Hebrews 5:5-10: Called of God an High Priest
2022-11-05
Hebrews 5:5
Previously, we saw how no one made themselves a priest in Israel. God ordained Aaron and his sons to fulfill those roles. When someone tried to circumvent this command, they paid the consequences.
Likewise, when Jesus Christ was ordained high priest, He did not give Himself this honor. The Father ordained Him to this role.
Jesus Christ is glorified of the Spirit and the Father and not by Himself:
Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come. He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall shew it unto you. (John 16:13-14)
And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was. (John 17:5)
Here, in Hebrews 5:5, the Son is specifically glorified to be made High Priest. As support of Christ’s calling by the Father, two verses are quoted. First is Psalm 2:7. We looked at this when seeing Jesus being the fulfillment of the Davidic covenant. Now, the verse is being used to support Him becoming High Priest. Jesus of Nazareth was appointed King and High Priest by the Father. Like our branches of government, these positions were distinct. There was a separation of power. They were distinct tribes: Judah was the kingly tribe and Levi was the priestly tribe, with only a subset, the sons of Aaron, to become priests.
For Judah prevailed above his brethren, and of him came the chief ruler; but the birthright was Joseph’s (1 Chronicles 5:2)
But thou shalt appoint the Levites over the tabernacle of testimony, and over all the vessels thereof, and over all things that belong to it: they shall bear the tabernacle, and all the vessels thereof; and they shall minister unto it, and shall encamp round about the tabernacle. (Numbers 1:50)
And take thou unto thee Aaron thy brother, and his sons with him, from among the children of Israel, that he may minister unto me in the priest’s office (Exodus 28:1)
One could never be both king and priest; they would not be from both tribes. It makes sense; fallible man should not have that much power. Here, however, the Son of God is given both roles. Jesus is the Son of God; He will always do righteously. The roles of Judah and of Aaron were shadows of what the Son of God would fulfill.
Hebrews 5:6
The second verse quoted concerning support for Jesus not appointing Himself High Priest is Psalm 110:4. We will look at this verse and who Melchisedec (Melchizedek) is later, when we get into Hebrews 7. This is discussed in detail in that passage. However, suffice it to say that this order is an order of priesthood distinct from the Aaronic one. The Aaronic priesthood was a lineage of priests that were sinners themselves, as we have seen. They were of the tribe of Levi, which had its own problems.
After the defiling of Dinah, the Jacob’s sons Simeon and Levi destroyed the entire city of Shechem. It was not wrong for them to want justice for Shechem the son of Hamor. Dinah was a very young girl! But to slay whole village for one man’s sin was wrong, and they took advantage of them recovering from circumcision that they requested, so they could not fight back.
Jacob blessed his sons before he died. “And Jacob called unto his sons, and said, Gather yourselves together, that I may tell you that which shall befall you in the last days” (Genesis 49:1).
What befalls Levi in the last days?
Simeon and Levi are brethren; instruments of cruelty are in their habitations. O my soul, come not thou into their secret; unto their assembly, mine honour, be not thou united: for in their anger they slew a man, and in their selfwill they digged down a wall. Cursed be their anger, for it was fierce; and their wrath, for it was cruel: I will divide them in Jacob, and scatter them in Israel. (Genesis 49:5-7)
There is nothing of the sons of Levi being a priest or anything of that sort. They are cursed and divided and scattered. Who is going to be High Priest? Well, the Lord Jesus Christ, “a priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec.” Notice He is a priest forever. Aaron was not a high priest forever; he died, and then Eleazar succeeded him, and he died, and Phinehas succeeded him, and he died. And so on.
And who was mentioned after Levi’s condemnation? “Judah, thou art he whom thy brethren shall praise...” (Genesis 49:8). It is the Lion of the tribe of Judah that is both king and high priest.
Hebrews 5:7-8
Jesus’ “days of his flesh” speaks of His incarnation before His resurrection. He offered up many prayers to the Father in those last hours before He died. This includes the High Priestly Prayer in John 17. He prayed for His disciples, present and future, including for their unity.
Primarily, Jesus’ prayers of anguish as discussed here in Hebrews 5:7 are seen at Gethsemane and Calvary. At Gethsemane, He was in much agony, anticipating the wrath of God He would experience. Consider Matthew 26:36-46. The Lord was full of sorrow. He even sought a way around the cross if it were possible. He knew there was no other way. His closest companions could not even stay awake long enough, for they had sorrow as well and they were weak. Other gospels report Jesus falling down, being in agony, and His sweat falling like drops of blood. An angel came to strengthen and encourage Him (Luke 22:43).
Consider some of what the Lord said on the cross. He quoted Psalm 22:1, saying, “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me” (Mark 15:34)? Yet He also was crying out to God to forgive His murderers, forgiving a thief, and arranging for His mother’s living situation. At last, He cried out, “It is finished” (John 19:30), and “Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit” (Luke 23:46).
In all of this, the Son cried to His Father, and these last two statements show His ultimate trust in His Father, and that He was heard. These last hours of His life were characterized by loud crying to the Father and agony in the torture from His murderers and from the wrath of the Father being pour out on Him for our sin.
As the Son of God from eternity past, He never felt the effects of sin until His time on earth. From this experience, especially from what we just saw, is that Jesus experientially learned what it meant to be obedient. There was no other way to redeem humankind. He could not circumvent the cross, so He endured it, “for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God” (Hebrews 12:2).
Hebrews 5:9
What does it mean for Jesus to be made perfect? I thought He already was! Well, He was. Here, we speak of completeness. For example: “Epaphras, who is one of you, a servant of Christ, saluteth you, always labouring fervently for you in prayers, that ye may stand perfect and complete in all the will of God” (Colossians 4:12). The crucifixion was not complete without the resurrection. If He died and did not rise again, what difference was He from all humanity before and after Him? To Herod’s servants, Jesus said, “Go ye, and tell that fox, Behold, I cast out devils, and I do cures to day and to morrow, and the third day I shall be perfected” (Luke 13:32). He was made perfect, or complete, when He rose from the dead.
This perfection made Him the “author of eternal salvation.” Our salvation, and therefore, our eternal life and resurrection, was contingent on him rising from the dead. The word “author” is hapax legomenon, but essentially means He caused eternal salvation.
Eternal salvation means it is forever. There is no probationary salvation or purgatory. Jesus secured salvation forever. This salvation is not given to everyone, only to “all them that obey him.” This obedience is faith. This does not undermine obedience. “And declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead: By whom we have received grace and apostleship, for obedience to the faith among all nations, for his name” (Romans 1:4-5). And again, “Now to him that is of power to stablish you according to my gospel, and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery, which was kept secret since the world began, But now is made manifest, and by the scriptures of the prophets, according to the commandment of the everlasting God, made known to all nations for the obedience of faith” (Romans 16:25-26).
Obedience comes from faith. The “work” required of us is listed here: “Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent” (John 6:29). Every good work required of us is not done by us, but by Him who works through us. Therefore, faith encompasses our obedience in action, because it is no longer we who do the work.
Hebrews 5:10
It is because of this resurrection also that He was “Called by God” a Melchizedekan High Priest. “Called” refers to Him being addressed as such, not a “calling” as in an appointment, though that may be true. Previously, we saw that Aaron was chosen by God to his office. The same is true of Jesus Christ. The Lord alone decides who is going to serve as high priest to Him.