So those will be my two main points: The functions of Jesus’s priesthood, and the features of His priesthood.

The Fulfillment of the Priesthood

So first, let’s consider the function of the priesthood – how Jesus fulfills the work of a priest. Before I can just jump right in, and work off of the the claim that Psalm 110 is talking about Jesus – I think it’s first necessary to confirm that Jesus actually, historically came and did what priests were expected to do.

When God established the official priestly role, in the Old Testament, he identified a few basic responsibilities that priests needed to carry out. For one thing – perhaps, most importantly – priests needed to offer sacrifices for sins. This is what Hebrews 5:1 emphasizes – that priests are appointed “…to act on behalf of men in relation to God, to offer gifts and sacrifices for sins.”

And here’s the reasoning behind that. The judicial penalty that our sin deserves is death. And so according to God’s law – either we have to die for our sins, or we need an acceptable sacrificial death to be offered up to God in our place, on our behalf. And so this is what the priest needed to do – to offer up sacrifices for sins, according to the rules laid out in the first several chapters of Leviticus. These types of offerings were arguably the most critical function of the priesthood.

But secondly, the priests were also tasked with certain purification rites, to set apart various items and individuals for holy use in worship. We see this sort of thing in Exodus 30:20, and Nehemiah 12:30.

As a third responsibility, the Old Testament priests also brought God’s people to remembrance before the Lord, and advocated for them before God. This priestly work of intercession is indicated in passages such as Exodus 28, and 2 Chronicles 30, verse 27. The priest was supposed to seek God’s favor on behalf of the people.

Then fourth, the priests also were given the charge to pronounce God’s blessing upon the people, as we see in Numbers, Chapter 6.

And as we consider all four of these priestly functions, it turns that Jesus does all of them. The Westminster Shorter Catechism summarizes it well when it says that “Christ executes the office of a priest by offering up himself as a sacrifice, to satisfy divine justice and to reconcile us to God.” Jesus also carries out the priestly role of purifying people, and setting them apart for God’s holy purposes. When Jesus gave himself, Titus 2:14 explains that it was both to “redeem us from all lawlessness” and also “to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.” He purifies us and sets us apart in service to God. And then Jesus carries out the third task, too – he advocates for us. He intercedes for us. Hebrews 7:25 confirms that Christ, our high priest, “makes intercession” for us. We see an example of Jesus calling out to God on our behalf in John 17. And then Jesus fulfills the fourth responsibility, too. He proclaims God’s blessing on his people. He pronounces the blessings of the Beatitudes during his Sermon on the Mount (in Matthew 5). And before his ascension into heaven, Jesus blesses his disciples in Luke 24.

And so in various parts of the Bible, we see evidence that Jesus carries out priestly work – that he’s shown up to carry out a priesthood that’s more effective, and more enduring than what was laid out for the priests of the Old Testament.

The Features of the Great High Priest

But what makes Jesus’s priesthood different? Why is it better? That’s what I want to explore as we unpack the features of Jesus’s priesthood – which brings us to my second main point – the features of the Great High Priest. From Psalm 110, I want to point out that there are six distinct features that make Jesus’s priesthood greater than the priests of the Old Testament.

Supreme Preeminence

The first feature that Psalm 110 draws our attention to is the Supreme Preeminence of his priesthood. Look at verse 1 again with me. As I mentioned, God worked through a historic king of Israel, King David, to write this Psalm. The LORD is speaking in this Psalm. And David says the LORD is saying something to his Lord – that is, to David’s Lord. All these words about kingship and a priesthood, are being spoken to someone who is David’s Master – to someone who is higher in status than King David.

Now, the reason why this is significant is because King David was the king. He wasn’t just the president or prime minister of a democracy. There wasn’t the idea that the government is ruled by the people, for the people. No, David was the king. So you have understand, from an earthly vantage point, there is no one on earth who’s equal to David or over him. The only one greater than King David – the only Lord over David – is God himself.

And so in Psalm 110, when David says that the LORD is speaking to his Lord, it might seem like a bit of a riddle. How can God be talking to someone higher than King David, if the only one higher than King David is God? Well, it’s because the LORD God is speaking to another divine person – God the Father is speaking to his divine Son, here. In one sense God is one, but in another real sense, God makes himself known as three persons – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. And here in Psalm 110, the Father promises to make His own divine Son the great priest who will set things right for us.

And I hope you can see – this guarantees that Jesus’s priesthood will be a success. This guarantees that his priestly work will receive God’s approval. It’s impossible for the Father to be displeased by the divine excellencies of his Son. We can be certain that Jesus will make the perfect offering, in perfect compliance with God’s perfect standards. Jesus’s work will completely and concretely put away our sin, and bring us near to God.

So Jesus’s priesthood is better than the Old Testament priesthood that came earlier. Those old priests had their own problems with corruption to deal with. And they had to go on offering sacrifices, because none of the things they offered could deal with sin once and for all. But Jesus’s ministry brings a final, full solution. As the perfect Son of God, his priesthood is better than any other – in the same way that a skyscraper is greater than an ant hill. So that’s the supreme preeminence of his priesthood.

Special Priestly Order

But the second feature about Jesus’s priesthood that I want to point out is his Special Priestly Order. Jump down with me to the second half of verse 4 – that’s where Jesus’s priestly role is most clearly spoken about. The LORD speaks to David’s Lord – to Jesus – and he declares, “You are a priest forever, after the order of Melchizedek.”

Let me quickly point out – when God set up the Old Testament priesthood, he gave the priesthood to a certain segment of the Israelites – to the Jews descended from Levi. In particular, God gave the high priesthood to a Levite named Aaron and to his family line. So that was functionally the only priesthood that the Jews new – this priestly order where people had to be physically descended from Aaron. But here in Psalm 110, God says that the coming priest will won’t come from Aaron, or from the Levites. Instead, he’ll come from the order of a different priest, named Melchizedek.

Melchizedek is only mentioned briefly in the Bible, in Genesis Chapter 14. But in his brief interaction with Abraham – the Father of the nation of Israel – we learn that Melchizedek is both a priest and a king, and that Melchizedek is of mysteriously great status – even greater in status than Abraham. And so when Psalm 110 promises that God’s great priest will come from the priestly order of Melchizedek, there are a few reasons why this matters.

For one thing, Jesus doesn’t just come as a priest, like Aaron and the Levites did. Jesus comes as both a priest and king, just like Melchizedek. Also, since Jesus follows the priestly order of Melchizedek, there’s no requirement for him to be descended from the priestly families of Levi and Aaron. But third, when God promises to raise up a priest from the order of Melchizedek, it’s evidence that the priestly order of Aaron was just intended to be temporary. Since the Old Testament ceremonies and rituals were laid out in such detail, and were so extensive, I think sometimes we can make the mistake of thinking that the Old Testament priesthood was more successful or splendid than it actually was.

But if you read the full book of Hebrews, one of the main points that’s being made is that the function of the Old Testament priesthood was primarily symbolic. Hebrews 10, verse 1, says that law – the legal requirements for the priesthood – it was just “a shadow of the good things to come, instead of the true form of these realities.” The requirements for a high priest in the Old Testament weren’t ever intended to be permanent for God’s people. But they were simply intended to prepare the way for the arrival of the true High Priest, who would succeed where the priesthood of Aaron had failed. If God intended for the priesthood of Aaron to continue forever – if Aaron’s priesthood really accomplished everything that God wanted – then there’d be no reason for a different priest. But by promising to send a different priest, from a better priestly order, God makes it clear that the priesthood of Aaron had deficiencies, and that it was only temporary.

And now that the new priest has arrived, that explains why Christians have laid aside the old priests of Aaron, and the old sacrifices, and the requirements about the old feasts and ceremonies. Our great priest, Jesus, operates according to different regulations. He offers a better sacrifice, and not only purifies people outwardly, but inwardly. And the old rituals of the old priesthood are set aside in order to make way for the new signs of the new covenant, and to make way for God’s greater high priest. And so Jesus’s fulfillment of these words in Psalm 110 – the fact that he’s been appointed to be a priest for us in the priestly order of Melchizedek – it’s more meaningful than you might initially think.

Celestial Placement

But our text goes on to mention a third unique feature of Jesus’s priesthood – its celestial placement. Look again at our text. Later in verse 1, God speaks to our great priest, Jesus, and he says, “Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies your footstool.” In other words, our great high priest has entered into the heavenly places. That’s where he carries out his service on our behalf. Aaron and the other priests of the Old Testament – they did all their work on earth. They carried out their rituals and sacrifices in tents and temples made by human hands – in places that simply reflected and represented God’s presence. But Jesus labors on our behalf in heaven itself. He enters into the awful and amazing presence of a Holy God, to bring about our forgiveness, and to bring us into God’s favor.

But what’s even more encouraging about this is how closely Jesus is placed to God the Father. We’re told that Jesus represents us at God’s right hand. When it comes to having authority, and proximity before God – no one is in a better position than Jesus! Throughout that whole otherworldly throne room, no one has the ear of God more compellingly and more consistently than your high priest.

So brothers and sisters – those of you who have entrusted yourself to Jesus – be encouraged by this! The most influential voice, before the Master and Judge of the Universe – it isn’t the voice of the devil, to accuse you. It isn’t the voice of a stranger, who cares nothing for you. But it’s the voice of Jesus. The same agent who loved you and willingly offered himself up to die in your place – that same person, even right now, is your advocate in heaven. And he continues to love you with an everlasting love. He brings you into remembrance before God, and secures a spot for us in God’s presence. Since we have Jesus as our high priest and advocate, we can fully and directly rely on him to set us right with the Father. In fact, it’d be rather foolish and wicked for us to go anywhere else, to look for some other go-between to stand in the gap between us and God. That’s why we don’t whisper prayers to Mary or dead Christians from long ago, as though we need them to put a good word in for us. That’s why we don’t rely on earthly priests or pastors to absolve us of sin, or to perform other purifying rituals that could supposedly improve our chances with God. We already have the priest we need! – a priest who is advocating for us at God’s right hand. Don’t forget the celestial placement of Jesus’s great priesthood.

Saving Power

But here’s the fourth feature – Jesus’s priesthood is also great in its saving power. He saves us out of sin, and he saves us into a right attitude of worshipping God. And we see this in Verse 3. The result of Jesus’s priestly work is that his people “will offer themselves freely on the day of his power.”

It’s important to point out – offering ourselves in an acceptable way to God really wouldn’t be possible if we didn’t have Jesus as our priest. Our defilement and sin would make it unallowable for us to approach God’s holy presence. And offering ourselves in worship wouldn’t be possible because we wouldn’t want to – our stubborn, selfish desires would keep holding us back. And it wouldn’t be possible because even if we did try to offer ourselves to God, with our polluted hearts and our obvious imperfections – our lives would look like trash in God’s sight. It would be like trying to gift someone a lump of coal for Christmas. It wouldn’t be an acceptable gift!

But our great priest, Jesus, has dealt with these problems by offering up the perfect sacrifice – by offering up himself. And by his great sacrifice, he has once-and-for-all paid the penalty for all our sins. He has washed away our stains and our shame by his blood. He has poured His Holy Spirit of renewal and regeneration into our hearts, and he’s made us new.

And when Jesus carries out this priestly work in our lives, it changes who we worship and how we worship. Jesus’s people no longer offer themselves up to video games, to drugs, to careers, to religious self-righteousness, to money, to romance, and to various other idols and false gods. But they worship the Lord. The prediction from verse 3 here comes true: Jesus’s people will offer themselves freely on the day of his power – they ultimately adore him. They obey him. They offer themselves freely to him.

Is that a description of your life? As you live out each day – are you offering yourself to the Lord, to be used by him for good purposes? Are you eager to tell people about the goodness of Jesus, eager to self-sacrificially love the people around you, eager to use your life for God? Do you know something of what it means to have this desire, to give yourself freely, joyfully to his service?

Or are you reluctant? Do you grumble? Because if offering yourself in service to God doesn’t sound good to you, then it’s quite possible that you don’t understand God’s greatness, and your sin’s grievousness, and the profound goodness of Jesus’s high priesthood. I’d encourage you to take time considering this important feature of Jesus’s priesthood – his saving power.

Sworn Promise

But the fifth feature, now, of Jesus’s priesthood is that it’s confirmed with a sworn promise. God wants us to be absolutely 110% positive that Jesus’s priesthood will surely come to pass, and that it will surely persist. And so he takes an oath in verse 4. “The Lord has sworn, and will not change his mind. ‘You are a priest forever.” And this unchanging promise from God – that he’s going to pay attention to Jesus as our perfect high priest, and that he’s not going to change the rules on us – it gives us confidence that trusting in Jesus isn’t going to let us down.

And this is closely related to the final feature of Jesus’s priesthood. We’ve seen the Jesus’s priesthood is one of Supreme Preeminence – that it’s of a Special Priestly Order, it’s marked by a Celestial Placement, and Saving Power, and a Sworn Promise.

Certain Permanence

But sixth and finally, Jesus’s priesthood is also one of certain permanence. God speaks to our Lord Jesus, and says, “You are a priest forever, after the order of Melchizedek.” There will never be a day, where Jesus stops advocating for his people before God. Jesus’s commitment to you doesn’t come with an expiration date. There won’t come a time when the operating system of your soul no longer receives technical support from Jesus’s priesthood. For those who are trusting in Jesus, there’s comfort here that He’s the great high priest – that he’s your great priest, forever.

Sometimes, when you’ve been doing business with a certain place for a while, you might develop a relationship with one of the employees. You might know a waitress who has your normal order memorized. Or you might know a nurse, or a plumber, or a customer service rep who’s really responsive and reliable. But sometimes the day comes when you call in, and you ask “Hey, can I talk to so-and-so,” and there’s that disappointing response – “Sorry, that person doesn’t work here anymore.” That inside connection you used to have, that reliable someone that you used to know – is gone.

But that’s not the case with Jesus. God Almighty confirms here in Psalm 110, that whoever relies on Jesus as their priest, will always have him. His mind will never become clouded with dementia. His hands will never be stiffened and weakened with arthritis. His voice will never fade away into a raspy whisper. But just as the Father promises to our Lord Jesus at the end of verse 3, “The dew of your youth will be yours.” There is a promise that Jesus will always maintain the full vigor of vitality and life. He lives forever. He carries out his priesthood with the same brilliance and intensity, second after second, day by day, decade by decade. And there will never be a lapse in service.

Some days you may not feel like you’ve been washed. There will be days when your guilt conscience will be crying out so loudly, that it will be hard to believe that you still have advocate in the heavenly places. But if you’re trusting in Jesus, then you can rest firmly on God’s oath – you will never experience God’s wrath and displeasure ever again – even for a moment. Because you have a great high priest, forever.

Our salvation – and our relationship with God – it isn’t based on the greatness of what we’ve done, or what we do. But it’s all a gift, that comes through the greatness of our high priest. So as a church in Mt Pleasant, as we get nearer to Christmas, let’s pray, and thank God for the gift of Jesus. Let’s pray: