Therefore, holy brethren, partakers of a heavenly calling, consider Jesus, the Apostle and High Priest of our confession; He was faithful to Him who appointed Him, as Moses also was in all His house.
Hebrews 3:1-2 (NASB1995)
I have been blessed in my study of today’s scripture. It never fails to amaze me what the Holy Spirit opens our eyes to in the scriptures that we have read before. In the previous chapters, we have seen God sending His Son, the Heir of all things and the bringer of a new covenant by His own blood. Being part of the Holy Trinity and Son of the Most High, He is higher than the angels, who are God’s servants. In Jesus’ redeeming work, we are saved and adopted into God’s family – Jesus calls us brethren!
For both He who sanctifies and those who are sanctified are all from one Father; for which reason He is not ashamed to call them brethren,
Hebrews 2:11
Now we are called to consider our Lord and Saviour, to consider Him carefully as “partakers of a Heavenly calling.” Take note of the two titles given to Jesus here; we have heard Him referred to as our High Priest, but not as the Apostle…indeed, this is the only such reference to Him as such in the Bible. I heard a useful explanation of this recently in a sermon; that as an Apostle, He is sent by God His Father – from Heaven to earth. He is also appointed by God as High Priest (John 17:3, Hebrews 5:10) for the return from earth to serve as our High Priest in Heaven (Hebrews 2:17).
We can see a contrast between the high priests of the tabernacle/temple in the Old Testament and Christ, our great High Priest; both the temple and high priests of old were made by man and were not truly perfect (Hebrews 7:28), but Christ is our perfect and sinless High Priest serving in the perfect temple of Heaven interceding for us.
Now the main point in what has been said is this: we have such a high priest, who has taken His seat at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens,
Hebrews 8:1
Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession.
Hebrews 4:14
But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things to come, He entered through the greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this creation;
Hebrews 9:11
Dear Reader, I pray that this little devotion regarding our Lord, Apostle and High Priest, will be a blessing to you as it was to me. It is quite a profound thought that through Christ our High Priest, we have access to God’s throne and mercy (Hebrews 10:19). Let us then “press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 3:14).
This is an updated edition of a post originally published on Devotional Treasures
