Hebrews - Chapter 5
AUTHORITY & HONOR OF CHRIST’S PRIESTHOOD
JESUS IS BETTER THAN AARON
We learned last chapter of the unique position of Jesus Christ as our “great high priest”, greater than all others who have come or will come.
From where does the greatness of our highest priest come?
From the dignity of His person:
He is not only the Son of Man but also the Son of God (Heb 4:14)
From the purity of His nature: He is without sin (Heb 4:15) & holy (Heb 7:26)
From the highest order he is said to occupy: The order of Mechizedek (Heb 5:6)
From His solemn ordination:With an “oath” (Heb 7:20)
From the most excellent sacrifice He made: Himself without spot (Heb 9:14)
From the perfection of His administration: (Heb 7:11) All divine justice is satisfied in Him
From the eternal nature of His office: An unchangeable priesthood (Heb 7:24)
The first verses of chapter 5 teach us about the priesthood of the Levites:
He must be taken from men meaning he must be of the nature of those he acts as a spiritual leader for.
He is a public official, “ordained for men”.
He must not come before God empty handed, that is he must bring gifts and sacrifices.
He was not exempt from the infirmities of men.
He was chosen & approved of God.
5:1-3
“For every high priest taken from men is ordained…”
The priest is appointed to represent the people in matters related to God, and to offer gifts and sacrifices for sins. He is able to deal gently with those who are ignorant and are going astray, since he himself is subject to weakness.
He must offer sacrifices both for the people AND for his own sins.
The word translated here as “ignorant” is literally meaning to err or sin through mistake. Remember he is speaking of priests acting under the law of Moses.
Jesus, being the great high priest, covers all sin, and:
“Through Him everyone who believes is justified from everything you could not be justified from by the law of Moses” (Acts 13:39).
The lesser position of the Levitical priesthood is revealed in the fact that the priests themselves have sinned and therefore need their own mediator.
5:4-6
“And no man taketh this honor unto himself…”
A priest must be called of God, just as Moses & Aaron were called.
Christ did not take the honor upon himself but it was given to him when God said to him: “You are my Son, today I have become your Father”
(Ps 2:7)
and he also says “You are a priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek”
(Ps110:4)
Aaron, the brother of Moses, was assigned the position of high priest by God. Only the descendants of Aaron were allowed to be priests under the law. “Appoint Aaron and his sons to serve as priests; anyone else who approaches the sanctuary must be put to death” (Nu 3:10)
God assigned Jesus the position of “great high priest”, and this action was NOT an extension of the priesthood of the Levites, but was of a very different and higher order.
Psalm 110 is said to be a messianic Psalm and its first verse says:
“The Lord say to my Lord, sit at my right hand…”
5:7
“Who in the days of his flesh….”
During the days of the life of Jesus on earth, He offered up prayers and petitions, and He was heard and in all ways showed His reverence for and submission to the will of His Father.
In another messianic psalm, the prayer is offered:
“my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices; my body also will live in hope, because you will not abandon me to the grave, nor will you let your Holy One see decay.” (Ps16:9-10)
Peter later teaches us in Acts 2:31 that this refers to the resurrection.
5:8
“Though he were a son, yet learned he obedience…”
We can see from His prayer in the garden “Not my will but yours be done”,
Jesus became experienced in obedience to the end.
John 6:38 teaches that “For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me”.
Remember that Christ, while fully God, took upon himself the nature of a servant and was described by Paul as: “And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death – even to death on a cross. (Php 2:6-8)
5:9-10
“And being made perfect…”
He became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him and was designated as the “great high priest” on the highest order.
In Hebrews 2:10 we know He was “made perfect through sufferings…” so what about us as followers? Hebrews 12:7 tells us the answer : “Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as sons. For what son is not disciplined by his father?”
Paul writes in Romans 1:5:
“Through Him and for His name’s sake, we received grace and apostleship to call people from among all the gentiles to the obedience that comes from faith” A truth: OBEDIENCE COMES FROM FAITH
This cannot be said of those who claim to be willing to obey but don’t seek to listen, who don’t study the Word with the intention to do what it says to do.
5:11
“Of whom we have many things to say and hard to be uttered…”
Dull of hearing refers to being “slow to hear” in this verse, as taught by James in 1:19 when he says “… My dear brothers, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen”.
These people are not paying attention. Perhaps they are not taking the teaching seriously and do not intend to apply it to their lives. This seems to be the attitude we see here.
Have all of us at one time or another said to a child, “ARE YOU LISTENING?”
Remember Matt 13:14 “… Ye shall hear and not understand, … ye shall see and not perceive.”
5:12
“For when for the time ye ought to be teachers…”
Isn’t is expected that as Christians mature, they take on a teaching role just as parents when grown and having children, teach them from their own experience?
Jesus clearly expected such as viewed in Luke 13:7:
“… for three years I have been looking for fruit on this fig tree, and have not found any. Cut it down.”
5:13-14
“For everyone that useth milk… but strong meat belongeth to them…”
Many Christians seem to want to stand in His grace, but do not submit to the Christian life in obedience, doing what is right, taking on the responsibilities as given in the scriptures.
A believer’s maturity is revealed by how they apply the Word to their life.
Exodus 16:20 tells us “ Manna not used breeds worms”
Questions:
What did previous high priests do that Jesus did not have to do? (5:1)
Why did Christ have to suffer in order to be perfect and to be the source of eternal salvation for all those who obey Him? (5:9 & 2:10)