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The imperfection of the Levitical priesthood and of the Mosaic system:
v. 11.If, therefore, perfection were by the Levitical priesthood, (for under it the people received the Law,) what further need was there that another priest should rise after the order of Melchizedek, and not be called after the order of Aaron?
v. 12. For the priesthood being changed, there is made of necessity a change also of the Law.
v. 13. For he of whom these things are spoken pertaineth to another tribe, of which no man gave attendance at the altar.
v. 14. For it is evident that our Lord sprang out of Juda; of which tribe Moses spake nothing concerning priesthood.
v. 15. And it is yet far more evident; for that after the similitude of Melchizedek there ariseth another priest,
v. 16. who is made, not after the law of a carnal commandment, but after the power of an endless life.
v. 17. For he testifieth, Thou art a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.
v. 18. For there is verily a disannulling of the commandment going before for the weakness and unprofitableness thereof.
v. 19. For the Law made nothing perfect, but the bringing in of a better hope did, by the which we draw nigh unto God.
Careful and tactful arguing was required at this point, lest the Jewish Christians be offended without need and the attempt to win them to a sound understanding of Christ's importance fail. But the arguments go forward with inexorable force: If, then, perfection were through the Levitical priesthood,—for upon it the people received the Law,—what further need would there have been that another priest should arise, and one not named after the order of Aaron? If the Levitical priesthood had actually been able to accomplish what many people insisted it could do, if men through its ministration could have been brought to that state in which they had been considered perfect by a just God, if forgiveness of sins, life, and salvation could have been imparted through the teaching of the Law and the offering of sacrifices, then it would have been foolish to have another priest come. It was true indeed that the children of Israel received their entire legislation on the basis of the Levitical priesthood. All the precepts of the Ceremonial Law, the entire administration of the theocratic form of government, was connected with the priestly service. And yet God ordained and appointed another Priest, who, strange to say, was not called after the order of Aaron, did not belong to the tribe of Levi, but arose after the order of Melchizedek. As the writer intimates, there must have been some important reason why God should make this provision, even during the age of prophecy. For the story of Melchizedek is recorded of a time more than four hundred years before the Law was given on Mount Sinai, and almost five hundred years after the journey through the wilderness David prophesied that another priest would arise after the order of Melchizedek, Psa_110:4.
There is another point to be considered in this connection: For if the priesthood is changed, there is of necessity a change also of the Law. By their acceptance of Jesus as the High Priest of the new dispensation, the Jewish Christians had openly acknowledged a change in the priesthood. It followed, then, that the Law which was bound up with the Old Testament priesthood was also changed or abrogated. This change was necessary, it followed as a logical result. The sacrificial offerings of the Old Testament could not, in themselves, reconcile God to man. Only He in whom all the types and prophecies of the Old Testament are fulfilled could bring about this perfect condition.
This enormous and epochal change was taking place in accordance with the prophecy of old: For He of whom this is said belongs to a different tribe, of which no one ever attended at the altar; for it is evident that out of Judah our Lord sprang, to which tribe Moses spoke nothing concerning priests. The word of David, Psa_110:4, was said with regard to Jesus, the true High Priest, in whom all the types of old are fulfilled. But the Messiah did not belong to the tribe of Levi; He did not belong to those to whom God had entrusted the ministry of the altar. He became rather, by His incarnation, a member of a different tribe, of the tribe of Judah, as was well known, Gen_49:8-10. This was the tribe and family from which the Savior, our great High Priest, sprang, a tribe to which Moses had said nothing about priests, giving them no intimation that any priest would ever be taken out of their midst. The fact, then, that Jesus has proved Himself to be the great High Priest, and has been accepted as such, shows that the Levitical priesthood and the entire Mosaic system have been abrogated.
That a change has been inaugurated and is in force follows from still another fact: And still more abundantly is it evident, if according to the likeness of Melchizedek another priest arises, who has become such not after the law of an ordinance of the flesh, but according to the power of an indissoluble life. By the prophecy of God a new and wonderful Priest was to make His appearance, who was to enter upon His office, not according to ordinances which concerned external, temporal matters, such as the pedigree and the physical condition of the body, Lev_21:16-23, but one according to the likeness of Melchizedek, of whom the same things might be said, who entered upon His office according to the power of the indissoluble, endless life, according to the singular power of the eternal and unchangeable divine life which was transmitted also to His human nature. Even death could not dissolve and take away the power of this divine life; for He conquered death and brought back eternal life out of death. That which enabled the Son of God to be Messianic King and High Priest of men is His rank as Son, but as the Son who truly took into His divine person the weakness of the human flesh and blood and became the Redeemer according to both natures. All this is included when God testifies, Thou art a Priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek. Incidentally the point is here emphasized that Christ's redeemership did not come to an end, but that it is perennially new and exists in full power for the comfort of all sinners.
Through this installation of Christ into His office the change referred to above has been brought about: For a disannulment took place of the previous commandment on account of its weakness and uselessness; for the Law perfected nothing, but the introduction of a better hope did, through which we draw near to God. By the incarnation of Christ in the fullness of time, by His entering upon the work of His office, especially as our great High Priest, the previous, the Old Testament commandment, which had established and upheld the Levitical priesthood, was abrogated and disannulled, being set aside in favor of, and superseded by, the order of salvation in which Jesus Christ is the center. This had to come about on account of weakness and uselessness of the Old Testament priesthood, which failed utterly in bringing men back into the right relation to God. The Law revealed the holy will of God; it taught ceremonies, rudiments; it hinted, it foreshadowed, it presented types; but it brought nothing to perfection, did not effect man's return into the fellowship of God. This was brought about only by the introduction of the better hope in Christ, of the powerful, comforting hope by which we draw near to God without the fear of eternal damnation, not with confidence in our own works and merits, but with a simple reliance in the perfect atonement and reconciliation gained for us by our great High Priest. There is no longer a need of a Levitical priesthood, of a Mosaic system, there is no need of depending upon an imperfect and useless system of outward forms and ceremonies; for in Christ and His work we have the hope of faith, which is sure to bring us into God's presence and fellowship.