Of Laws

                The former regulation is set aside because it was weak and useless (for the law made nothing perfect), and a better hope is introduced, by which we draw near to God.  And it was not without an oath! Others became priests without any oath, but he became a priest with an oath when God said to him: “The Lord has sworn and will not change his mind: ‘You are a priest forever.’” Because of this oath, Jesus has become the guarantor of a better covenant. (Hebrews 7:18-22)

                Today’s passage touches a nerve in a lot of people. I don’t know whether the Jews to whom Moses delivered the Law believed that following the Law would make them perfect, but somewhere along the line, people given a law reach the conclusion that either by following it, or not following it, they become perfect. There are people who declare the Church to be filled with hypocrites because in the nanosecond after they came a Christian or joined the Church (technically the same thing, but often not seen as such) that they either become, or see themselves as perfect. It’s the same idea. Somehow, by following the Law, we supposedly become perfect. The author of Hebrews will have more to say about that, but for now, he states that whether you believe that or not, it just is not so. 
               Not only does the Law, or the keeping of any Law not make one perfect, it was never meant to. It put men between God and man. They served a useful purpose, but they were never the goal. They were the means to an end. There was no promise to the establishment of the Levitical priesthood – it was a command. God promised a better hope, and provided it with an oath… a true solution to our failings, weaknesses, and sin. This is one of the reasons that Jesus should never be seen as being on the same level as Mohammed, or Buddha, or the Dalai Lama, or any other leader of any faith. Those men provide no hope. They only provide laws and recommended guidelines.