Jesus, Our New Testament High Priest

Devotional

Day 1: The Shadow and the Substance: How the Old Testament Points to Christ

The Old Testament wasn’t merely ancient history—it pulsed with prophetic fingerprints pointing to Jesus. Every sacrifice, feast, and law carried a coded message about the Messiah’s coming work. Like a silhouette cast before sunrise, these patterns prepared hearts to recognize Christ as the fulfillment. To dismiss the Old Testament is to ignore the foundation of redemption’s story. When we study it through the lens of Jesus, even the smallest details glow with divine intention. [05:09]

“So let no one judge you in food or in drink, or regarding a festival or a new moon or sabbaths, which are a shadow of things to come, but the substance is of Christ.” (Colossians 2:16–17, NKJV)

Reflection: What Old Testament story or practice have you previously overlooked that might reveal Jesus more clearly? How could studying it deepen your gratitude for His fulfillment?

Day 2: A Priest Forever: Jesus’ Eternal Ministry in Heaven’s Sanctuary

Jesus isn’t a retired Savior but an active High Priest in heaven’s throne room. Unlike earthly priests who died, His priesthood is unending—He lives to intercede, advocate, and dispense grace. His ministry isn’t confined to ancient rituals but operates in the “true tabernacle” where your prayers and offerings are presented before God. This changes everything: your needs aren’t filed away but actively tended by nail-scarred hands. [17:03]

“But He, because He continues forever, has an unchangeable priesthood. Therefore He is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.” (Hebrews 7:24–25, NKJV)

Reflection: What burden or need have you hesitated to bring to Jesus this week? How does His eternal priesthood assure you He’s still working on your behalf?

Day 3: Bread, Wine, and Tithes: The Covenant Exchange with Our High Priest

Melchizedek’s meeting with Abraham wasn’t a random event but a divine appointment modeling Christ’s priesthood. Bread and wine symbolized covenant sustenance; the tithe acknowledged heaven’s ownership. Jesus, our Melchizedek, still receives these offerings—not to burden us, but to release blessing. Tithing isn’t a tax but a declaration: “God alone funds my life.” When we give, we’re not impoverishing ourselves but aligning with a system older than Moses. [24:27]

“Then Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine; he was the priest of God Most High. And he blessed him and said: ‘Blessed be Abram of God Most High, Possessor of heaven and earth; and blessed be God Most High, who has delivered your enemies into your hand.’ And he gave him a tithe of all.” (Genesis 14:18–20, NKJV)

Reflection: What practical step could you take this week to view tithing not as a loss, but as partnering with your High Priest’s covenant promises?

Day 4: From Need to Abundance: How Heaven’s Economy Meets Earthly Reality

Financial pressure shouts, “There’s not enough,” but Jesus’ priesthood whispers, “My Father owns the cattle on a thousand hills.” The Philippians’ sacrificial giving triggered a promise: God would supply all needs—not just monetary, but relational, emotional, and spiritual. This isn’t prosperity theology; it’s priesthood reality. When we honor Christ as High Priest, we’re not bribing God but trusting the One who turned five loaves into a feast. [44:19]

“And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:19, NKJV)

Reflection: Which area of lack feels most overwhelming to you right now? How might shifting your focus from the need to the Provider change your posture in prayer?

Day 5: Breaking Debt’s Chains: Speaking to Mountains of Financial Burden

Debt thrives in silence and shame, but Jesus’ priesthood dismantles its power. Just as He commanded storms to cease, He authorizes believers to “speak to mountains” of financial oppression. This isn’t denial but defiance—declaring God’s faithfulness over compounding interest. Testimonies of ice on roads and money in windstorms remind us: our High Priest specializes in creative provision. Breakthrough begins when we stop calculating odds and start declaring promises. [01:06:16]

“‘Bring all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be food in My house, and try Me now in this,’ says the Lord of hosts, ‘if I will not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you such blessing that there will not be room enough to receive it.’” (Malachi 3:10, NKJV)

Reflection: What “mountain” of debt or lack have you resigned yourself to carrying? How can you actively release it to Jesus’ priesthood this week?

Sermon Summary

Paul insists that the things written before were written for New Testament believers’ learning, so the Old Testament is not replaced but completed in Christ. Hebrews then says the law was a shadow of good things to come while the substance is Christ, so animal blood could never cleanse but it pointed to the spotless Lamb who would. Jesus himself says Moses wrote about him, and on the Emmaus road he opens the Scriptures to show that all of it concerns him. Passover proves the point: a blemish-free lamb, killed on a set day, blood on doorways, deliverance at twilight. Every line whispers Jesus.

Hebrews names Jesus the High Priest of believers’ confession and repeats seven times that he is a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek. That matters because his priesthood is not Levitical. Melchizedek shows up for only three verses in Genesis, but his pattern is precise: he brings bread and wine, he blesses Abram, he blesses God Most High, and he receives a tithe of all. Jesus matches the first three without controversy. The rub is the fourth. Yet Hebrews does not downplay it. Instead it leans on it. “Here mortal men receive tithes, but there he receives them of whom it is witnessed that he lives.” Then comes the verdict that cuts through suspicion: “Beyond all contradiction, the lesser is blessed by the better.” The giver is not getting the short end. The better is blessing the lesser.

Hebrews calls this the main point. Jesus ministers in the true tabernacle that the Lord erected, not man, and “every high priest is appointed to offer both gifts and sacrifices; therefore it is necessary that this one also have something to offer.” Offerings on earth become offerings in heaven when the High Priest presents them before the Father. That is why Philippians calls gospel-gifts a sweet-smelling aroma, an acceptable sacrifice, well-pleasing to God. And on the back end stands a promise with a name on it: “My God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.” Not according to earthly scarcity, but according to his riches, and specifically by the ministry of the High Priest.

The call is simple but not cheap. Let Jesus be the High Priest in fact, not in theory. Honor him the way Abraham honored Melchizedek, in faith. Let the lesser be blessed by the better. Let the offering be placed in his hands so that heaven’s windows can be opened by his advocacy, and let the credit belong to God Most High, possessor of heaven and earth.

Key Takeaways

1. The Old points straight to Jesus [10:38] The law and the stories function as shadows that anticipate the real. Jesus says Moses wrote about him, and on the road to Emmaus he shows that all the Scriptures concern him. When the Old Testament is read that way, Passover, sacrifice, priesthood, and promise all line up with the Lamb who actually cleanses. The shadow is honored by letting the substance do its work. [10:38]
2. Jesus’ priesthood is Melchizedekian [18:37] Psalm 110 and Hebrews say it seven times for a reason. His priesthood is not Levitical, so the categories from Aaron do not control his ministry. Melchizedek’s brief appearance gives the template bread and wine, blessing, God-exalting speech, and receiving the tithe and Jesus fulfills that pattern forever. [18:37]
3. Tithing participates in his priesthood [31:59] Hebrews refuses to sidestep the fourth act. “Here mortal men receive tithes, but there he receives them,” and “the lesser is blessed by the better.” The act is not a loss but an alignment where the High Priest actively receives and the better blesses. It is an act of faith that puts the resource into the hands that open heaven. [31:59]
4. Offerings are presented in heaven [38:06] “The main point” is that Jesus ministers in the true tabernacle, and every high priest must have something to offer. Gifts on earth are not bare transactions they become priestly offerings when Jesus presents them. That is why motive matters and why Scripture calls them a sweet-smelling aroma, well-pleasing to God. [38:06]
5. God supplies all need by Christ Jesus [44:19] Philippians ties giving and receiving to a real promise, “all your need,” measured by his riches and delivered “by Christ Jesus.” Provision is not merely about relief it is about source. God wants the credit, like Abraham insisted, so that testimony breeds faith, not self-sufficiency. [44:19]

Youtube Chapters

[00:00] - Welcome
[00:22] - A function that brings blessing
[02:02] - Jesus our New Testament High Priest
[03:25] - Old Testament written for our learning
[05:09] - Shadows and Christ the Substance
[10:09] - Jesus in all the Scriptures
[11:48] - Passover paints the Lamb
[16:04] - A priest forever after Melchizedek
[21:41] - Melchizedek’s four actions
[27:00] - Hebrews 7 focuses on the tithe
[31:59] - Here men receive, there He receives
[35:56] - Main point: minister of the real tabernacle
[38:06] - It is necessary He offer
[40:19] - Giving and receiving, God supplies
[49:05] - Stories of supernatural provision

Bible Study Guide

Bible Reading
Genesis 14:18–20 (ESV)
And Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine. (He was priest of God Most High.) And he blessed him and said, “Blessed be Abram by God Most High, Possessor of heaven and earth; and blessed be God Most High, who has delivered your enemies into your hand!” And Abram gave him a tenth of everything.

Hebrews 7:1–8 (ESV)
For this Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of the Most High God, met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings and blessed him, and to him Abraham apportioned a tenth part of everything. He is first, by translation of his name, king of righteousness, and then he is also king of Salem, that is, king of peace. He is without father or mother or genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but resembling the Son of God he continues a priest forever. See how great this man was to whom Abraham the patriarch gave a tenth of the spoils! And those descendants of Levi who receive the priestly office have a commandment in the law to take tithes from the people, that is, from their brothers, though these also are descended from Abraham. But this man who does not have his descent from them received tithes from Abraham and blessed him who had the promises. It is beyond dispute that the inferior is blessed by the superior. In the one case tithes are received by mortal men, but in the other case, by one of whom it is testified that he lives.

Observation Questions

What four specific actions did Melchizedek perform in Genesis 14:18–20, and how do these connect to Jesus’ ministry?
According to Hebrews 7:7, why is the act of tithing to Melchizedek significant in understanding Jesus’ priesthood?
The sermon emphasized that Jesus’ priesthood is “not Levitical” but “Melchizedekian” [18:37]. How does Hebrews 7:3 clarify the uniqueness of Melchizedek’s priesthood compared to the Levitical system?

Interpretation Questions

Hebrews 7:8 states, “In the one case tithes are received by mortal men, but in the other case, by one of whom it is testified that he lives.” What does this contrast reveal about the eternal nature of Jesus’ priesthood?
The sermon stated, “The lesser is blessed by the better” [31:59]. How does this principle challenge common assumptions about giving to God as a “loss” rather than a pathway to blessing?
Why might the writer of Hebrews emphasize Melchizedek’s lack of genealogy (Hebrews 7:3) to explain Jesus’ eternal priesthood?

Application Questions

The sermon highlighted that tithing is an act of faith aligning us with Jesus’ priesthood [31:59]. What practical step could you take this week to honor Jesus as your High Priest in your stewardship?
Hebrews 7:25 says Jesus “always lives to intercede” for believers. How might this truth reshape how you approach prayer or challenges where you feel “stuck”?
The sermon shared testimonies of supernatural provision [49:05]. When have you experienced God’s faithfulness in unexpected ways, and how could sharing this story encourage others?
Abraham gave Melchizedek a tithe before receiving God’s promises (Genesis 14:20). What area of your life (finances, time, relationships) needs a “firstfruits” mindset of trust rather than waiting for guarantees?
The sermon warned against seeking solutions apart from God’s priesthood [01:02:02]. Where are you tempted to rely on worldly strategies over Jesus’ advocacy, and how can you shift that focus?

Sermon Clips

36s

#HeavenlyHighPriest

“The point is whatever we say about Melchizedek here, the writer of Hebrews is saying about Jesus. Here mortal men receive tithes. There's a there's a practical processing. But when you tithe there, he received them. He received them. Why? He's the high priest. He's our high priest. There's an active high priest in heaven who's accepting our gifts, our offerings here in the new covenant.”

39s

#BlessedByTheBetter

“Now why is he saying that? Because we think, yeah, in this exchange, you get 10% of my money. What do I get? You get the better end of the deal. And he says, beyond all contradiction, the lesser is blessed by the better. You end up more blessed. Is that right? Verse eight, here mortal men receive tithes, but there he receives them of whom it is witnessed that he lives.”

25s

#WholeBibleMatters

“See, many people in the body of Christ, they say, yeah, we don't need to study the Old Testament because that's not for us. That was for the Jewish people. The New Testament is for the Christians. That's a very simplistic, oversimplistic view. That's not actually true. The whole Bible is for us. The New Testament is a completion of the work that God began in the Old Testament. It's not a replacement, it's a completion.”

28s

#CovenantMealForeshadow

“The great king is Messiah, Jesus. And so, Melchizedek comes out king of Salem and notice he brought out bread and wine. Does that sound familiar to you? That's the covenant meal. That's the meal that Jesus brought out on the night he was arrested. The night before he died. And take it, this is my body which is broken for you. This is the cup of the new covenant which is shed for the forgiveness of sins. Right?”

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Jesus, Our New Testament High Priest | Jerry Dirmann