John Owen
Hebrews 7:26-28. For such an High Priest became us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens. Who needeth not daily, as those high priests, to offer up sacrifice, first for his own sins, and then for the people’s: for this He did once, when He offered up Himself. For the law maketh men high priests which have infirmity; but the word of the oath, which was since the law, maketh the Son; who is consecrated for evermore.
For such an High Priest became us. Respect may be had here to the wisdom of God, also to our state and condition. Such an High Priest was suitable for God to give, and it was needful that we should have such an High Priest. We stand in need of just such an High Priest who could:
(1) Make atonement for our sins; (2) Purge our consciences from dead works, or sanctify us throughout by blood; (3) Procure assistance with God for us; (4) Administer supplies of the Spirit of grace unto us, to enable us to live unto God in all duties of faith, worship and obedience; (5) Give us assistance and consolation in our trials, temptations and sufferings, with pity
1Here are the exposition of, and observations on, Hebrews 7:26-28, taken with editing from “An Abridgement”, by M J Tryon, of Owen’s Exposition of the Epistle to the Hebrews.
and compassion; (6) Preserve us by power from all ruining sins and dangers; (7) Be in a continual readiness to receive us in all our prayers to Him; (8) Bestow upon us the reward of eternal life.
Unless we have a High Priest that can do all these things for us, we cannot be saved “to the uttermost”. Such an High Priest we stood in need of, and such a one it became the wisdom and grace of God to give unto us.
Who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners. “Holy”; by this word is intended the holy purity of the nature of Christ. Hence, as He was conceived in the womb and came forth from the womb, He was that “Holy Thing” of God. Unholy sinners do stand in need of a holy Priest and a holy sacrifice. What we have not in ourselves we must have in Him, or we shall not be accepted with the holy God, who is of purer eyes than to behold iniquity. “Harmless;” without evil, free from all guile, fraud, or sin; as Peter saith, “Who did no sin, neither was guile found in His mouth.” “Holy” is with respect unto His nature; “harmless” respects His life. “Undefiled.” “Harmless” signifies, He did no evil; “undefiled” that He contracted no evil from any source whatever; there was no blemish to be found in Him.
“Separate from sinners,” namely, in sin, in its nature, causes and effects. Whatever of that sort He underwent was upon our account, and not upon His own. He was in every way, in the perfect holiness of His life and nature, distinguished from all sinners, not only from the greatest, but from those who were the most holy.
And made higher than the heavens. He was, for a season, “made lower than the angels”, to discharge the principal part of His priestly office, namely, the offering Himself for a sacrifice unto God. But He could not discharge the whole of His priesthood till He was made higher than the heavens; for He was to live for ever to make intercession. He is no longer on the earth, but exalted to a throne of majesty above the heavens. So it is said, He “passed into the heavens” when He went into the presence of God; also “the heaven must receive [Him] until the times of restitution of all things”. He is in a state of glory at the right hand of the Majesty on high; He is therefore higher than the holy inhabitants of those heavenly places.
Observations: (1.) If “such an High Priest became us”, then all persons, Christ alone excepted, are absolutely excluded from all interest in the priesthood. (2.) If we consider aright what we stand in need of, and what God has provided for us in order that we may be brought unto Him in His glory, we shall find it our wisdom to forego all other expectations and to betake ourselves to Christ alone.
He needeth not daily. It is not necessary for Him to do as these priests did. It was necessary for them to sacrifice daily, for God had appointed it.
And, by the constant daily sacrificing, He taught the Church the utter incapacity of that priesthood to effect the work committed unto them by one sacrifice; so they were to multiply their sacrifices. The nature of those sacrifices made their repetition necessary; they never took away sin; they only represented what could do so. And the state of the priests themselves – they were sinners – rendered it necessary to repeat the sacrifices day after day.
From all such considerations our High Priest was absolutely exempted, (1) on the ground of His Person: “holy, harmless, undefiled, and separate from sinners”; (2) on the ground of His one offering, which, being perfectly able to take away the sins of the people, did not need to be repeated. And on these grounds God appointed that He should offer Himself only “once for all”.
As those high priests. There is a threefold difference intimated between our High Priest and the Aaronic priests: (1.) In the frequency of their offerings – they were to offer “daily”, whereas He offered “once”. (2.) They offered sacrifices appointed by the law, which were of brute creatures only, whence their insufficiency and frequent repetitions (Heb 10:1-3), whereas He offered up Himself. (3.) They offered for their own sins, but He had none of His own to offer for.
To offer up sacrifice, first for his own sins, and then for the people’s. This includes all sacrifices, and in particular the great anniversary sacrifice on the Day of atonement, when the high priest offered up “first” a sin offering for himself and his house, and “then” for the people, both on the same day. He did this for “his own sins”, for he was really a sinner, as the rest of the people; also when atonement had been first made for his own sins, he was the more suitable to represent Him that had no sin. Therefore he was not to offer for himself in the offering he made for the people – that is, for the sins of the whole congregation of Israel.
For this He did once when He offered up Himself. Christ did offer Himself once for the sins of the people. For Himself He did not make an offering. He did this “once only”; this is directly opposed to the frequency of the legal sacrifices, which were repeated “daily”.
Observations: 1. No sinful man was meet to offer the great expiatory sacrifice for the Church; much less is any sinful man fit to offer Christ. For a poor, sinful worm of the earth to interpose himself between God and Christ, and offer the one in sacrifice to the other, what an issue it is of pride and folly!
- No sacrifice could bring us unto God, and save the Church to the uttermost, but that wherein the Son of God Himself was both Priest and offering. Such a High Priest became us, who offered Himself. We may consider this as one of the greatest effects of divine wisdom and grace.
For the law maketh men high priests. He grants unto the Hebrews that
the high priests were called and appointed by God unto their office, but he contends that it was designed by God that there should come a time when they would be removed, and a Priest of another order introduced in their place. He proves this by very cogent arguments, as:
(1.) Before the erection of the Levitical priesthood, there was another priest of the most high God, who was far more excellent than those priests, yes, than Abraham himself. (2.) After giving the law and setting up the Levitical priesthood, God promises to raise up another Priest in another kind, after another order, after the manner of Melchisedec, who was called into that office long before the giving of the law. (3.) This promised Priest could not be of the same stock, nature, or order as the Levitical priests, but one that was not only distinct from them, but really inconsistent with them. (4.) Under the Levitical priesthood there was no perfection; there were so many defects and weaknesses as rendered them wholly unable to attain so great an end.
On the other hand, he proves that by this one single High Priest now introduced, and His one sacrifice offered once for all, the blessed end of perfection was completely accomplished. God appointed those priests in and by the law, but this High Priest was consecrated by “the word of the oath”.
Which have infirmity. They were men, mere men – nothing more. In opposition to this, the “word of the oath” made the Son a High Priest, that Son who is Lord over the whole house. The priests had “infirmity” – they were subject to infirmities, moral and natural. They had sins to make atonement for, and the issue of their natural weakness was death itself.
But the word of the oath, which was since the law, maketh the Son, who is consecrated for evermore. That which the Apostle intends by His being consecrated for evermore is His absolute freedom from the infirmities that the Levitical priests were the subjects of. He had no sins to offer for, and He abideth for ever. Being exalted to heaven, He is freed from those infirmities which were necessary to Him, so that He might be a sacrifice.
Observations: (1.) There never was, and never can be, any more than two sorts of priests in the Church: the one made by the law, the other by the oath of God. (2.) As the bringing in of the priesthood of Christ after the law, and the priesthood constituted thereby, did abrogate and disannul it, so the bringing in of another priesthood, after His, will abrogate and disannul that also. (3.) Plurality of priests under the gospel overthrows the whole argument of the Apostle in this place; and if we yet have priests that have infirmities, they are made by the law and not by the gospel. (4.) The great foundation of our faith, and the hinge on which all our consolation depends, is this, that our High Priest is the Son of God. (5.) The everlasting continuing of the Lord Christ in His office is secured by the oath of God.