Apostles Anglican Church
Fr. John A. Roop

The Superiority of Jesus: A Reflection on Hebrews 1-7
(Hebrews 7, Psalm 111, Mark 11:1-26)

Collect
Almighty God, you gave your only Son to be for us both a sacrifice for sin and an example of godly living: Give us grace thankfully to receive his inestimable benefits, and daily to follow the blessed steps of his most holy life; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

In our modern, or post-modern, Western culture we tend to compartmentalize our lives in ways that our pre-modern ancestors couldn’t have imagined. Consider your life as a house. In that house you have lots of rooms: one for family and one for friends; one for work and one for hobbies; one marked personal and one marked public, one for religion and one for politics, and so forth, with every aspect of your life sequestered in its own room, a room with no connecting doors to any other rooms— all aspects of life strictly compartmentalized. Say you decide to marry, a very personal decision. You expect that decision to have no impact on your religion or politics or work; it belongs only to the room marked personal or perhaps family. Or suppose you decide to switch political affiliations, to change parties. Again, you don’t expect that to intersect with religion or family or any other room. Now, I have overstated the case, surely, but the general principle is true: we tend to compartmentalize our lives.

Now, turn the clock back two millennia, to the beginning of the Christian era or to essentially any time before that. Imagine yourself as a first century Jew or Jewish Christian. And, again, consider your life as a house. It would be what is called today an open floor plan only taken to the extremes. There would be no interior walls at all, no rooms, no compartmentalization. Decisions affected your whole life, not just some part of it. There were no separate categories of religion and politics, because what we call religion was part of the whole familial/social contract; it was how every citizen lived in relationship to the powers — earthly and heavenly — and in relation to one another. That is, in large part, why the Roman authorities were so confused and angry that Christians refused to offer incense to the Emperor. It had nothing to do with personal belief, a category that didn’t exist; believe what you will — Rome didn’t care. The offering to the emperor was a social contract; refusing to do it was letting the society, the polis, down. It was a tear in the fabric of communal life. And marriage had nothing to do with love; if that developed fine, if not, fine. Marriage was a social contract that bound entire families together. A marriage contract had vast economic, social, and perhaps political ramifications. I am not overstating the case here; if anything, to the contrary. Life was integrated and non-compartmentalized.

Now, back to first century Judaism. Imagine the implications of a first century Jew becoming a Christian. That would not be merely a private or personal decision; remember that life wasn’t compartmentalized that way. That decision would affect every part of life: who you ate with and socialized with and did business with; who you could marry; where you shopped; who, where, when, and how you worshipped; how you related to the Roman powers; and so on throughout the whole of your life. And not just your life, but the lives of your extended family. Baptism into Christ was not only a spiritual rebirth; it was also a cultural rebirth. It wasn’t just a transfer from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of light; it was transfer from one way of being in this world to another way of being. You were truly born again, which meant you died to what had been before. Most of us don’t have that radical sense of disjunction when coming to Christ, so it may be hard for us to appreciate the radical nature of such a change, and the strong pull to return to a way of life that was familiar and comfortable, rich and nourishing. It was a difficult decision for a Jew to become a Christian; it was probably just as difficult on a daily basis to remain a Christian. So much was lost in the transition. Was it a good exchange?

The epistle to the Hebrews, which we have begun reading recently in the Daily Office, was written in large part to deal with that issue: to call these Jewish converts — if we can use that word — to remain steadfast in their decision, and to resist the strong attraction to return to the fold of Judaism. The author’s strategy is to show how all that was so treasured in Judaism is still present to the disciple of Jesus but now in elevated, superior fashion — how Jesus fulfills all that was partial in Judaism, or how Judaism was the signpost that pointed toward Jesus all along.

Let’s start with a very brief resumé of the first six chapters of Hebrews, leading to the reading for today, Hebrews 7.

First, the author acknowledges the importance and validity of the Jewish experience with God throughout history. The message of God in and through Jesus is not discontinuous with that; it is the next and final step of that experience and the ultimate revelation of God to his people and through his people, for the world:

Hebrews 1:1–9 (ESV): 1 Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, 2 but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. 3 He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, 4 having become as much superior to angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs.

5 For to which of the angels did God ever say,

“You are my Son,
today I have begotten you”?

Or again,

“I will be to him a father,
and he shall be to me a son”?

6 And again, when he brings the firstborn into the world, he says,

“Let all God’s angels worship him.”

God spoke to our [Jewish] fathers — to the Patriarchs and our ancestors throughout the generations — by prophets: no doubt about that, and no disrespect to that revelation. But now, God has spoken definitively and finally by his Son, the heir of all things, and the creator of all things — the one who reveals God perfectly because he is the exact imprint of God’s divine nature. In Judaism you have the prophets; in Jesus you have the one about whom the prophets spoke, the one true God who spoke through the prophets. The revelation in and through Jesus is superior to the revelation of the prophets.

And then the author speaks of angels. Why angels? It is not simply that angels are spiritual beings in some sense superior to us, but rather that the angels were thought to have played a role in mediation between God and man. The Book of Jubilees, which was written by the second century B.C., was an influential Jewish work well known during the second temple period (post-exile through the destruction of the temple). It was certainly familiar to the New Testament authors and the Church Fathers. It gives further traditions about the Genesis and Exodus accounts. In Jubilees, God does not give the Torah directly to Moses, but rather through the mediation of the angel of presence. The Law came from God, through the mediation of an angel, to man. Now, instead, Jesus is being presented as the only mediator between God and man because he is the only one in whom God and man truly meet in his person. So, the author shows, from the Hebrew Scriptures, that the Son is in all ways superior to the angels; thus, Jesus is superior to the angels — a better mediator. The author summarizes:

Hebrews 2:1–4 (ESV): 2 Therefore we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it. 2 For since the message declared by angels proved to be reliable, and every transgression or disobedience received a just retribution, 3 how shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation? It was declared at first by the Lord, and it was attested to us by those who heard, 4 while God also bore witness by signs and wonders and various miracles and by gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to his will.

So much for angels. What of Moses, arguably the most significant figure in Jewish thought and life? Here the author asks his readers to consider the people of God as a house. He writes:

Hebrews 3:1–6 (ESV): 3 Therefore, holy brothers, you who share in a heavenly calling, consider Jesus, the apostle and high priest of our confession, 2 who was faithful to him who appointed him, just as Moses also was faithful in all God’s house. 3 For Jesus has been counted worthy of more glory than Moses—as much more glory as the builder of a house has more honor than the house itself. 4 (For every house is built by someone, but the builder of all things is God.) 5 Now Moses was faithful in all God’s house as a servant, to testify to the things that were to be spoken later, 6 but Christ is faithful over God’s house as a son. And we are his house, if indeed we hold fast our confidence and our boasting in our hope.

Moses was faithful in God’s house, and should be honored for that. But, he was faithful as a trusted servant is faithful. He didn’t build the house, nor did he own the house; his authority in it was a delegated authority. But Jesus built the house — remember he created all things — and is faithful in that house as a son, as the heir with all the authority that applies. So, as honorable and faithful as Moses was, Jesus is vastly superior to him as a son is superior to a servant.

And now, at last, we come to the topic of today’s reading: the priesthood. The author has shown how Jesus’ mediation of the New Covenant is superior to the angel’s mediation of the Old Covenant. He has shown how Jesus’ faithfulness in the house of God’s people as a Son is superior to Moses’ faithfulness as a servant. Now, he will show how Jesus’ ministry as priest is superior to that of the Levitical priests. In doing this — in maintaining that Jesus’ priesthood is superior —there is one great hurdle to overcome. Do you see it? The priesthood “belongs” — by divine appointment — to the tribe of Levi. But, Jesus is of the tribe of Judah. There is a Catch-22 at play here. Jesus can only be the Messiah, the rightful king and descendant of David, if he belongs to the tribe of Judah. But, if he is the rightful King, it seems that he cannot then also be the rightful High Priest, because he would be of the wrong tribe. How will the author overcome this dilemma? By appealing to a more ancient and fundamental priesthood than that of Levi. Yes, during the Exodus, the tribe of Levi was appointed to bear the priesthood. But, six generations before that — some four hundred and thirty years prior — there was another, more fundamental priesthood, the priesthood of Melchizedek. For a time, the Levitical priesthood existed in parallel with the Melchizedekan priesthood, never in a way to supplant it or replace it, but as a sign pointing toward it. The Levitical priesthood, realized in Aaron and his descendants, always pointed toward the fulfillment of the priesthood in Melchizedek, so that Jesus is indeed the rightful and final high priest.

Here is how the reasoning goes — some of it explicit in Hebrews and some of it more subtle.

The covenant is prior to, and thus more fundamental than, the Law. So, Abraham and covenant have priority over Moses and Law. The priest to whom Abraham submitted, the priest who mediated God to Abraham and Abraham to God, is more fundamental than the priesthood inaugurated through Moses. Here is how the author of Hebrews introduces this notion. He first states that Jesus has become a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek. Then this:

Hebrews 7:1-3 (ESV): 1 For this Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of the Most High God, met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings and blessed him, 2 and to him Abraham apportioned a tenth part of everything. He is first, by translation of his name, king of righteousness, and then he is also king of Salem, that is, king of peace. 3 He is without father or mother or genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but resembling the Son of God he continues a priest forever.

So, the argument goes like this. Melchizedek — who was not from the tribe of Levi — was a priest four centuries before Aaron and the Levitical priesthood. Abraham tithed to him and received a blessing from him; this shows the superiority not only of Melchizedek over Abraham, but also the superiority of his priesthood over that priesthood which would be appointed to Abraham’s descendants. Not only this, but Melchizedek is a mysterious figure, an eternal figure with neither father nor mother nor genealogy nor death certificate: either an image of Jesus or a pre-incarnate appearance of Jesus himself. That is why the author continues:

Hebrews 7:15–19 (ESV): 15 This becomes even more evident when another priest arises in the likeness of Melchizedek, 16 who has become a priest, not on the basis of a legal requirement concerning bodily descent, but by the power of an indestructible life. 17 For it is witnessed of him,

“You are a priest forever,
after the order of Melchizedek.”

18 For on the one hand, a former commandment is set aside because of its weakness and uselessness 19 (for the law made nothing perfect); but on the other hand, a better hope is introduced, through which we draw near to God.

Here, the author quotes the enigmatic psalm of David, Psalm 110, with which Jesus himself baffled the Jewish authorities:

1 The Lᴏʀᴅ said unto my Lord, “Sit at my right hand, *
until I make your enemies your footstool.”

2 The Lᴏʀᴅ shall send the scepter of your power out of Zion: *
“Rule in the midst of your enemies.”

3 In the day of your power the people, in holy raiment, shall offer you freewill offerings; *
from the womb of the morning, the dew of your youth belongs to you.

4 The Lᴏʀᴅ has sworn and will not recant: *
“You are a priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek.”

So, YHWH has appointed Jesus as a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek: Jesus, the last and eternal great high priest, superior in every way to the temporary Levitical high priests.

So, that catches us up with our reading of Hebrews: Jesus, superior to prophets; Jesus, superior to angels; Jesus, superior to Moses; Jesus — the great and eternal Melchizedekan high priest — superior to the Levitical priesthood. That is, in part, why the Jewish Christians should hold on, should remain faithful to Jesus in spite of the difficulties they face and the attractions of their former life.

But what, if anything, does that have to do with us? There is a straight line from the argument of Hebrews to this great truth of our lives: Jesus is superior to everything that we might hold to be good and true and beautiful and worthy, superior to everything that we might be called to relinquish in order to gain him and to be found in him; superior to all that we could ask or imagine. He alone is worthy of our worship and honor and glory; he alone is worthy of our very selves. To exchange everything for Jesus is the most laudable exchange, and one which will enrich us beyond all measure. Amen.