The Superiority of Christ's Priestly Ministry

We’ve heard of individuals who thought they were married, but because the individual who performed the marriage wasn’t authorized to officiate weddings, their marriage was not valid. It seems funny when it’s a comedy movie or a situation comedy, but I’m sure in real life, the couple would find it not so funny.

Today, there isn’t so much emphasis and focus placed upon credentials and authority. It seems that you can get ordained from filling out a form on a cereal box or just go online and send a few dollars and you’ve supposedly got the necessary credentials to perform a wedding. Yet, that’s one of the first things I do when I move to a community is to find out the laws of the state and make sure that I’m duly recognized as having the authority to perform weddings, etc.

Even though society can seemingly make an authority of anybody for just about any topic, when it comes to God’s requirements, they do not change. Not just anybody can be a high priest. Not just anybody can be the great high priest. And there is only one who can fulfill all of God’s demands and have the credentials and authority to be our great high priest; and that is Jesus Christ.

We can be encouraged that Jesus Christ is superior in every way as our great high priest.

Responsibilities Required - 5.1-4

The high priest has certain responsibilities which have to be fulfilled. This job was not just some position for prestige. Neither was this position something for which a person could apply. Let’s look at the first four verses and get an idea of the responsibilities that were required.

Hebrews 5:1–4 NASB95

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. And no one takes the honor to himself, but receives it when he is called by God, even as Aaron was.

Within the first part of verse 1, we see what might be considered obvious, in that the high priest had to be a man. This is fulfilled in Christ as our great High Priest. It was necessary for Jesus to not only be fully God, but He had to be fully man so He could identify with what all of humanity experiences.

We also need to realize that a person couldn’t choose to be a high priest, or even a priest, in general. He couldn’t simply apply for the job or even aspire to the job, hoping to be noticed and chosen. Verse 1 uses the word appointed to help us to understand this. Historically, every time someone tried to take on the role of a priest without being appointed by God, it ended up in disaster. King Saul lost the privilege of his lineage continuing in the role of king. In Numbers 16, a bunch of rebels attempted to become priests. Instead of elevating themselves, God judged them and they were swallowed up by the earth when a hole opened up. Another King, Uzziah, tried to take on the role of a priest, and ended up becoming a leper.

It seemed obvious that if God didn’t choose and appoint you, you were not to attempt to be a priest. God chose the priest from men to minister on behalf of humanity. And as we know from the Old Testament, the main job seemed to be to offer sacrifices on behalf of humanity in the exact manner that God had prescribed. Why? To continually remind the people that there was a separation between them and God because of sin.

Yet, even if the priest would accurately do all that he was required to do, it still would not be enough, since he was also prone to sin. Thus, the role of the priest was completely fulfilled in Jesus Christ. Jesus was not only the sacrificial Lamb of God, but since His sacrifice was needed only once, since He was raised from the dead, still completely God and completely man, He is the only necessary high priest, Who is superior in every way.

As we look at verse 2, we can find further encouragement. Throughout the Bible, when a person or a people are intentional in their sinning and defiant and rebellious against God, there has to be judgment. But what about a person who just plain does stupid? Let’s face it. We sin many times out of pure ignorance or we are just to weak to put up a fight against temptation. This is the picture of the ignorant and misguided. The Old Testament priest was still human and he would still sin. He would be able to identify. There had to be sympathy. This implies that there would be a complete involvement with the priest and those to whom He ministers and serves. It was this which allowed the high priest to be able to deal gently with the people. However, that was not always the case since the earthly high priest was prone to sin. However, Jesus was the fulfillment of the requirement. Only Jesus would be able to identify with our problems, yet He would never be distracted by them.

That is pointed out in verse 3. In fact, many of you recall that before the priest could offer the sacrifice for the nation, he had to offer a sacrifice for his own sins. Of course, Jesus didn’t have to do this, since He was without sin. In addition, the earthly priest had to do this every single year, plus the daily sacrifices. Jesus did not have to go through this over and over, because His sacrifice was once and for all. You have heard the difference described as the fact that the Old Testament sacrifices only covered sin; whereas, the sacrificial death which Jesus provided cleansed from sin.

Verse 4 reminds us that this is a calling. I can’t imagine someone wanting the responsibility and thinking they were capable of serving as a priest. All of the true priests were called by God and did not seek it for themselves. If you consider for a moment, that even Jesus was called by His Father to do all that He did; though He looked ahead with great joy to accomplishing what His Father had sent Him to do.

Responsibilities Realized - 5.5-10

We’ve seen the responsibilities that were required of the high priest, but in these verses, we are going to be able to see how the responsibilities came to realization or fulfillment or completeness.

Hebrews 5:5–10 NASB95

So also Christ did not glorify Himself so as to become a high priest, but He who said to Him, “You are My Son, Today I have begotten You”; just as He says also in another passage, “You are a priest forever According to the order of Melchizedek.” 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. Although He was a Son, He learned obedience from the things which He suffered. And having been made perfect, He became to all those who obey Him the source of eternal salvation, being designated by God as a high priest according to the order of Melchizedek.

Verse 5 is a fascinating verse that amplifies what the author said earlier, but also reminds us of the deity of Christ and the fact that He is alive. It is actually taken from Psalm 2.7. It is already clear from earlier in Hebrews that Jesus is the Son of God. Here, the true focus is on Christ as Priest. The readers of this letter or sermon would have understood that the references here pointed to the Messiah, who was to be King and Priest.

Today I have begotten You has nothing to do with the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem. It has everything to do with His resurrection. A dead person can no longer serve as high priest. Jesus is on the throne of grace, which we saw from last time, allowing Him to currently serve as our High Priest. The Jewish high priests offered the sacrifices of animals. Jesus offered Himself as the sacrifice, then He rose from the dead.

In context, we go onto verse 6, where Psalm 110.4 is quoted; You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek. How long is Jesus to be high priest? Forever. In simply looking at the book of Hebrews, the author states that Jesus’ priesthood is forever, a minimum of six times.

But why does the author speak about the order of Melchizedek? After all, aren’t the priests from the order of Aaron? And by the way, weren’t all the priests from the tribe of Levi? Jesus was from the tribe of Judah. Jesus was from a kingly lineage. Jesus’ priesthood is of a different order.

There isn’t a lot of information about Melchizedek, except from Genesis 14 and Psalm 110. But in just looking at the meaning of his name and what he actually was, we know that he was a priest and a king. In addition, there is no record of his beginnings or any family tree. He was the king of Salem, which is what Jerusalem used to be named. He is recognized as a priest hundreds of years before Aaron’s priesthood even came about. None of Aaron’s lineage could ever be king. After King David, it was established that the only rightful kings would come from his line. Jesus Christ is of this order, in which He was priest and king. That helps us to understand more clearly the fact that Jesus, even as our High Priest, also sits on a throne. This is never seen in the order of Aaron.

As our great High Priest, we are introduced into some of what prepared Jesus for this ministry while on earth. That is why the peculiar phrase is used at the beginning of verse 7, in the days of His flesh, showing Jesus’ time while on earth. Experiencing all that humanity experiences, yet without sin, in order to identify with humanity. It was in this way, that He learned obedience.

Interestingly, we know how easy it is to be judgmental when someone else is involved in a sin. It’s usually because their sin is one in which we might not be troubled in our lives, even though there are many other sins which are part of our lives. An earthly priest would not be much different. Yet, through all of this, Jesus is able to identify with our struggles and is able to help us in the midst of our struggles.

It is somewhat unfortunate that the English translations use the phrase from death when it should actually be out of death. This is important to understand because Jesus did actually die, and according to Hebrews 5.7, He was heard. We know that Jesus could not have been praying to avoid death, because the Bible tells us that Jesus for the joy set before Him endured the cross. He knew that this had to be done. No, He did not look forward to becoming sin for all humanity; He did not look forward to that eternal moment in time when He would be separated from the Father because of the horribleness of sin. Yet, He had come for that very moment when He would be crucified on the cross. What Jesus was praying was that He would be brought out of death. In other words, He was praying for resurrection. And that did happen, allowing Him to ascend to the Father, where He would sit down in victory and serve as our great High Priest. Every other priest from Aaron’s lineage was dead and could no longer serve as a mediator between God and humanity.

Verse 9 continues to remind us of the eternality of our salvation. Remember the previous high priests needing to continually offer sacrifices due to their imperfection and sin. Jesus was the sinless Lamb of God who would offer Himself as the perfect sacrifice, not for Himself, but for us, removing our sin and cleansing us from the effects of sin.

His having been made perfect, is not describing Him as previously imperfect. Rather, it is describing what happened as a result of experiencing all that is opposed to God and against humanity, yet never sinning. This qualifies Jesus perfectly to be our Great High Priest Who has brought us eternal life.

Once again, we are reminded in verse 10 of the fact that Jesus Priestly ministry is superior to that of the order of Aaron or any priesthood.

Reflections

No matter what comes our way or what we are experiencing, we can know that we can go to Jesus Christ at any time, Who serves as our High Priest.

When Charles Haddon Spurgeon was a young preacher in London, his successful ministry aroused the envy of some of the clergy, and they attacked him with various kinds of slander and gossip. His sermons were called “trashy,” and he was called “an actor” and “a pulpit buffoon.” Even after his ministry was established, Spurgeon was lied about in the press (including the religious press), and this was bound to discourage him. After one particularly scurrilous report in the press, Spurgeon fell before the Lord and prayed, “O Lord Jesus, Thou didst make Thyself of no reputation for me. I willingly lay my reputation down for Thy sake.” From that time on, Spurgeon had peace in his heart. He knew that his Great High Priest understood his need and would give him the grace that he needed for each hour.

We can be encouraged that Jesus Christ is superior in every way as our great high priest.