A Description of Jesus, the High Priest

Homily for Thursday of the Second Week in Ordinary Time

In the very first verses of today’s passage from the Letter to the Hebrews, the author uses a number of different adjectives and descriptive phrases to identify Jesus.

He is called holy, that is set apart from others. That which sets him apart is the fact that Jesus is faithful to his Father. The word is also used to describe various other people in the Scriptures who are also faithfully obedient to the Father.

He is called innocent in that he never hurt any other man or woman. The word innocent describes a person who is so cleansed of evil that there is nothing left but good.

He is called undefiled, a word which describes a person who is absolutely free from any blemishes which might make it impossible for him to draw near to God.

He is separated from sinners. This phrase means that, while he was human and underwent human temptations, he conquered those temptations without sin. This difference or distinction means that Jesus’ human nature was humanity at its best.

Finally, the author says that he was higher than the heavens. In this phrase, he is thinking of the exultation of Jesus. If his separation from sinners describes him as human nature at its best, the fact that he is higher than the heavens describes him as  divinity at its best.

These phrases or adjectives lead the author to the conclusion that he is also better than any other high priest because the priests that have gone before him had to offer sacrifice for their own sins before they could offer sacrifice for the sins of others. For this reason, the sacrifices of the former high priests had to be offered over and over again while the sacrifice of Jesus the high priest was offered once for all because he offered himself, the perfect sacrifice.

On the Day of Atonement, the high priest entered the holy of holies to sprinkle the blood of a goat on the Ark of the Covenant, also known as the mercy seat. This was done annually. However, Jesus has entered into the holiest of holies when he ascended into heaven; namely, the true tabernacle of the Lord.

Now, each time we celebrate the Eucharist and remember the sacrifice of Jesus, the true high priest, we also express our hope for the day on which Jesus returns from that tabernacle and brings with him our salvation.