Heb.7:11-14 – Therefore, if perfection were through the Levitical priesthood (for under it the people received the law), what further need was there that another priest should rise according to the order of Melchizedek, and not be called according to the order of Aaron? For the priesthood being changed, of necessity there is also a change of the law. For He of whom these things are spoken belongs to another tribe, from which no man has officiated at the altar.
For it is evident that our Lord arose from Judah, of which tribe Moses spoke nothing concerning priesthood.
The law of Moses was closely connected to the levitical priesthood. The priests work of offering sacrifices to the Lord was central to the Old Testament law and permeated the life of the Hebrew population. There was no way that one could imagine worship that was not involving the levitical priests and all of the practices involved with their way of worship. What they couldn’t see was that all of the Old Testament sacrifices and requirements were intended to be signposts pointing to their fulfillment in Christ. When Christ cried out “It is finished” on the cross He was declaring that the law had been fulfilled through His suffering and death.
Jesus came to introduce a new and better covenant based on better promises than the law of Moses.
First, He offered His own blood as a offering for our sins which would cleanse all of our sin once and for all. The thousands of animal sacrifices that had been offered over the years could not take away our sin, they only pointed to the precious blood of Jesus that would cleanse us once and for all.
Secondly Jesus would become our High Priest after the order of Melchezidek. The significance of this is breathtaking. The Old Testament priests were mortal, in other words they would die like the rest of us. These priests were also imperfect, they needed to offer sacrifices to cover their own sin. Jesus instituted a better priesthood because He is immortal as well as sinless. He is the only man to live without sin and He became a spotless offering to cleanse us of all of our sin. He is also without beginning or ending. He is a priest forever seated at the right hand of God serving as our Heavenly High Priest.
Hebrews is teaching us these powerful two lessons about the Old Testament and its sacrificial system and the levitical priesthood. Christ’s death is the fulfillment of every sacrifice that was offered throughout the centuries. His eternal priesthood is superior to the levitical priests because He is eternal and without sin.