Hebrews Chapter 5/Commentary

Hebrews Chapter 5

Introduction The purpose of the first part of this chapter (1-10) is to corroborate the position arrived at in the conclusion of chapter 4, that is, we have in Christ a true High Priest sufficient for all our needs. This is done by analyzing the conception of a high priest, and observing that Christ in all respects fulfills it. “The main drift here is that all recognized essentials of high priesthood are found in Christ. These essentials being: 1. The High Priest mediates between man and God. 2. He must be of the same nature and sympathetic with those in whose behalf he mediates. 3. His credentials must be Divine, that God himself must appoint him to his office (P.P. Comm. pg. 135136). “Without doubt, the earthly splendor of the Jewish high priest was a factor of seductive influence on Christians, especially those of Jewish background. His rich robes, the extravagantly ornate breastplate, the unique privilege of entering the holy of holies on the Day of Atonement. His position as representative of the Jewish nation, more especially at a time when they had no kind” (Coffman pg. 103-104).

5:1 “For every high priest”: The term “for” connects this section with the previous section. The word “every” means this is something that is true of all legitimate high priests; the context makes it clear that the writer is addressing high priests from the Jewish system. “Taken from among men”: That is, the high priest himself must be human (2:17). “The mediation of Christ depended on His kinship with those He came to redeem, for in order to manage the religious interests of men, every high priest was to be taken among men” (Wilson p. 60). “The Old Testament task of priestly mediation was not committed to angels, but to men, the function of priests was to act on behalf of men, specifically in regard to those matters having to do with men’s relations with God” (Kent p. 93). “The high priest had to be one of the people whom he represented. This was one of the qualifications. Aaron and his successors, who were to represent the nation of Israel in the presence of God, were to be Israelites themselves, so as to be familiar with the conditions under which their people lived, exposed to the same pressures and trials” (Reese p. 71).

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5:1 “Is appointed”: “To appoint one to administer an office (Thayer pg. 314). “On behalf of men”: For the benefit of men, it was not for the benefit of God, but for men, that high priests were appointed. “In things pertaining to God”: “It likely has reference to such things as are necessary to sustain God’s holiness and His government while at the same time redeeming men and pardoning sin” (Reese p.

71). His duties also included the items mentioned in the next phrase. “In order to offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins”: “Some say gifts here refers to offerings generally, and sacrifices to bloody sacrifices, but this distinction is not constantly observed” (Vincent pg. 432). “For sins”: We see therefore the need for priestly compassion, “He who has not genuine compassion for the sinful cannot do this efficiently, hence the words that follow in verse 2. The thought here presented is, “come boldly to the throne of grace (4:16); let not sin daunt you, for every high priest is appointed for the very purpose of offering sacrifices for sin...which he does readily and heartedly because his own subjection to weakness gives him sympathy” (Gr. Ex. N.T. pg. 285). The very existence of a High Priest proves God desires man to be saved.

5:2 “He can deal gently with the ignorant and misguided”: The term rendered “deal gently”, means “to treat with mildness or moderation, to bear gently with” (Vine pg. 102). “To moderate one's feelings, deal gently” (Arndt pg. 515). To be moderate in passion, to have compassion, “have a measure of feeling for” (Rhm).

"Literally he 'measures his feelings' with the people. He is not excessively swayed by harsh justice, nor moved overmuch by indulgent pity. He must measure his feelings by 'the people's responsibility on the one hand', and 'human weakness on the other'. Not without feeling, but feeling in moderation “(Gr. Ex. N.T. pg. 286). “Not unduly disturbed by the errors, faults, sins of others, but bears with them gently” (Moseley pg. 57).

“It refers to taking the middle course between apathy and anger. The priest dared not be indifferent to the worshipper’s sins, nor could he be too harsh (so that the sinner went away crushed, rather than encouraged). Such a quality of head and heart was peculiarly necessary to every high priest, for to him it belonged to decide, in any given case, whether or not a sacrifice could be legally offered for the sin committed. If the man sinned through ignorance or through error, a sacrifice might be offered. But not so if the sin was committed with a high hand, that is, in a spirit of haughty insolence or open rebellion” (Numbers 15:30)” (Reese p. 72).

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“Thousands of people would come to the priest daily to confess their sins and to have sacrifices offered for those which were forgivable. He must also take care that he does not become weakly indulgent and indifferent” (p. 72).

5:2 “The ignorant”: Those who sinned through ignorance (Numbers 15:22-29), yet note that such sins still needed to be forgiven. “Misguided”: “Both accident and sudden passion” (Robertson pg. 368). Some feel that this sentence is talking about one group of people, that is, “those who have gone astray through ignorance”. “One article joins ignorant and the wandering ones, and thus indicating that only one group is referred to” (Kent p. 94). This would include people who had sinned because of a lack of proper teaching (Hosea 4:6). “Since he himself also is beset with weakness”: The word “beset” means, “compassed, literally, to lie around”.

“Because he realizes that he is himself prone to human weakness” (Phi). “Sympathy belongs to the high-priestly office, and grows out of the sense of personal infirmity” (Vincent pg. 433).

Likewise, the high priest was liable to sin (and had sinned himself, and in addition, he too would die physically and appear before God in judgment. “The human priest, underneath all those gorgeous robes of office, was bound by the same liability to err (and need for forgiveness) as were those who appeared before him” (Reese p. 73). This does not mean that a priest had to personally experience every type of sin to be qualified to sympathize, all that was needed was a sufficient experience of human weakness.

5:3 “And because of it”: Due to the cause just mentioned, the fact was that the priest himself was surrounded by his own weakness, for the human priest was himself a sinner. “He is obligated to offer sacrifices for sins, as for the people, so also for himself”: Compare with Leviticus 16:15. The Day of Atonement was so arranged by God that the high priest made atonement for himself before he did so for the people (Leviticus 9:7). Which should have made the priests more compassionate concerning offering sacrifices for the sins of the people. This verse should not be interpreted to suggest that Jesus sinned and therefore had to offer a sacrifice for Himself. Such an interpretation would be a contradiction of what had already been taught (Hebrews 4:15). “These verses indirectly assert the superiority of Christ’s Priesthood. For the Jewish High Priest must first offer for his own sins before he acted on behalf of the people” (Wilson p. 61).

5:4 “And no one takes the honor to himself, but receives it when he is called by God, even as Aaron was”: “No one of his own accord assumes this honor” (Nor); 3

“It is an office which no one elects to take for himself” (Mof); “No one could be a high priest just because he wanted to” (Tay). For Aaron’s calling see Exodus 28:1; Numbers chapters 16-18. “God's appointment also secured that the suitable qualifications will be found in the priest” (Gr. Ex. N.T. pg. 287). Aaron's successors derived their Divine commission from his original one (Numbers 18:1). “The author here pointedly reminds his readers that in contrast to the corruption of the priestly office in contemporary Judaism, Israel’s first High Priest exercised a valid ministry because he was commissioned by God for this service” (Wilson p. 62).

Those who tried to minister as priests, but who had not been appointed by God, were punished (Numbers 16; 1 Samuel 13:5-14; 2 Chronicles 26:16-23). The sad fact is that many people in the denominational world are seeking to come to God through a priesthood that God did not appoint nor authorize. “Because God is holy, and since all men have sinned, where can one be found who can approach God? It would be presumptuous for any sinner to assume the office on his own initiative” (Reese pp. 73-74).

5:5 “So also Christ did not glorify Himself so as to become a high priest”: “So”, that is, in like manner, Jesus did not appoint Himself. “To glorify” here is to exalt to a glorious rank or position. Jesus did not appoint Himself to the glorious position of our high priest. Christ did not appoint himself; His high priesthood is not self-appointed. It was not personal ambition that made Christ a high priest.

Since Christ clearly was not of the line of Aaron (7:14), the writer must prove that Jesus was not an intruder, but one appointed by God, and the best way to prove this to those of Jewish heritage, is to prove it from the Old Testament. Two passages from the Psalms are now presented as proof that Jesus holds His priesthood by divine appointment. “But He who said to Him”: Here is “a unique way of showing WHO authorized Christ's priesthood” (Moseley pg. 59). The following is a statement of the Father about Jesus in the O.T. 5:5 “Thou art My Son, today I have gotten Thee”: “This first quotation is from Psalm 2:7, a passage already used by the author in 1:5. In this passage God addresses the Messiah in His capacity as the duly installed Messianic King, and acknowledges Him as ‘My Son’. It may be questioned why this particular passage is cited, since it seems to have no direct bearing on the priesthood. However, it does state Christ’s authority as the Messianic King, and the question of authority is a prime consideration here. Furthermore, Christ is acknowledged as ‘My Son’ by God. 4

No Old Testament priest was so described. In addition, the author of Hebrews has Melchizedek in mind, and he was also a king as well as a priest. Hence the two quotations fully substantiate Christ’s qualifications as a Melchizedek-type priest, showing Him to be recognized by God as king as well as priest” (Kent p. 96).

5:6 “Just as He says also in another passage”: This quotation is from Psalm 110:4.

This second quotation is linked with the first and they prove that the Messiah would be both a priest and a king. The “day” that Jesus was begotten is the day that Jesus was resurrected (Acts 13:33). Therefore, Jesus was appointed as a priest after the order of Melchizedek upon His resurrection and coronation as king (Zechariah 6:1314). “Thou art a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek”: Thus He would not be Levitical at all. His priesthood would be after a different order. Thus Jesus is seen as a priest superior to the old order: 1. He holds His priesthood “forever”, in contrast to the Levitical priests who were temporary and had successors. 2. He is the Son of God. 3. His priesthood is a royal priesthood, the Levitical priests were not kings. More will be said about Melchizedek in chapter 7.

Note the term “forever”, indicating that Christ has no successors as high priest. Try applying this to the Mormon’s Melchizedek priesthood.

The purpose of verses 7-10 is to give an account of how Christ fulfilled the human requirements of a High Priest and the preparation undertaken to qualify him as such.

5:7 “In the days of His flesh”: This is speaking of the days of His life on earth, life in a human body, and therefore He was like His brethren in capacity for temptation and suffering. One point is that Christ became a high priest as the result of painful suffering and obedience, not by arrogant ambition.

5:7 He offered up both prayers and supplications with loud crying and tears”: He felt a deep dependence upon the Father for help, and He also experienced extreme bodily suffering. Jesus is also fully qualified to serve as our high priest, because He can sympathize with what it means to obey God as a human being. The term “loud” means boisterous, powerful supplications that are forcibly uttered. “Expressing the intensity of the prayers and the keenness of the suffering” (Gr. Ex. N.T. pg. 288). “It describes the loud outcries of one deeply disturbed” (Kent p. 98). In the gospels we have examples of such strong crying and tears (John 11:35; Luke 19:41), especially in Jesus’ prayer to God in the Garden (Luke 22:39-44). “To the One able to save Him 5

from death”: (Matthew 26:53). “And He was heard because of His piety”: In what sense was Jesus heard, if He ended up dying? The solution is found in the conditional nature of the prayer that Jesus offered in the Garden. The Father delivered Jesus from death in the resurrection that followed His death.

Angels appeared and strengthened Him (Luke 22:43). The prayer was ‘remove this cup from Me….nevertheless not My will, but Thine, be done” (22:42). The prayer was heard; God's will was to be done. Jesus' primary prayer was that the will of God be done, regardless of the cost to Himself, and that prayer was answered. God's method of answering prayers in some instances is not a lightening of the burden, but a stronger faith to bear it' 5:7 “His piety”: “A devout and circumspect character, as that of Christ, who in His prayer took account of all things, not only His own desire, but His Father's will” (Vincent pg. 435). “Reverence towards God, piety” (Thayer pg. 259). “His strong desire to obey God at all times” (Tay). This refers to Jesus’ perfect obedience and submission to God’s will as He prayed. This display of absolute reverence for the Father resulted in the granting of the request.

5:8 “Although He was a Son”: His training for the priesthood involved suffering; even though He was a son, His position as Son did not exempt Him from suffering.

Then why do we think we should be exempt? “He learned obedience from the things which He suffered”: The term “learned” here is in the sense of learned by use or practice. Jesus learned by experience what it sometimes costs a man in order to obey God. He endured many sufferings because of this determination to obey at all costs. “By submitting to the will of God, in His own right He was God’s Son, equal in nature to His Father, Christ learned obedience. He did not learn to obey, for He had always done that. The particular obedience here in the author’s mind was the death of the cross. He learned by experiencing suffering and death the price that full obedience to the will of God can exact” (Kent pp. 100-101). “Most of us learn to be obedient because of the unpleasant consequences which follow disobedience. But it was not so with Jesus. He never was disobedient, and so it wasn’t just to avoid unpleasant consequences that He decided it was best to be obedient. Jesus did learn what obedience to God can involve, and He learned to practice obedience in the conditions of human life here on earth” (Reese p. 78).

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5:9 “And having been made perfect”: As noted in Hebrews 2:10, “made perfect” does not mean that Jesus was somehow less that morally perfect before His suffering on the cross. The term “perfect” means to “bring to an end or the goal proposed”. The idea is that through His sufferings, Jesus became perfectly equipped by experience with every qualification for the priestly office He was called to assume. “And when He was fully qualified” (Gspd). The perfection here is a perfect fitness for His office. One of the qualifications already noted in this character for a high priest is the ability to identify with human suffering (5:2).

Jesus’ experience here on earth fully qualified Him for that prerequisite.

5:9 “He became to all those who obey Him”: Jesus is the One whom all must obey if they desire to be saved (John 14:6; Acts 4:12). “There is something appropriate in the fact that the salvation which was procured by the obedience of the Redeemer should be made available to the obedience of the redeemed” (Coffman p. 111). The term “obey” suggests: 1. Salvation is conditioned upon our obedience to Christ. In no way will the disobedient end up saved (2 Thess.

1:8-9; Matthew 7:21-23). 2. The term “obey” is in the present tense, that is, Jesus saves those who continue to obey Him. Those who first read this letter should have taken this expression to heart. Instead of quitting Jesus, what was needed now was continuing obedience to Him. 3. The Bible does not present the idea of universal salvation for all men regardless of how those men live.

5:9 “The source of eternal salvation”: The term “source” means “author, or cause”, that is the one who makes salvation possible. People do complain about the need to “obey”, we need to remind such people that without one man’s obedience, there would no source of eternal salvation! What Jesus is to us depends upon what we are to Him. If we are obedient, then He is the source of eternal salvation. If we are disobedient, then He is a Judge inflicting punishment.

“Eternal” salvation is a deliverance that is not affected by time.

5:10 “Being designated by God as a high priest according to the order of Melchizedek”: The term “designated” means “to address, greet, salute, expressing the formal ascription of the title to him” (Vine p. 101). The writer has thus proven his point that Jesus is a perfectly qualified high priest. 1. He was a man. 2. He can sympathize with men, in fact, He suffered more than most men.

3. He did not appoint Himself, but rather was appointed by God (which appointment is clearly predicted in the Old Testament). He was appointed 7

following a life of perfect obedience, ending in tremendous suffering and death.

4. He demonstrated more concern and love for the spiritual welfare of men, by dying for all men.

Admonition, Warning and Rebuke: 5:11-6:20 We might have expected the writer to develop this concept of Jesus being after the order of Melchizedek. This he will do, but not until chapter 7. Before he can move on, he must offer a rebuke to his readers. Dangerous tendencies have surfaced among these Christians, including a spiritual laziness and apathy. Here is a warning to all Christians who are content to remain “babes”.

5:11 “Concerning him we have much to say”: “The verse from Psalm 110:4 is such an important Old Testament verse that the Hebrew writer intends to expound its meaning at length, but first he must make sure his readers are encouraged to put forth the mental effort to appreciate the full significance of the ‘priesthood according to the order of Melchizedek’” (Reese p. 79). “And it is hard to explain”: This difficultly is not primarily due to the subject matter, but rather to the unpreparedness of the readers. “The obscurity does not reside in the teaching but in that spiritual insensitivity which is the invariable concomitant of coldness of heart” (Wilson p. 66).

Individual Christians do have the responsibility to keep up in their own private studies so that they can better appreciate and understand the public classes or sermons that are offered. Just because a subject may be challenging does not mean that it should not be taught. The writer will proceed to teach on this subject. Misunderstanding the Scriptures is not the fault of the Scriptures, but rather the fault lies in faulty human motivation and effort (2 Peter 3:15-17).

5:11 “Since you have become”: Note they were not born “dull of hearing”; rather this is a condition that they had allowed to entered into their lives. Remember, the writer is addressing Christians. Contrary to the claims of Calvinists and Pentecostals, the Holy Spirit was not miraculously protecting these Christians, and neither had God simply taken control of their lives. “Dull of hearing”: The term “dull” means “slow, sluggish, indolent, lazy”. The idea behind the word is “not to push” (Vincent p. 438). Hence the person who does not push him or herself to learn, grow and mature, and therefore is often being pushed by others (though 8

without much avail). Note that God holds us accountable for our level of interest in His word. It is our responsibility to become motivated listeners; it is our obligation to listen intently. The very fact that God is speaking should solve any motivation problem for an honest person.

God does not resort to gimmicks to motivate these people. The answer to apathy is not found in human promotions or making the church resemble the world, rather the answer is found in a pointed rebuke and a reminder of eternal judgment. Which are we? Are we motivated to do our own studying or do we need to be constantly reminded to attend and take our relationship with God seriously? Can we keep up with meaty Biblical topics or do we get lost?

5:12 “For though by this time you ought to be teachers”: A definite amount of time has lapsed from the point of their conversion. They were no longer new converts; enough time had passed by that they should be able to teach and explain such a topic to others. God expects Christians to grow in knowledge (2 Peter 1:5-11; 3:18). He is not unreasonable, but gives each one of us time to learn and grow. Yet after a fair amount of time, God expects one to be able to teach others about the gospel. Rather than regard negatively the thought of teaching others, we should feel, “I cannot wait until I reach the point where I am able to help someone else become a Christian!” “They should have been spiritually mature so as to be teachers of others. After all, every believer is expected to give reasonable explanations of his faith to the questionings of unbelievers (1 Peter 3:15). Yet these readers were spiritually like children. They seemed capable of understanding spiritual truth on only the lowest level” (Kent pp. 102-103).

5:12 “You have need again for someone to teach you”: This implies that they had forgotten much of what they had learned. Instead of growing (2 Peter 3:18), they had not only failed to hold their ground, they were actually losing ground spiritually. If one does not grow, they will lose even that which they used to know.

Knowledge, which is not used or improved, is knowledge lost. In addition, failing to grow spiritually is an insult to those who first taught you, because all their time and effort was wasted, squandered by such apathy. Someone in the church must now take the time instructing one all over again---time that could be used to teach the lost or new converts. “The elementary principles”: The term “elementary” means the primary and fundamental principles. It is the first things from which

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others in a series take their rise. The ABC’s of divine truth. For example, “elementary principles about the Christ” (6:1).

5:12 “Of the oracles of God”: The word “oracles” is used regularly and denotes the revelations given in the Old Testament Scriptures (Acts 7:38; Romans 3:2).

The same term is used of the New Testament as well (1 Peter 4:11). The term “oracle” means “utterance”, and reminds us that the Scriptures are actually the word from God Himself (2 Timothy 3:16; Hebrews 1:1-2). The mature believer should see Jesus as the fulfillment of the Old Testament. The Christian who wanted to go back to Judaism, was someone who had forgotten even the basics of Old Testament revelation.

5:12 “And you have come to need milk and not solid food”: God is concerned with what we “really” need. We may want to study one thing, and yet have the need to study something else. The term “milk” answers to “elementary principles”; and “solid food” is what he wanted to discuss further about the priesthood of Christ. “They had entered a second childhood, and could only receive the simplest nourishment” (Gr. Ex. N.T. pp. 291-292). “Whenever adults, who used to be on solid food are reduced to having to eat baby food, it usually signifies they are sick or something is seriously wrong” (Reese p. 81).

5:13 “For everyone”: Such a truth applies to anyone who happens to be in the following condition. “Who partakes only of milk is not accustomed to the word of righteousness, for he is a babe” The term “not accustomed” means “unacquainted, unskilled or inexperienced”.

Mere time does not produce growth, rather experience in the word does.

Unfortunately some just assume that in time they will grow. Just living on milk will keep you a babe, and just preaching milk to a congregation will keep them babes as well. “Their spiritual immaturity was evidenced by the fact that they were restricted to a diet of milk” (Wilson p. 67). “Only ‘babies’ (or sick people) live solely on milk! This is spiritual shock treatment. Gone backwards! Babies!

An exclusive milk diet! Will the readers admit that this is their real spiritual condition?” (Reese p. 81).

“Word of righteousness”: This expression would involve the idea that the Word of God reveals how God makes men righteous, that is, His plan for saving them 10

(Romans 1:16-17). It is the Word we need if we are going to be righteous! In the Word we learn what we must do to be saved, and how must we live thereafter.

5:14 “But solid food is for the mature”: “Solid food” in this context is another way of designating “the word of righteousness”. The term “mature” means, “adult, of full age, complete”. “The lesson is plain to see: as indolence accounted for their lamentable ignorance of Christian truth, so every faculty must be kept in vigorous exercise to ensure healthy spiritual growth” (Wilson p. 67). (Proverbs 13:4).

“Who because of practice”: That is, custom, habit or skill that is acquired by experience. Of all the habits one can have, here is a necessary one. “Have their senses trained”: The term “senses” applies to the mind, understanding, and powers of discernment. The term “trained” means to exercise vigorously (from which we get our English word “gymnastic”). It means to train like an athlete is trained. Paul exhorted Timothy to “exercise thyself unto godliness” (1 Timothy 4:7). Are we in shape spiritually? How often do we exercise our minds in the word of righteousness?

5:14 “To discern good and evil”: “To distinguish right from wrong” (TCNT).  Right and wrong are not always easy to distinguish.  One is not born with the inherent ability to distinguish right from wrong.  The danger of remaining a babe is that one will become deceived.  We can discern good and evil—only if we have the word of God and only if we study it consistently.  God commands us to use our powers of discernment (Ephesians 5:17; 1 Thessalonians 5:21).  What makes matters even more pressing is the fact that there are people who intentionally or unintentionally present good as evil and evil as good (Isaiah 5:20).

“Just as the mature man does not make the foolish choices that characterize childhood, so the spiritually mature Christian displays a stability in his conduct that should set him apart from the stumblings that so often accompany the new believer. Believers, through the word of righteousness, reach maturity. Instead of being unaccustomed to it, they must feed upon God’s Word, including all parts of it. Only as believers saturate their minds with God’s standards of righteousness and His differentiation of what is good from what is evil can they hope to develop 11

the spiritual maturity of which this passage speaks. Only then can they consistently choose the good and shun the evil in the decisions they face” (Kent p.

104).

This chapter is a very strong rebuke. Hebrew Christians were actually becoming dull of hearing in wanting to go back to Judaism. Even though they probably professed devotion to the Old Testament (“oracles of God”), they did not really hear what it taught, for it everywhere pointed to Christ.

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