For every high priest taken from among men is appointed for men in things pertaining to God, that he may offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins.  (2) He can have compassion on those who are ignorant and going astray, since he himself is also subject to weakness.  (3) Because of this he is required as for the people, so also for himself, to offer sacrifices for sins.  (4) And no man takes this honor to himself, but he who is called by God, just as Aaron was.  (5) So also Christ did not glorify Himself to become high Priest, but it was He who said to Him:

“You are My son, Today I have begotten You.”

(6) As He also says in another place:

“You are a priest forever According to the order of Melchizedek”

The author of the letter to the Hebrews is unknown but it is believed that this letter was written to Jewish converts to Christianity who were wavering in their new faith – if they reverted to the allowed sect of Judaism they would not be subject to persecution. In reading this letter the audience needed knowledge of the Old Testament to understand what would become the New Testament.  In Judaism there was a High Priest and that person was called by God.  As no Jews were allowed into the Holy of Holies, it fell to the High Priest to intercede for men with God.  Once a year the High Priest was allowed into the Holy of Holies to meet with God and offer sacrifice for his (the priest’s)  sins and the sins of the people – to atone for their sins during that year.

Chapter 5 of Hebrews is the beginning of the major section of the book which identifies Jesus Christ as the new and forever High Priest who has been the perfect, once and for all sacrifice – to atone for our sins permanently and provide access to God.  After Jesus completed His work of salvation He entered Heaven and sat down at the right hand of God, indicating the work was finished and acceptable.

The entire Jewish sacrificial system was based on the problem of human sin.  Sinners could not approach God without appropriate sacrifice and mediation – man was alienated from God.  God has now appointed Jesus as our High Priest.  Jesus  took on human nature – He was true God and true man – and as our High Priest He can sympathize with man as He was tempted in all things – yet was without sin.  Jesus suffered yet obeyed the will of the Father even unto death, earning once and for all eternal salvation for man.  Jesus is the perfect sacrifice forever.  To return to the system of the Old Testament would be to return to a flawed and temporary system.  To abandon the High Priest God has provided and that we so desperately need would be to choose eternal darkness.

No human solution will suffice for our salvation.  We must submit our will and emotions to the will of God.  Saving faith equals obedient faith and our faith/belief in Christ as our Messiah guides our behavior.  We are saved by faith, not our works.

 

Seeing then that we have a great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession.  (15) For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin.  (16) Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. 

Hebrews was written by an unknown author – the purpose of the letter was to address the doubts of those who were second guessing  their conversion from Judaism to Christianity – to shore them up in there belief in Christ Jesus – to continue “on to perfection” in Christian belief.

In Old Testament times, the high priest would enter through the outer courts and the veils to enter into the presence of the most holy one to act as a mediator between the people and God. This was the annual ceremony of atonement.  But, Jesus is our high priest and has offered the perfect once and for all sacrifice To atone for sin.   The author compares the perfect sacrifice of the Christ to the repeated sacrifices of the high priests of Israel by showing that the high priest went thru the courts  the temple and the inner veils but Jesus went through the heavens and entered the actual presence of God.  In all things Jesus is superior.

The author of Hebrews exhorts his audience to hold tightly to Christianity – they  have Jesus, the promised Messiah, and have, through Jesus, access to God on His throne of mercy and grace.  Christians can boldly approach this throne and are assured of receiving grace whenever they need help.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

S

For the word of God is living and powerful and sharper than any two edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.  (13) And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account.

The author of Hebrews is unknown but the audience seemed to be Jewish Christians who were in danger of renouncing Christ as Messiah in face of increasing prosecution.  This letter begins by telling the reader that God had revealed His word in various times and in various ways – and now fully through His Son – who the author makes clear is fully divine and fully human, having suffered and died having accomplished redemption for lost sinners.  His Word is the message of salvation.

The cautionary example we are given is the Israelites who rebelled with unbelief in the desert after having been led out of Egypt.  They were not allowed to enter God’s rest – they were not faithful.  The danger of unbelief and rebellion exists today and the warnings continue – we too have the good news proclaimed to us.  The Israelites didn’t have the gospel – the word of the completion of Christ’s work of redemption and the doctrine that Christ continues to intercede for us as our High Priest.  The author is telling us we must make every effort to enter into God’s rest/our salvation.

In verse 11 readers are told to make every effort to enter that rest so that no one may fall by following the same pattern of disobedience.  If a whole generation of Israelites failed to enter Gods rest after all the signs and wonders they experienced we are certainly in danger of doing this too. In verse 12 the author is saying to pay attention to the Word of God ( the Bible).  The Word of God is active and will do all the work – we need to believe it and our actions will come from our belief.  The Word of God exposes the thoughts of our hearts – it judges our thoughts and intentions.

God has provided a salvation for us that we cannot attain on our own.  The author of Hebrews is telling us that the Word of God reveals God to us and also we are revealed before God – he has seen into the hearts of the wavering Jewish Christians who are thinking of rejecting Jesus for personal safety.  But God knows everything and this doubt and these intentions will need to be answered for.  Our spiritual condition is exposed to God always and completely.

 

 

But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, for the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor, that He by the grace of God, might taste death for everyone.  (10) For it was fitting for Him, for whom are all things and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings.  (11) For both He who sanctifies and those who are being sanctified are all of one, for which reason He is not ashamed to call them brethren

The author of the letter to the Hebrews is unknown.  This letter was written to the Christian Jews who were wavering in their belief in face of persecution from non-Christian Jews.  The unbelieving Jews would not accept Jesus as the Messiah because of his death, especially because of His death on the cross.  The Jews said that the Messiah was to conquer all enemies – not to die in such an ignominious way, as a common criminal.  So the author of Hebrews is showing why Jesus’ death does not disqualify Him as the Messiah and Savior.  This was God’s plan – His plan which is always unexpected and foolishness to the wise of this world.  The cross was the very power and wisdom of God.  The death of Jesus was God’s eternal purpose.

Sin had to be punished and Jesus was perfect and the perfect sacrifice.  Jesus became sin so that we might be forgiven.  This shows God’s perfect love that God gave His Son to save us.  Jesus’ death was fitting because it showed His perfect humanity.  He had to be tempted as human in all things as we are – and He had to suffer as humans do as the perfect substitute for man’s sin.  Jesus in his humanity was like Adam and Eve before the fall so He didn’t have the lusts of the flesh but it was real temptation from Satan to disobey God.