MORE BETTER THINGS
Hebrews 7:19-22 NKJV
19 for the law made nothing perfect; on the other hand, there is the bringing in of a better hope, through which we draw near to God.
20 And inasmuch as He was not made priest without an oath 21 (for they have become priests without an oath, but He with an oath by Him who said to Him:
“The Lord has sworn
And will not relent,
‘You are a priest forever
According to the order of Melchizedek’ ”),
22 by so much more Jesus has become a surety of a better covenant.
The Jewish High Priest was a man who would represent the people before God. It was an important role that changed every time a High Priest died. When men are High Priests, they represent a covenant and a law before God. The writer of Hebrews is contrasting High Priests, who are men, with our High Priest, the Lord Jesus. And once again per usual, Jesus is better.
The Old Testament, which concerns the law and the covenant that God had with man, was problematic in that no one could keep the law. This is why verse 19 says that the law made nothing perfect. A better word for perfect is complete. Because no one could keep the law perfectly, it showed up the sins of man. Not until Jesus, who came and perfectly kept God’s law, was any man able to accomplish what the law intended. But here is where the better first comes in. Jesus kept the law and took the punishment for sins on our behalf. Now, all who receive Him have a better hope. We could not keep the law, but Jesus did and then conferred that righteousness onto us. That is the better hope by which we draw near to God. Because of what Jesus did, we receive the benefits of His perfection. Talk about a big win. We have a better expectation, so we are able to draw near to God, not based on our own efforts, but based on what Jesus has done.
God made Jesus a High Priest forever. The reference to Melchizedek goes all the way back to the 14th chapter of Genesis, where Abraham gives a tithe to Melchizedek, who was a priest of God with a background no one can determine. It’s one of those hmmm questions that we’ll know more about later. But in any case, Jesus was patterned after this Melchizedek, not after the priests taken from the tribe of Levi.
The bottom line is that Jesus, being a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek, is another better for us. We have a better covenant with God, and Jesus is the guarantee of that covenant. No longer does a man have to offer sacrifices to God on our behalf; Jesus offered Himself once for all. So we don’t have to appear at the temple to approach God; now we are the temple of the living God and He lives in us by His Holy Spirit. That is better.
No longer do we look to animal sacrifices to cover our sins for a year. Jesus did that once for all for us, and that is better. No longer do we have to have someone pray for us. Now, we can come close to God. Peter would say in his letter that God has made us kings and priests unto God. Sure, there are ministry gifts such as apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers that we can learn from and God uses. But all of us can approach the throne of grace because of what Jesus has done.
We have access to better—a better hope or expectation, a better High Priest who never changes, and Jesus still represents us before God as a living reminder of what He has done. We have a better covenant with God. No longer do we have to look back at Old Testament Israel and consider those days better. We are living in the New Testament with a relationship with God that is far better than anyone in the Old Testament ever had.
Thank God that Jesus has made a better way for us!