God's Son-Our Priest
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introduction
We are entering into the second part of Hebrews. The first section pointed to the superiority of Christ. He is superior in his person, above the prophets and angels. He is superior than Moses and Joshua. And his ministry provides a greater spiritual rest than the law.
In the second part, the author expands on the concept of the Messiah’s preeminence over the old covenant Law and priesthood. He present specific examples of his heavenly priesthood and how it is superior to the earthly priesthood.
Most of us know the story of Job. After losing everything and sitting in a pile of ash while scraping himself with broken pottery, he complained about his condition while his three friends try to find the cause of his seemingly unjust plight. During this, he yearned for someone to present humanity’s case before the throne of God and plead their case. He wanted an advocate, a mediator or a representative who could stand for his cause.
Job 9:32–35 (CSB)
For he is not a man like me, that I can answer him, that we can take each other to court. There is no mediator between us, to lay his hand on both of us. Let him take his rod away from me so his terror will no longer frighten me. Then I would speak and not fear him. But that is not the case; I am on my own.
The good news is that we have such an Advocate. When Paul answered this request when he wrote in 1 Timothy.
For there is one God and one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus,
As both God and man, he was the perfect advocate. The one Job looked for appeared:
When the time came to completion, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.
As our great high priest, Jesus is constantly advocating and interceding for us to God. We don’t have a need for a frail, mortal human for a priest that presents our case, makes sacrifices or represents us to God. Because of our relationship to Christ, we can draw near to God through him. Our High Priest is not some mere underling-a finite creature who needs his own mediator for his own sins. He is the eternal Son who has added to his full divinity a perfect humanity. He is superior as our High Priest.
For every high priest taken from among men is appointed in matters pertaining to God for the people, to offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins. He is able to deal gently with those who are ignorant and are going astray, since he is also clothed with weakness. Because of this, he must make an offering for his own sins as well as for the people. No one takes this honor on himself; instead, a person is called by God, just as Aaron was.
Obviously Hebrews 5 isn’t the first time we have touched on the subject of the high priestly office.
Therefore, he had to be like his brothers and sisters in every way, so that he could become a merciful and faithful high priest in matters pertaining to God, to make atonement for the sins of the people.
In 3:1, the author told us to consider Jesus, the apostle and high priest of our confession. At the end of Chapter 4, Jesus is described as the high priest who has passed through the heavens and who sympathizes with our weaknesses. But now we explore this position that Jesus has as the High Priest.
What is a priest and what is he responsible for?
What are his qualifications?
There are 3 listed here:
First, the earthly priest had to work on behalf of people “in things pertaining to God.”
He was their stand in, representing the people before God and God before the people.
Second, he was responsible for sacrifices for sins, which included his own.
All offerings had to be given to God through the priest. There was no other way to do this. People did not have the freedom to draw near to God apart from a priest.
Third, he was called by God from among the sinful, weak humans.
These priests are still deficient:
He was a mere man from among men.
He was beset with common weaknesses.
He was also sinful, like the people he represented.
He had no honor in himself, but only from God.
When the author not only does he list the qualifications for a humanly priest, but through listing these, he shows the qualifications for Jesus to be the High Priest who is not affected by these imperfections.
The concept of an advocate or mediator is fine and good, this position is important, but the person who fills these positions is what we are looking at.
The very first high priest was who? Aaron, Moses’s brother. Now, even as great as Aaron was, he was selected by the people, was weak, sinned and had no honor in himself. They could dress him up, give him a title and place holy responsibilities on him, but at the end of the day, he was human like you and me and came with the same baggage as you and me.
This is the fact: imperfect priests and the position of priest was never meant to be permanent. God did not intend for imperfect priests to offer imperfect sacrifices in an imperfect system. God planned to one day pronounce it is finished and establish a permanent, perfect priesthood with a perfect priest.
Hebrews 5:5–10 (CSB)
In the same way, Christ did not exalt himself to become a high priest, but God who said to him, You are my Son; today I have become your Father, also says in another place, You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek. During his earthly life, he offered prayers and appeals with loud cries and tears to the one who was able to save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverence. Although he was the Son, he learned obedience from what he suffered. After he was perfected, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him, and he was declared by God a high priest according to the order of Melchizedek.
In verse 5 the author begins a comparison and contrast between earthly priesthood and heavenly priesthood. The words “in the same way Christ” makes the comparison between Jesus and Aaron’s calling as a priest.
Aaron was called by God and was given honor in verse 4. Jesus was also called by God the Father and endowed with glory. This is where the comparison ends and the author makes it clear that the honor and glory that God bestowed on Jesus was something that was rightfully his as the Divine Son of God.
By citing Psalm 2:7, we are reminded that Jesus is not merely qualified to be priest, but is to be exalted as the Anointed King.
I will declare the Lord’s decree.
He said to me, “You are my Son;
today I have become your Father.
Then the author quotes Psalm 110:4.
The Lord has sworn an oath and will not take it back:
“You are a priest forever
according to the pattern of Melchizedek.”
He uses these two verses to firm up the identification of Jesus as King and Priest-a priest in the order of Melchizedek. Christ is a priest forever.
also says in another place,
You are a priest forever
according to the order of Melchizedek.
With the reference to this priesthood comes a host of other distinctions to be addressed in chapter 7 of Hebrews.
In verses 7-9, we are given a glimpse of the life and character of Jesus as he operated in his priestly function during his earthly ministry. These few verses show us something about him that other faiths don’t have...his humanity. It says he prayed and appealed with loud cries and tears. He knew what it is like to have pain and suffering. To experience death, not only around him, but to him. He had the full experience of the human condition which made him the perfect representative for us.
In his submission as a true human, he was subjected to the suffering of the world, he also learned obedience from the things which he suffered.
The word “learned comes from the Greek word manthano. This isn’t a book smarts type of learning but something acquired through application and experience.
Guthrie puts the nature of Christ’s “learned obedience” well when he writes:
In considering the divine Son it may be difficult to attach any meaning to the learning process, but in thinking of the Son as the perfect man it becomes at once intelligible. When Luke says that Jesus advanced in learning (2:52), he means that by a progressive process he showed by his obedience to the Father’s will a continuous making of God’s will his own, reaching its climax in his approach to death. The cry of acceptance in the garden of Gethsemane was the concluding evidence of the Son’s obedience to the Father.
This is how the author can describe the Son of God as being made “perfect” or complete. This was a continual obedience to the Father that began when God took on the flesh of man at his incarnation and climaxed in complete obedience with his death on the cross.
Philippians 2:5–8 (CSB)
Adopt the same attitude as that of Christ Jesus, who, existing in the form of God, did not consider equality with God as something to be exploited. Instead he emptied himself by assuming the form of a servant, taking on the likeness of humanity. And when he had come as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death—even to death on a cross.
He wasn’t imperfect and needed to be made perfect or disobedient and needed to learn obedience. With his suffering and death, his mission of total obedience was accomplished. His earthly priesthood was completed and as a result, he has become the source of eternal of salvation to believers who trust and obey him.
After he was perfected, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him,
end (length)
Application:
Christ’s Perfect Priesthood...Applied
When looking at Jesus as priest, we need to remember that he wasn’t one in a long list of priests before and after him. He is the only mediator between God and man.
For there is one God and one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus,
He’s also not a heavenly priest that only ordained priests can go to that serves as a go between for laypeople who don’t approach the throne without a clergyman. He is the church’s only priest. He is unique.
In this present age, the OT priesthood of Aaron is finished. There are no more sacrifices that should be offered.
There are three important thoughts regarding Christ’s priesthood and how He meets our needs today:
First, we need a priest who isn’t prejudiced.
Unlike the world’s corrupt leaders and crooked institutions, Christ does not discriminate. Paul wrote this in Galatians:
There is no Jew or Greek, slave or free, male and female; since you are all one in Christ Jesus.
When you approach this High Priest, it doesn’t matter where you were born to privilege or poverty, whether you have a PhD or a GED or whether you are called a General or Private. The heavenly advocate cannot be manipulated by power, money, cultural pressures or exceptions. He is on your side, making intercessions for you.
Second, we need a priest who is permanent.
We are full-time sinners and we need a full-time mediator. Crises come at any time and we need an anytime representative. Imagine having to commune with God by having to travel hundreds of miles to a particular place, during a particular season to only use particular ministers. Jesus is the priest who is everywhere present, never takes time off and is always ready to listen to your prayers.
Third, we need a priest who assures us of our place.
Only a priest who demonstrated perfect obedience and offered up a perfect sacrifice can give us assurance that we are secure in him. If he was just a really good priest instead of a perfect one, or if he was just an above average sacrifice for most sins instead of the final sacrifice for all sin, then we should worry very much about how secure our salvation really is.
But because he is the perfect priest, we can have confidence of our place of security in Him.
