High Priest

Now this is the main point of the things we are saying: We have such a High Priest, who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens…

For if He were on earth, He would not be a priest, since there are priests who offer the gifts according to the law; who serve the copy and shadow of the heavenly things....

Hebrews 8:1, 4, 5

No one in the Old Testament got closer to God than the High Priest.  Endowed with great privilege and responsibility, he was allowed to enter into the presence of the LORD once a year and advocate for a sinful people before a most Holy God. The title is used 74 times in scripture, most often in the Old Testament but ten of those times the reference clearly speaks of Christ and all of those occur in the Epistle to the Hebrews.

Hebrews explains how Temple sacrifices and rituals were “shadows” (i.e. clues and illustrations) that help us understand what God is doing on planet earth through Christ Jesus.  So then, all seventy-four mentions of high priest sheds some light on God’s Anointed and the ten direct references bring it into detailed view.  The distinction is similar to the difference of a man standing in the sunlight and the shadow that he casts.

Aaron and his high priestly descendants interceded for God’s people.  That’s what Jesus came to do.  “Therefore He is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.  For such a High Priest was fitting for us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and has become higher than the heavens: who does not need daily, as those high priests, to offer up sacrifices first for His own sins and then for the people's, for this He did once for all when He offered up Himself” (Hebrews 7:25-27).

As High Priest, Christ was given the job to atone for our sins. He did that well and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.  Now, He continues to stand in the gap for His people and intercedes for us before the throne of God against anyone who would bring a charge against God’s chosen.