HEBREWS 7:23-25

WE ARE IN THE MIDST OF CONCLUDING THE FINAL VERSES OF THE VERY IMPORTANT CHAPTER 7.

THE OVERALL CONTEXT FOR THIS WEEK’S STUDY…

^NAS  Hebrews 7:20-28 And inasmuch as it was not without an oath  ²¹ (for they indeed became priests without an oath, but He with an oath through the One who said to Him, “The Lord has sworn And will not change His mind, ‘Thou art a priest forever’ “); ²² so much the more also Jesus has become the guarantee of a better covenant. ²³ And the former priests, on the one hand, existed in greater numbers, because they were prevented by death from continuing, ²⁴ but He, on the other hand, because He abides forever, holds His priesthood permanently. ²⁵ Hence, also, He is able to save forever those who draw near to God through Him, since always lives to make intercession for them. ²⁶ For it was fitting that we should have such a high priest, holy, innocent, undefiled, separated from sinners and exalted above the heavens; ²⁷ who does not need daily, like those high priests, to offer up sacrifices, first for His own sins, and then for the sins of the people, because this He did once for all when He offered up Himself.  ²⁸ For the Law appoints men as high priests who are weak, but the word of the oath, which came after the Law, appoints a Son, made perfect forever.

THERE IS A DEBATE AMONG SCHOLARS AS TO WHAT EXACTLY IS THE BEST INTERPRETATION OF THE REFERENCE THE WRITER IS MOST LIKELY TAKING FOR CHRIST’S PERMANENT PRIESTHOOD – OR WHAT IS THE MOST RELIABLE APPROACH TO TAKE IN MOST RESPONSIBLY DETERMINING THE CONNECTION HE IS MAKING. HOPEFULLY, THIS EXCERPT FROM A COMMENTARY WILL SET THE STAGE FOR THE POINT I AM MAKING…

“IN MARKED CONTRAST TO LEVITICAL PRIESTS, JESUS’ PRIESTHOOD CONTINUES FOREVER. ‘He holds His priesthood permanently.’ The Greek word ἀπαράβατος (ap-ar-a-ba-tos) means ‘permanently, unchangeable, inviolable.’ The definition is another way of saying Jesus is God. It means His priesthood never ends. REMAINING FOREVER REFERS TO THE RESURRECTION. His priesthood endures because He conquered death, and as the one who triumphed over death, His priesthood persists. COCKERILL, HOWEVER, TAKES IT AS A REFERENCE TO ‘THE ETERNAL CHARACTER OF THE SON’S PERSON AFFIRMED IN THE OPENING CHAPTER OF HEBREWS.’ On this reading the author doesn’t focus on Jesus’            triumph over death but His inherent superiority as a divine being. Still it seems more likely that the author thinks of Jesus’ humanity as a priest, and hence the focus is on His humanity instead of His inherent divine properties. Certainly Jesus as high priest is both divine and human, and the two ultimately can’t be separated from each other. Nevertheless, it seems that the author here focuses on Jesus’ humanity, and hence His permanence is most likely ascribed to His resurrection.” – Schreiner

NOW HERE IS COCKERILL’S DIFFERENT VIEW…

“CHRIST HAS AN EFFECTIVE PRIESTHOOD ‘BECAUSE IT REMAINS FOREVER.’ It is informative to compare the term used for the old priesthood’s inability to ‘continue’ and the one used here for the new’s (sic – TAR) ‘remaining.’ Although the first term is built on the second, it could be used for ‘continuing in office,’ and that is the way in which the pastor uses it here. The term for ‘remain,’ however, is characteristically used by the Greek OT for God and things pertaining to God, such as the new heaven and earth or the new Jerusalem…

^NAS  Isaiah 66:22 “For just as the new heavens and the new earth Which I make will endure before Me,” declares the LORD, “So your offspring and your name will endure.

^NAS  Zechariah 14:10 All the land will be changed into a plain from Geba to Rimmon south of Jerusalem; but Jerusalem will rise and remain on its site from Benjamin’s Gate as far as the place of the First Gate to the Corner Gate, and from the Tower of Hananel to the king’s wine presses.

“COMPARE ITS USE IN…

^NA28  Hebrews 10:34 καὶ γὰρ τοῖς δεσμίοις συνεπαθήσατε καὶ τὴν ἁρπαγὴν τῶν ὑπαρχόντων ὑμῶν μετὰ χαρᾶς προσεδέξασθε γινώσκοντες ἔχειν ἑαυτοὺς κρείττονα ὕπαρξιν καὶ μένουσαν.

^NAS  Hebrews 12:27 And this expression, “Yet once more,” denotes the removing of those things which can be shaken, as of created things, in order that those things which cannot be shaken may remain. (Heb

^NAS  Hebrews 13:14 For here we do not have a lasting city, but we are seeking the city which is to come.

“THUS THE PASTOR DOES NOT SAY THAT CHRIST ‘CONTINUES’ IN THE OFFICE OF PRIESTHOOD, BUT SIMPLY AND ABSOLUTELY THAT HE HIMSELF ‘REMAINS.’ THUS THERE COULD HARDLY BE ANY QUESTION THAT ‘TO REMAIN’ DESCRIBES THE ETERNAL CHARACTER OF THE SON’S PERSON AFFIRMED IN THE OPENING CHAPTER OF HEBREWS.” – Cockerill

AS I READ, REREAD, AND STUDIED COCKERILL’S ARGUMENT HERE, ALL THINGS CONSIDERED, INCLUDING THE ADMITTEDLY MINOR POINT THAT HE IS, IN MY OPINION, CLEARLY THE SUPERIOR WRITER – WHICH SUGGESTS, NOT ALWAYS BUT OFTEN – THE SUPERIOR MIND AS MANIFESTED IN A CLEANER, MORE CONSISTENT INTERPRETATION OF THE BIBLICAL TEXT, I DEFINITELY THINK HE WINS THE DEBATE.

THE FOLLOWING PARAGRAPH SETTLED MY CONCLUSION…

“… IN VV. 23-24 HE EXPLAINS THE SIGNIFICANCE OF ‘HE REMAINS A PRIEST FOREVER’ (v. 3d). HIS ‘ETERNAL’ LIFE…

^ESV  Hebrews 7:3 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.

^NAS  Hebrews 7:15-19 And this is clearer still, if another priest arises according to the likeness of Melchizedek, ¹⁶ who has become such not on the basis of a law of physical requirement, but according to the power of an indestructible life. ¹⁷ For it is witnessed of Him, “Thou art a priest forever According to the order of Melchizedek.” ¹⁸ For, on the one hand, there is a setting aside of a former commandment because of its weakness and uselessness ¹⁹ (for the Law made nothing perfect), and on the other hand there is a bringing in of a better hope, through which we draw near to God.

“… IS THE BASIS OF HIS ‘INVIOLABLE’ PRIESTHOOD (V. 3d, 23-25).

“THIS OBSERVATION EXPOSES ONCE AGAIN THE FALLACY OF ALL ATTEMPTS TO REDUCE THE TEACHING OF THIS CHAPTER TO THE PERPETUAL OR UNENDING PRIESTHOOD OF THE SON (i.e., SCHREINER’S POSITION – TAR).

“THE PASTOR CLEARLY INTENDS TO AFFIRM THAT BOTH THE QUALITY AND DURATION OF HAS ABSOLUTE PRIESTHOOD ARE FOUNDED ON THE ETERNIY OF HIS PERSON.” – Cockerill

EVEN THOUGH SCHOLARLY DISAGREEMENT ON INTERPRETATION MAY AT TIMES CONFUSE, DISAPPOINT, AND FRUSTRATE US, WE TAKE HEART IN THE BIBLICAL ASSURANCE THAT OUR SINCERE STUDY ALWAYS – SOONER OR LATER, PARTIALLY OR GREATLY – BENEFITS US AS FAITHFUL FOLLOWERS OF CHRIST.

I BELIEVE THE FOLLOWING IS A FITTING CONCLUSION TO THIS BRIEF BUT IMPORTANT BLOG ABOUT THE DIFFICULTIES AND THE EXULTANT REWARDS THE DILIGENT STUDENT OFTEN ENCOUNTERS ON HIS OR HER WAY TO ACCURATE INTERPRETATION OF GOD’S PROFOUND WORD…

“WE LIVE IN WHAT HAD BEEN LABELED A ‘POSTMODERN’ CULTURE. Since the constituents of that culture often elevate the ‘right’ to one’s own interpretation above the interpretation of there being any correct interpretation, the concept of truth sits in the wings, never being invited on stage for discussion. The comment ‘That’s just your interpretation’ becomes the ultimate trump card in any debate. Nevertheless, from the perspective of a biblical worldview Christian theology, rightly understood, ‘does not offer us a theology of speculation and exploration. It offers us a theology of revelation and salvation’ (Blamires, Recovering the Christian Mind: Meeting the Challenge of Secularism). WE MAY EVER BE GROWING IN OUR GRASP OF THAT REVELATION – WE MUST LIVE AS LIFELONG LEARNERS – BUT THERE ARE TRUTHS WE CAN GRASP, AND DETAILED STUDY OF THE SCRIPTURES PROVIDES ONE WAY OF GROWING IN OUR UNDERSTANDING OF TRUTH.” – Guthrie

“CHRIST’S PERMANENT PRIESTHOOD PART 2.”

                                                                         – Professor Thomas A. Rohm