Jesus’ Legal Work as Your High Priest
Without a doubt one of the most important roles of Rabbi Jesus, after His resurrection and ascension, is the work of a high priest. Rabbi Jesus currently functions in the heavenly realm as our faithful and merciful High Priest.
Hebrews 5:1-6 makes it clear that every high priest is taken from among men and are appointed to represent people in things pertaining to God. This is a classic definition of the work and role of a high priest. This fact alone adds tremendous weight to Rabbi Jesus’ position as our faithful Advocate in the Courts of Heaven. It is important to remember that the work of a high priest is very much judicial in nature. This means that Rabbi Jesus’ role as the High Priest passes through the Courts of Heaven.
One of the reasons high priests were always chosen from among men was to give them the capacity for empathy or compassion for those who are going astray and those who are just ignorant of spiritual things. One of the assignments of a high priest was to ascertain what kind of sacrifice was required to atone for sin. In Rabbi Jesus’ case, He concluded that the only sacrifice that can pay for the penalty our sin is the sacrifice of His own life. The fact that Rabbi Jesus was willing to die on the cross in our place makes Him one of the most important allies we could ever have in the Courts of Heaven as our loyal advocate. The writer of the book of Hebrews makes it abundantly clear that Rabbi Jesus is the Priest of a higher priestly order, that of Melchizedek, which is far superior to the Levitical priesthood that the Jewish people were used to.
A Merciful and Faithful High Priest
Inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, He Himself likewise shared in the same, that through death He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, and release those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage. For indeed He does not give aid to angels, but He does give aid to the seed of Abraham. Therefore, in all things He had to be made like His brethren, that He might be a merciful and faithful High Priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. For in that He Himself has suffered, being tempted, He is able to aid those who are tempted (Hebrews 2:14-18 NKJV).
One of the powerful things the writer of Hebrews says about the priestly ministry of Rabbi Jesus that greatly impacts our disposition in life and in the Courts of Heaven is found in Hebrews 2:14-18. Rabbi Jesus could have identified with the angels who fell from Heaven, but He chose to be identified with the descendants of Adam and Eve. Inasmuch as these descendants have partaken of flesh and blood, Rabbi Jesus joined us in our humanity through the blessed incarnation. According to Hebrews 2:14-18, one of the reasons Rabbi Jesus suited up in our flesh bodies of dirt was so that He could have legal authority on earth to destroy the power of death and him (satan) who produced it.
This is the reason we can cancel and nullify the spirit of premature death when it tries to take us out before our appointed time. We can petition the Courts of Heaven to annihilate and revoke every legal right that our ances- tors gave to the spirit of death to kill us before our appointed time of destiny. This is because in dying, after having identified with our humanity, Rabbi Jesus gave us the legal right to resist the spirit of death.
Several times I have challenged and reversed the spirit of premature death that was trying to take out people I know or followers of my ministry, because I knew how to revoke the legal rights of this spirit of death in the Courts of Heaven. I know what Jesus did and accomplished in His dying. In His resurrection, Rabbi Jesus was announcing the fact that the spirit of death had no dominion over His body.
The writer of Hebrews now tells us that because Rabbi Jesus became like us in all things and in all points, God was setting Him up to be an empathetic and merciful High Priest because He’s not a stranger to human temptation and frailty. For the first time ever, God could feel hungry in Christ Jesus. God could get tired in the body of Jesus. God could get physically attacked in the body of Jesus. In His divinity before the immaculate conception, these human constructs did not apply to Messiah.
Paul says it this way, “For in that He Himself has suffered, being tempted, He is able to aid those who are tempted” (Hebrews 2:18 NKJV). As a human, Rabbi Jesus, though He was God incarnate, experienced suffering in His human body. He suffered the constant abuse of the Pharisees and Sadducees. He suffered the human idiosyncrasies of His own disciples. He was also tempted, according to Scripture, in every way. None of us can even imagine what this feels like or is like. Consider that no human being on earth can be tempted as Jesus was. First, none of us can take it. Second, not every human being is tempted by the same sin. However, to be the Savior of the world, Rabbi Jesus had to be tempted in every way and yet He remained without sin, till the day He was crucified on the cross! Wow, what a Man to have defending us—our royal Advocate in the Courts of Heaven according to 1 John 2:2.
The Grace Court
Seeing then that we have a great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need (Hebrews 4:14-16 NKJV).
In the world’s judicial systems, there are many different categories of courts. A few examples are civil, criminal, and family courts; and in the United States, there is also the Supreme Court. Everything on earth is fashioned after the governmental pattern of Heaven. Like the earth below, the spiritual realm has different courts of law. As you have seen, one of them is the Ancient of Days court, and another is called the grace court. Hebrews 4:16 declares, “Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”
The Greek word for throne in this verse is thronos, which means a “seat” used by kings or judges that is “equivalent to a tribunal or bench.” The throne in Hebrews 4 is not just a chair that God sits on, it is the bench from which the Judge of all the earth releases justice and mercy for His people through His glorious grace!
The grace court is one of the most important courtrooms in Heaven when it comes to defeating idols and evil altars. Why? The number-one accusation satan brings against you in the Courts of Heaven is your law- breaking. The top two commandments of the Lord are: “Thou shall have no idols before Me nor make for yourself any graven images.” Idolatry is the breaking of God’s laws. Fortunately, the Lord, through the power of His grace, has made it possible for you to overcome all of the devil’s indictments. The apostle Paul explains how in this powerful verse:
I do not ignore or nullify the [gracious gift of the] grace of God [His amazing, unmerited favor], for if righteousness comes through [observing] the Law, then Christ died needlessly. [His suffering and death would have had no purpose whatsoever] (Galatians 2:21 AMP).
The Bible says it’s impossible to keep the whole law (James 2:10). That’s why Jesus, the only sinless Person in the history of the earth, fulfilled the righteous requirements of the law for you and me on the cross (Romans 8:4). Grace is the power that imparts this truth to you so that you can be justified, made righteous, and acquitted of every charge the enemy brings against you of your lawbreaking. That’s why you must do as Paul wrote—never ignore, set aside, invalidate, frustrate, or nullify God’s grace in your life. You need grace because it imparts Christ’s righteousness to you. If you think you can walk perfectly before God without breaking His commandments, you are mistaken. Believing so would say that you didn’t need Jesus to die for you and that He was crucified in vain.10
A High Priest in the Order of Melchizedek
This hope [this confident assurance] we have as an anchor of the soul [it cannot slip and it cannot break down under whatever pressure bears upon it]—a safe and steadfast hope that enters within the veil [of the heavenly temple, that most Holy Place in which the very presence of God dwells], where Jesus has entered [in advance] as a forerunner for us, having become a High Priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek (Hebrews 6:19-20 AMP).
This passage of Scripture in Hebrews 6:19-20 makes it clear that Rabbi Jesus, after His glorious ascension into Heaven, has entered in advance as a “forerunner” for all of us behind the veil. The million-dollar question: “What is behind the veil?” This Scripture makes it clear that Rabbi Jesus in His ascension has entered the heavenly temple not made with human hands, the most Holy Place where the presence of God dwells and abides.
The apostle Paul makes the claim that this forerunner position that Rabbi Jesus has secured in the Kingdom of Heaven is a sure “anchor of the soul.” Our soul consists of our will, mind, and emotions, because it is the true seat of self. This means that if we get the revelation that here on earth and in heaven itself we are identified by God as being members of the same priestly order, the order of Melchizedek that Jesus Christ is the head of, we can access all the secrets of God’s presence in real time!
Instead of letting satan get the best of us, we will be constantly intercepted by the voice of God. Since I’m very much aware that under the New Covenant I am operating “in Christ” who is already exalted in the heavens and operates behind the veil where the Prince of God is, I’ve been able to get precise intelligence from the Holy Spirit about where satan’s accusations are coming from or what is giving him legal rights against me or people I’m praying for. This is a very powerful place to be, standing in the presence of God and hearing His voice in real time. How can we lose a case against the enemy in the Courts of Heaven when we are directly tied up to the very presence of the living God? It is not possible!
The Scales of Righteousness and Peace
For this Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of the Most High God, met Abraham as he returned from the slaughter of the kings and blessed him, and Abraham gave him a tenth of all [the spoil]. He is, first of all, by the translation of his name, king of righteousness, and then he is also king of Salem, which means king of peace (Hebrews 7:1-2 AMP).
Under the order of Melchizedek there are two critical scales of justice. These two critical scales of justice are hidden in the nomenclature of the name Melchizedek. In the Hebrew language, the name Melchizedek is made up of two words that compound into one. Melek which means king, and Zedek which means righteousness. Furthermore, the Melchizedek who intercepted Abraham in the Valley of Kings (Genesis 14) was also known as MelchiSalem, which is translated “King of peace.” Under the order of Melchizedek, when we’re standing in the Courts of Heaven to make a petition, it’s the job of the Holy Spirit to remind us of our position of righteousness in Christ Jesus. This is our first line of defense.
Since none of us are righteous or able to deliver ourselves through our own efforts, our imputed righteousness in Christ Jesus becomes a powerful inflection point for diffusing all the accusations of the enemy against us. However, this is not the only scale of justice that the Lord uses to make sure that we are still in the faith and are following the leading of the Holy Spirit.
One of the critical scales of justice that the Holy Spirit loves to use to let us know whether we have confidence toward God or whether our own heart is condemning us is peace! If there are areas in our lives that we have not brought under the lordship of Jesus Christ, perhaps the reason we don’t have peace is because something is out of divine alignment, and we have not sought the face of the Lord to find out what is out of divine order.
It’s difficult to present our case boldly and faithfully against satan in the Courts of Heaven when our heart is condemning us. Lack of peace in our soul is always a good indicator that something is spiritually wrong. As a rule, I remain prayerful when I’m restless until the Lord shows me why I don’t have peace, or shalom in Hebrew, in any particular course of action. The lack of peace may be pointing to the very thing satan is using to level accusations against me or what is giving any kind of legal ground against me in the Courts of Heaven.