Hebrews 5

CHAPTER 5

Our High Priest (5:1-10)

1 For someone to become a Jewish high priest, two things were necessary. First, the high priest was selected from among men; that is, he himself had to be a man. Second, the high priest was appointed by God. The function of the high priest was to offer to God gifts and sacrifices for sins. By offering these gifts and sacrifices, the high priest made atonement for the sins of the people.

2 Because the Jewish high priests were men, they themselves fell into sin from time to time. Therefore, because of their own weakness, they were able to deal gently with those who [were] ignorant and … going astray. However, they did not deal gently with those who sinned deliberately and refused to repent. According to the Jewish law, there was no forgiveness for those who sinned knowingly (see Numbers 15:27-31; Hebrews 9:7).

3 Because the Jewish high priests themselves sinned from time to time, they were required to offer a sacrifice for their own sins before they could offer sacrifices for the sins of the people (Leviticus 16:6). Only a high priest who was himself cleansed from sin could offer sacrifices for the sins of others.

4 The high priests didn’t appoint themselves to the office of high priest; they were always appointed by God. Moses’ brother Aaron was the first Jewish high priest (Exodus 28:1-2).

5 In the same way, Christ did not appoint Himself to be a high priest; He was appointed by God. God not only made Christ a high priest; He also made Him His Son. The writer here quotes from Psalm 2:7.

6 God appointed Christ to be a priest forever. But here a problem appears. All Jewish high priests had to be descended from Aaron, the first high priest. But Christ was descended, notfrom Aaron, butfrom David, the famous king of the Jews. Therefore, how could Christ be a true high priest?

Here the writer, quoting from Psalm 110:4, gives the answer: Christ was a high priest, not in the order of Aaron, but in the order of Melchizedek.

Who was Melchizedek? He was a priest of God long before Aaron’s time. He was also the king of Salem—that is, Jerusalem⁹ (Genesis 14:18). Thus he was both a priest and a king. Since King David later became “king of Jerusalem,” it can be said that he was in the order of Melchizedek. And because Jesus was descended from David, He too was in the order of Melchizedek. Therefore, Jesus is both a king and a high priest in the order of Melchizedek (verse 10).

7 In verse 1, the writer has said that the high priests were men. Therefore, for Jesus to serve as high priest, He had to be a man too. In this verse, the writer describes one aspect of Jesus’ life as a man (see Mark 14:32-36).

Jesus was a man just like us, with all our temptations and weaknesses. Even though He was God’s own Son, He endured all kinds of trials and hardships, just as we do. When He became hungry, Hecouldhave turned stones into bread; but He did not do so (Matthew 4:2-4). When He was arrested, He could have called for the help of twelve legions of angels, but He did not do so (Matthew 26:53). Just as we ordinary men must endure trouble and pain, so also did Christ endure trouble and pain. Thus Jesus can sympathize with us in every situation, because He Himself has experienced every kind of trouble we experience (Hebrews 2:18; 4:15).

But think for a moment: Jesus’ suffering was far greater than our own. When we suffer, we know that Jesus is with us. We are never alone. But when Jesus suffered, especially when He was dying on the cross, He suffered alone. Even God, at that time, forsook Him (Mark 15:34).

The writer says that Jesus was heard because of his reverent submission. Jesus prayed that He might be saved from death on the cross (Mark 14:35-36), but God did not grant that prayer. God was able to save [Jesus] from death, but He chose not to. However, God certainly did hear Jesus’ prayer to be saved, because three days after Jesus’ death, God raised Him from the dead.

8 Although Jesus was the Son of God, He learned obedience from what he suffered. What does this mean? We ordinary men and women usually learn obedience through the suffering that comes upon us when we disobey. But Jesus never disobeyed. Indeed, it was because of Jesus’ obedience that suffering came upon Him. Jesus learned how difficult it is to obey God fully. He experienced the suffering that comes upon those who obey God.

These Hebrew Christians, to whom this letter was written, had already begun to experience some suffering because of their obedience to Christ. But now, as a result, they were about to fall away; they were about to deny Christ. Therefore, let them remember Jesus, who Himself endured suffering in obedience until the end.

9 Jesus was made perfect through suffering (Hebrews 2:10). He was obedient in everything. He did not sin. Therefore, having become a perfect high priest, He is able to give eternal salvation to all who obey him. It was through His obedience that Jesus became the source of eternal salvation. Inthesameway,it is throughour obedience¹⁰ to him that we obtain that salvation.

Jesus is the source of salvation for all who obey him—that is, for all who believe in Him. Faith comes first; without faith, we cannot obey Christ. At the same time, without obedience, there cannot be true faith (see James 2:14-17 and comment). Both faith and obedience together are necessary for our salvation.

10 See verse 6 and comment.

Milk and Solid Food (5:11-14)

11-12 These Hebrews, to whom this letter was written, had been slow to grow and mature in their faith. They were still spiritual infants (see 1 Corinthians 3:1-2). They had not fully learned even the elementary truths of God’s word (verse 12).

God’s word is made up of both milk and solid food (see Matthew 4:4). “Milk” is for new believers (1 Peter 2:2); “solid food” is for mature believers.

13 These Hebrews had been living, in a spiritual sense, on milk alone. Having initially grown a little in their faith, they had now stopped growing. They had found it was easier just to keep drinking milk like a baby!

In order to grow, we need solid food. In order to grow spiritually, we need teaching about righteousness. What the writer means here is that we need teaching that will prepare us to suffer for righteousness’ sake(Matthew5:10; 2 Timothy3:12).These Hebrews weren’t ready to suffer in this way. They did not know much about true righteousness.

14 Here solid food means the difficult and deep teachings of Jesus. When we eat such “food,” we will grow in Christ. And as we grow in Christ, we shall become better able to distinguish good from evil. We will be able to see more clearly the sin in our own lives and the good in Jesus’ life. As we grow in faith, we shall be better able to understand Jesus’ righteousness and to follow Him. But, to grow in this way, we need solid food. We will never become mature by drinking only milk!