INTERCESSOR

Today’s verses are part of that section of this epistle which sets out the blessings of the High Priesthood of the Lord Jesus Christ on behalf of His people. We are reminded in verse 23 that under the old order, familiar and dear to the hearts of the people addressed, there had been many priests operating in succession. This was clearly necessary because the priests were themselves mortal men. They could not go on for ever; they died and were replaced by others. There was continuity of a kind but no consistency as inevitably each was different. So, when the priest changed, the worshippers had to accommodate a new man in their hearts, one whom they may not know personally and whose foibles they had to learn to live with.

However, the priesthood of the Lord was starkly different in that while He had died once at Calvary He would never die again. His priesthood is not passed on to others, indeed it is non- transferrable, it is inviolable - it is His priesthood rather than the priesthood. His priesthood is unchanging in Person, character and effect. It is also powerful as He is able to preserve throughout life, to completely save all those that have come to a knowledge of God through Him. How is He able to do this? He ever lives, and therefore is ever active to intercede on behalf of His people. The idea of the word ‘intercede’ is to meet with someone and to plead the cause, or petition on behalf of another. The Holy Spirit is such an Intercessor, Rom. 8. 26-27, and so also is Christ Himself, who, as Romans 8. 34 tells us, is seated at the right hand of God in the place of honour and influence. He is appropriately positioned and adequately equipped to intercede, or intervene, on our behalf. This He does.

His ministry of intercession is defensive, supportive and effective as He pleads our case before the face of His Father, based firmly upon the ground of His own completed and accepted sacrifice. It is of great comfort to His people to be aware of the fact that He is always acting on our behalf and will continue to do so all the days of our lives. Wherever we are or whatever our circumstances, in success and in failure, He is ever available to us and willing to intervene for our blessing.