Never for a moment did his unspotted, perfect, obedience, hesitate or halt: from the heart, for the entirety of His life, His will and mind were aligned and allied sinlessly to God. Both tablets of the LORD, were harmoniously and persistently observed, even when facing the most extreme and difficult circumstances – from birth to death, our beloved High Priest was the delightful Son who served the pleasure, and received approval, of God His Heavenly Father.

One of the most wonderful statements in the whole of the Bible is made in the second chapter of the Book of Hebrews, 2:17.

Therefore, He had to be made like his brothers in every respect, so that He might become a merciful and faithful High Priest in the service of God, to make propitiation for the sins of His people.

Context

Having laid out the case for the supremacy of Christ over angelic mediation of the Mosaic Law at Sinai, and proved His case by a plethora of Psalter texts, the writer proceeds to urge the church (which, it appears, is at risk of imperceptible drift-off) with a whole other set of reasons, that related to Jesus as the supremely faithful priest who has worked salvation for God’s flock.

Linguistic Faithfulness

Whether we explain this statement by reference to the Greek word group (which has to do with trust or trustworthiness), or by drawing on the Hebrew vocabulary behind it (which relates to fidelity to the Covenant or reliable, loyal or dependable, based as it is on the word group from which we get AMEN), Jesus Christ, as the High Priest of the Church, was reliable before God and can be relied upon.

Liturgical Faithfulness

There were some disreputable priests that served at Israel’s sanctuary: flames of wrath incinerated Nadab and Abihu when the ignored the regulations and offered up strange fire; if Eli was weak and late in disciplining wayward sons, Hophni and Phinehas were struck down for immoral sanctuary sins; Aaron, of course, not only lied about the manufacture of a golden calf at Mount Sinai, but set it up as a syncretistic object of worship, having spinelessly caved in to the popular Israelite vote; in comparison to all these the Son of God was supremely and superlatively faithful as a servant over God’s House, and never lost his temper like Moses who smote the Rock in anger twice.

He was faithful to Atone

Wrath was due to the church for the weight of adamic guilt and the breach of divine Law: He became the one who bore the sentence and condemnation we deserved, and exhausted the curse that was justly due to us, thus turning aside all the heat of the consuming fire of Yahweh’s holiness – His death, as an atoning sacrifice, is like a massive heat shield that deflects incandescent indignation from us. This was not atonement for one sin or annual crime or national guilt, but a once-for-all time, and once-for-all His own, eternal sacrifice of infinite worth to be applied efficaciously and individually for the salvation of His sheep. By predestination and design, for His Church, there is covering, cleansing and conformity to Christ through His flame-extinguishing death.

He was faithful to the Law

Never for a moment did his unspotted, perfect, obedience, hesitate or halt: from the heart, for the entirety of His life, His will and mind were aligned and allied sinlessly to God. Both tablets of the LORD, were harmoniously and persistently observed, even when facing the most extreme and difficult circumstances – from birth to death, our beloved High Priest was the delightful Son who served the pleasure, and received approval, of God His Heavenly Father.

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