Priesthood

He is a Priest, but He could not be a priest after the order of Aaron for He was not of the family of Aaron. He is after an entirely new order, not the order of a commandment, but in the power of an endless life. That is the difference in the two priest-hoods. The priesthood is seen in three types:
First: Phinehas (Num. 25), where it is a question of atonement and everything rests upon this. In Heb. 8, if one were to be a priest he would have to have something to offer. In chapter 7 it says that this He did, when He offered Himself. He is the priest, and He is the sacrifice, the man Christ Jesus.
Second: after, not the order, but the type of Aaron. Why? Because of our infirmities. We have infirmities and He is acting now after the type of Aaron.
The Lord Jesus was here and He entered into the very things that you and I enter into and He felt them. We know, of course, that He is God, but I am speaking now of the practical side of things. Was He ever deceived? He said of Judas, "Mine own familiar friend, in whom I trusted... hath lifted up his heel against Me." Have you had that experience-a good friend suddenly turns against you? He has had that. Have you had sorrows that you can hardly bear? He had them; He knows how you feel. Have you had the loss of a loved one? He felt it. Think of His weeping at the grave of Lazarus! Yes, the Lord Jesus knows how to comfort those who have infirmities, trials, and difficulty.
Third: the priesthood is after the order of Melchisedec. He is a Priest who has made atonement and who now is here taking care of our infirmities. But Melchisedec is a priest that has no beginning or end. He abides a priest continually, and does not die as Aaron died. We have eternal consolation from this, because the foundations are secure in this Priest who will never die.
When Melchisedec met Abram, he was in the position where he had a tremendous decision to make. He looks and there is Melchisedec. Does Melchisedec say anything to him about what he has to do? Not one thing. He just spreads out the bread and the wine. What does that mean? The sovereign grace of God comes in to meet us in our need and He brings us that which we need for all eternity! The wine speaks of joy, eternal joy; the bread speaks of eternal sustenance. It is all eternal in its character. Melchisedec spreads it all out before Abram, the father of faith. That is our portion; our Melchisedec abides a Priest continually.
In chapter 6, God gives us two immutable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, that "we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us” (v. 18). Then in chapter 7 verse 17 He swore for that forerunner, "Thou art a priest forever after the order of Melchisedec." He never swore in the other priests; but this priest was sworn in for eternity-the Man Christ Jesus, "after the order of Melchisedec." Are you resting on solid foundations for your faith, on a priest who made atonement?