Sermon Tone Analysis

Introduction

Good morning again.

Go ahead and open your Bibles to Hebrews chapter 5. We’re just going to dive right in.

Today’s passage is actually a continuation of the thought that the author of Hebrews began in chapter 4, verse 14 that my friend Monda covered last week.

The author continues on with giving an explanation of why the Hebrew Christians and we as well can hold fast to our confession.

The reason that he gives is because we have such a great and superior high priest in Jesus Christ.

If you’ll recall, this letter was originally probably a sermon delivered to Hebrew Christians who were being pressured and tempted to step back from their faith in Jesus and revert back to the Old Covenant Jewish ways.

The author of Hebrews is giving them reason after reason why they should not do this and instead should hold fast to their confession of Christ.

Lord willing, my goal is that you would see the role and qualifications of the high priest, how Jesus fills that role, and what that means for us as we follow Him daily.

Follow along as I read from Hebrews chapter 5, verses 1 through 10.

Read

This is the Word of the Lord.

Let’s pray and ask God to help us understand it.

PRAY

I.

The Roll of the High Priest

In order to understand Jesus’ activity as our high priest, we need to look at what the roll of the high priest was.

The office of high priest was hereditary, in that you had to be in the line of Aaron to get the role.

It was the man in charge of the temple or tabernacle worship.

Scripture uses a few different terms to refer to this high priest role.

the priest Exodus 31:10

the anointed priest Leviticus 4:3

chief priest 2 Chronicles 26:20

high priest 2 Kings 12:10

Generally speaking, the high priest served for life.

However, sometimes there were political reasons that would end with the removal of the high priest.

In an ideal situation the high priest was someone that was fully committed to the Lord and ritually pure.

They were to be always ready to do the Lord’s will.

We read in scripture that there was a special level of holiness that was required of the one serving as high priest.

These qualifications are found in Leviticus.

This means that he had to steer clear of contact with the dead to avoid being defiled.

This would also include his own parents if they died.

Outside signs of mourning were also forbidden.

He had to stay in the sanctuary precincts.

These limits identified him as someone totally dedicated to the Lord.

If this guy sinned, it brought guilt upon the people.

I can’t emphasize how big of a deal this was and how important the first audience for this letter would have realized it was.

The sin offering required for the high priest was the same as that required “if the whole congregation of Israel commits error”.

When it was time to consecrate the high priest there was an elaborate process.

It was a seven day ritual which involved special baths, dressing in special garments, which I’ll get to in a moment, and anointing with oil and with blood.

Let me read from the Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary about the garments of the high priest.

The special garments of the high priest included a blue robe with an ornate hem decorated with gold bells and embroidered pomegranates, an ephod of fine linen with colorful embroidered work and shoulder straps bearing stones engraved with the names of the twelve tribes, a breastplate with twelve precious stones engraved with the names of the 12 tribes, and a linen turban with a gold plate inscribed “Holy to Yahweh” (Exod.

28:4–39; 39:1–31; Lev.

8:7–9).

The engraved plate and the stones engraved with the tribal names highlight the role of the high priest as the holy representative of all Israel before the Lord (Exod.

28:12, 29).

In his “breastpiece of judgment,” the high priest kept the sacred lots, the Urim and Thummim, which were used to inquire of the Lord (Exod.

28:29–30; Num.

27:21).

The high priest also took part in the general duties of a priest.

He was the only one who was allowed to enter into the holy of holies but only on the Day of Atonement.

The holy of holies or the Most Holy Place was the section of the temple or tabernacle that was separated from the holy place.

It was divided from the rest by a curtain or veil.

The high priest was the only one who got to go back there and perform as commanded in the Law.

When the high priest died it marked the end of an epoch.

If anyone was guilty of involuntary manslaughter they were required to remain in a city of refuge until the high priest died.

This position of high priest was a big deal.

So much of the lives of the Jewish people hinged around the performance of the duties of the high priest as their representative before God.

In verse two we see some of the qualifications of a high priest.

II.

The Qualifications of the High Priest

A. Deal Gently with the Ignorant and Wayward

Ignorant - Those who were ignorant because of their lack of knowledge of God.

If you were an Israelite and ignorant of God it was because you were willfully ignorant.

Their entire history and culture was built around knowledge of God.

Parents were to train their children in the law and meditate on it day and night.

God had set up a system of festivals for them that included public recitation of God’s acts and a public reading of the Law.

This was so the Israelites would know and fear Him better.

You would really have to work to be ignorant of God in this situation.

You would be deliberately disregarding and forsaking God’s law.

I wonder if this might describe someone here.

Does this describe where your heart has been dwelling?

Would you repent and turn to Jesus for new life?

He must also deal gently with the wayward.

Your translation might use the word astray.

Think of this wayward person as someone who has allowed themselves to wander from the things of God.

This may not be an outright rebellion as the ignorant person but someone who wanders in their thoughts or habits.

Maybe you see yourself in this today.

Maybe you would say, yes pastor, that describes where I am at in my life.

I beg of you to repent and trust the good news of the gospel and let Jesus deal gently with you.

The high priest is able to identify with both the ignorant and the wayward because he was also a human and as a finite being was also beset with weaknesses.

He was able to deal with gentleness and compassion toward these kinds of people because he understands what it is to be wayward or ignorant and tempted in those ways.

B. Able to sympathize

The high priest was not only able to sympathize with the people because he understood what they experienced but he actually had to offer up sacrifices for his sin BEFORE he could offer sacrifices for the sins of the people.

Before he could go into the holy place, he had to deal with his own sin.

It was to the point that he couldn’t even enter the presence of God on behalf of the people prior to offering atonement for his own sin.

C. Divinely appointed

The priesthood was not a volunteer position.

Aaron, who was the first high priest, did not fill out an application and submit it online.

He didn’t go through an interview.

He was not elected by the people either.

He was called by God to be the high priest.

Being called by God emphasizes the element of servanthood and humility that marked the position of high priest.

It was a high honor but was not characterized by exalting yourself but a motivation to serve.

III.

Jesus' ordination was superior to other high priests’ ordinations

First, let’s look at Jesus’ superior ordination

The ordination of a hp - elaborate process

Why Jesus’s was superior - He is the Son of God.

(passed through the heavens)

He did not assume to role of his own but was appointed to it by God.

Jesus is like the other high priests in that He was appointed by God.

The quote there is is from Psalm 2:7