Read

Hebrews 7:11-28

“You are a priest forever,
    after the order of Melchizedek.”
Hebrews 7:17b

Reflect

The evening of March 6, 1987, was crisp and clear — a perfect night for what should have been a routine trip across the English Channel.

More than 450 passengers and crew boarded the Herald of Free Enterprise, many of them bringing their cars with them for the crossing from Zeebrugge, Belgium, to Dover, England. It was cold outside, but the comfortable accommodations inside meant the travelers would be warm and safe until they arrived later that night.

Everything seemed normal as the ship pulled away from the harbor and began its journey.

But just over 20 minutes into the trip — and less than a mile from the outer harbor — the Herald of Free Enterprise began to lurch from side to side before rolling onto its port side and capsizing. With little warning, hundreds of passengers and crew members were thrown into chaos, plunged into icy water and forced to fight for their lives.

Throughout the ship, everything had changed. Things that had been vertical were now horizontal, and things that had been horizontal were now vertical. In one place, what had been a corridor became a dangerous gap with water rushing through it. It was too wide for people to leap across.

Except for one very tall man.

Andrew Parker stretched his 6-foot-3 frame across the opening and became a human bridge. First came his wife, Eleanor. Then came his daughter. Then came others. According to Eleanor, “All the people in our corner there got over Andrew’s human bridge. Otherwise, we couldn’t have crossed that space.”

In Latin, one word used for priest is pontifex, which is often understood as “bridge builder.” Even though that is not what “priest” means in Hebrew or Greek, the image is still powerful because it captures something important about the priest’s role. In the Old Testament, the priest stood between God and the people, offering sacrifices on their behalf and representing them before the Lord.

But Hebrews tells us that Jesus is the greater and final High Priest.

He is not a temporary priest. He is not a sinful priest who must offer sacrifices for Himself before offering them for others. He is not a priest whose work ends because death interrupts Him. Jesus is a priest forever, after the order of Melchizedek. He is the perfect, eternal High Priest who offered Himself once for all.

Jesus does not merely point toward the bridge.

He is the bridge.

Through His death and resurrection, He spans the impossible gap between a holy God and sinful people. He makes a way where we could never make one for ourselves.

And because we belong to Christ, the New Testament tells believers that we are a priestly people. We do not replace Jesus. We do not save anyone. We do not become mediators in the way He alone is Mediator. But we do become people who point others to Him. We become witnesses. We become servants. We become bridge builders.

So many people view faith as something intensely personal, something meant only for themselves. And faith is personal. But the heart of the Gospel is also evangelistic. God calls us to reach out with love, truth, humility and compassion to those who desperately need Him.

The question we each have to answer is not whether we can save anyone.

We cannot.

Jesus alone does that.

The question is whether we are willing to stretch ourselves across the gap for someone else. Are we willing to be patient with someone who is struggling? Are we willing to speak truth to someone who is lost? Are we willing to pray, serve, love, forgive and point others toward safety in Christ?

Andrew Parker became a human bridge for people who could not cross the gap on their own.

Christ became the perfect bridge for all of us.

And now He calls His people to live in such a way that others may walk across our lives and find their way to Him.

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Reflection copyright © 2026 Doug DeBolt.

Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.