Prophecy of the Messiah: “You are a Priest Forever”
Many years ago, a young man approached me immediately after I had concluded teaching the word of God on Sunday morning, and he said to me: “Pastor you have the best job in the world, you only have to work one day a week”.
He did not realize that being a servant of God is a lifetime appointment, twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week.
When Jesus took the body of a man at Bethlehem, He did not become a servant to the Father on our behalf for only thirty-three and one half years, He became “a priest forever”.
Hebrews 5:4-6 And no man takes this honor to himself, but he who is called by God, just as Aaron was. So also Christ did not glorify Himself to become High Priest, but it was He who said to Him: “You are My Son, Today I have begotten You.” As He also says in another place: “You are a priest forever According to the order of Melchizedek”
The responsibility of becoming our High Priest was not something that Jesus took upon Himself, he was “appointed” to this position by the Father.
The term “You are a Priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek” in verse 6, is a very strange indeed. The priesthood described in the Old Testament, came from the Tribe of Levi, Jesus came from the Tribe of Judah. Here in Hebrews chapter 5, we see that Jesus is not the same type of priest as those from the tribe of Levi. Jesus is a High Priest after the likeness of Melchizedek.
