We have such a high priest. A priest that is eternally and omnipotently using His exaltation in order to serve us. Priests primarily served in two functions. They offered sacrifices to atone for sin, and they made intercession, praying to God on others’ behalf. Presently, Jesus is serving as our high priest by praying for us to the Father, which is the kind of praying that kept Peter from falling away like Judas.

For it was indeed fitting that we should have such a high priest, holy, innocent, unstained, separated from sinners, and exalted above the heavens. He has no need, like those high priests, to offer sacrifices daily, first for his own sins and then for those of the people, since he did this once for all when he offered up himself. For the law appoints men in their weakness as high priests, but the word of the oath, which came later than the law, appoints a Son who has been made perfect forever.
Now the point in what we are saying is this: we have such a high priest, one who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in heaven, a minister in the holy places, in the true tent that the Lord set up, not man. For every high priest is appointed to offer gifts and sacrifices; thus it is necessary for this priest also to have something to offer. Now if he were on earth, he would not be a priest at all, since there are priests who offer gifts according to the law. They serve a copy and shadow of the heavenly things. For when Moses was about to erect the tent, he was instructed by God, saying, “See that you make everything according to the pattern that was shown you on the mountain.”
Hebrews 7:26-8:5 ESV

In our previous text, the author of Hebrews took us through a marvelous journey as he explained the mysterious prophesy that the Christ (David’s Lord) would be a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek. As we noted, the purpose of Melchizedek’s brief appearance in Genesis 14 and in Psalm 110 must have been one of the greatest lingering questions for God’s people throughout the ages. Thankfully, the Holy Spirit revealed Melchizedek’s purpose as a type and prefiguring of Jesus.
In essence, we were shown that Jesus is a priest-king, just like Melchizedek. Although Melchizedek’s name means king of righteousness and he was the king of Salem, which means peace, Jesus is the true King of righteousness and King of peace. In the text of Genesis 14, Melchizedek appears suddenly and is given no exit or genealogy, making his priesthood seem unending; however, as the eternal Son of God, Jesus truly is unending.
Next, the author walked us through how Christ’s priesthood, which was resembled by Melchizedek’s priesthood, is superior to the Levitical priesthood. After laying his arguments before us, the author concluded by pointing toward why all of this was necessary: it is the proof that Christ can legally be our great high priest, mediating between us and God, and guaranteeing our salvation through His better covenant.
It was Indeed Fitting // Verses 26-28
With that nutshell of verses 1-25 set before us, we continue in this sermon-letter with verse 26: For it was indeed fitting that we should have such a high priest, holy, innocent, unstained, separated from sinners, and exalted above the heavens. Of the first part of this verse, Richard Phillips notes:
A better translation would be, “Such a high priest was fitted to us.” The point is that Jesus as high priest is perfectly fitted for the predicament in which we find ourselves; he is appropriate in every way to be the Savior of sinful humankind.[1]
Like most things in Hebrews, the author already introduced us to this notion earlier, for he said in 2:10: “For it was fitting that he, for whom and by whom all things exist, in bringing many sons to glory, should make the founder of their salvation perfect through suffering.” Like puzzle pieces must be fittingly arranged in order to complete the puzzle, our salvation through Christ’s suffering is perfectly fitting to the eternal purpose of God. In the same way, Jesus Himself is also the exact Savior that we needed (and still need!). There is no other means of salvation from our sin because there is no other savior who is fit to save us. Christ alone is qualified to be the guarantor of the better covenant and to be the captain of our salvation, leading us as adopted sons and daughters of God onward to the eternal glory of God.
Again, 7:1-25 was ultimately concerned with Christ’s legal qualifications to serve as our great high priest. Here the author lists five rapid-fire qualities that qualify Jesus in His very person to be our high priest: holy, innocent, unstained, separated from sinners, and exalted above the heavens. Several commentators have made the case that the first three of these descriptions can be taken together to display Christ’s perfect moral character. Holy describes His sinless perfection before God, innocent describes His sinless perfection before other people, and unstained describes His sinless perfection within His own heart. Of course, like so many things, the distinctions are made for our own benefit of understanding. One cannot be holy before God without also being innocent before others, and one cannot be innocent before others without also being unstained in one’s own conscience. These descriptions truly apply to Christ alone, and we ought to be thankful that they do. As Owen reminds us:
Unholy sinners do stand in need of a holy priest and a holy sacrifice. What we have not in ourselves we must have in him, or we shall not be accepted with the holy God, who is of purer eyes than to behold iniquity.[2]
Although it is heresy today to speak of any insufficiency in us at all, we doth protest too much. Our society’s very fixation with affirming one another reveals that the internal paradise is a sham. We have not ascended beyond the basic moral compass that God has ingrained upon our hearts, and we have not transcended above truth itself. As I have said before, depression and anxiety statistics reveal that we are not as free and happy as we keep telling ourselves; instead, we are a society that is collectively caught in Giant Despair’s dungeon.

While we refuse to admit it, we are just as in need of a Savior as any other people throughout history. As the author of Hebrews has noted, we certainly have need of a Savior who is like us and is able to sympathize with our weaknesses. However, we also require a Savior who is separated from sinners. Consider Owen’s reflection on this point:

He was not set apart from them in his nature, for God sent his Son “in the likeness of sinful men” (Rom. 8:3). He was not set apart from men during his ministry on earth. He did not live apart from everyone in a desert. He spoke with tax collectors and prostitutes, and the hypocritical Pharisees rebuked him for this. His holy and undefiled… He was separate from sin, in its nature, causes, and effects. He had to be like this for our benefit. He became the middle person between God and sinners and had to be separate from those sinners in the thing he stood in their place for.
We cannot be saved by one who is altogether like us. In the Pilgrim’s Progress, Help was able to pull Christian out of the Slough of Despond because he was not in the bog himself. Likewise, our salvation is dependent upon Jesus being what we are not, that is, without sin.
The fifth and final description of Jesus’ qualification to be our high priest, exalted above the heaven, will be expounded upon by the author himself in verses 1-5 of chapter 8.
Because these qualities are true of Christ, verse 27 is also a reality: He has no need, like those high priests, to offer sacrifices daily, first for his own sins and then for those of the people, since he did this once for all when he offered up himself. This verse contains such wondrously good news that the author will essentially spend 9:1-10:18 unpacking this thought in detail. For the moment, let us simply consider what is being introduced to us for the first time in this sermon-letter. Jesus is qualified to be our high priest because He belongs to a superior priesthood than the Levites and because He is holy, innocent, unstained, separated from sinners, and exalted above the heavens. Amen!
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Pray that the Church Would Live up to Its Spiritual Status as Victors in Christ Over Sin
Jeremiah refers to the Lord’s people’s “crown” (Lamentations 5:16). The crown was their exclusive privileges in church and state, which they had beyond other people on the earth. God’s people are a royal people beyond all nations. All others are drudges to their own lusts, but God’s people are kings and conquerors, triumphing over principalities and powers, the world, and their own lusts and passions.
Use your spiritual privileges then, and be a crowned king over all that opposes you. Otherwise the royal crown will be taken off your head and you will be made an outcast. “The crown is fallen from our head” (verse 16). Of all men the most contemptible are you whom God would lift up and yet you are determined to make yourself base. Therefore, enjoy your kingship over sin, Satan, the world and your own lusts, in order that one day a crown of perfect gold may be set on your head.
Pray for a True Sense of Sin
The Lord’s people in Jeremiah’s time said, “Woe unto us, for we have sinned” (verse 16). Here they acknowledge that sin was the cause of all their misery and disgrace. Sin is the cause of all the trouble that comes on us. It defaces all our privileges and makes a people the tail and not the head (Deut. 28:44). If it was not for sin, God’s people would not need to lose their blessedness with anything.
The church cries, “Woe to us that we have sinned,” and not, “Woe unto us that we are miserable.” Sin is a greater evil than any misery, if only we were conscious of it, for we may blame ourselves and our sins for all our misery and for the feeling of our misery. Misery should turn all our grief against sin. If you tend to cry, “Woe is me because of my affliction,” learn to say instead, “Woe is me because of my sin.” Be more sorry for sin than for the judgment it has drawn down on you.
Pray for an Appropriate Dread of the Consequences of Our Personal and Collective Sin
“For this our heart is faint,” they say (verse 17). The reason for their grief and faintness of heart is both that God’s temple, which was the place of their comfort, is laid low and desolate and waste, and also that they were the ones who had moved God to cast it down. Now it has become a den for foxes and other wild animals. It shows that people’s sins not only draw wrath on themselves but also on the church and commonwealth of which they are members. So, in order not to bring a plague on church and state, put away sin.
Pray for a Sympathetic Attitude for the Troubled Church
Their grief is “because of Zion” (verse 18). We should be more grieved for the church drawn on by sin than for any other cause. The church’s grief should go nearer our heart than our own. If we lay God’s glory to heart, we will be more grieved for the evils that have come upon the church than anything that can happen to ourselves.
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Men, you may not have asked for this assignment. But it’s your assignment nonetheless. Don’t be silent. Don’tbe passive. Do something.This is your job. This is your calling.

As biological men (under the guise of being “trans”) continue to enter spaces segregated for women, beat out girls in female athletic competitions, and violently injure their female opponents, I have one question:
Where are America’s fathers?Are there no men willing to stand up and defend their daughters?
Fathers, by the virtue of being fathers, have as their primary role to protect and provide for their family. So why are there no fathers willing to stand up and protect their daughters from biological men doing harm to their daughters?
The examples of men (who claim the label “trans”) entering women’s spaces, stealing girls’ places and physically harming young girls and women are numerous – and ever growing, unfortunately.
Recently, a female high school volleyball player suffered a severe head injury after a biological male who claims to be “trans” spiked a ball into her face during a game.
In a video of the assault, a male spikes the ball straight into the girl’s face. She then promptly drops to the ground and doesn’t get up, as coaches and others rush to her side. One district board member said, “A coach of 40 years said they’d never seen a hit like this.”
The girl is “experiencing long-term concussion symptoms, such as vision problems, and has not been cleared to return to play.”
Where was her father?
Earlier this year, a man named Will Thomas, who now goes by the name Lia, raced against multiple biological females in various swim meets. Thomas, a swimmer for the University of Pennsylvania, won the women’s’ 200-yard freestyle and the women’s 500-yard freestyle relay at an intercollegiate swim meet.
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