Study No. 6 Jesus, Both God and, Our High Priest
(For this study please pre-read Chapter 5)
Many of the religions of the world have an office called 'the priesthood'. And while each religion is unique, there is a kind of similarity in the office of priest; they more or less stand as an intermediary between the people and whatever god it is that is being worshiped.
Whether you have seen a priest first-hand, serving in a temple, or have witnessed one in some form of media, we get the impression that his (or her) service is to be taken seriously.
When it comes to a discussion of priests in the Bible, one thing becomes very clear. Every other religion besides the Jewish religion, is worshiping a non-god, a god that is not and never was alive. God's word has much to say about 'real' priests – priests who serve the one and only living God.
Jesus, we were told in 4:14, is our great High Priest. As you may already be thinking, He is superior to any high priest this world has ever seen. And we may also be thinking, 'Of course He was and is superior to any earthly high priest because, after all, He is the creator of the earth. He is God'.
And while these facts are obvious to us … and should have been obvious also to the Hebrew Christians, the writer wants us to appreciate some things about His specific ministry as our High Priest.
We 'Gentiles' have no heart strings attached to the old Jewish system of worship, as did these Hebrews believers, so what we can learn here can be totally new to our Christian faith.
First the writer lays out some ordinary and obvious facts about priesthood in the Jewish faith.
Priests:
Let's take a moment to insert a few thoughts regarding the Catholic and Anglican churches and their view of priesthood. At some point in the history of the Christian church, a large part of it fell and was lead into error. It developed a priesthood, an order of people who stand between the masses of followers … and God. This was never taught in the New Testament. Rather it developed over time as a method to control the people. It is almost as though some of the early leaders purposely patterned a priesthood after the Old Testament Jewish system. The high priest, in their case, is called the pope, or padre, a word which means father. I believe they even call the pope, Holy Father.
What is wrong with this whole picture? Look at what scripture has to say about 'present day' priests.
1Pe 2:1 ¶ Therefore, laying aside all malice, all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and all evil speaking,2 as newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby,
3 if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is gracious.
4 ¶ Coming to Him as to a living stone, rejected indeed by men, but chosen by God and precious,
5 you also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
In the New Testament era … our era … all believers are priests. This concept warrants a bit of thought. Since each believer is a priest … what does that mean really? First of all it means that we can approach God directly. That is, we approach God but in some way, not seen by us, our request goes through Jesus, our high priest. But is this all that believer-priesthood means? We read that the Old Testament priests had to offer sacrifices for their own sins. After that they could approach God in behalf of the people.
So to complete the answer to what is a believer-priest … we have to realize that after we have come to God in confession of our own sin1, we have a service to perform in behalf of others.
I have pointed out before that our reputation of who we are is based on who we follow. If we are accusers, we are following the 'Accuser of the Brethren', Satan. If we are seen as intercessors, praying for others, we are following Jesus who intercedes for us in heaven.
Who do we, as Christians, intercede for?
Here is one example. Jesus prayed for his disciples that would soon be alone in the world.
John 17:9 "I pray for them. I do not pray for the world but for those whom You have given Me, for they are Yours.
And here is a direct instruction for who we are to pray for.
1John 5:14 ¶ Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us.
15 And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him.
16 If anyone sees his brother sinning a sin which does not lead to death, he will ask, and He will give him life for those who commit sin not leading to death. There is sin leading to death. I do not say that he should pray about that.
17 All unrighteousness is sin, and there is sin not leading to death.
Praying for a brother or sister in Christ that we believe to be sinning …. is interceding. That is, they are missing the mark. They are off base. Do they know they are sinning or are we praying for those who think they are doing everything right?
If our christian brother or sister knows they are doing wrong, this is what we do … Luke 17:3 So watch yourselves. If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him.(This is especially true when a fellow Christian sins against you personally.)
I would say that interceding involves praying for those who may not even know that they are misguided and/or sinning. Interceding also includes praying because we were asked to pray. As we intercede for them we would also ask for wisdom for ourselves so that we might know what to do next … try to give them words of guidance and re-direction from scripture … or hand them over to another believer who we sense has the wisdom and maturity to help this person.
Can we also intercede for the unsaved (unbelievers)? The answer is yes, in every matter except one. We cannot ask God to take away their freedom of choice … and just “Save them!” There are many other things that God can and will do (in response to our prayer) that influences an unbeliever to turn.
Hebrews 5:5 The writer points out to us that no one 'goes in for the priesthood', but they are selected by God. Jesus was also chosen. Chosen by that person who said, “You are my beloved Son, Today I have begotten you.” We know who that was. In calling or appointing Jesus to the position of priest, God made the statement that is quoted in verse 6.
What is the order of Melchizedek? There will be more on this in an upcoming chapter, but for now we will briefly say that there are only two recognized 'orders' of priesthood in the bible.
The first is Aaronic order (descendants of Aaron) and the order of Melchizedek. In the actual case of Melchizedek we are not told how or when he was chosen, but several things stand out. a) he was not a descendant of Aaron. And b) he was both royalty and priest.
Verse 7 - Heb 4:15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet was without sin.
Jesus suffered the weaknesses of humanity during His life here. But, more than that, He suffered intensely, both on the cross and before the crucifixion.
His apprehension …. or fear of death … was different from that which the average person goes through. Men in general fear death and what may be beyond the grave. We sin and we will face a judgment. As believers we know that if we confess our sin and He is faithful and just to forgive us and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.2 But still we do not look forward to the judgment day …
9 So we make it our goal to please him, whether we are at home in the body or away from it.
10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive what is due to him for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.
11 Since, then, we know what it is to fear the Lord, we try to persuade men. 2Co 5:9-11
Jesus had no reason to fear what lay beyond the grave. There was some other reason that
… His sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground. Lu 22:44
This is the time to turn and read Psalm 22:1-21
God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. 2Co 5:21
What did this involve? We can never know this side of eternity. Perhaps one day we will understand His cry; "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" It has been said that Christ, in His agony suffered hell for us. (He did not literally suffer the flames of Hell.) His agony all took place before He said, 'It is finished'.
Isa 53:6 We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.
8-9 Christ became … perfected, that is 'finished' or complete … as Savior and priest.
10-14 At this point the apostle makes mention of the spiritual level of the Hebrew Christians. He knows something about them. Small wonder that he warned them in chapter two about letting things slip. We talked in the oral part our previous study about those things which cause us to go backward in our faith3.
Verse 12 mentions 'by this time you ought to be teachers,' Does Paul expect all believers to be teachers? Perhaps not in the sense of holding the position of teacher. Perhaps not in the sense of having the 'gift' of teaching. But perhaps in the sense that ...
Mt 10:8 … freely ye have received, freely give. In each of our lives (the circle of friends and family in which we function daily) there will be those who know more than you, have greater experience than you … in the things of God. You can learn from them. They are teachers to you. But also there will be those who know less than you, have less experience in the things of God. To them you are their teacher.
We learn God's word and as we do so, we have more and more that we are able to pass on.
Here are a few points to consider relevant to how much teaching we can or should do.
(1.) God takes notice of the time you have had and resources we have for gaining scripture-knowledge.
(2.) From those to whom much is given much is expected.4
(3.) Those who have a good understanding in the gospel should be teachers of others, if not in a public situation, then in one on one situations.
(4.) None should take it upon themselves to be teachers of others, but those who have first put in the effort to gain spiritual knowledge themselves and are committed to putting into practice what they have learned.
Growing is expected. It is supposed to be the norm. Growing happens when we take in God's word. His word was 'milk' for us when we needed it.5
These Hebrew Christians have 'come to need milk'. Note, it does not say that they were still on milk when they should, by now, be on meat. It implies that they are not even on milk. This indicates that they have not been in God's word at all.
So the order is, ….desire and take in the 'milk' of God's word … as a starting point. But solid food belongs to those who are of full age, that is, those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil. (Heb 5:14)
Much of what God's word contains is what we would call solid food. As we grow in His word … constant
reading, meditating and re-reading … our 'senses become exercised'. That is, the 'right' that God wants us to do becomes more clear. The 'wrong' God wants us to stay away from also becomes more clear.
There is some solid food coming up in our study of the book of Hebrews. I trust we are looking forward to it.
1A priest offered a sacrifice for his own sin. We do not do that, since Jesus is the sacrifice given for the world. As did the priest, we do confess and ask forgiveness for our sin.
21 John 1:9
3The parable of the sower and the seed, Mt 13. Growing plants were choked out by weeds ... the deceitfulness of riches and the desire for an easy life.
4Luke 12:38 For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required:
51Pe 2:2 as newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby,
Many of the religions of the world have an office called 'the priesthood'. And while each religion is unique, there is a kind of similarity in the office of priest; they more or less stand as an intermediary between the people and whatever god it is that is being worshiped.
Whether you have seen a priest first-hand, serving in a temple, or have witnessed one in some form of media, we get the impression that his (or her) service is to be taken seriously.
When it comes to a discussion of priests in the Bible, one thing becomes very clear. Every other religion besides the Jewish religion, is worshiping a non-god, a god that is not and never was alive. God's word has much to say about 'real' priests – priests who serve the one and only living God.
Jesus, we were told in 4:14, is our great High Priest. As you may already be thinking, He is superior to any high priest this world has ever seen. And we may also be thinking, 'Of course He was and is superior to any earthly high priest because, after all, He is the creator of the earth. He is God'.
And while these facts are obvious to us … and should have been obvious also to the Hebrew Christians, the writer wants us to appreciate some things about His specific ministry as our High Priest.
We 'Gentiles' have no heart strings attached to the old Jewish system of worship, as did these Hebrews believers, so what we can learn here can be totally new to our Christian faith.
First the writer lays out some ordinary and obvious facts about priesthood in the Jewish faith.
Priests:
- Were humans chosen to serve humans.
- Stood as intermediaries between man and God.
- Brought both gifts and sacrifices …. to satisfy God.
- Were sympathetic for mankind in it's weakness, since they themselves were human.
- First offered sacrifices for their own sins and shortcomings … because of their own humanity.
- Became priests, not by a choice of their own, but by a result of their being born in the Jewish tribe of Levi, and were descendants of Aaron. They were a direct choice of God.
Let's take a moment to insert a few thoughts regarding the Catholic and Anglican churches and their view of priesthood. At some point in the history of the Christian church, a large part of it fell and was lead into error. It developed a priesthood, an order of people who stand between the masses of followers … and God. This was never taught in the New Testament. Rather it developed over time as a method to control the people. It is almost as though some of the early leaders purposely patterned a priesthood after the Old Testament Jewish system. The high priest, in their case, is called the pope, or padre, a word which means father. I believe they even call the pope, Holy Father.
What is wrong with this whole picture? Look at what scripture has to say about 'present day' priests.
1Pe 2:1 ¶ Therefore, laying aside all malice, all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and all evil speaking,2 as newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby,
3 if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is gracious.
4 ¶ Coming to Him as to a living stone, rejected indeed by men, but chosen by God and precious,
5 you also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
In the New Testament era … our era … all believers are priests. This concept warrants a bit of thought. Since each believer is a priest … what does that mean really? First of all it means that we can approach God directly. That is, we approach God but in some way, not seen by us, our request goes through Jesus, our high priest. But is this all that believer-priesthood means? We read that the Old Testament priests had to offer sacrifices for their own sins. After that they could approach God in behalf of the people.
So to complete the answer to what is a believer-priest … we have to realize that after we have come to God in confession of our own sin1, we have a service to perform in behalf of others.
I have pointed out before that our reputation of who we are is based on who we follow. If we are accusers, we are following the 'Accuser of the Brethren', Satan. If we are seen as intercessors, praying for others, we are following Jesus who intercedes for us in heaven.
Who do we, as Christians, intercede for?
Here is one example. Jesus prayed for his disciples that would soon be alone in the world.
John 17:9 "I pray for them. I do not pray for the world but for those whom You have given Me, for they are Yours.
And here is a direct instruction for who we are to pray for.
1John 5:14 ¶ Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us.
15 And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him.
16 If anyone sees his brother sinning a sin which does not lead to death, he will ask, and He will give him life for those who commit sin not leading to death. There is sin leading to death. I do not say that he should pray about that.
17 All unrighteousness is sin, and there is sin not leading to death.
Praying for a brother or sister in Christ that we believe to be sinning …. is interceding. That is, they are missing the mark. They are off base. Do they know they are sinning or are we praying for those who think they are doing everything right?
If our christian brother or sister knows they are doing wrong, this is what we do … Luke 17:3 So watch yourselves. If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him.(This is especially true when a fellow Christian sins against you personally.)
I would say that interceding involves praying for those who may not even know that they are misguided and/or sinning. Interceding also includes praying because we were asked to pray. As we intercede for them we would also ask for wisdom for ourselves so that we might know what to do next … try to give them words of guidance and re-direction from scripture … or hand them over to another believer who we sense has the wisdom and maturity to help this person.
Can we also intercede for the unsaved (unbelievers)? The answer is yes, in every matter except one. We cannot ask God to take away their freedom of choice … and just “Save them!” There are many other things that God can and will do (in response to our prayer) that influences an unbeliever to turn.
Hebrews 5:5 The writer points out to us that no one 'goes in for the priesthood', but they are selected by God. Jesus was also chosen. Chosen by that person who said, “You are my beloved Son, Today I have begotten you.” We know who that was. In calling or appointing Jesus to the position of priest, God made the statement that is quoted in verse 6.
What is the order of Melchizedek? There will be more on this in an upcoming chapter, but for now we will briefly say that there are only two recognized 'orders' of priesthood in the bible.
The first is Aaronic order (descendants of Aaron) and the order of Melchizedek. In the actual case of Melchizedek we are not told how or when he was chosen, but several things stand out. a) he was not a descendant of Aaron. And b) he was both royalty and priest.
Verse 7 - Heb 4:15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet was without sin.
Jesus suffered the weaknesses of humanity during His life here. But, more than that, He suffered intensely, both on the cross and before the crucifixion.
His apprehension …. or fear of death … was different from that which the average person goes through. Men in general fear death and what may be beyond the grave. We sin and we will face a judgment. As believers we know that if we confess our sin and He is faithful and just to forgive us and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.2 But still we do not look forward to the judgment day …
9 So we make it our goal to please him, whether we are at home in the body or away from it.
10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive what is due to him for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.
11 Since, then, we know what it is to fear the Lord, we try to persuade men. 2Co 5:9-11
Jesus had no reason to fear what lay beyond the grave. There was some other reason that
… His sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground. Lu 22:44
This is the time to turn and read Psalm 22:1-21
God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. 2Co 5:21
What did this involve? We can never know this side of eternity. Perhaps one day we will understand His cry; "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" It has been said that Christ, in His agony suffered hell for us. (He did not literally suffer the flames of Hell.) His agony all took place before He said, 'It is finished'.
Isa 53:6 We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.
8-9 Christ became … perfected, that is 'finished' or complete … as Savior and priest.
10-14 At this point the apostle makes mention of the spiritual level of the Hebrew Christians. He knows something about them. Small wonder that he warned them in chapter two about letting things slip. We talked in the oral part our previous study about those things which cause us to go backward in our faith3.
Verse 12 mentions 'by this time you ought to be teachers,' Does Paul expect all believers to be teachers? Perhaps not in the sense of holding the position of teacher. Perhaps not in the sense of having the 'gift' of teaching. But perhaps in the sense that ...
Mt 10:8 … freely ye have received, freely give. In each of our lives (the circle of friends and family in which we function daily) there will be those who know more than you, have greater experience than you … in the things of God. You can learn from them. They are teachers to you. But also there will be those who know less than you, have less experience in the things of God. To them you are their teacher.
We learn God's word and as we do so, we have more and more that we are able to pass on.
Here are a few points to consider relevant to how much teaching we can or should do.
(1.) God takes notice of the time you have had and resources we have for gaining scripture-knowledge.
(2.) From those to whom much is given much is expected.4
(3.) Those who have a good understanding in the gospel should be teachers of others, if not in a public situation, then in one on one situations.
(4.) None should take it upon themselves to be teachers of others, but those who have first put in the effort to gain spiritual knowledge themselves and are committed to putting into practice what they have learned.
Growing is expected. It is supposed to be the norm. Growing happens when we take in God's word. His word was 'milk' for us when we needed it.5
These Hebrew Christians have 'come to need milk'. Note, it does not say that they were still on milk when they should, by now, be on meat. It implies that they are not even on milk. This indicates that they have not been in God's word at all.
So the order is, ….desire and take in the 'milk' of God's word … as a starting point. But solid food belongs to those who are of full age, that is, those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil. (Heb 5:14)
Much of what God's word contains is what we would call solid food. As we grow in His word … constant
reading, meditating and re-reading … our 'senses become exercised'. That is, the 'right' that God wants us to do becomes more clear. The 'wrong' God wants us to stay away from also becomes more clear.
There is some solid food coming up in our study of the book of Hebrews. I trust we are looking forward to it.
1A priest offered a sacrifice for his own sin. We do not do that, since Jesus is the sacrifice given for the world. As did the priest, we do confess and ask forgiveness for our sin.
21 John 1:9
3The parable of the sower and the seed, Mt 13. Growing plants were choked out by weeds ... the deceitfulness of riches and the desire for an easy life.
4Luke 12:38 For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required:
51Pe 2:2 as newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby,