²³ The former priests, on the one hand, existed in greater numbers because they were prevented by death from continuing,

So much space is given to the comparison between Jesus and the Levitical priesthood because of the background of the original intended audience. This is because the communication of God has always been given for a specific purpose within a specific context. Theology is never divorced from real life. There is no such thing as “virtual theology,” the way some might talk of “virtual reality.” All of doctrine is real and “down to earth,” so to speak. It is about real tangible life, whether spiritual or physical. In fact, those who study religion as an intellectual pursuit refer to Christianity as an earthy religion, as opposed to Hinduism or others that treat the physical or earthy existence as secondary or unimportant to the Ultimate Reality or Absolute Truth.

Jesus came into the physical world of humans, into a specific culture and a specific people. So when I see so much being written about Christ’s comparison with the “former priests,” I am not put off by it as though it were irrelevant to me. Rather, I am encouraged to know that the truth of Christ can relate to my background and experiences. It is not only the religion of the Jews that is inadequate but also any other religious efforts that may form my culture and background. This relates to any religious efforts involving clergy or monks or ritualistic sacrifices enacted weekly in the form of church services.

For the Jews, the priesthood of the Old Testament was very limited by the fact that there were innumerable priests who all died. Their tenure in office was extremely limited. The value was temporary at best. The difficulty with this is that our problem of sin requires an eternal solution, not just a limited one. In the end, they were no different than we are. Death had the last word for them. How could they possibly provide us with what we need beyond the grave?

We belong to God, having been created in His image. “God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them” (Gen 1:27). The prophet wrote, “Behold, all souls are Mine; the soul of the father as well as the soul of the son is Mine. The soul who sins will die” (Eze 18:4). The earthly priesthood was simply not adequate to deal with the sin of God’s image bearers. The sin-gap was too incredibly enormous to be traversed by one who had the same sin problem. If one could not do it, neither could “greater numbers.” It is not a problem of quantity, but of quality. The quality required is Jesus.

Lord Jesus, I praise You with unending amazement that though You died, death could not hold You. You had victory over death and over my sin!