Apostle and High Priest
of Our Confession (Jesus)
Hebrews
3:1-3 (ESV)
Therefore,
holy brothers, you who share in a heavenly calling, consider Jesus, the apostle
and high priest of our confession, who was faithful to him who appointed him,
just as Moses also was faithful in all God’s house. 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.
Apostolos is probably one of the more familiar Greek
words from the New Testament. Its meaning is a little less familiar. Most
immediately think of “The Twelve” that Jesus chose to help Him in His earthly
ministry. However, we learn here in Hebrews that Jesus, Himself, is an Apostle.
The Greek meaning of
apostle: a delegate; specially an ambassador of the Gospel; officially a commissioner
of Christ (with miraculous powers); he that is sent. It is derived from a
couple of other words which mean “set apart, i.e. (by implication) to send out
(properly on a mission) literal or figurative.”
When referring to Jesus
as Apostle it is easy to see this definition working in His life. He was sent
from Heaven by the Father to live as the Son of Man in order to redeem us and
restore us to full fellowship with our Creator.
The second term used in
this phrase is High Priest. The Greek word used here is archiereus and means “the high-priest (literal of the Jews, typical
Christ); by extension a chief priest.” I recently described this in detail in
my book The School of Worship, where
Jesus obtained His priesthood from the order of Melchizedek. This is all
described later in the book of Hebrews.
Why does it matter that
Jesus is the Apostle and High Priest of our Confession? I guess it depends on
what you consider to be “our profession/confession.” The Greek word for this is
homologia, which means “acknowledgment.”
It means, “to say the same thing.” It is when you agree with God. Salvation
comes to us when we identify with Christ in His death, burial, resurrection,
ascension, and seating at the right hand of Father, and then receiving the Holy
Spirit Jesus sent to inhabit us so we can then be empowered to reconcile others
to the Father.
By
“profession/confession,” the writer of Hebrews is telling us that Jesus was
sent (Apostle) to represent the Father (His love) to the world, and when we
acknowledge (confess/profess) Him (Jesus), He then presents us (High Priest) to
the Father as an offering to Him. Because we have been made clean by the blood
of Jesus we are accepted by God.
Through our confession
of Jesus Christ as our Lord we become heirs of the Kingdom of Heaven. The very
One (Jesus) that purchased our redemption also acts as the Executor of His will
(New Testament). He does this as our Apostle and High Priest: sent from God to
redeem us and serves as High Priest to reconcile us back to God.
This gives us confidence
in approaching the Father in prayer, knowing that our Advocate, our High
Priest, Jesus, is speaking to the Father on our behalf. The very one the Father
sent to redeem us is giving testimony to the Father of our salvation through
our confession/profession of faith in Him.
No comments:
Post a Comment