The Eternal High Priest

Election years remind us of a challenge: we invest so much in our leaders, only to see them inevitably replaced. If you can understand the uncertainty and anxiety that comes with changing leadership, then you can sympathize with the Jewish people of the first century.

In the first century, the high priest wasn’t just a symbolic figure. Without a king of their own, the Jewish people saw the high priest as a defining leader entrusted with guiding their religious practices, their cultural identity, and their relationship with Rome. Just as a new president brings new changes, so would a new high priest, except that the change of the priesthood was also entangled with spiritual ramifications.

For the Jewish people of the Old Testament, a pressing question echoed through generations: “How can I stand before God, and who’s going to help me do that?” Psalm 24 captures this need beautifully: “Who shall ascend the hill of the Lord, and who shall stand in his holy place? He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not lift up his soul to what is false, and does not swear deceitfully. He will receive blessing from the Lord and righteousness from the God of his salvation, such is the generation of those who seek him, who seek the face of the God of Jacob.”

Who, indeed, could go up the hill of the Lord and stand in His holy place? This person would need to be pure, righteous, and honest—a person of great character who could stand before God without shame. This is where the priesthood steps in. In the Old Testament, we see the priest as the one designated to go up in place of the people, ascending the hill they couldn’t climb, standing in the holy place they couldn’t enter. And the entire system of the priesthood—described in detail in books like Leviticus—focused on the question of keeping the priest as holy as possible.

However, the priesthood also presents two unavoidable problems.

Problem One: Flawed Priests

While the priesthood aspired to be transcendently holy, in practice it was unmistakably human. One particular example of a less-than-ideal priest can be found in Annas, known historically as Annas ben Seth, or Annas the son of Seth (spellings vary).

Annas served as high priest from around 3 to 11 AD. You might remember the story from Luke, where Jesus, at twelve years old, goes up to the temple. Annas would have been the high priest then—the one standing before God on behalf of the people. But was Annas the holy, upright figure that his position would demand?

Our primary historical source, the first-century Jewish historian Josephus, gives us an unflattering description of Annas (Antiquities 20.9.2). Josephus says Annas “increased in glory every day … [and] obtained the favor and esteem of the citizens.” What, exactly, made Annas so great? “For he was a great hoarder up of money.”

Turns out, Anas was known more for his wealth than his piety. He accumulated this wealth by sending his servants to take tithes from the people by force. Josephus explains that Annas’ servants were “wicked” men who would go to the threshing floors and seize the offerings due to the priests. They would even beat those who wouldn’t hand over their tithes.

So, what was the first problem with the priesthood? Sometimes, priests weren’t the godly representatives the people hoped for. And it wasn’t as if anyone was going to hold a crook like Annas accountable. He was the one in charge.

However, even if you could find a better priest - a perfect priest - then a second problem would immediately arise.

Problem Two: Temporary Priests

Even if you found a good high priest in the first century, you couldn’t count on him being around for long. It’s like election cycles today—no matter how much you admire the current leader or candidate, you know another will soon take their place.

This issue becomes even clearer when we look at the history of the high priesthood in the first century. By this time, the high priesthood was deeply political, shaped by power plays and appointments by the Roman authorities and local rulers.

Take Annas ben Seth, the high priest from 3 to 11 AD. He was succeeded by Ishmael ben Fabi, who served a mere five years before the Roman governor who appointed him removed him. Ishmael was followed by Annas’ son, Eliezer, who managed to serve just one year. After Eliezer was removed in 17 AD, Simon bin Camithus served less than a year before he too was removed from office. The man we know as Caiaphas was then appointed in 18 AD. He is the son-in-law of Annas, and he manages to stay in power until 31 AD, including serving as high priest at the time of the trial and crucifixion of Jesus.

Over the next decades, the high priesthood primarily remained in Annas’ family. Another son of Annas, Jonathan took over in 31 AD but only for a short time before being replaced by his brother Theophilus in 33 AD. Simon ben Boethus stepped in - only because he was married to one of Herod’s daughters - but after divorcing her, he lost his position in 36 AD. At that time, Jonathan is restored to the role of high priest, but he is replaced before the end of the year by his brother Matthias who also only serves for a year.

There were seven more high priests from 37-49 AD, including three in the same year at the end of that period. Two more high priests filled the time between 49-62 AD, the most stability the office would see in this period. By the time of the writing of Hebrews in 64 AD, the high priesthood was in chaos, with political appointments and removals creating a revolving door. Matthias ben Theophilus became high priest in 62 AD - the time of the Jewish revolt against Rome - when the already troubled high priesthood took a violent turn. In the year 64 AD, a former high priest (Ananias ben Nebedeus, 43-45 AD) was murdered during unrest in Jerusalem. The current High Priest Matthias ben Theophilus, a Roman sympathizer, was murdered two years later in 66 AD by Simon bar Giora, leader of the Jewish revolt.

Now imagine this. The high priest has been murdered for sympathizing with the Romans, the Jewish people are in revolt, and the Roman legions are on the march to crush the insurrection. Do you want to be the next high priest? Likely not. Josephus records that they cast lots for the position and appointed a man named Phannais (Wars of the Jews 4.9.8). Phannias, Josephus tells us, was “a man not only unworthy of the high priesthood, but did not well know what the high priesthood was.” He was appointed “without his own consent.” Josephus records: “They also put upon him the sacred garments, and upon every occasion instructed him what he was to do. This horrid piece of wickedness was sport and past time with them, but occasioned the other priests, who at a distance saw their law made a jest of, to shed tears, and sorely lament the dissolution of such a sacred dignity.” The priesthood, which began with Moses and Aaron and continued through the legacy of high priests like Zadok, the trusted counselor to David, had become little more than a joke.

And so the high priesthood ended.

In 68 AD, the Romans sacked Jerusalem and burned the temple, ending the priesthood forever. Phannias and all his embarrassing shame was the last high priest in Jerusalem.

“Who shall ascend the hill of the Lord, and who shall stand in His holy place?”

The Permanent High Priest

By the time Hebrews was written in 64 AD, the high priest, meant to represent the people before God, had become a farce. Imagine living with the knowledge that your connection to God depended on whichever flawed person happened to hold this office until he was replaced by yet another deeply flawed political appointee.

It is in the midst of this crisis that the Book of Hebrews makes an incredible claim about Jesus. Jesus “was made a priest with an oath by the one who said to him, ‘The Lord has sworn and will not change his mind, you are a priest forever’” (Hebrews 7:21-22).

If this sounds a bit like a fantastic political ad, it kind of is. Hebrews asks us: Are you tired of the high priests that came before? Tired of being let down by the ones who took the seat only to fail, who brought decay and dysfunction into what was meant to be sacred? Well, here’s someone better: a high priest not appointed by Rome or a governor but by God Himself. God made Jesus the High Priest. The high priest in Jerusalem is a short-term appointee, a lame duck. Jesus is the High Priest forever.

Hebrews reminds us that the former priests were “many in number because they were prevented by death from continuing in office” (Hebrews 7:23). They kept dying—of old age, of political misfortune, or by murder. But Jesus “holds this priesthood permanently because he continues forever” (7:24).

The irony here? On the one hand, you have the high priests who kept dying. On the other hand, you have Jesus who was killed by the very same high priests but was raised to life on the third day, never to die again. Where death conquered every high priest before, this High Priest conquered death and will never need to be replaced. “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” (Hebrews 7:25).

Jesus isn’t a political appointee or a human with a term limit. He’s someone who has conquered death, who has ascended to the heavenly temple—not the one in Jerusalem, but the eternal one in heaven. He stands there every day for all time, acting as our High Priest and doing what no other priest could do.

Hebrews continues, “It is indeed fitting that we should have such a high priest, holy, innocent, unstained, separated from sinners, and exalted above the heavens” (7:26). Jesus never made a deal with a Roman governor or offered a bribe to secure His position. In fact, he was killed because he wouldn’t play their game.

Two thousand years later, we’re still searching for someone to put our hope in, expecting them to make everything better. But Hebrews reminds us that there is someone innocent, righteous, and self-sacrificing, who accomplished everything we needed and never needed to be replaced. The “High Priest” and “Leader of the Free World” has been the same since He took His throne in heaven. Jesus doesn’t just occupy an office; he fulfills our need for a leader completely and for all of time.

Dr. Benjamin Williams is the Senior Minister at the Central Church of Christ in Ada, Oklahoma and a regular writer at So We Speak. Check out his books The Faith of John’s Gospel and Why We Stayed or follow him on Twitter, @Benpreachin.