13 Dr. Vos {Princeton Theological Revieiu, July, 1907, p. 432), supposes the use of the simple ' priest ' to be due in general to the appeal to Ps. no (5^" being exceptional), while 'High Priest' is the real preference of the author, resting on a reference in his mind to the entrance of the High Priest into the Holy of Holies on the day of the atonement, which prefigures what is to him the central act of Christ's priestly ministry, — the entrance into Heaven. " The Saviour is a high priest because in the discharge of His ministry He enters into Heaven. . . . The inference lies near that the whole discussion of the subject ultimately serves the purpose of showing the necessity of the heavenly state of existence of the Saviour." On the other hand, of. Davidson, p. 147: "According to the representation of the Epistle, there is no difference in principle between priest and high priest"; and Denney, Hastings' B. D., iv. p. 98 a: "In the New Testament it is only in the Ep. to the Hebrews that Jesus is spoken of as Ispeu?, fiiyaig [epeu? and dp^cepsug — terms which are not to be distinguished from each other, the last two only signifying Christ's eminence in the priestly character."
284 The Designations of Our Lord
and God by means of His blood. As the ' Originator of Salvation,' He tasted death for every man, receiving in Himself the penalties due to them, not to Him. As ' Author and Perfecter of our faith ' He endured the cross, despising the shame that He might be not merely our example, but our Saviour. As ' the Great Shep- herd ' He laid down His life for His sheep. As * the Apostle and High Priest ' He is the One ap- pointed by God to make sacrifice of Himself for the sins of the people, — for every High Priest must needs have somewhat to offer, and this ' our High Priest ' has through His own blood obtained eternal redemp- tion for us.
We see that the red thread of redemption in blood Is woven into all the allusions to the saving work of the
' Son of God.' And we see that the chief *P 'e t' vehicle in this Epistle for the expression
of this high teaching is the representation of our Lord's work as priestly in its nature, and the proc- lamation of Him as ' the great High Priest.' The interest of this grows out of the circumstance that here at last in the New Testament the conception of Messiah as Priest comes to its rights. In their ab- sorption in the conception of Messiah as King the Jews gave scanty hospitality to the rich suggestions of the Old Testament of other aspects in which His office and work might be contemplated. It was characteristic of Christianity, under the illumination thrown back upon the promise by its fulfillment, to gather these neglected aspects together and note their fulfillment in Christ. Among them was the conception of Messiah as a priest performing the priestly work of propitia- tion. There seems to be little trace of the currency of
Witness of Epistle to the Hebrews 285
such a conception among the Jews. There is also lit- tle use made of it in other books of the New Testa- ment. But in the Epistle to the Hebrews it is given its full exposition; strikingly illustrated from the same Psalm which declares the Messiah David's Lord not less than David's son, — " Thou art a Priest forever after the order of Melchizedek " ; and made the ve- hicle for the inculcation of the fundamental doctrine of Christianity — the propitiatory death of Jesus, the reconciliation of God by His sacrifice of Himself, and His eternal intercession for His people. This is the great contribution of the Epistle to the Hebrews to the apprehension of the nature of our Lord's work.^*
1* On the conception of the Messiah as Priest, cf. Stanton, The Jeivish and Christian Messiah, 1867, pp. 128-9; and esp. pp. 294 seq.; also Hastings' B. D., in., 356 b: and cf. Swete, Hastings' B. D., II., 406 : " The Jewish Messiah, however, was chiefly the Anointed King; the conception of Messiah as the Prophet was less distinct, and that of a Christ-Priest (lspeh<; 6 ^pcffrot}, Lev 45-16 522) entirely wanting, until it presented itself to the writer of the Epistle to the Hebrews (Stanton, Jeivish and Christian Messiah, p. 293 flF.)." On the idea of our Lord's priesthood see the " extended note on the priesthood of Christ" in Davidson's Com. on Heb., p. 146 seq.; and cf. Denney in Hastings' B. D., IV., 98 seq., and especially Vos, as above, pp. 423 seq., who adduces the passages which show that although the term * priest ' is not explicitly applied to the Messiah by the Jews, nor to our Lord elsewhere in the N. T., the idea is not alien to either the Jews or the N. T. writers.
THE WITNESS OF THE APOCALYPSE
The peculiarity of the Book of Revelation, as an Apocalypse, gives it the superficial appearance of
A Summary Standing apart from the other books of View of Early the New Testament in a class by itself.