The Roles of the High Priest

The Epistle to the Hebrews draws particular attention to the parallels between the traditional roles of the Jewish High Priest and the ways in which Jesus fulfilled many of those functions. A major teaching of this letter is to prove “that we,” as Christians, “have such an High Priest” (Heb 8:1). Jesus serves as the great atoning High Priest, although not by entering “into the holy places made with hands, which are figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us” (Heb 9:24).

 

Chart 8-15 contrasts some of the main ceremonial functions performed by the Jewish High Priest with the corresponding elements in the ministration of Jesus. These range from his status and birth, to his designation, ordination, performance of vicarious sacrifices for the benefit of others, and his standing before God as mediator and judge of his people. To people who understand the commission of the High Priest under the Law of Moses, the counterparts in the mission of Jesus are transparent.