Jesus, our superior High Priest!

Our confession is only as solid as the foundation on which it is built. For Christians, our solid foundation is Jesus Christ. In Hebrews 5:1-10, the writer compares the qualifications of a human high priest to the qualifications of Jesus. Our confession is most certainly solid as we find Jesus to be our superior High Priest.

There are several qualifications for a high priest in the line of Aaron. He was one chosen by God. His primary responsibility was to represent man to God. He had to have a soft heart that could sympathize with weak humanity since he was a sinner, as well. Of course, he presented offerings of worship and sacrifices for his sins and those of the people he represented. R. Kent Hughes, The solidarity factor was essential to effective priestly ministry, as it is today in pastoral ministry, and the universal requirement is, as it has always been, a real man with a real link to God and a real bond to man. . . His work was never a career. It was a divine calling.

This passage looks at Jesus in respect to His function as the great and forever high priest. His appointment by God was superior to those in the line of Aaron because Jesus was appointed as God’s Son. In His deity, Jesus has always been the Son of God but His incarnation brought more. William L. Lane,. . . he entered into a new dimension in the experience of sonship by virtue of his incarnation, his sacrificial death, and his subsequent exaltation. Also, Jesus was appointed high priest in the order of Melchizedek. Leon Morris, There was no succession of priests from Melchizedek and thus no ‘order.’ Jesus, however, was a priest of this kind—not like Aaron and his successors. Donald Hagner, . . . Melchizedek was both a king and a priest (Gen. 14:18). Jesus is also king and priest, and thus corresponds to Melchizedek.

The writer of Hebrews identifies the superior priesthood of Jesus in His humanity. Hebrews 5:7b declares, he was heard because of his reverence. It means reverence toward God with the force of obedience. R. Kent Hughes, His reverence for the Father determined that his humanity would do nothing but please the Father. Also, Jesus fully suffered. Ray Stedman,

. . . he learned how it feels to obey when such obedience only promises further pain . . even though he was a son who loved to obey his Father, yet he learned obedience the hard way through his experience in Gethsemane. Consider the claim of Charles Spurgeon, God had one Son without sin, but He never had a son without suffering. Because Jesus is not only an eternal King and priest who can relate to us, He is the superior high priest. Why would anyone turn away from Him?

Jesus is also superior in His deity. Consider verse 9a, And being made perfect. It does not concern His nature since He is fully God but it concerns his function as High Priest. Warren Wiersbe, As God, He needed to learn nothing. But as the Son of God come in human flesh, He had to experience that which His people would experience, so that He might be able to minister as their High Priest. Interestingly, Jesus is said to be the source of eternal salvation. Jesus is not only our priest but He is our salvation, the sacrificial lamb of God. Once for all, full sacrifice was made on behalf of those who trust Him alone, to all who obey him. Charles Spurgeon, The moment you put yourself into His hands you must obey Him, or you have not trusted Him. It is a matter of trust in God’s gift of eternal life but also a matter of inheritance (reward). Thomas Constable, . . . it may be that he was also referring here to the ultimate aspect of our salvation, our eternal inheritance (1:14; 9:15). We obtain this to the extent that we “obey” God, and obey Him through suffering as Jesus did (cf. Mark 8:34–35).

The writer concludes this section by reminding us of our great high priest’s designation, a high priest after the order of Melchizedek. More concerning that priesthood will be revealed in Hebrews 7. But now, join the study of Hebrews 5:1-10 which may be found under the Books of the Bible tab. What a foundation on which to build, Jesus, King, Priest, Sacrifice.