Having discussed the prophetic office of Christ, it now follows that we discuss His second office, namely that of High Priest.
The Priestly Office Defined
First, we must attentively consider the high-priestly office in order that we may know the perfect way in which man is reconciled with God. Sometimes the title “priest” is used for persons who are held in high esteem, such as princes, rulers, and officers. “He leadeth ynhk (cohanim) princes away spoiled” (Job 12:19); “… David’s sons were chief rulers” (2 Sam 8:18); “And Ira also the Jairite was a chief ruler about David” (2 Sam 20:26). They bore the name hk (coheen), that is, priest, because
(1) of the excellent glory manifested by the high priest—for this reason the prophet calls the most excellent ornament a priestly ornament (Isa 61:10);
(2) prior to the tribe of Levi being set apart unto the priestly office, fathers, after them the firstborn, and thereafter the chief and most excellent members of the family ministered in the priest’s office.
Secondly, a priest, when considering the essential meaning of the word, is one who “… taken from among men is ordained for men in things pertaining to God, that he may offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins” (Heb 5:1).
The priestly office consists of two particulars: sacrifice and prayer, the pronouncement of a blessing being included in the latter. The duty to sacrifice is described in Lev 4. Of the duty of intercession we read, “speak unto Aaron and his sons, saying, On this wise ye shall bless the children of Israel,” etc. (Num 6:23-26); “Let the priests, the ministers of the Lord, weep between the porch and the altar, and let them say, Spare Thy people, O Lord” (Joel 2:17). Once a year the high priest had to sacrifice a bullock and a goat, enter into the Holy of Holies, sprinkle the blood upon the mercy seat, and burn the incense (Lev 16), the latter symbolizing intercession. This can be deduced from Ps 141:2, where we read, “Let my prayer be set forth before Thee as incense”; “And the smoke of the incense, which came with the prayers of the saints, ascended up before God out of the angel’s hand” (Rev 8:4). Christ’s high-priestly office likewise consists of sacrifice and prayer. We will first discuss His high-priestly office in general, and afterwards speak in particular of these two parts.
A General Overview of the Priestly Office as Being Distinct from the Kingly Office of Christ
Let us view this office from a general perspective. The Lord Jesus is High Priest not only in name, but in very deed; that is, neither figuratively, metaphorically, nor comparatively, but in truth and very essence. He was not a priest in a prestigious sense, so that it would have reference to His kingly office; rather, His being Priest is such that His priestly office is entirely distinct from His kingly office. His being a priest relates simultaneously to the offering of an atoning sacrifice and intercession. He did not first become priest after His ascension, solely because of His intercession, but He already was Priest when He was upon earth. There, by His suffering and death, He offered Himself as an atoning sacrifice unto God, and by virtue of His sacrifice has entered heaven, this being the Holy of Holies. There He administers the second part of His priestly office, namely, intercession, executing this on the basis of His sacrifice made upon earth. All such concepts are objected to by the Socinians in order to undermine the satisfaction of Christ. We must therefore give extra attention to this.
First of all, we maintain that the high-priestly office and the kingly office of Christ are not one and the same, nor does the difference consist only in the fact that in His high-priestly office He would merely be desirous and inclined to assist man, and that His kingly office consists in the execution of this inclination, for:
(1) Scripture teaches this nowhere, but declares that the high-priestly office consists in sacrifice and prayer, which we have shown. The kingly office consists in government and protection, and thus these offices are entirely distinct.
(2) Add to this that the office of High Priest is executed in the presence of God on behalf of man (Heb 5:1), and the kingly office is executed in the midst of and towards men.