“A Son … Perfect Forever”
“A SON … PERFECT FOREVER”
HEBREWS 7:26-28
These verses show how costly it was for Jesus to secure our salvation.
This part of the argument is rounded off with a little summary drawing attention to the principal points brought out by the Melchizedek concept of priesthood. There are three sections.
In the first it is the personal qualities of Jesus that are emphasized. There is a sequence of thought here which is worth noticing. Jesus is “holy,” a positive word denoting the ethical perfection associated with God, which is further described with two negative terms, “blameless” and “unstained.” Then “separated from sinners” is explained as “exalted above the heavens.” The author has been at pains to show that Jesus came right where we sinners are and took upon himself the weakness of our mortal nature. But he offered one perfect sacrifice to deal with our sins and now he is “separated” from all that that involves. It is a favorite thought in this letter that sin has been dealt with once and for all.
The thought moves on to the sacrifice Christ offered. There is a small problem about the daily offering of sacrifices attributed to the Aaronic high priests (7:27), for the principal sacrifice which the high priest (in distinction from other priests) offered was the Day of Atonement sacrifice. This was an annual not a daily offering, and the author discusses this principally. But there was a daily need for cleansing, and there were daily sacrifices. The high priest, of course, might offer these. The expression therefore fits in with the office as understood at the time. In any case the contrast is between the repeated offerings under the Aaronic system (daily or yearly, the principle is the same) and the offering of Christ “once for all.” There is a perfection in his offering that is lacking in theirs.
Finally, there is a contrast between the high priests in their weakness and the Son “made perfect forever” (7:28). We have before had references both to the Law (7:12) and to the oath (7:20). Now we read that the oath “came later than the law,” which means that it was the definitive thing, replacing what went before it. There is also contrast between the weak nature of the priests (they were no more than sinful men) and the Son. His relationship to God was very different from theirs, and this is driven home with the “made perfect forever.” He has suffered for sin and in this way accomplished what is permanent in its effects.