Hebrews 5:1-10

 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. ²He is able to deal gently with those who are ignorant and are going astray, since he himself is subject to weakness. ³This is why he has to offer sacrifices for his own sins, as well as for the sins of the people. ⁴And no one takes this honor on himself, but he receives it when called by God, just as Aaron was. ⁵In 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.” ⁶And he says in another place, “You are a priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek.” ⁷During 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. ⁸Son though he was, he learned obedience from what he suffered  ⁹and, once made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him  ¹⁰and was designated by God to be high priest in the order of Melchizedek.

 High Priest

One of the aspects of the book of Hebrews that really stands out for me are the contrasts drawn by the writer between the Old and the New Testaments. People of the Old Testament had servants in the form of prophets, angels, apostles, and priests through whom they asked for forgiveness and received guidance. We on the other hand now have direct access to God through his Son.

Reading these first few verses of Chapter 5 reminds me of how blessed we are as Christians today. The role of a High Priest is to act on behalf of the people providing the link between heaven and earth. The old priests (of which there were many) could only serve until they died and had to offer sacrifices repeatedly for their own sins and those of the people. How blessed are we that these old, repeated sacrifices have now been replaced by a new once and for all sacrifice – Jesus himself!

Twice the writer of Hebrews refers in these verses to the appointment of Jesus as High Priest “in the order of Melchizedek”. (I had to do my research over this.) Normally priests were appointed from the line of Aaron (from whom Levites descended). However, Melchizedek (according to Wikipedia) was the King of Salem and a priest of El Elyon (often translated as “most high God”) who ministered to Abraham. The significance seems to be that no record of a genealogy or ancestral line can be found in history for Melchizedek. He appears to transcend earthly existence. So, God appointed Jesus to the role of High Priest from an order with no predecessor and no successor. Knowing that Jesus, the eternal High Priest is at God’s right hand, praying for me is a source of great encouragement.

Verses 7 - 9 remind me that Jesus’ life was not easy but that in his obedience he gained experience through his times of suffering, becoming perfect! Once we make the decision to follow Jesus, God’s number one purpose is to make us more like Christ. God uses our path, however painful, for us to gain experience and grow in maturity. He takes us through everything that Jesus went through – loneliness, frustration, feeling misunderstood, criticism, pain (to name a few).

As Pastor Rick Warren said:

“God loves to turn crucifixions into resurrections. The things you wish were most removed from your life are often the very things that God is using to shape you and make you into the believer he wants you to be. He wants to use that problem for good in your life. There’s something more important than your pain. It’s what you’re learning from that pain.”

Prayer: Heavenly Father thank you that you appointed Jesus as our most High Priest. Thank you that he became the ultimate sacrifice for our sins. Thank you that he is sitting at your right hand praying for us. Help us through the circumstances of our lives to grow in obedience and perseverance to become more like Jesus.