August 14

PART IV. — Hebrews 7:26.

WHILE the high priests of old were types of the Lord Jesus, yet they only partially exhibited his excellencies and glories. In all things Christ hath the pre-eminence. Let this exercise be devoted to a few particulars wherein Christ's superior dignity is manifestly displayed. This will apply to the dignity of his person. He is truly the Son of God, of the same essence and glory with the Father. The priests of old were only men, of like passions with ourselves. Then Jesus is superior in the immaculateness of his nature. He was not merely officially holy, as a consecrated servant of God, but also really pure and spotless, without blemish or any such thing. He was without sin or the least taint of depravity or pollution. It is not saying too much to affirm that Jesus, in his mediatorial character, is holy even as God is holy. The priests of old were subject to all the sinful frailties to which our common nature is liable. Then Christ, as our great high priest, is also superior in the perfection of his sacrifice. They presented merely animal oblations; they appeared before God with the blood of bulls, and goats, and lambs. Jesus offered the sacrifice of his humanity, hallowed by its being the consecrated shrine of the indwelling Deity. The blood he shed was the infinitely precious blood of his own heart—precious beyond all the computation of men, or the lofty conceptions of the highest angels in heaven. Jesus is superior also in the extent of his priestly influence. They were priests for an œconomy limited to the Jewish nation—Christ is the Priest of his Universal Church, that extends to all the nations that dwell on the face of the earth. The universe is his temple, and the benefits of his sacrifice are accessible to every child of the family of man. Finally, Christ, as our Great High Priest, is superior to the priests of old, in the unchangeableness and perpetuity of his office. They did not—indeed could not—continue, by reason of death. Jesus ever liveth. He had no predecessor, nor shall he ever have a successor; but abideth a priest continually. His priesthood shall only end when he shall deliver up his kingdom to the Father, and God be all in all. How instructive, consolatory, and appropriate are the following lines;

Where high the heavenly temple stands,

The house of God not made with hands,

A great high priest our nature wears — The guardian of mankind appears —

He who for men their surety stood, And poured on earth his precious blood, Pursues in heaven his mighty plan — The Saviour and the friend of man.

Our fellow-sufferer yet retains A fellow-feeling of our pains, And still remembers, in the skies, His tears, and agonies, and cries.

In every pang that rends the heart The man of sorrows hath a part: He sympathizes with our grief, And to the sufferer sends relief!"