HEBREWS 12 Jesus, Our High Priest (Heb 5:1-10)

“During the days of Jesus’ life on earth, he offered up prayers and petitions with fervent cries and tears to the one who could save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission. Son though he was, he learned obedience from what he suffered and, once made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him and was designated by God to be high  priest in the order of Melchizedek” (Heb 5:7-10).

Jesus Becomes The High Priest
The most important topics of the book of Hebrews are how Jesus became our high priest and what he did as the high priest. That’s what the author of Hebrews explains in chapters 5-10. Now, let’s go into Hebrews chapter 5.
 
Hebrews 5:1-3 says,
“Every high priest is selected from among the people and is appointed to represent the people in matters related to God, to offer gifts and sacrifices for sins. He is able to deal gently with those who are ignorant and are going astray, since he himself is subject to weakness. This is why he has to offer sacrifices for his own sins, as well as for the sins of the people.” (Heb 5:1-3)
 
In this passage, we see some basic roles of a high priest. First, he is appointed to represent the people. The reason there could be just one high priest at any given time was because he was a representative of God’s people. Therefore, a high priest served as a bridge between the people and God.
 
On the one hand, the high priest had a ceremonial role, offering gifts and sacrifices for all the Israelites’ sins. But, because he himself was a sinner, he had to offer sacrifices for his own sins first.
 
On the other hand, the high priest also had a pastoral role. As a bridge between people and God, he looked after people and sympathized with them. And, to sympathize with them, he had to know his own weakness so that he could be “able to deal gently with those who are ignorant and are going astray.”
 
These are the roles the book of Hebrews says that Jesus is carrying out as our high priest. He is the representative of all human beings and the only bridge through which we can have access to our heavenly Father. He provided purification for all sin, not with animals’ blood, but with his own blood, which has a far greater and eternal effect.
 
Not only that, Jesus also cares for God’s people with his gentleness. As a kind shepherd, Jesus looks after his sheep and takes care of us. And, even though Jesus is God in his very nature, he is able to sympathize with our weaknesses and help us in our time of need because he became a human and was tempted just as we are.
 
But, the biggest difference is that Jesus is sinless, so he didn’t have to offer a sacrifice for his own sin as high priests did in the past. So, what the author is trying to reveal is that Jesus is the culmination of the idea of priesthood because he is far superior to all other previous priests.
 
God’s Calling to Be A High Priest
After talking about the high priests’ roles between God and the people, the author of Hebrews then begins to go over the most important fact about becoming a high priest. In Hebrews 5:4, he says,
 
“No one takes this honor on himself, but he receives it when called by God, just as Aaron was.” (Heb 5:4)
 
An important fact about the high priest is that no one could become a high priest on his own. Only those who were called to be a high priest could become one.
 
This is important when we think about how Jesus became our high priest. What Hebrews tells us is that he became the high priest not because he wanted to be so, but because God called him to be the high priest for all ages.
 
Hebrews 5:5-6 says,
“In the same way, Christ did not take on himself the glory of becoming a high priest. But God said to him, “You are my Son; today I have become your Father.” And he says in another place, “You are a priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek.” (Heb 5:5-6)
 
Now, to explain Jesus becoming the high priest, the author brought together some biblical passages. In this paragraph, he quotes two verses from Psalms—Psalm 2:7 and Psalm 110:4.
 
First, Psalm 2:6-7 says,
“I have installed my king on Zion, my holy mountain.” I will proclaim the Lord’s decree: He said to me, “You are my son; today I have become your father.” (Ps 2:6-7)
 
This is what God said in response to the nations that band together to reject the Lord. God’s solution to the rebellious nations was not to destroy them but to install his king on Zion—the Messiah. What’s more important is that in this Psalm God says to the newly installed king “you are my son.”
 
It is important because it connects the Messiahship and the sonship. God will install his king on Zion. But, the king will be not someone else, but the Son of God.
 
What’s interesting is that the author of Hebrews used this passage about the Messiah and the Son of God to explain Jesus becoming the high priest. He said,
 
“Christ did not take on himself the glory of becoming a high priest. But God said to him, “You are my Son; today I have become your Father.”” (Heb 5:5)
 
Then, he links it with another Psalm, Psalm 110, which adds a new role to the Messiah. In Psalm 110, the Messiah appears as a priest.
 
Psalm 110 is one of the most frequently quoted Psalms in the New Testament. It begins like this.
 
“The Lord says to my lord: “Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet.” (Psalm 110:1)
 
We already talked about this verse in previous chapters. Here, the first Lord is God, and the second Lord, my Lord, is Jesus, the Messiah. God showed David in advance that he would set up his Son as king and the Messiah, and David called him ‘my Lord’ even though he would be David’s descendant.
 
But, in the same chapter, David also said,
“The Lord has sworn and will not change his mind: “You are a priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek.” (Ps 110:4)
 
So, in this Psalm, we see that the Messiahship and priesthood is somehow combined. It means that the Messiah God would send to the world would also serve as a priest.
 
Now, going back to Hebrews 5, in verses 4-5, the author of Hebrews combined these two Psalms—Psalm 2 and 110—to show how Jesus is promised in the Old Testament to be not only the Messiah, but also the high priest for all mankind.
 
But, the difference in Jesus becoming the high priest was that he followed a different order, the order of Melchizedek. As Hebrews 5:7-10 says,
 
“During the days of Jesus’ life on earth, he offered up prayers and petitions with fervent cries and tears to the one who could save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission. Son though he was, he learned obedience from what he suffered and, once made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him and was designated by God to be high priest in the order of Melchizedek” (Heb 5:7-10).
 
It’s not easy to grasp the meaning of Jesus becoming high priest in the order of Melchizedek. But, the author explained it in more detail in chapter 7. So, we’ll talk about it later. For now, it’s enough to say that Jesus was intended and promised to be the Messiah and the high priest in the Old Testament.
 
Jesus’ Obedience Through Suffering
What’s more important in today’s passage is that Jesus learned obedience through suffering and thus was made perfect.
 
Hebrews 5 verse 7 refers to the garden of Gethsemane where Jesus last prayed to God before he was caught. There, “he offered up prayers and petitions with fervent cries and tears” to God.
 
Jesus knew what would soon happen to him. He knew that he would be caught, abandoned, mocked, tortured, and crucified. As a human being, it was hard for him to endure. Jesus even said to his disciples, “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death” (Mk 14:34).
 
So, there at Gethsemane, when he was overwhelmed, Jesus prayed to God, and this was what he prayed.
 
“Abba, Father, everything is possible for you. Take this cup from me.” (Mk 14:36)
 
Knowing of the severe persecution and suffering he would face, Jesus prayed that God would take the cup from him. But, we shouldn’t think that Jesus was only afraid of physical suffering and death. It’s true that he suffered immensely both emotionally and physically when his disciples abandoned him, when he was mocked by people, and when he was whipped by the soldiers and crucified. But this wasn’t what Jesus was really afraid of.
 
He couldn’t really withstand being cursed and abandoned by God on the cross. Because Jesus bore our sins on his body, he had to endure all God’s wrath and curses being poured out on them. He experienced deep separation of his soul from God. That’s why he earnestly prayed to God with fervent cries and tears up to the point that his sweat became like drops of blood.
 
But, even in the most desperate situation, Jesus put God’s will first. After praying, “Take this cup from me,’ Jesus also prayed, “Yet not what I will, but what you will” (Mk 14:36b).
 
So, through Jesus’ prayer at Gethsemane, we see how humble and obedient Jesus was before God. Even though it was really hard to withstand, Jesus willingly chose to suffer because he knew that it was God’s will and he always put it first in his life.
 
Jesus’ obedience is the most important example that shows us what our obedience should be like. Hebrews 5:8-9 says, “Son though he was, he learned obedience from what he suffered and, once made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him” (Heb 5:8-9).
 
Jesus was always obedient to God even during the most difficult times. Jesus obeyed God even when it required him to go through extreme persecution and suffering. The obedience Jesus showed us through his life is what we should also follow as Christians.
 
As a result of his obedience in suffering, the author of Hebrews said that he was made perfect. It doesn’t mean that he was imperfect before that obedience. It means that through his obedience and suffering, he was made perfect to be our savior, who gives us eternal salvation for all who follow his example of obedience.
 
Again, this Jesus is our eternal high priest, who is able to empathize with our weaknesses and help us. He can lead us where we can’t go on our own. He can help us to obey God even when it requires us to go through suffering.
 
As our high priest, Jesus showed us what true obedience is through his life and encourages us to follow his steps, fixing our eyes on him, “the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him.”
 
The book of Hebrews was written for Jewish Christians who were heavily tempted to go back to Judaism because of severe persecution. So, it was really important for them to be reminded of the fact that they had an eternal high priest, Jesus, who had also gone through hardships as they did, but overcame them by putting God’s will first and obeying him.
 
The fact that Jesus is the high priest is also important to us. When we’re tempted to give up our faith because of  suffering and temptation, we’re to remember that there was one who also was tempted and suffered, just as we are.
 
We should keep in mind the truth that Jesus is always there for us as our high priest. He forgives our sins, cares for us, sympathizes with our weaknesses, and helps us in our times of need. When we’re exhausted or don’t feel like we have to follow God’s will, we should turn our eyes on Jesus, fix our thoughts on him, and approach God’s throne of grace with confidence.
 
Then, through Jesus Christ, our high priest, we’ll find God’s amazing mercy and grace that give us the strength to overcome our weaknesses and the challenges in our lives.