The Perfect Priest – Part II
HEBREWS 5:1-10
INTRODUCED LAST WEEK, OUR PASSAGE BREAKS INTO TWO DISTINCTIVE SECTIONS. Verses 1-4 describe “The Imperfect Priest” and vs. 5-10 describe “The Perfect Priest”…
NAS Hebrews 5:1-10 For every high priest taken from among men is appointed on behalf of men in things pertaining to God, in order to offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins; 2 he can deal gently with the ignorant and misguided, since he himself also is beset with weakness; 3 and because of it he is obligated to offer sacrifices for sins, as for the people, so also for himself. 4 And no one takes the honor to himself, but receives it when he is called by God, even as Aaron was. 5 So also Christ did not glorify Himself so as to become a high priest, but He who said to Him, “Thou art My Son, Today I have begotten Thee”; 6 just as He says also in another passage, “Thou art a priest forever According to the order of Melchizedek.” 7 In the days of His flesh, He offered up both prayers and supplications with loud crying and tears to the One able to save Him from death, and He was heard because of His piety. 8 Although He was a Son, He learned obedience from the things which He suffered. 9 And having been made perfect, He became to all those who obey Him the source of eternal salvation, 10 being designated by God as a high priest according to the order of Melchizedek.
YOU WILL REMEMBER THAT WE ESTABLISHED THE MEANING OF THE PRIEST in our last message. We discovered that a priest is essentially a “go-between.” That is to say, he represents God to man and also brings man to God. We will learn a lot about the priest in our passage this week.
FIRST “THE IMPERFECT PRIEST,” VS. 1-4…
NAS Hebrews 5:1-3 For every high priest taken from among men is appointed on behalf of men in things pertaining to God, in order to offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins; he can deal gently with the ignorant and misguided, since he himself also is beset with weakness; and because of it he is obligated to offer sacrifices for sins, as for the people, so also for himself. 4 And no one takes the honor to himself, but receives it when he is called by God, even as Aaron was.
“THE IMPERFECT PRIEST” REFERS TO EVERY OTHER PRIEST IN HISTORY BUT JESUS. We should, however, keep in mind that in vs. 1-4 there are a number of legitimate comparisons to the following section, vs. 5-10, and “the Perfect Priest.” The author of Hebrews is giving us a contrast between the imperfect priesthood of man and the perfect priesthood of Jesus, but in doing so he is also referring to the similarities. In both cases we are talking about priests.
YOU MIGHT SAY WHAT WE HAVE HERE IS SIMILARITY WITH DISTINCTIONS, IMPORTANT DIFFERENCES. As we look at the similarities we will also see the distinctions.
VERSE 1 TELLS US THAT THE IMPERFECT PRIEST IS SELECTED FROM MEN, appointed on behalf of men, a representative of men before God, one who offers gifts and sacrifices on behalf of men for sins…
NAS Hebrews 5:1 For every high priest taken from among men is appointed on behalf of men in things pertaining to God, in order to offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins;
VERSE 2 TELLS US THAT THIS PRIEST IS SYMPATHETIC TO MEN, This is because he is a man himself…
NAS Hebrews 5:2 he can deal gently with the ignorant and misguided, since he himself also is beset with weakness;
VERSE 3 TELLS US THAT BECAUSE HE IS A PRIEST HE MUST OFFER SACRIFICES FOR HIS OWN SINS…
NAS Hebrews 5:3 and because of it he is obligated to offer sacrifices for sins, as for the people, so also for himself.
HERE IS THE O.T. PRECEDENT FOR THIS…
NAS Leviticus 9:7 Moses then said to Aaron, “Come near to the altar and offer your sin offering and your burnt offering, that you may make atonement for yourself and for the people; then make the offering for the people, that you may make atonement for them, just as the LORD has commanded.”
THIS IS AN IMPORTANT POINT. You might even say that this is the most significant distinction between the imperfect priest and the Perfect Priest. Look at the difference of Jesus and Aaron as given us in Hebrews 7:26-27…
NAS Hebrews 7:26-27 For it was fitting that we should have such a high priest, holy, innocent, undefiled, separated from sinners and exalted above the heavens; who does not need daily, like those high priests, to offer up sacrifices, first for His own sins, and then for the sins of the people, because this He did once for all when He offered up Himself.
UNLIKE THE HIGH PRIEST OF THE JEWISH RELIGIOUS SYSTEM, Jesus did not, of course, need to make an offering for His own sins because He Himself had no sins of His own. The early church witnessed extensively to the sinlessness of Jesus…
NAS Hebrews 4:15 For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin.
NAS John 7:18 “He who speaks from himself seeks his own glory; but He who is seeking the glory of the One who sent Him, He is true, and there is no unrighteousness in Him.
“NO SIN”… “NO UNRIGHTEOUSNESS”… These astounding claims about Jesus testify to His deity. God became a man in Jesus Christ, and as a man He was able to identify entirely with mankind and be their representative satisfying God’s demands for sin by dying on the Cross. Jesus was 100% man. But in order to be the perfect sacrifice required by God, Jesus had to be 100% God, for only God is perfect…
NAS 2 Corinthians 5:21 He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.
NAS Hebrews 5:4 And no one takes the honor to himself, but receives it when he is called by God, even as Aaron was.
AN ORDINARY MAN, BESET BY HIS OWN SINFULNESS, WOULD NEVER PRESUME to be able to offer sacrifices on behalf of his fellow humans unless he had been called by God. Although this precept was violated from the second century before Christ to the end of the Aaronic priesthood, under the Old Covenant of the O.T., there were severe penalties for any who usurped authority …
NAS Exodus 28:1 “Then bring near to yourself Aaron your brother, and his sons with him, from among the sons of Israel, to minister as priest to Me– Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar, Aaron’s sons.
IT IS AGAIN IMPORTANT TO NOTE IN THE NEW TESTAMENT, I THINK, THE HEAVY RELIANCE OF OLD TESTAMENT IMAGERY. Even though a number of N.T. books were written and being circulated in the Mediterranean world by the likely time Hebrews was written (ca. late 60s), e.g., James, Galatians, 1 Thessalonians, 1 Corinthians, etc., the N.T. remained very much a Hebrew book.
THE ORIGINAL READERS WERE MOSTLY JEWISH CHRISTIANS WHO WERE VERY FAMILIAR with the strict laws of the high priesthood and would doubtless have been following the writer’s argument closely in approval at this point. But it is here that the writer makes a sharp contrast at the end of v. 4 by introducing the perfect high priesthood of Jesus Christ in v. 5. Remember, while this is, indeed, a sharp contrast, there are many similarities in the imperfect and perfect priesthoods: significant differences with many similarities; just as there are many similar differences and similarities between covenants, including the Old and New Covenants.
NOW, LET US LOOK AT THE PERFECT PRIEST. Just as Aaron was, this Perfect High Priest must also have been called by God…
NAS Hebrews 5:5 So also Christ did not glorify Himself so as to become a high priest, but He who said to Him, “Thou art My Son, Today I have begotten Thee”;
THE WRITER QUOTES AGAIN FROM PSALM 2:7. This same passage had been quoted in chapter 1 v. 5. Here is v. 7 from the oft-quoted in the early part of Hebrews Psalm 2…
NAS Psalm 2:7 “I will surely tell of the decree of the LORD: He said to Me, ‘Thou art My Son, Today I have begotten Thee.
THIS IS WHAT IS CALLED A “MESSIANIC PSALM,” that is, an O.T. psalm that referred specifically to the coming Messiah Jesus Christ…
THOUGH JESUS CHRIST IS GOD ALMIGHTY, IN THE WORKING OUT of God the Father’s creative and redemptive plan for the world and according to the mystical inner workings of the Trinity, as God the Son He has taken a role subservient to the Father…
NAS John 8:54 Jesus answered, “If I glorify Myself, My glory is nothing; it is My Father who glorifies Me, of whom you say, ‘He is our God’;
NAS Hebrews 5:6 just as He says also in another passage, “Thou art a priest forever According to the order of Melchizedek.”
NAS Psalm 110:4 The LORD has sworn and will not change His mind, “Thou art a priest forever According to the order of Melchizedek.”
“IN UNITING, AS THE AUTHOR DID HERE, THE TEXT OF PSALM 2:7 AND THE TEXT OF PSALM 110:4, he skillfully joined the two great truths about the Messiah which lie at the heart of the book of Hebrews. The declaration of Psalm 2 had proclaimed Jesus the Heir to the royal line of David, a line whose destiny was to rule the nations (Psalm 2:8). But Psalm 110 had also been quoted earlier (Heb 1:13). Now, however, a further statement of this latter psalm was cited to show that the future Conqueror is also a Priest of a special order. In this way the author united in the person of Christ the dual offices of Priest and King.” – B.K.C.
THE WRITER IS MAKING A STRONG ARGUMENT that his readers should never consider abandoning Jesus to return to their Jewish system of works righteousness. We should always have an appreciation of the tightness, the truly inarguable nature of the arguments Scripture puts forth. Here in the book of Hebrews the writer’s argument is grounded in detailed knowledge of the O.T. Scriptures, a fact that would have been immediately recognized by his first-century readers. The argument is sustained by logical thinking from an obviously forceful intellect. Finally, it is expressed with the elegance and precision of a highly cultured writer intimately familiar with the immediate problems facing his readers. These readers were facing persecution for their Christian beliefs and as a result were seriously considering turning away from faith in Jesus and returning to their Jewish roots. The writer is putting forth a strong argument, warning them against such a foolish move and exhorting them to go on in their Christian faith…
NAS Hebrews 5:6 … “Thou art a priest forever According to the order of Melchizedek.”
MELCHIZEDEK IS A FASCINATING BIBLICAL CHARACTER of whom we will have much to say in following blogs, particular when we get to chapter 7. This is the first mention of Melchizedek in Hebrews. He is mentioned again in v. 10, once in chapter 6, and no less than 6 times in chapter 7, 9 times total in Hebrews and nowhere else in the N.T. Melchizedek, whose name means “king of righteousness” or “my king is righteous” is only mentioned twice in all the O.T., once in Psalm 110 from which we read earlier and for the first time in Scripture in Genesis 14:18…
NAS Genesis 14:18 And Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine; now he was a priest of God Most High.
“MELCHIZEDEK WAS A KING-PRIEST WHO LIVED IN THE TIME OF ABRAHAM and whose ancestry is completely unknown. The Bible does not tell us who his parents were or where he came from. The Bible only tells us that he was king of Salem, which was (most probably) the ancient name for Jerusalem, and, as we just read, he was a priest of the Most High God. He lived many centuries before the Aaronic priesthood was established and his priesthood was unlike any other priest because it was unending.” – MacArthur
NET Hebrews 7:3 Without father, without mother, without genealogy, he has neither beginning of days nor end of life but is like the Son of God, and he remains a priest for all time.
MELCHIZEDEK WAS SUPERIOR TO AARON IN TWO WAYS. Melchizedek was a king; Aaron was not. Melchizedek’s priesthood was perpetual, whereas Aaron’s was temporary. Melchizedek’s priesthood, therefore, is a better picture of Christ’s priesthood than even that of the first high priest, Moses’ brother, Aaron. Jesus’ high priesthood was according to the order of Melchizedek. This is another point in the writer’s argument that Jesus is superior to all and everything the old Jewish system had to offer.
JESUS CHRIST’S PRIESTHOOD WAS SUPERIOR TO THAT OF AARON’S IN EVERY WAY. The priesthood of Jesus Christ was according to the order of Melchizedek. Again, for emphasis, Psalm 110:4…
NAS Psalm 110:4 The LORD has sworn and will not change His mind, “Thou art a priest forever According to the order of Melchizedek.”
AND – PLEASE DON’T MISS THIS – “FOREVER.” That means He is our perfect priest today and that He will be with us as our perfect priest tomorrow and forever.
NAS Hebrews 5:7 In the days of His flesh, He offered up both prayers and supplications with loud crying and tears to the One able to save Him from death, and He was heard because of His piety.
“THE DAYS OF HIS FLESH” REFERS TO JESUS’ EARTHLY MINISTRY. Jesus was eternal God who became man in order to die for our sins. While He “lived” only approximately 33 years on earth, Jesus has existed and will exist forever…
NAS John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
IN THE SENSE THAT JESUS HAD NO BEGINNING – He already existed “In the beginning” He already was – and in the sense that He was both a King and a Priest, He was, therefore, similar to the mysterious figure of Melchizedek.
“HE OFFERED UP BOTH PRAYERS AND SUPPLICATIONS” refers to Jesus’ agony in the Garden of Gethsemane the night before He went to the Cross for you and for me…
NAS Matthew 26:36-39 Then Jesus came with them to a place called Gethsemane, and said to His disciples, “Sit here while I go over there and pray.” And He took with Him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and began to be grieved and distressed. Then He said to them, “My soul is deeply grieved, to the point of death; remain here and keep watch with Me.” And He went a little beyond them, and fell on His face and prayed, saying, “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; yet not as I will, but as Thou wilt.”
JESUS FULLY SUBMITTED TO THE WILL OF THE FATHER to experience death in order to pay the debt of sin (Rom 6:23) and to redeem His people.
WITH PRAYER AND PETITION JESUS FUNCTIONED AS A PRIEST. On behalf of sinners, whose sin he had taken upon Himself, He prayed to God the Father.
JOHN 17 IS KNOWN AS “THE PRIESTLY PRAYER” OF JESUS…
NAS John 17:9, 11, 19-20 “I ask on their behalf; I do not ask on behalf of the world, but of those whom Thou hast given Me; for they are Thine; …”And I am no more in the world; and yet they themselves are in the world, and I come to Thee. Holy Father, keep them in Thy name, the name which Thou hast given Me, that they may be one, even as We are.… “I do not ask Thee to take them out of the world, but to keep them from the evil one.… And for their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they themselves also may be sanctified in truth. I do not ask in behalf of these alone, but for those also who believe in Me through their word;”
ISN’T THAT OVERWHELMING IN ITS TOUCHING BEAUTY?
“WITH LOUD CRYING AND TEARS” IS NOT FOUND IN THE GETHSEMANE ACCOUNT OF THE GOSPELS. This striking parenthetical information has been added by the writer of Hebrews under persuasion of the Holy Spirit. Some scholars believe the words come from the so-called “psalms of righteous suffering” (some point to Psalm 22 as the source for this traditional rendering, others to Psalms 69-71, still others to Psalm 116) as well as the images in the Gethsemane account. Listen to these piercing words from one of these supposed psalms of righteous suffering, Psalm 116…
NIV Psalm 116:1, 3, 8 I love the LORD, for he heard my voice; he heard my cry for mercy. …The cords of death encompassed me, And the terrors of Sheol came upon me; I found distress and sorrow. …For Thou hast rescued my soul from death, My eyes from tears, My feet from stumbling.
“THE FATHER ATTENDED TO THE SON’S CRIES BECAUSE of Jesus’ posture of complete abandonment to the Father’s will.” – George Guthrie
“PIETY” IS A GOOD TRANSLATION HERE. “Piety” means godly devotion or reverence toward God. The NIV has an excellent translation, “reverent submission.” This fits the context very well. But the reason I like the NAS translation of piety is because piety seems to put an added emphasis on the emotional and personal aspects of reverence. I think that is the correct interpretation here. Such a translation also indirectly supports the “loud crying and tears” phrase. The KJV translation, “was heard in that He feared,” is, in my opinion, wrong and misleading.
JESUS KNOWS WHAT IS LIKE TO SUFFER… Therefore, He is uniquely sensitive to our sufferings. We can count on that; we can take comfort in that…
NAS Hebrews 4:15 For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin.
WHAT A WONDERFUL SAVIOR! OUR PERFECT PRIEST!
PART III AND CONCLUSION NEXT WEEK…
– Professor Thomas A. Rohm
