Hebrews 7:23-28: a reflection

23Many, indeed, have been made priests, because they are hindered from continuing by death. 24But he, because he lives forever, has his priesthood unchangeable. 25Therefore he is also able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, seeing that he lives forever to make intercession for them. 26For such a high priest was fitting for us: holy, guiltless, undefiled, separated from sinners, and made higher than the heavens; 27who doesn’t need, like those high priests, to offer up sacrifices daily, first for his own sins, and then for the sins of the people. For he did this once for all, when he offered up himself. 28For the law appoints men as high priests who have weakness, but the word of the oath, which came after the law, appoints a Son forever who has been perfected.

The old priests, the writer observes, kept dying, so the priesthood passed from one mortal man to the next, never permanent. But Jesus holds his priesthood permanently, because he lives forever. Death, which interrupted every other priest, has no power over him. His ministry on our behalf is not handed off or cut short. It continues without end.

From this flows a comfort worth holding onto: he is able to save completely, to the uttermost, those who draw near to God through him, because he always lives to make intercession for them. At this moment, the risen Christ is praying for his people. He is exactly the high priest we need, holy and blameless, who does not have to offer sacrifice for his own sins, because he offered himself once for all. The work is finished, and the intercession goes on.

Let this steady you when you feel your prayers are weak or your grip on God is slipping. Your security does not rest on the strength of your hold on Christ but on the permanence of his hold on you, and on his unbroken prayer for you. He saves to the uttermost, all the way, to the very end. Draw near to God through him today, knowing that your great high priest ever lives to intercede for you.

Lord Jesus, you live forever, and so your priesthood never ends and your prayer for me never stops. You save completely, all the way to the end, those who come to God through you. When my own faith feels weak, let me rest not on my hold of you but on your hold of me, and on your unceasing intercession. I draw near through you. Amen.