An Indestructible Life

Scripture Reading: Hebrews 7:11-8:1

There are some phrases I read that capture my imagination. Hebrews 7:16 contains one of those. It is the line that reads, “[He] has become a priest…by the power of an indestructible life.”  I love that line. An indestructible life…But what is it talking about? The context is about the superiority of Jesus Christ as our high priest. The writer of Hebrews makes that clear. He tells us what point he is making in 8:1:

Now the point in what we are saying is this: we have such a high priest, one who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in heaven, a minister in the holy places, in the true tent that the Lord set up, not man.

Going back to verse 16 we can see that the writer is contrasting Christ’s priesthood with the priesthood of the Old Testament priests. They became priests based on “bodily descent.” They were born into it. It was not a meritocracy. They were chosen to be priests based on their character, moral fitness, or intellectual achievements. They were priests because of the tribe to which they belonged. That system was prescribed by the law.

One of the weaknesses of the Old Testament priesthood was priests come and go. They were mortal men. That created a great deal of uncertainty and instability. The priests, by nature, were destructible.  The writer of Hebrews is making the point that Jesus is a completely different kind of priest. He is eternal.

Jesus has the power of an indestructible life. The word used has its roots in the idea of taking down a tent. Jesus has the kind of life that can’t be taken down. It is endless. “Consequently,” the writer argues, “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.”