We all have things that we need to get rid of – depression, anxiety, that first or last 10 ibs, debt, bad habits, etc. What about you? What do you need to get rid of? Today we’re going to discuss why it’s so important to get rid of your priests. I know this may not make sense at this point. Just hold on, by the end of this you’ll be getting rid of priests faster than you say your bedtime prayers.

WHY YOUR PRIESTS NEED TO GO
Today we will be looking at Hebrews 5 – 7. In this section of Hebrews the author continues to build a case that a relationship with Jesus is superior to the Jewish Levitical System. We’ll look at this section of scripture through three different lenses.

Historical
The Levitical Law established a system for the Jewish people to obey. As long as they obeyed this law they were aligning themselves with God and ensuring His continued blessings. The priest played a pivotal role in the Jewish people’s ability to stay connected to God. Ultimately the priest served as a mediator between God and His chosen people. (Read Hebrews 5:1-4)

Spiritual
Spiritually, the people knew they needed a way (preist/mediator) to get to God and ensure His favor. During this time in history, having a personal relationship with God was unheard of. Hebrews 7:11-28 builds the case for Christ being the perfect mediator between God and man. Not only did Jesus bridge the gap between God and man, he created an opportunity for people to have deep, personal, and intimate relationship with God. God was no longer just Yahweh He was Daddy. Hebrews 7:23-25 abolished the existing system and replaced it with Jesus. Spirituality moved from behavior modification (The Levitical Law) to a relationship established, held together, and propelled forward through mutual love (Relationship with Jesus).

Theoretical
When we take the historical and the spiritual perspectives above we can make some inferences. 1) The Jewish people needed a priest/mediator to get to God. 2) Jesus is the only mediator that restores their relationship with God. 3) We have theoretical priests/mediators in our lives that we think make us right with God. 4) Jesus is the only mediator that restores our relationship with God.

Let me take a few minutes to explain number 3. We use service, behavior modification, spiritual leaders, our own made up thinking, traditions, and cultural norms as our proverbial priests. These things serve as so-called mediators between God and man.

• Service – “look at how much I’ve given, I’m sure my sacrifices have pleased God
• Behavior Modification – “The better I am the closer to heaven I am.”
• Spiritual Leaders – “I don’t read my Bible and pray, but my spiritual leader teaches me how to get to God.”
• Our own made up thinking – “I think God made me this way. If I stay true to myself, my thinking, and stay consistent I’ll be ok in the end.”
• Tradition – “This is the way my family, church, and/or community has always done it. Why change?”
• Cultural Norms – “My country claims to be a nation that seeks God, so I’ll seek God the way that I see people on the news, TV, in political roles, etc. seek God and I’ll be fine.

The truth is that Jesus is the way, truth, and life. No one can come to the Father unless it is through Him. In Hebrews 7:26 Jesus is described as holy, innocent, unstained, separated from sinners, and exalted above the heavens. No matter what proverbial priests you have in your life, He alone restores your relationship with God. Nothing you can “do” will ever compare to what Jesus continually does to ensure you can know God and be known by Him.

How to Get Rid of Your Priests
Hebrews 5:14 reminds the reader that maturity comes from constant practice. Here is how you continually practice getting rid of your proverbial priests and replace them with Jesus, the everlasting priest/mediator.

• Recognize 
  Recognize the truths of scripture and believe they point to a better way.
• Respond 
  Respond to these truths by ridding yourself of anything that competes with Jesus for your hearts affections and minds attentions.
• Revisit
  Continue to revisit what holds your hearts affections and minds attentions. The more we realize our needs the more we need Jesus.