Sermon for 3/21/21 16 Minutes
Notes
Transcript
Hebrews 5:5-10
Hebrews 5:5-10
This morning I'll be reading Hebrews chapter 5 verses 5 through 10.
And I'll be reading from the King James Version Bible.
Hebrews 5:5-10
In the verses that we will look at this morning,,, we are shown how Jesus is superior to the priest after writing about His superiority over the prophets, angels, Moses and Joshua.
Hebrews 5:5–10 (KJV 1900)
5 So also Christ glorified not himself to be made an high priest; but he that said unto him, Thou art my Son, to day have I begotten thee. 6 As he saith also in another place, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec. 7 Who in the days of his flesh, when he had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto him that was able to save him from death, and was heard in that he feared; 8 Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered; 9 And being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him; 10 Called of God an high priest after the order of Melchisedec.
God bless the reading and the hearing of your word this morning.
Let us pray:
Dear Lord,,, as we begin this morning,,, with everyone here today and all that are listening and watching by video,,, we ask that you open our ears to hear and our hearts and minds to receive the message that you have for us today,,, In Jesus' name I pray,,, Amen.
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With this being our fifth Sunday of Lent,,, we are quickly winding down to our Holy week,,, that begins in gloom and sadness as we think and reflect on all that our Lord and Savior went through for us,,, but of course we know that it ends in celebration as we spend that day in praise to God for Jesus' sacrifice that He went through for all of us!
This morning as we continue to prepare for that day,,, we will look at these scriptures that show Jesus' superiority to the priesthood that was set up by God,,, looking forward to this day and time of Jesus' reign as High Priest forever.
In the first 4 verses in this chapter,,, the author gives descriptions of the Aaronic priest,,, then beginning in verses 5–10,,, Christ’s fitness as a priest is shown,,, mostly as a way in contrast to the way that man always fell short,,, not able to fully atone for the sins of the people like Jesus can.
Let's begin as we look at these verses and see how they can help us in our walk with God this week.
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Verse 5 says: 5 So also Christ glorified not himself to be made an high priest; but he that said unto him, Thou art my Son, to day have I begotten thee.
When God gave the law to Moses on Mount Sinai,,, He instituted a human priesthood by which the people might draw near to Him.
He gave the order that the priests must be descended from the tribe of Levi and from the family of Aaron.
This order is known as the Levitical or Aaronic priesthood.
In verse 1 of this chapter,,, the author shows that the first qualification of the Aaronic priest was that he had to be chosen from among men.
My Bible Knowledge Commentary says,,, in other words,,, he had to be a man himself,,, which is it’s way of showing why Jesus came to earth.
The second qualification,,, he was appointed to act for men in relation to God.
He belonged to a special group of men,,, that could only come from this special line,,, and who served as intermediaries between men and God.
One of his primary functions was to offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins.
Gifts refer to any offerings that were presented to God.
Sacrifices refer to those special offerings in which blood was shed as atonement for sins.
Then in verse 2 he showed that the chosen priest had to have compassion on human frailty and to deal gently with the ignorant and wayward.
His own frail flesh equipped him to understand the problems his people were facing.
The reference in this verse to the ignorant and wayward is a reminder that the sacrifices in the Old Testament were for sins not done willfully.
No provision was made in the law for deliberate sin.
But while his being human was an advantage in that it identified the priest with the people,,, his sinful humanity was a disadvantage.
He had to offer sacrifices for himself as well as for the sins of the people.
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So,,, the office of priest was not something that men chose as a vocation.
They had to be called to the work by God,,, just as Aaron was.
God’s call was limited to Aaron and his descendants.
No one outside that family could serve in the tabernacle or the temple.
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Now beginning here in verse 5,,, the writer changes and begins to talk about Jesus and demonstrates His fitness as a priest because of His divine appointment,,, His manifest humanity,,, and His acquired qualifications.
As to His appointment,,, its source was God Himself.
It was a sovereign call.
It involved a better relationship than any earthly priest ever had.
Our Priest is the unique Son of God,,, eternally begotten,,, begotten in incarnation,,, and begotten in resurrection.
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Verse 6 says: 6 As he saith also in another place, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec.
According to my Bible Knowledge Commentary,,, the same One that declared Christ to be His Son,,, in the previous verse,,, declared Him also to be a Priest forever,,, in the order of Melchizedek.
In uniting as the author did here the text of Psalm 2:7, which he had quoted before in (Hebrews 1:5), and the text of Psalm 110:4,,, he skillfully joined the two great truths about the Messiah which lie at the heart of this epistle.
In this way the author united Christ with the dual offices of Priest and King.
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Verse 7 says: 7 Who in the days of his flesh, when he had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto him that was able to save him from death, and was heard in that he feared;
Christ is not only the sinless Son of God; He is also true Man,,, fully human.
The writer refers to the variety of human experiences through which He passed in the days of His flesh to prove this.
Notice the words used to describe His life and especially His experience in the Garden of Gethsemane: prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears.
They all speak of His career as a dependent Man,,, living in obedience to God,,, and sharing all of man’s emotions that are not connected with sin.
My Believer's Bible Commentary says,,, that Christ’s prayer was not that He might be saved from dying; since His whole reason for coming to earth was to die for our sins. (John 12:27).
But that ,,, His prayer was that He might be delivered out of death (JND), that His soul might not be left in Hades.
This prayer was answered when God raised Him from the dead.
It says that He was heard because of His godly fear.
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Verse 8 says: 8 Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered;
Now once again we come face to face with that profound mystery of the incarnation—how God could become Man in order to die for men.
Again using the Believer's Bible Commentary's words,,, it says "Though He was a Son, or better, Son though He was—He was not a Son, that is, one of many, but He was the only begotten Son of God".
In spite of this tremendous fact,,, He learned obedience by the things which He suffered.
His entrance into this world as a Man involved Him in experiences which He would never have known had He remained in heaven.
Each morning His ear was open to receive instructions from His Father for that day (Isa. 50:4).
He learned obedience experimentally as the Son who was always subject to His Father’s will.
This should be a lesson to us as well.
Just as Jesus learned what God required Him to do each day through prayer,,, so should we.
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Verse 9 says: 9 And being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him;
This cannot refer to His personal character because the Lord Jesus was absolutely perfect.
His words,,, His works,,, and His ways,,, were absolutely flawless.
In what sense then was He perfected?
The answer is in the work that He accomplished,,, as our Savior.
He could never have become our perfect Savior if He had remained in heaven.
But through His incarnation,,, death,,, burial,,, resurrection,,, and ascension,,, He completed the work that was necessary to save us from our sins,,, and now He has the acquired glory of being the perfect Savior of the world.
Having returned to heaven,,, He became the author of eternal salvation to all who obey Him.
Notice that,,, He is the Source of salvation for all,,, who obey Him.
Here salvation is conditional on obeying Him.
In many other passages salvation is conditional on faith.
How do we reconcile this seeming contradiction?
First of all,,, it is the obedience of faith: “the obedience which God requires is faith in His word.” (Romans 1:5; 16:25-27)
But it is also true that saving faith is the kind that results in obedience.
It is impossible to believe,,, in the true New Testament sense,,, without obeying.
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Verse 10 says: 10 Called of God an high priest after the order of Melchisedec.
In summary,,, Christ attended the school of suffering (v. 7),,, learned the lesson of obedience and discipline,,, (v. 8),,, and graduated as the qualified Great High Priest of man’s eternal salvation,,, (v. 9),,, and He was appointed by God to the headship of the unique priestly order of Melchizedek,,, (v. 10).
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As we begin our fifth week of Lent,,, heading into Holy week next week,,, we see why Jesus is the perfect High Priest,,, and He's all that we need so that we have that relationship with God that we need.
That's why we will continue to spend our time in Lent to strengthen our relationship and prepare us for the Easter celebration that is coming.
A better service than last year,,, but still scaled back so that a lot of the celebration will be in our hearts instead of a full scale celebration.
But still a celebration to be proud of!
It has been a tough year,,, and we aren't out of the woods yet,,, but it feels much better than it did.
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So as we continue through this week,,, remember these verses,,, and the way that Jesus has become our High Priest,,, making our personal relationship with God available.
Remember that faith in Jesus Christ saves us and through that faith,,, we continue,,, in obedience to Him!
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