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the people, to be His messenger, and to interpret His will. He was primarily a religious teacher.
The priest, on the other hand, was man’s representative with God. He had the special privilege
of approach to God, and of speaking and acting in behalf of the people. It is true that the priests
were also teachers during the old dispensation, but their teaching differed from that of the
prophets. While the latter emphasized the moral and spiritual duties, responsibilities, and
privileges, the former stressed the ritual observances involved in the proper approach to God.
3. THE FUNCTIONS OF THE PRIEST AS INDICATED IN SCRIPTURE.
The classical passage in which
the true characteristics of a priest are given and his work is partly designated, is Heb. 5:1. The
following elements are indicated here: (a) the priest is taken from among men to be their
representative; (b) he is appointed by God, cf. verse 4; (c) he is active in the interest of men in
things that pertain to God, that is, in religious things; (d) his special work is to offer gifts and
sacrifices for sins. But the work of the priest included even more than that. He also made
intercession for the people (Heb. 7:25), and blessed them in the name of God, Lev. 9:22.
4. SCRIPTURAL PROOF FOR THE PRIESTLY OFFICE OF CHRIST.
The Old Testament predicts and
prefigures the priesthood of the coming Redeemer. There are clear references to it in Ps. 110:4
and Zech. 6:13. Moreover, the Old Testament priesthood, and particularly the high priest,
clearly pre-figured a priestly Messiah. In the New Testament there is only a single book in which
He is called priest, namely, the Epistle to the Hebrews, but there the name is applied to Him
repeatedly, 3:1; 4:14; 5:5; 6:20; 7:26; 8:1. At the same time many other New Testament books
refer to the priestly work of Christ, as we shall see in the discussion of this subject.
B. THE SACRIFICIAL WORK OF CHRIST.
The priestly work of Christ was twofold according to Scripture. His foremost task was to offer an
all-sufficient sacrifice for the sin of the world. It belonged to the office of a priest that he should
offer gifts and sacrifices for sin.
1. THE SACRIFICIAL IDEA IN SCRIPTURE.
The sacrificial idea occupies a very important place in
Scripture. Various theories have been suggested as to the origin and development of this idea,
of which the following are the most important:
a. The gift-theory
, which holds that sacrifices were originally presents to the deity, given with
the intention of establishing good relations and of securing favors. This is based on an
extremely low conception of God, one that is altogether out of harmony with the Scriptural
representation of God. Moreover, it does not explain why the gift should always be brought in
the form of a slain animal. The Bible does speak of offering gifts to God (Heb. 5:1), but only as
expressions of gratitude and not for the purpose of courting the favor of God.