Hebrews: The Need for a New Priesthood
Hebrews 7:11-14; Matthew 5:21-48; Matthew 22:36-40 - The perfection of God is
“Now if perfection was through the Levitical priesthood (for on the basis of it the people received the Law), what further need was there for another priest to arise according to the order of Melchizedek, and not be designated according to the order of Aaron? For when the priesthood is changed, of necessity there takes place a change of law also. For the one concerning whom these things are spoken belongs to another tribe, from which no one has officiated at the altar. For it is evident that our Lord was descended from Judah, a tribe with reference to which Moses spoke nothing concerning priests.”
Hebrews 7:11-14 NASB1995
Well, let’s buckle our seat belts, because the author of Hebrews gets to some very challenging points in this next passage and I am still in grade school (maybe kindergarten) Biblically and do not possess a doctorate in Theology from a divinity school. His intended audience, the new Jewish Christians, were probably suffering from severe cognitive dissonance at this point. Should they stay or should they go back the comforts of their Judaism?
Cognitive Dissonance: The psychological tension that occurs when one holds mutually exclusive beliefs or attitudes and that often motivates people to modify their thoughts or behaviors in order to reduce the tension.
The Levitical priesthood, through the order of Aaron and established through the tribe of Levi and subject to the laws in Leviticus, was imperfect. If it had been perfect, then there would have been no need for another priest to arise according to the order of Melchizedek.
Let’s do a word study!
Perfection, as defined in the Blue Letter Bible Lexicon, comes from the Greek noun τελείωσις or teleíōsis (Strong’s G5050), with the following Biblical usages:
a completing, a perfecting
fulfilment, accomplishment
the event which verifies the promise
consummation, perfection
According to the Thayer’s Greek Lexicon, Hebrews 7:11 is referring to 1.c. - consummation (perfection).
In Psalm 110, a prophecy was made that God wanted to establish another priesthood, seeing the weaknesses in the human application of the Levitical system. God’s laws were intended to create a perfect state among humans, but human sin and their fallen state was incapable of reaching that perfection through mortal priests (at least that’s how I understand this). When the priesthood changes, of necessity the law also changes.
What law are we referring to? This was not so much the moral law, like the Ten Commandments, which should be written on the hearts of believers in Christ, but it was more likely the ceremonial laws. Gotquestions.org has a good discussion on the different laws:
The law of God given to Moses is a comprehensive set of guidelines to ensure that the Israelites’ behavior reflected their status as God’s chosen people. It encompasses moral behavior, their position as a godly example to other nations, and systematic procedures for acknowledging God’s holiness and mankind’s sinfulness. In an attempt to better understand the purpose of these laws, Jews and Christians categorize them. This has led to the distinction between moral law, ceremonial law, and judicial law.
Moral Law
The moral laws, or mishpatim, relate to justice and judgment and are often translated as “ordinances.” Mishpatim are said to be based on God’s holy nature. As such, the ordinances are holy, just, and unchanging. Their purpose is to promote the welfare of those who obey. The value of the laws is considered obvious by reason and common sense. The moral law encompasses regulations on justice, respect, and sexual conduct, and includes the Ten Commandments. It also includes penalties for failure to obey the ordinances. Moral law does not point people to Christ; it merely illuminates the fallen state of all mankind.
Modern Protestants are divided over the applicability of mishpatim in the church age. Some believe that Jesus’ assertion that the law will remain in effect until the earth passes away (Matthew 5:18) means that believers are still bound to it. Others, however, understand that Jesus fulfilled this requirement (Matthew 5:17), and that we are instead under the law of Christ (Galatians 6:2), which is thought to be “love God and love others” (Matthew 22:36-40). Although many of the moral laws in the Old Testament give excellent examples as to how to love God and love others, and freedom from the law is not license to sin (Romans 6:15), we are not specifically bound by mishpatim.
Ceremonial Law
The ceremonial laws are called hukkim or chuqqah in Hebrew, which literally means “custom of the nation”; the words are often translated as “statutes.” These laws seem to focus the adherent’s attention on God. They include instructions on regaining right standing with God (e.g., sacrifices and other ceremonies regarding “uncleanness”), remembrances of God’s work in Israel (e.g., feasts and festivals), specific regulations meant to distinguish Israelites from their pagan neighbors (e.g., dietary and clothing restrictions), and signs that point to the coming Messiah (e.g., the Sabbath, circumcision, Passover, and the redemption of the firstborn). Some Jews believe that the ceremonial law is not fixed. They hold that, as societies evolve, so do God’s expectations of how His followers should relate to Him. This view is not indicated in the Bible.
Christians are not bound by ceremonial law. Since the church is not the nation of Israel, memorial festivals, such as the Feast of Weeks and Passover, do not apply. Galatians 3:23-25 explains that since Jesus has come, Christians are not required to sacrifice or circumcise. There is still debate in Protestant churches over the applicability of the Sabbath. Some say that its inclusion in the Ten Commandments gives it the weight of moral law. Others quote Colossians 2:16-17 and Romans 14:5 to explain that Jesus has fulfilled the Sabbath and become our Sabbath rest. As Romans 14:5 says, “Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind.” The applicability of the Old Testament law in the life of a Christian has always related to its usefulness in loving God and others. If someone feels observing the Sabbath aids him in this, he is free to observe it.
Judicial/Civil Law
The Westminster Confession adds the category of judicial or civil law. These laws were specifically given for the culture and place of the Israelites and encompass all of the moral law except the Ten Commandments. This includes everything from murder to restitution for a man gored by an ox and the responsibility of the man who dug a pit to rescue his neighbor’s trapped donkey (Exodus 21:12-36). Since the Jews saw no difference between their God-ordained morality and their cultural responsibilities, this category is used by Christians far more than by Jewish scholars.
The division of the Jewish law into different categories is a human construct designed to better understand the nature of God and define which laws church-age Christians are still required to follow. Many believe the ceremonial law is not applicable, but we are bound by the Ten Commandments. All the law is useful for instruction (2 Timothy 3:16), and nothing in the Bible indicates that God intended a distinction of categories. Christians are not under the law (Romans 10:4). Jesus fulfilled the law, thus abolishing the difference between Jew and Gentile “so that in Himself He might make the two into one new man, thus establishing peace, and might reconcile them both in one body to God through the cross…” (Ephesians 2:15-16).
I think that’s a really good discussion of the various aspects of the law.
I’m going on a little diversion here: Jesus fulfilled the law, but if we believe in Him, then the law is amplified through Him and in our hearts through our faith in Him (see commentary after Matthew 5 excerpt):
““You have heard that the ancients were told, ‘You shall not commit murder’ and ‘Whoever commits murder shall be liable to the court.’ But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother shall be guilty before the court; and whoever says to his brother, ‘You good-for-nothing,’ shall be guilty before the supreme court; and whoever says, ‘You fool,’ shall be guilty enough to go into the fiery hell. Therefore if you are presenting your offering at the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your offering there before the altar and go; first be reconciled to your brother, and then come and present your offering. Make friends quickly with your opponent at law while you are with him on the way, so that your opponent may not hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the officer, and you be thrown into prison. Truly I say to you, you will not come out of there until you have paid up the last cent.
“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery’; but I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart. If your right eye makes you stumble, tear it out and throw it from you; for it is better for you to lose one of the parts of your body, than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. If your right hand makes you stumble, cut it off and throw it from you; for it is better for you to lose one of the parts of your body, than for your whole body to go into hell.
“It was said, ‘Whoever sends his wife away, let him give her a certificate of divorce’; but I say to you that everyone who divorces his wife, except for the reason of unchastity, makes her commit adultery; and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery.
“Again, you have heard that the ancients were told, ‘You shall not make false vows, but shall fulfill your vows to the Lord.’ But I say to you, make no oath at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God, or by the earth, for it is the footstool of His feet, or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. Nor shall you make an oath by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black. But let your statement be, ‘Yes, yes’ or ‘No, no’; anything beyond these is of evil.
“You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth.’ But I say to you, do not resist an evil person; but whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also. If anyone wants to sue you and take your shirt, let him have your coat also. Whoever forces you to go one mile, go with him two. Give to him who asks of you, and do not turn away from him who wants to borrow from you.
“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven; for He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? If you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? Therefore you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”
Matthew 5:21-48 NASB1995
Jesus advises His listeners that they must be perfect, as their Heavenly Father is perfect. But we aren’t perfect! Jesus is pointing out the perfection of the Heavenly Father as the impossible standard to be met through the law of Moses. If His listeners want to reach that state of ultimate holiness, they must follow every single tiny law perfectly, every single microsecond of every day of their lives. Only Jesus could do that.
I think I gleaned an insight to the Sermon on the Mount that wasn’t necessarily apparent when I studied it quite a while ago. Here is what Enduring Word says about the last verse in Matthew 5, which is describing a true interpretation of the law:
“Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect.”
a. Therefore you shall be perfect: If a man could live the way Jesus has told us to in this chapter, he would truly be perfect.
· He would never hate, slander or speak evil of another person.
· He would never lust in his heart or mind, and not covet anything.
· He would never make a false oath, and always be completely truthful.
· He would let God defend his personal rights, and not take it upon himself to defend those rights.
· He would always love his neighbors, and even his enemies.
b. Just as your Father in heaven is perfect: If a man could keep just what Jesus said here, he would truly have a righteousness greater than the scribes and the Pharisees (Matthew 5:20), the very thing we must have to enter into God’s Kingdom. But there is only one man who has lived like this: Jesus Christ. What about the rest of us? Are we left out of the Kingdom of God?
i. “Jesus is saying that the true direction in which the law has always pointed is not towards mere judicial restraints, concessions rising out of the hardness of men’s hearts…nor even to the ‘law of love’…No, it pointed to all the perfection of God, exemplified by the authoritative interpretation of the law.” (Carson)
ii. We see that in this section Jesus was not primarily seeking to show what God requires of the Christian in his daily life. True, Jesus has revealed God’s ultimate standard, and we must take it to heart. But His primary intent was to say, “If you want to be righteous by the law, you must keep the whole law, internal and external – that is, you must be perfect.”
iii. Jesus has demonstrated that we need a righteousness that is apart from the law (Romans 3:21-22). As Paul put it in Romans 3:21-22: But now the righteousness of God apart from the law is revealed, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, even the righteousness of God, through faith in Jesus Christ, to all and on all who believe.
iv. What is our current relation to the law, as truly interpreted? We are exposed as guilty sinners who can never make ourselves righteous by doing good works – which was exactly the view held by most people in Jesus’ day, and in our own day.
v. Finally, when it comes to understanding the interpretation and the demands of the law, we do well to remember another aspect of Jesus’ teaching on the law: in focusing on the command to love God and our neighbor, we will rightly understand the demands and details of the law (Matthew 22:37-40). The Apostle Paul wrote much the same thing: Now the purpose of the commandment is love from a pure heart, from a good conscience, and from sincere faith (1 Timothy 1:5).
Oh, what a marvelous thing! Following the law in an attempt to be perfect like God would be the equivalent of climbing to the top of Everest and feeling good about yourself when looking down at sea level, then comparing that elevation with the distance to the end of the known universe. In other words, there is no measurable difference in the tiniest of measurement systems that you could conceive between sea level and the highest mountaintop and the highest mountaintop and the perfection of God. The law is summed up in these words that Jesus spoke later in Matthew:
““Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” And He said to him, “ ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the great and foremost commandment. The second is like it, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets.””
Matthew 22:36-40 NASB1995
Even those words are challenging, but that is where our faith will lead us, a tiny bit at a time and that love grows ever larger.
A new priesthood on the order of Melchizedek was needed and that eternal priest, the Christ, comes through the tribe of Judah, a tribe not even mentioned by Moses concerning priests. This is an explosive revelation to the Jewish Christians. I think a good way to sum up this passage is to refer to another great Steven Cole sermon, excerpted in Precept Austin:
In 1903, someone noticed a Russian sentry standing guard at a post with no apparent reason for his being there. When asked why he was standing guard there, he answered, “I’m just following orders.” The question was asked of the captain of the guard, but he didn’t know why that sentry was posted there. The inquiry eventually went up the chain of command to the czar, but he didn’t know either! He asked that someone track down the answer. Finally, it was discovered that in 1776, Catherine the Great had planted a rose bush there, and posted a sentry to guard it. The bush had been dead for over 80 years, but the sentry was still standing guard! Traditions are hard to change!
Religious traditions are especially hard to change, because people insist that God ordained them. The Jews rightly believed that God had ordained the traditions and practices of the Mosaic Law almost 15 centuries before the time of Christ. The Law was the very center of the Jewish culture. They ordered their lives around the Sabbath worship and the yearly feasts. The priests and Levites oversaw and regulated the worship at the temple. The sacrifices and rules for ceremonial cleansing were all spelled out in the Law. These laws and traditions were deeply entrenched!
To challenge the validity of these practices was to risk your life! The opponents of Stephen, the first Christian martyr, charged, “This man incessantly speaks against this holy place and the Law; for we have heard him say that this Nazarene, Jesus, will destroy this place and alter the customs which Moses handed down to us” (Acts 6:13–14). Paul’s opponents shouted, “This is the man who preaches to all men everywhere against our people and the Law and this place” (Acts 21:28). Even many Jews who had professed faith in Christ were still “zealous for the Law” (Acts 21:20).He is drawing a distinct dividing line between Judaism and Christianity.
You cannot blend the two into a homogenous hybrid.So the author of Hebrews had a formidable task in trying to convince his Jewish Christian readers that the Law and the Levitical priesthood that was inextricably linked to the Law were now obsolete and set aside because of the far better New Covenant and priesthood of Jesus. He makes some radical statements about the Law: it was weak and useless; it made nothing perfect (Hebrews 7:18, 19). Because of these problems, it has been changed and set aside (Hebrews 7:12, 18). He is drawing a distinct dividing line between Judaism and Christianity. You cannot blend the two into a homogenous hybrid. He doesn’t want his readers to go back to the old Jewish way, as if it were good enough. Even if they suffer persecution for their faith, they must persevere, because Jesus has provided “a better hope, through which we draw near to God” (Hebrews 7:19).
The New Covenant and priesthood of Jesus are superior
to the Law and Levitical priesthood because
they provide the way for us to draw near to God.That statement was radical, too. As I said last week, every Jew knew that you couldn’t just stroll into the Holy of Holies to have a little chat with God! The Levitical system was designed to keep the worshipers at a distance from God, lest He destroy them. Only the high priest could enter the Holy of Holies, and that only once a year, on the Day of Atonement. So for the author to emphasize that we are to draw near to God through Jesus (4:14–16; 6:19–20; 7:19; 10:19–22) was a staggering concept for those from a Jewish background. (See A Better Hope: Drawing Near to God).
That explains this better than anything I could write. A call for a new priesthood is a call for a new covenant.
My next devotional examines Hebrews 7:15-19, the power of the endless life of the new priest.
Heaven on Wheels Daily Prayer:
Dear Lord - This dive into these verses helped explain many things to me that I may not have gleaned earlier when studying the Sermon on the Mount. I can understand the serious cognitive dissonance that early Jewish Christians had. It is the same entrenched patterns and requirements that keep many missionaries from being able to reach Muslims about the Good News of Christ. This only serves to make our intercessory prayers for the Unreached even more important. Thank you for Your love! Amen.
Credits and Citations:
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. www.Lockman.org.
G5050 - teleiōsis - Strong’s Greek Lexicon (nasb95). Retrieved from https://www.blueletterbible.org/lexicon/g5050/nasb95/mgnt/0-1/
Gotquestions.org was accessed on 12/01/2025 to answer the question,What is the difference between the ceremonial law, the moral law, and the judicial law in the Old Testament? © COPYRIGHT 2002-2025 GOT QUESTIONS MINISTRIES. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
Precept Austin was accessed on 12/01/2025 to review commentary for Hebrews 7:11-14. Within Precept Austin the excerpts from the Steven Cole Sermon are covered by this: Copyright, Steven J. Cole, 2004, All Rights Reserved. His sermons can be found Bible.org. Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture Quotations are from the New American Standard Bible, Updated Edition © The Lockman Foundation. The full original sermon can be found at the link at the end of the excerpt.
Commentary from Enduring Word by David Guzik is used with written permission. ©1996-present The Enduring Word Bible Commentary by David Guzik – enduringword.com
Within the Enduring Word Commentary (Matthew):
Carson, D.A. “Matthew” The Expositor’s Bible Commentary, Volume 8 (Grand Rapids. Michigan: Zondervan, 1984)