CHAPTER I
“SUCH AN HIGH
PRIEST”
"NOW of the
things which we have spoken this is the sum: We have such an High Priest, who
is set on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens; a
minister of the sanctuary, and of the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched,
and not man.” Heb 8:1,2
This is the summing
up of the evidence of the high priesthood of Christ presented in the first
seven chapters of Hebrews. The “sum” thus presented is not particularly that we
have an High Priest but that “we have such an High Priest.” “Such” signifies “of
that kind; of a like kind or degree,”—“the same as previously mentioned or
specified; not another or different.” That is to say: In the preceding part
(the first seven chapters of the Epistle to the Hebrews) there have been
specified certain things concerning Christ as High Priest, certain
qualifications by which He became High Priest, or certain things which are
becoming to Him as an High Priest, which are summed up in this text: “Now of
the things which we have spoken this is the sum: We have such an High Priest.”
It is necessary,
therefore, to an understanding of this scripture that the previous portion of
this epistle shall be reviewed to see what is the true weight and import of
this word, “such an High Priest.”
The whole of the
seventh chapter is devoted to the discussion of this priesthood.
The sixth chapter
closes with the thought of this priesthood.
The fifth chapter is
almost wholly devoted to the same thought.
The fourth chapter
closes with it, and the fourth chapter is but a continuation of the third
chapter, which begins with an exhortation to “consider the Apostle and High
Priest of our profession, Christ Jesus;” and this as the conclusion from what
had already been presented.
The second chapter
closes with the thought of His being “a merciful and faithful High Priest” and
this also as the conclusion from what has preceded in the first and second
chapters, for though they are two chapters the subject is but one.
This sketch shows
plainly that in the first seven chapters of Hebrews the one great thought over
all is the priesthood of Christ and that the truths presented, whatever the
thought or the form may be, are all simply the presentation in different ways
of the great truth of this priesthood, all of which is finally summed up in the
words: “We have such an High Priest.”
Therefore, in
discovering the true weight and import of this expression, “such an High
Priest,” it is necessary to begin with the very first words of the book of
Hebrews and follow the thought straight through to the summing up, bearing
constantly in mind that the one transcendent thought in all that is presented
is “such an High Priest” and that in all that is said the one great purpose is
to show to mankind that we have “such an High Priest.” However rich and full
may be the truths in themselves, concerning Christ, which are contained in the
successive statements, it must be constantly borne in mind that these
truths—however rich, however full—are all expressed with the one great aim of
showing that we have “such an High Priest.”
And in studying
these truths as they are presented in the epistle, they must be held as
subordinate and tributary to the great truth over all that is the “sum,”—“we
have such an High Priest.”
In the second
chapter of Hebrews, as the conclusion of the argument there presented, it is
written:
Wherefore in all
things it behooved Him to be made like unto His brethren, that He might be a
merciful and faithful High Priest in things pertaining to God.”
In this it is
declared that Christ’s condescension, His likeness to mankind, His being made
flesh and dwelling amongst men, was necessary to His becoming “a merciful and
faithful High Priest.”
But in order to know
the measure of His condescension and what is the real meaning of His place in
the flesh as the Son of man and man, it is necessary to know what was first the
measure of His exaltation as the Son of God and God, and this is the subject of
the first chapter.
The condescension of
Christ, the position of Christ, and the nature of Christ as He was in the flesh
in the world are given in the second chapter of Hebrews more fully than in any
other one place in the Scriptures. But this is in the second chapter. The first
chapter precedes it. Therefore the truth and the thought presented in the first
chapter are essentially precedent to the second chapter. The first chapter must
be fully understood in order to be able to follow the thought and understand
the truth in the second chapter.
In the first chapter
of Hebrews, the exaltation, the position, and the nature of Christ as He was in
heaven before He came to the world are more fully given than in any other
single portion of the Scriptures. Therefore it is certain that an understanding
of the position and nature of Christ as He was in heaven is essential to a
proper understanding of His position and nature as He was on earth. And since
it behooved Him to be what He was on earth, in order that He might be a
merciful and faithful High Priest, it is essential to know what He was in
heaven, for this is essential precedent to what He was on earth and is
therefore an essential part of the evidence that is summed up in the
expression, “We have such an High Priest.”
To be continued….
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