Hebrews 7:11-14
“If the priesthood of Levi and Aaron, which provided the framework for the giving of the law, could really make people perfect, there wouldn’t have been need for a new priesthood like that of Melchizedek. But since it didn’t get the job done, there was a change of priesthood, which brought with it a radical new kind of law. There is no way of understanding this in terms of the old Levitical priesthood, which is why there is nothing in Jesus’ family tree connecting him with that priestly line.”
“So if the priesthood of Levi, on which the law was based, could have achieved the perfection God intended, why did God need to establish a different priesthood, with a priest in the order of Melchizedek instead of the order of Levi and Aaron? And if the priesthood is changed, the law must also be changed to permit it. For the priest we are talking about belongs to a different tribe, whose members have never served at the altar as priests. What I mean is, our Lord came from the tribe of Judah, and Moses never mentioned priests coming from that tribe.”
Just as God is totally other from us, Christ is other from priests of the law. In no way does he represent a correction to or enablement of it. He can fulfill it, only possible because he brings something other to it. God’s provision of Christ as sacrifice for man’s sins came out of the blue, surprising everyone including Satan. Christ, a new, other, kind of priest, is exactly what we need, what I need.
Lord Jesus, thank you for interceding for me. You get it because you lived it along with us. I love you.