A priest upon his throne

'A priest upon his throne'

— Zechariah 6:13

‘This man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of’ God’ (Heb. 10: 12). The prophet Zechariah realized more truth concerning the mediatorial offices of the Lord Jesus Christ than do the majority of our modern ‘theologians’. He knew that our Lord could not be an effectual Priest unless he was also a sovereign King. Therefore he spoke of him accomplishing his work and being exalted as ‘a priest upon his throne’ (Zech. 6:13). Here the apostle Paul plainly shows us that Zechariah’s prophecy was accomplished. Both the prophets of the Old Testament and the apostles of the New teach us that Christ’s ability as our Savior is vitally linked with his power as God’s exalted King. Here the apostle assures us that Christ is indeed able to save unto the uttermost them that come unto God by him, with two blessed facts of the gospel.

1. The Lord Jesus Christ has put away sin by his one atoning sacrifice. ‘This man’, this divinely mysterious person, in all of his glorious Godhood and perfect manhood, has put away sin by one all-sufficient sacrifice. Our High Priest has accomplished what the priests of Israel and all the ‘priests’ of Rome could never accomplish. He took away sin! There is but one atoning High Priest. There was but one sacrifice for sin, and that sacrifice was offered only once.

2. Having perfectly accomplished our redemption, the Lord Jesus Christ was exalted to the throne of glory. The Priest sits upon his throne. Having power over all flesh, he gives eternal life, repentance and remission of sins to as many as the Father gave him. Our Surety sat down for ever in heaven. Jesus Christ stood in the sinner’s place. The guilt of all his elect was imputed to him. God accounted him to be a sinner. As such, he could not enter heaven until he had washed that sin away in his own blood. Until those sins of his people were gone, our High Priest could not sit down in the holy place. But, blessed be his name, our Surety is freed from sin and so are we.