Hebrews 5

The High Priest

Christ Is Better Than Aaron and the Levitical Priesthood (4:14-10:18) 

An Appointed High Priest (1-6)

Priests had two qualifications and one key task. Their qualifications: they had to be human, and they had to be appointed by God. Their key task was to offer gifts and sacrifices for sins (1). Because they were human, it was presupposed that they would also be compassionate (2). Every human priest was to offer sacrifices for themselves and the people; this is why no one took the honor on himself, but it was required that they be called (3-4). Jesus, even being God, did not take the honor on Himself but was appointed by God, as cited by the author of Hebrews from two Old Testament passages (Psalm 2:7; 110:4) (5-6).

An Obedient High Priest (7-9)

In Gethsemane, Jesus prayed His famous prayer, “Not My will but as You will” (Matthew 26:38-39). His Father heard Him and was able to save Him from death (7), thus Jesus willingly yielded to the suffering of death on the cross. Jesus learned to be obedient in the suffering, just as every other human learns to listen and obey God (8). The author then declared Jesus was brought into the full destiny and purpose of His life (“perfect”) through suffering and became the Source of eternal salvation for everyone else who would learn to listen and obey through suffering (9).

A Melchizedek High Priest (5:10-7:28)

The author claimed Jesus to be a Priest after the order of Melchizedek. Melchizedek was a priest of ancient Jerusalem during the time of Abraham; he accepted tithes from Abraham after Abraham returned from a battle in which he had rescued his nephew, Lot. Before Abraham gave Melchizedek his tithe, Melchizedek gave bread and wine to Abraham and pronounced to Abraham that he had been and was blessed of God and that his great victory had been God’s doing (Genesis 14:18-20). All of this was hinting at the truth: ultimate victory from God was through the High Priest Jesus in obedience during times of suffering (10).

The Definition for Immaturity (11-14)

The author wanted to launch into what this Melchizedek priesthood metaphor meant but could not because his audience had become lazy in their listening habits and no longer possessed an excitement to learn (11). They had become drinkers of milk, meaning they were breastfeeding or feeding off of the messages the preachers were giving them, rather than acting maturely by going out and getting whole food to feed to their children. Yes, they were living for themselves as breastfed infants, and because they were not caring for and discipling others, they were becoming unable to distinguish between good and evil, selfishness and selflessness (12-14).

Hebrews 6

Warnings of Immaturity

Christ Is Better Than Aaron and the Levitical Priesthood (4:14-10:18) 

The Development of Immaturity (1-6)

The author listed what he considered to be the basic teachings of Jesus; their purpose was to move followers forward through repentance, faith, baptism (“washings”), laying on of hands, resurrection from the dead, and eternal judgment. These teachings not only taught followers how to begin to follow, but they also provided ongoing foundation marks of the maturing believer (1-3). Then the author clearly laid out his fifth warning. He began by listing four qualities of their present spiritual state: they were enlightened, received the heavenly gift, shared in the Holy Spirit, and tasted the goodness of the word and the powers of the age to come (5). Then the warning: it would be impossible (4) to have experienced what they had experienced, to be restored to where they were, if they continued down the road of falling away from selfless and love-dominated living. This was their “Kadesh-Barnea,” the place where God brought the children of Israel after delivering them from Egypt with such great signs, and they refused to go on and enter in—the wilderness generation who disobeyed but never entered and was never restored to their original purpose.

The author’s point: once a person had committed deeply to Christ, if the person rejected His way, it would become impossible to restore to repentance or bring about a change of mind in that person. Rejection of His way was like crucifying Jesus a second time in one’s heart, killing off one’s passion and devotion to Him. Once crucified a second time, it was not a matter of whether or not God would restore; rather, it was impossible for the heart to ever want to be restored and return to the way of Christ (6).

The Danger of Immaturity (7-12)

The author now appealed to an example of a farmer cultivating his land and then having it irrigated by rain, only to produce thistles. Those thistles would be burned up so the ground could be fit for a new and fruitful crop (7-8). While the author had been warning Christ’s followers, he was still aware they had not yet made a final decision—they had not yet abandoned Christ, and in their selfishness, they were yet working and loving and serving Christ’s cause (9-10). He appealed to them not to become as lazy in deed as they had become in listening (5:11) but to imitate those who, through faith and patience, inherited the promises—in other words, endure to the end (11-12).

The Direction for Immaturity (13-20)

The author used Abraham to exemplify the one to imitate, the one to whom a promise was made, the one who received a promise with an oath (13), and the one who patiently obtained the promise (14-15). Oaths were a common practice among humans because humans would not necessarily take care to back up their words with actions. An oath would bind them to certain consequences, if violated. God, wishing to make sure we were confident of His intentions, used the human custom of an oath to make sure we knew He would keep his promise without fail. Because God has no one greater than Himself to swear by as humans do (16), God swore by His own name (17). This was convincing for two reasons: God’s word could never be changed and neither could His character ever be altered. These two qualities of God give us confidence as we patiently wait in faith, taking our refuge in Him (18), our faith becoming like an anchor set secure in the Most Holy Presence (19), where Jesus is seated as the High Priest Melchizedek (20).