The priestly office is the God-given role of representing the people before God, especially through sacrifice, intercession, and ministry connected to worship. In Christian theology it is fulfilled perfectly in Jesus Christ, our great high priest.
The priestly office is the God-given role of representing the people before God, especially through sacrifice, intercession, and ministry connected to worship. In Christian theology it is fulfilled perfectly in Jesus Christ, our great high priest.
The priestly office is the divinely appointed ministry of standing before God on behalf of others in matters related to worship, sacrifice, holiness, and intercession. Under the old covenant, this office was assigned chiefly to Aaron and the Levitical priesthood, whose work included offering sacrifices, maintaining the sanctuary, discerning clean and unclean matters, and teaching aspects of God’s law. These priests were real ministers of God’s covenant order, yet their ministry was temporary and anticipatory. The New Testament teaches that Jesus Christ fulfills and surpasses the priestly office as the great high priest, not by repeated animal sacrifices but by offering himself once for all and continually interceding for his people. Believers therefore come to God through him, and while the church is called a priestly people in a derivative sense, Scripture preserves the uniqueness and sufficiency of Christ’s priestly ministry.
