God Speaks
Every high priest is a man chosen to represent other people in their dealings with God. He presents their gifts to God and offers sacrifices for their sins. 2 And he is able to deal gently with ignorant and wayward people because he himself is subject to the same weaknesses. 3 That is why he must offer sacrifices for his own sins as well as theirs.
4 And no one can become a high priest simply because he wants such an honor. He must be called by God for this work, just as Aaron was. 5 That is why Christ did not honor himself by assuming he could become High Priest. No, he was chosen by God, who said to him,
“You are my Son.
Today I have become your Father.”
6 And in another passage God said to him,
“You are a priest forever in the order of Melchizedek.”
7 While Jesus was here on earth, he offered prayers and pleadings, with a loud cry and tears, to the one who could rescue him from death. And God heard his prayers because of his deep reverence for God. 8 Even though Jesus was God’s Son, he learned obedience from the things he suffered. 9 In this way, God qualified him as a perfect High Priest, and he became the source of eternal salvation for all those who obey him. 10 And God designated him to be a High Priest in the order of Melchizedek.
11 There is much more we would like to say about this, but it is difficult to explain, especially since you are spiritually dull and don’t seem to listen. 12 You have been believers so long now that you ought to be teaching others. Instead, you need someone to teach you again the basic things about God’s word. You are like babies who need milk and cannot eat solid food. 13 For someone who lives on milk is still an infant and doesn’t know how to do what is right. 14 Solid food is for those who are mature, who through training have the skill to recognize the difference between right and wrong.
Source: New Living Translation: BibleGateway.com
We Respond
Reflection: The discussion in Hebrews of Jesus being the great high priest actually begins in
verse fourteen of chapter four and continues through chapter five verse ten. Melchizedek is a person in Abraham’s time who both blessed and received tithes from him. (Genesis 14:17-24) Jesus experienced every kind of trial and temptation humans experience (except he never sinned), so He can empathize with us and offer the kind of support and mercy we truly need in overcoming sin. We just need to accept His gracious provision and follow Him. Other high priests had to cover their own sins as well as those of the people they represented before God. Jesus was totally without sin until the sins of all mankind were placed on Him during His crucifixion. It is the LORD God Himself who appointed Jesus for this position. Jesus learned trusting-obedience* through the things that He suffered. Believers are warned against not maturing in their faith in Christ.
*The term trusting-obedience was taken from The Message//Remix New Testament in Contemporary Language, Hebrews 5:7-10, by Eugene H. Peterson, 2003.
Prayer: Dear Jesus, thank You for being our great high priest. As great as You are, You can still sympathize with our weaknesses. You became a human being and were tempted in every way we are, yet You did not sin. Because of this, we can come to You, on Your throne, and receive grace to help us in our time of need. Jesus, thank You for acting on my behalf in regard to God and my sinful nature and my individual sins. You didn’t independently promote Yourself to this position as high priest, but God the Father appointed You as His beloved Son. In Your time on earth, You struggled physically, emotionally, and spiritually, learning what it means to obey. For that reason, You are able to perfect our obedience as we humbly cooperate with You and the Holy Spirit. Jesus, please help me to learn trusting-obedience just as You did through the things that You suffered. Holy Spirit, please help me to continue to mature in my faith so that I will be able to teach others how to distinguish good from evil and put the truths of God into practice in my daily life. For Your glory, LORD. AMEN
Action: (Ask God, the Holy Spirit, if He wants you to work on one of the suggestions below or something else more personal that He points out.)
- I will worship the LORD with a grateful heart for how Jesus dealt with all my sins at the cross.
- I will conduct a study of the office of the high priest (and/or Melchizedek) throughout the scriptures to see how Jesus is better.
- I will talk with a fellow believer about what I learned.
- I will take specific time daily interacting with my great high priest, Jesus.
Share: I plan to share what I’ve learned with __________.