7:20,21
The Law just said that the Levites were priests, no oath was given. Conversely, Psalm 110 says that “The Lord has sworn...” What is the difference? The oath means that God is personally committed to the declaration. The Melchizedek priesthood is the permanent plan, not the temporary staging post that was the Law. The priesthood of Jesus is the fulfilment of a promise.
7:22
People look to a priest to somehow validate them, to act as a mediator between them and God to cover up their sin. Jesus is the only one who can truly do this. He is our righteousness, He is the one who has justified us. He is the one who validates us, He is the guarantor of the new covenant, and God Himself has declared that Jesus is the “priest forever”.
7:23
There were numerous Levitical priests, even numerous high priests, because of the simple fact that they all died! Jesus died, only to rise again. He lives forever, He is a priest forever. We have no need to look for anyone else. Now we may think, well in my church we don’t have priests (in the formal sense), yet all of us can be prone to the same error. We can look to church leaders, or to great (or not so great!) preachers thinking that they will somehow bring us closer to God. Jesus is the only guarantor of the new covenant, the only guarantor of our relationship and acceptability to God.
7:24
The resurrection of Jesus is central to everything. It proves that His sacrifice was sufficient. It proves that He is the Son of God (Rom 1:4), it means He is alive today, seated at the right hand of the Father. It means His priesthood lasts forever, there is never any need for a replacement! Jesus’ priesthood is everlasting.
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