Snapshot

The Great High Priest is the book of Hebrews’ magnificent title for Jesus — the one who, having offered himself as the perfect sacrifice, now represents his people before God, sympathizes with their weakness, and lives forever to intercede for them. “Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession” (Heb. 4:14). Where the priests of old were many, mortal, and sinful, offering repeated sacrifices, Jesus is one, eternal, sinless, and offers a single, finished sacrifice. He is both the priest who offers and the offering itself.

The Original Language

The Greek is ἀρχιερεὺς μέγας (archiereus megas), “great high priest” (Heb. 4:14). Archiereus is “high priest, chief priest” (archē, “chief” + hiereus, “priest”); megas is “great.” A priest (Hebrew kohen) is one who mediates between God and people — representing the people to God (offering sacrifices and prayers) and God to the people (blessing, teaching). The high priest (Hebrew kohen gadol) was the chief mediator, who alone entered the Most Holy Place once a year on the Day of Atonement (Lev. 16). Hebrews also develops Christ’s priesthood as being “after the order of Melchizedek” (Heb. 5:6, 10; 7, citing Ps. 110:4) — a priesthood not based on Levitical descent but on “the power of an indestructible life” (Heb. 7:16), older and greater than Aaron’s.

The Name in Its Context

Hebrews unfolds the title across several chapters. The foundational summons:

“Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” (Heb. 4:14–16)

The qualifications and superiority of this priest are then developed: he is appointed by God and shares our humanity (Heb. 5:1–10); he is a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek, superior to the Levitical line (Heb. 7); he ministers in the true, heavenly sanctuary, not its earthly copy (Heb. 8–9); and he offers himself once for all, the single sacrifice that perfects forever those who are sanctified (Heb. 9–10). “He holds his priesthood permanently… Consequently, he is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them” (Heb. 7:24–25).

Where It Appears in Scripture

The doctrine is concentrated in Hebrews 4–10, but its roots are deep in the Old Testament. The Levitical priesthood (Ex. 28–29; Lev. 8–9) and especially the Day of Atonement (Lev. 16), when the high priest entered the Most Holy Place with blood, form the type. Melchizedek, priest-king of Salem (Gen. 14:18–20; cf. El Elyon), and Psalm 110:4 (“You are a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek”) supply the pattern Hebrews expounds. Christ’s priestly intercession appears across the New Testament: “Christ Jesus is the one who died — more than that, who was raised — who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us” (Rom. 8:34); “he is able to save to the uttermost… since he always lives to make intercession” (Heb. 7:25); “we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous” (1 John 2:1). His high-priestly prayer is recorded in John 17.

What This Name Reveals

“The Great High Priest” reveals Christ’s work of mediation — he stands between holy God and sinful people, bringing them together. It reveals his finished sacrifice: unlike the priests who stood daily offering repeated sacrifices that could never take away sins, “when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God” (Heb. 10:11–12) — the sitting down signals the work is done. It reveals his ongoing intercession: he “always lives to make intercession” (Heb. 7:25), continually applying his finished work and pleading our cause before the Father. It reveals his sympathy: having shared our humanity and been tempted in every way yet without sin, he understands our weakness from the inside and is gentle with us (Heb. 4:15; 2:18). And it reveals our confident access: through him we may “draw near to the throne of grace” (Heb. 4:16) — the torn veil giving way to bold approach. He is the priest who is also the sacrifice, the mediator who is also God, the one who saves “to the uttermost.”

Seen and Fulfilled in Christ

This is itself a title of Christ; here we trace its Old Testament roots and fulfillment. The entire Levitical system — priests, sacrifices, tabernacle, the Day of Atonement — was “a copy and shadow of the heavenly things” (Heb. 8:5), pointing forward to Christ. Its very limitations preached the need for him: the priests died (so the work was never finished), they were sinners (who had to sacrifice for themselves first, Heb. 5:3), and the sacrifices were repeated endlessly (proving they could not truly cleanse, Heb. 10:1–4). Jesus fulfills and surpasses every shadow. He is sinless, so he needs no sacrifice for himself and can offer a spotless one for us (Heb. 7:26–27). He lives forever, so his priesthood never lapses (Heb. 7:24). He offers not the blood of bulls and goats but his own blood, “thus securing an eternal redemption” (Heb. 9:12). He enters not an earthly sanctuary but heaven itself, “to appear in the presence of God on our behalf” (Heb. 9:24). And he fulfills the Melchizedek pattern — a priest-king, uniting in himself the offices that were separate in Israel (cf. El Elyon, ; Christ). The Day of Atonement, when the high priest entered the Most Holy Place once a year, finds its reality in Christ entering heaven once for all. He is both the great High Priest and the Lamb — offering and offered in one.

A Reformed Reflection

“The Great High Priest” is central to the Reformed doctrine of Christ’s priestly office (one of the three offices). The Westminster Shorter Catechism: “Christ executeth the office of a priest, in his once offering up of himself a sacrifice to satisfy divine justice, and reconcile us to God; and in making continual intercession for us” (WSC Q. 25). Two acts, then: the once-for-all satisfaction (his atoning death) and the perpetual intercession (his heavenly advocacy). This guards the gospel: the sacrifice is finished (against any notion of a repeated offering), and the intercession is unceasing (grounding the believer’s perseverance and assurance). Reformed theology also stresses the sufficiency and exclusivity of Christ’s priesthood — there is one mediator (1 Tim. 2:5), so the believer needs no other priest, no human go-between, but comes to God directly through Christ (the ground of the “priesthood of all believers,” 1 Pet. 2:9). His intercession secures that “he is able to save to the uttermost” (Heb. 7:25) — completely and forever — and that, when we sin, “we have an advocate with the Father” (1 John 2:1). The torn veil means bold access: “let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith” (Heb. 10:22). The believer’s confidence in prayer, forgiveness, and final salvation all rest on the living priesthood of Christ.

Application

• Draw near with confidence. Because you have a great High Priest who has opened the way, “draw near to the throne of grace” boldly — not cowering, but confident of “mercy and grace to help in time of need” (Heb. 4:16).
• Bring your weakness to a sympathizing priest. Jesus was tempted in every way, yet without sin; he understands. Don’t hide your struggles — bring them to the one who deals “gently with the ignorant and wayward” (Heb. 5:2).
• Rest in his intercession when you fail. When sin accuses you, remember “we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous” (1 John 2:1). He ever lives to plead your cause.

Reflection questions:

1. Do I come to God timidly, or with the confidence the torn veil and my High Priest give me?
2. Am I bringing my temptations and weaknesses to the priest who sympathizes?
3. How does Christ’s unceasing intercession steady my assurance when I sin?

For Prayer and Worship

Lord Jesus, my great High Priest, you offered yourself once for all to satisfy God’s justice, and you ever live to intercede for me. You sympathize with my weakness, for you were tempted as I am, yet without sin. Through you the veil is torn and the way is open. So I draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, to receive mercy and find help in my time of need. Plead my cause, my Advocate, and save me to the uttermost. Amen.

Key Scripture References

• Heb. 4:14–16; Heb. 5:1–10; Heb. 7:23–28; Heb. 9:11–14, 24–28; Heb. 10:11–22
• Ps. 110:4; Gen. 14:18–20; Lev. 16
• Rom. 8:34; 1 Tim. 2:5; 1 John 2:1; John 17

Related Names

• El Elyon — Melchizedek, priest of God Most High.
• The Lamb of God — the sacrifice offered; the Redeemer.
• Christ — the priestly office; King of Kings — the priest-king.

Further Study

• Hebrews 4–10 in full; Psalm 110; Leviticus 16.
• John 17 (Christ’s high-priestly prayer).
• WSC Q. 23–25; WLC Q. 44, 55; Heidelberg Catechism Q. 31.