Hebrews 7:28

For the Law maketh men high priests which have infirmity; but the word of the oath which was since the Law maketh the Son, who is consecrated forevermore.

The various advantages which Christ Jesus enjoyed in comparison with the men that held office in the Old Testament, as priests under the old dispensation, force this conclusion: For such was the High Priest that became us, holy, innocent, uncontaminated, separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens. Jesus was the only one that fully measured up to the needs of mankind. The priesthood of the Old Testament was imperfect, unsatisfactory in many respects, it could not secure for men the assurance of salvation, of reconciliation with God. But all imperfections are absent in the case of our great High Priest. He possesses perfect personal holiness, neither inherited nor actual sin being found in Him; He is innocent, guileless in His relation to men; He was never guilty of harming any man; no one could convict Him of sin; He was undefiled, uncontaminated, stainless in spite of all contact with the sinful world, without blemish in the midst of men that are full of blemishes; separate from sinners, now that He has finished His work of redemption and been removed from the visible world; and made higher than the heavens, into which He has entered through the veil, chap. 4:14; Ephesians 4:10. He has been exalted to the right hand of His Father; not only His divine nature, but also His human nature partakes of all the eternal power and Godhead. Thus "our High Priest has carried through all the confusion and turmoil and defilement and exasperation of life an absolute immunity from contagion or stain. He was with God throughout, and throughout was separated by an atmosphere of His own from sinners. " (Dods.)

Owing to this excellence of Christ's character, His office also has exceptional merit: Who does not have the need day by day, as the high priests, first to offer sacrifices for His own sins, then for those of the people; for this He did once, when He offered up Himself. Although the high priests of the Old Testament personally made the required daily sacrifices on only one day in the year, on the great Day of Atonement, offering first for themselves and then for the people, Leviticus 9:7; Leviticus 16:2; Exodus 29:38; Numbers 28:3, yet they were responsible for all the ceremonies connected with the rites of the people. But all these things which they did personally year by year and through their assistants day by day, Christ was not in need of. For His own sins He had no sacrifices to bring, for He was sinless. And so far as those people were concerned whose sins He took upon Himself in offering up Himself as a vicarious sacrifice, He did that once and for all when He shed His holy blood, when He laid down His sinless life on Calvary. By the very nature of His sacrifice His offering could not be repeated, for its perfect and eternal worth rendered repetition superfluous. Ephesians 5:2.

That Christ is the one true High Priest is evident finally from His inherent perfection: For the Law appoints men as high priests that have weakness, but the word of the oath which came after the Law (appoints) a Son, who has been made perfect forever. The Mosaic system could at best provide and appoint only weak, sinful men for the office of high priest, for though they were descendants of Levi, they were but human beings and not made sinless by virtue of their office. But the word of the oath sworn by the Lord in the prophecy, Psalms 110:4, being stated after the Law had been given, not only indicated that the Law needed revising and perfecting, but at the same time appointed the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who in the work of His office as High Priest was made perfect forever, being perfect in His own person, by virtue of His Godhead, from eternity. The perfectness of the Son was tested in contact with the sinful world and the many temptations which He was obliged to overcome as the representative of mankind; and therefore it was confirmed and sealed by His exaltation. Our High Priest, Jesus Christ, of our own flesh and blood, has gloriously stood the test of all the attacks He had to fight by reason of His humiliation, and therefore, in His human nature, has been exalted on high.

Summary

The inspired writer shows that Christ, as the fulfillment of Melchizedek's type, as exalted above the imperfect Levitical priesthood, as being appointed by virtue of an oath of God, as the eternal Son of God, is the one perfect High Priest, whose sacrifice has everlasting value.