God comforts us by the oath He made to Christ, appointing Him our high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.
Christ is a far better priest than Aaron, and the oath entails all the perfections of Christ as our high priest.
By that oath, He was made the surety of a better covenant of salvation, the New Covenant.
Christ Alone bears all the cost, as our priest, in the place of the beneficiaries, we who are poor lost people. God's oath to Christ assured us that Christ will stand good for the terms of this better, New Covenant, by which we are saved from all our sins.
Christ is responsible to perform this covenant, not us! He, and He Alone, will cover the obligations of His people for whom He is priest!
Aaron was never a surety for the Old Mosaic Covenant, the terms of which were, "obey this law, and live." Aaron couldn't perform the people's duties under that old covenant, because Aaron was a sinner as well, and couldn't be saved by keeping the Mosaic Covenant of works.
But Christ, as our high priest and surety, undertakes to keep all the law in our place, and He has wrought a perfect righteousness for us! He is the perfect sacrifice to take away our sins.
Christ is a far better high priest than Aaron for another reason: the old covenant priests all died! The old covenant promised life for perfect obedience, but all those priests died in their sin.
Thus, under the old covenant, there were a succession of priests, but they all died in turn, and could never see the matter through to completion.
But not this Man! Our Lord Jesus, our great high priest, lives forever, and continues forever as our high priest! The oath promised, FOREVER He is a high priest! |
