This six-week series, True & Better, examines the theological idea that Jesus is true, better, and greater than specific figures and events in the Old Testament. Through looking at the comparisons between Jesus and Moses, David, Job, Melchizedek, and the tabernacle, we can understand the importance of such figures and how Jesus fulfills and is greater than those truths of the Old Testament.
The Old Testament was centered around a sacrificial system administered by priests. The high priest was essential for how the people related to God. Without a high priest, they would have no access to God. The author of Hebrews says that Jesus is the greatest high priest—more than any of the Aaronic line who were established by God to be the priest over Israel.
Throughout Hebrews there is a connection of Jesus to the first high priest, Melchizedek, “As he says also in another place, ‘You are a priest forever, after the order of Melchizedek.’ The writer is stressing that Jesus is like Melchizedek, who was before any of the law or priests from the line of Aaron. This is to stress that he isn’t just another prophet or administrator of rituals, but the ultimate, the greatest, the true High Priest to connect God to his people.