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| Chapter 5 |
| Bible Text | Notes and Thoughts |
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1 ¶ For every high priest taken from among men is ordained for men in things pertaining to God, that he may offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins; 2 who can have compassion on the ignorant and on those who are outside of the Way, since he himself is also encompassed by infirmity. 3 And by reason hereof, he ought, both for the people and also for himself, to make offering for sins. 4 And no man taketh this honor unto himself, except he that is called of God, as was Aaron. 5 So also Christ glorified not Himself to be made a high priest, but He that said unto Him, "Thou art My Son; today have I begotten Thee." 6 And He saith also in another place, "Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec." 7 Christ, in the days of His flesh, when He had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto Him that was able to save Him from death, and was heard in that He feared, 8 though He were a Son, yet learned He obedience by the things which He suffered. 9 And being made perfect, He became the author of eternal salvation unto all those who obey Him, 10 ¶ being called by God as a high priest after the order of Melchisedec, 11 of whom we have many things to say, which are hard to utter seeing ye are dull of hearing. 12 For at the time when ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again the first principles of the oracles of God, and have become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat. 13 For every one that useth milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, for he is a babe. 14 But strong meat belongeth to those who are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil. |
This continues from Chapter 4. The required qualifications for a priest. v1-4. There are two conditions listed as essential for becoming a priest, the sympathetic (able to show kindness,likable) human nature v1-3, appointment is divine, v4. v1 Three characteristics (abilities,features) of a Jewish priesthood are here listed:
. v4 A final characteristic for a priest is that he does not take on the office by himself but he is chosen and appointed by God. Unfortunately history has shown that this is often not the case and corruption or fraud can occur. Christ’s claim for priesthood v5-10. Jesus has fulfilled the conditions as set out above, he was divinely appointed v5,6, and was able to function as listed v7-10. v5,6 Jesus does not glorify himself John 8:54. Jesus is superior in His given title. It was God which did the honouring. In Psalm 2:7. It was God’s voice again which said "Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec." Psalm 110:4 Melchisedec was a priest / king. (Melchisedec will be looked at in ch. 7). The ministry of Jesus will never end, all previous priest ministries ended with their death. Jesus is a perfect priest v5-10. v7 Christ the High Priest is now in glory, but when He was in human form He had trials and persecution and prayed to the Father luke 22:44; John 11:41,42, He learnt obedience. His prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane shows a prayer of desperate help as He saw the sin of the world coming on Him and the Father having to turn away from the sin He became. The human/divine man Jesus saw the terror of hell, it was dread to take on all the sins of the world, but still submitted to His Fathers will. v8 In all this,"though He were a Son" He submitted (gave in, obeyed) the desires of the Father. v9 We are now told that Jesus was suitable for the position, he was "made perfect," ‘made mature’ or ‘complete.’ He offered the perfect sacrifice on the cross and because of His resurrection and exalting to glory was now able to offer eternal salvation to those who submit to Him. (This last phrase shows that there is no universal salvation). The Danger of leaving. 5:11-6:8; 10:26-31. v10,11 When Jesus returned to Heaven God gave Him the title as High Priest "after the order of Melchisedec." The writer tells the readers there are many things about this they should know about but they are weak in understanding. v12 When they should be teaching others of this wonderful message their attitude had made them go backwards in their understanding and faith, they needed to be told again the basic message of salvation. v13 Milk has to be given to babies because their body cannot deal with normal food, a young Christian cannot understand the full truth, as they mature they can move onto ‘real’ food "strong meat," reaching "full age" or maturing to an adult in spiritual understanding, able to understand the deep mysteries of the Word of God. This can only be achieved by taking in suitable ‘food’ and so grow, regular teaching from the Word of God. When you reach maturity the writers says that you will be able to judge good and evil, right from wrong. All this knowledge still needs faith, they grow and go together. v14 The writer tells the reader to go onto spiritual maturity. |
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