26 It was right for us to have such a high priest, one who is holy and without evil, doing no wrong, having no part with sinners, and made higher than the heavens:
Now of the things we are saying this is the chief point: We have such a high priest, who has taken his place at the right hand of God's high seat of glory in heaven,
Having then a great high priest, who has made his way through the heavens, even Jesus the Son of God, let us be strong in our faith. For we have not a high priest who is not able to be touched by the feelings of our feeble flesh; but we have one who has been tested in all points as we ourselves are tested, but without sin.
And you have knowledge that he came to take away sin: and in him there is no sin.
Who did no evil, and there was no deceit in his mouth:
For this reason he says, He went up on high, taking his prisoners with him, and gave freely to men. (Now this, He went up, what is it but that he first went down into the lower parts of the earth? He who went down is the same who went up far over all the heavens so that he might make all things complete.)
By which he made Christ come back from the dead, and gave him a place at his right hand in heaven, Far over all rule and authority and power and every name which is named, not only in the present order, but in that which is to come: And he has put all things under his feet, and has made him to be head over all things to the church,
For this reason God has put him in the highest place and has given to him the name which is greater than every name; So that at the name of Jesus every knee may be bent, of those in heaven and those on earth and those in the underworld, And that every tongue may give witness that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Because it was right for him, for whom and through whom all things have being, in guiding his sons to glory, to make the captain of their salvation complete through pain.
Now if it was possible for things to be made complete through the priests of the house of Levi (for the law was given to the people in connection with them), what need was there for another priest who was of the order of Melchizedek and not of the order of Aaron?
For this cause it was necessary to make the copies of the things in heaven clean with these offerings; but the things themselves are made clean with better offerings than these. For Christ did not go into a holy place which had been made by men's hands as the copy of the true one; but he went into heaven itself, and now takes his place before the face of God for us. And he did not have to make an offering of himself again and again, as the high priest goes into the holy place every year with blood which is not his; For then he would have undergone a number of deaths from the time of the making of the world: but now he has come to us at the end of the old order, to put away sin by the offering of himself.
And every priest takes his place at the altar day by day, doing what is necessary, and making again and again the same offerings which are never able to take away sins. But when Jesus had made one offering for sins for ever, he took his place at the right hand of God; And has been waiting there from that time, till all who are against him are made a foot-rest for his feet. Because by one offering he has made complete for ever those who are made holy. And the Holy Spirit is a witness for us: for after he had said, This is the agreement which I will make with them after those days, says the Lord; I will put my laws in their hearts, writing them in their minds; he said, And I will keep no more memory of their sins and of their evil-doings. Now where there is forgiveness of these, there is no more offering for sin. So then, my brothers, being able to go into the holy place without fear, because of the blood of Jesus, By the new and living way which he made open for us through the veil, that is to say, his flesh; And having a great priest over the house of God, Let us go in with true hearts, in certain faith, having our hearts made free from the sense of sin and our bodies washed with clean water:
But through holy blood, like that of a clean and unmarked lamb, even the blood of Christ:
Who has gone into heaven, and is at the right hand of God, angels and authorities and powers having been put under his rule.
For, truly, in this town, against your holy servant, Jesus, who was marked out by you as Christ, Herod, and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and the people of Israel, came together,
You are to make a plate of the best gold, cutting on it, as on a stamp, these words: HOLY TO THE LORD.
And they put his body into the earth with sinners, and his last resting-place was with the evil-doers, though he had done no wrong, and no deceit was in his mouth.
And the angel in answer said to her, The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will come to rest on you, and so that which will come to birth will be named holy, Son of God.
And he said to them a third time, Why, what evil has he done? I see no reason for putting him to death: I will give him punishment and let him go.
And when the captain saw what was done, he gave praise to God, saying, Without doubt this was an upright man.
Was it not necessary for the Christ to go through these things, and to come into his glory?
He who sent me is with me; he has not gone from me, because at all times I do the things which are pleasing to him.
After this I will not say much to you, because the ruler of this world comes: and he has no power over me;
And when I saw him, I went down on my face at his feet as one dead. And he put his right hand on me, saying, Have no fear; I am the first and the last and the Living one; And I was dead, and see, I am living for ever, and I have the keys of death and of Hell.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on Hebrews 7
Commentary on Hebrews 7 Matthew Henry Commentary
Chapter 7
The doctrine of the priestly office of Christ is so excellent in itself, and so essential a part of the Christian faith, that the apostle loves to dwell upon it. Nothing made the Jews so fond of the Levitical dispensation as the high esteem they had of their priesthood, and it was doubtless a sacred and most excellent institution; it was a very severe threatening denounced against the Jews (Hos. 3:4), that the children of Israel should abide many days without a prince or priest, and without a sacrifice, and with an ephod, and without teraphim. Now the apostle assures them that by receiving the Lord Jesus they would have a much better high priest, a priesthood of a higher order, and consequently a better dispensation or covenant, a better law and testament; this he shows in this chapter, where,
Hbr 7:1-10
The foregoing chapter ended with a repetition of what had been cited once and again before out of Ps. 110:4, Jesus, a high priest for ever, after the order of Melchisedec. Now this chapter is as a sermon upon that text; here the apostle sets before them some of the strong meat he had spoken of before, hoping they would by greater diligence be better prepared to digest it.
Hbr 7:11-28
Observe the necessity there was of raising up another priest, after the order of Melchisedec and not after the order of Aaron, by whom that perfection should come which could not come by the Levitical priesthood, which therefore must be changed, and the whole economy with it, v. 11, 12, etc. Here,