Hebrews 7:18-28

18 The former regulation is set aside because it was weak and useless 19 (for the law made nothing perfect), and a better hope is introduced, by which we draw near to God.
20 And it was not without an oath! Others became priests without any oath, 21 but he became a priest with an oath when God said to him:
“The Lord has sworn 
 and will not change his mind: 
 ‘You are a priest forever.’”
22 Because of this oath, Jesus has become the guarantor of a better covenant.
23 Now there have been many of those priests, since death prevented them from continuing in office; 24 but because Jesus lives forever, he has a permanent priesthood. 25 Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them.
26 Such a high priest truly meets our need—one who is holy, blameless, pure, set apart from sinners, exalted above the heavens. 27 Unlike the other high priests, he does not need to offer sacrifices day after day, first for his own sins, and then for the sins of the people. He sacrificed for their sins once for all when he offered himself. 28 For the law appoints as high priests men in all their weakness; but the oath, which came after the law, appointed the Son, who has been made perfect forever.

Questions to consider:

• In what way is the (a) hope and (b) covenant through Christ better than these things through the law?
• Determine the meaning of “covenant.”
• Summarize the characteristics of Jesus as high priest.
• What is the impact of these truths in your thinking? In your daily living?

Possibilities for prayer:

The idea of Jesus being able to “save completely” those who come to God through Him is an encouraging one--I really appreciate how Jesus is described as being always alive and able to intercede. Jesus is also very set-apart in this passage, as the distinction between Jesus as high priest and a human as high priest is made quite clear. Jesus’ sacrifice covers all sins for all time, which eradicates our need for a human priest to make sacrifices on our behalf (and our need to present those sacrifices to the priest). Let’s take some time to just bask in the generosity that Jesus’s sacrifice represents; and after that, thank God for it.