The writer of Hebrews shows us Christ, the mediator priest. We generally picture a mediator as one who helps solve contract disputes. A mediator occupies a middle position to intervene and bring agreement between two conflicted parties.
When we hear the word “priest,” we may think of a Catholic or Episcopalian priest. Perhaps we think of an Old Testament priest. A priest acts as a mediator between people and God. In the times before Jesus, the priests sacrificed animals for the forgiveness of the people’s sins. This was only a temporary stopgap and had to be repeated every year until Jesus came.
Jesus is our Go-Between
The writer of Hebrews points out how Jesus acted to bring believers and God together.
Hebrews 9: 11 So Christ has now become the High Priest over all the good things that have come. He has entered that greater, more perfect Tabernacle in heaven, which was not made by human hands and is not part of this created world. 12 With his own blood—not the blood of goats and calves—he entered the Most Holy Place once for all time and secured our redemption forever… For by the power of the eternal Spirit, Christ offered himself to God as a perfect sacrifice for our sins. 15 That is why he is the one who mediates a new covenant between God and people, so that all who are called can receive the eternal inheritance God has promised them. For Christ died to set them free from the penalty of the sins they had committed under that first covenant.[1]
Christ Gives Us Access to the Father
Before Jesus came, people had limited access to God. No one except the high priest could enter the Most Holy Place in the Temple. As Jesus died on the cross, He announced that “it is finished.” What was finished? Jesus had just paid the price for sin for all of humanity. We receive this gift by trusting in Jesus. At Jesus’ death, the curtain separating the Most Holy Place from the Holy Place in the Temple ripped from top to bottom. God had removed this barrier because Jesus had paid the price of sin.
Hebrews 4:13 Nothing in all creation is hidden from God. Everything is naked and exposed before his eyes, and he is the one to whom we are accountable. 14 So then, since we have a great High Priest who has entered heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to what we believe. 15 This High Priest of ours understands our weaknesses, for he faced all of the same testings we do, yet he did not sin. 16 So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most.[2]
This access to heaven’s throne room allows us to bring our requests directly to God and worship Him there. To learn more about Christ the mediator priest, listen here: https://podpoint.com/light-of-christ-church-podcast/jesus-new-covenant
[1-2] Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188.