Hebrews 5

CHAPTER 5THEME: Definition of a priestThis chapter continues the great theme of Christ as our High Priest, showing that He is superior to the Levitical priesthood, with which the Hebrews were so familiar. In the first ten verses we have the definition of a priest. Christ, as we have already said, has the threefold office of prophet, priest, and king. He is God’s final word to man. In Christ God has said all He intends to say. As a prophet, He spoke over nineteen hundred years ago. Now He is the Word of God. He is the priest for the now generation. Someday in the future He is going to come as king. Right now He is our Great High Priest. We have access to Him. He is a Great High Priest, just as Aaron was a great high priest. And every believer is a priest, just as all the tribe of Levi were priests. We can offer sacrifices to God as priests. Praise is a sacrifice that we can offer. Have you praised Him today? We can also offer our substance, the fruit of our hands, the fruit of our minds, or our time. Believers can make all of these things an offering to Him. And prayer is the work of a priest. To recognize our position and privilege eliminates all of the mechanics we have today. It puts aside all of the methods that we use. We see two extreme approaches to God through worship today. One is a very emotional approach, and the other is a very ritualistic approach. Both of them are soulish and not spiritual worship at all. We simply need to come to Him and get rid of all the mechanics and the methods. Someone sent me a story about the astronaut who was in his capsule just ready to close the door in preparation for the launching, when a reporter asked him a question. Reporters, I have observed, sometimes ask some rather asinine questions. This reporter asked, “How do you feel when you are an astronaut ready to take off?” The astronaut replied, “How would you feel if you were sitting on top of fifty thousand parts, each supplied by the lowest bidder?” That is the way many people worship today. They are ritualistic or they are emotional; they go by their feelings rather than by the Word of God. The concluding verse of chapter 4 urges us to come in freedom to the throne of grace. We need mercy and we need help. He is in the position to supply these because He is our Great High Priest.

Hebrews 5:1

DEFINITION OF A PRIESTThis verse gives us the definition of a priest. He must be taken from among men, which means he must be a man. He must be a representative, you see. He represents man, but he represents man to God. He is ordained for man in things pertaining to God. Because he goes before God, he must be acceptable to God. That is the suggestion in “is ordained for men in things …to God.” In verse Heb_5:4 we are told specifically that no man takes this honor unto himself, but he that is called of God, as was Aaron. He must be ordained of God. Therefore a priest is: (1) taken from among men; (2) ordained for men (on behalf of men); and (3) goes to God for men. We can now draw a distinction between a priest and a prophet. A priest goes from man to God; he represents man before God. A prophet comes from God to man with a message from God. Therefore the Old Testament priest did not tell men what God had to saythat was the ministry of the prophet. The priest’s ministry was to represent man before God. Now in the present age our Lord Jesus Christ is the only priest. It is He who represents us before God. The priesthood functions, not for lost sinners, but for saved sinners. You will recall that John said, “My little children [my little born ones], these things write I unto you, that ye sin not …” (1Jn_2:1). Well, I’m sorry, John, but you are talking to a boy who has sinned. Even as a child of God I have sinned. I am thankful that he covered me when he added, “And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.” Christ represents me up there. When my enemy, Satan, accuses me before the Father, the Lord Jesus Christ represents me.

He is my High Priest. That is one reason why I would never be satisfied just to have a priest on earth. I want to make this very clear, and I am not attempting to be critical. If someone is going to represent me before God, I want to be sure that he is acceptable to God. Is he one who has accreditation? Has he passed his bar examination so he can represent me in heaven?

We can pray for one another, but we cannot represent one another in heaven. But because I need somebody to represent me, I am very happy that I have my Great High Priest who represents me before the Father. “That he may offer both gifts and sacrifices.” Notice that the priest may offer both gifts and sacrifices. The writer is going to make it abundantly clear that He had something to offer: He offered Himself. Compared to the precious blood of Christ which has redeemed us, silver and gold would be like lead or dirt. “That he may offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins"notice that it is sins, not sin; it is plural. It speaks of the life of the believer. For example, when you lost your temper, did you go to God and confess that sin? You have a representative who is there to make intercession for you. He represents you before God.

Hebrews 5:2

We have a Great High Priest who could say, when He came to the end of His ministry on earth, “Which of you convinceth [convicts] me of sin? …” (Joh_8:46). The Lord’s disciples had been with Him for three years, and if there had been anything wrong, they would have known. He was impeccable; He did not commit any sin. Yet because He lived on this earth as a man, He understands us. He “can have compassion on the ignorant.” What does that mean? “Compassion on the ignorant” refers to sins of ignorance. Lev_4:1-2 deals with these sins. If you don’t think you have committed a sin in the past few days, and you feel like you have really been living in the heights, I have news for you. You commit sins that you are not even aware of, and He, our Great High Priest, takes care of that for us. He can have compassion on the ignorant. You see, “There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death” (Pro_14:12, italics mine). “All we like sheep have gone astray …” (Isa_53:6). God compares us to sheep, because all sheep go astray. “He himself also is compassed with infirmity.” Aaron was touched with infirmity or weakness, but Christ was touched with a feeling of our infirmity or weakness. He knows how we feel about things. He is the perfect mediator, you see. When we fall, He doesn’t get down in the dirt with us; He is there to lift us out of it. The trouble with Aaron was that he might condone the sins that he also had committed. Or he might condemn the sins that he had not committed himself. That would always be a danger. But Christ is able to show mercy, and He neither condones nor condemns. When we come to Him to make confession of our sins, He doesn’t give us a little lecture about doing better next time. He just extends mercy to us. “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just [as our High Priest] to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1Jn_1:9). It is wonderful to have a High Priest like He is! Now we see a contrast between Aaron and Christ because there is no counterpart of this requirement of the Aaronic priesthood in our Lord Jesus Christ.

Hebrews 5:3

You will recall that on the great Day of Atonement Aaron first brought a sacrifice and took the blood into the Holy of Holies for his own sins. He had to have his own sin question settled first before he could represent the people. There is no counterpart of this in Christ. Christ did not have to make an offering for Himself. He made an offering for you and me.

Hebrews 5:4

As we saw earlier, Christ was a priest because He was acceptable to God.

Hebrews 5:5

I want to make it abundantly clear that the “begotten” here has nothing to do with the birth of Christ in Bethlehem. It has everything to do with the garden near Calvary where He was buried after His crucifixion because that is where His resurrection took place. He was begotten from the dead. His priesthood began when he went back to heaven, and that speaks of His resurrection.

Hebrews 5:6

The order of Aaron is not adequate to set before us the priesthood of Christ. So our Lord is not a High Priest in the order of Aaron, although Aaron is the type, and Christ the antitype. Christ is the Son, and Aaron is just a servant. “Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec.” Who is Melchisedec (spelled Melchizedek in the Old Testament)? The only historical record that we have of him is in Genesis 14 where he is described as a “priest of the most high God.” He went out to congratulate Abraham on his victory over Chedorlaomer and his allies in which Abraham recovered all of the citizens of Sodom and Gomorrah, including his nephew Lot, and also brought back all the booty. The king of Sodom met Abraham and offered him all of the booty. Abraham was under some temptation, but he turned down the offer. In Gen_14:18 we read, “And Melchizedek king of Salem brought forth bread and wine: and he was the priest of the most high God.” The account continues in Gen_14:19-20, “And he blessed him, and said, Blessed be Abram of the most high God, possessor of heaven and earth: And blessed be the most high God, which hath delivered thine enemies into thy hand. And he gave him tithes of all.” We are told that Melchizedek was the king of Salem (Salem means “peace”) and he was also king of righteousness.

He walks out onto the pages of Scripture out of nowherewe have no inkling where he came fromand he walks off the page of Scripture the same way. There is no other historical mention of him. In Psalms 110 we see the prophecy of Melchizedekthat there is coming one who is to be a priest after the order of Melchizedek. Hebrews now gives us the interpretation of Melchizedek. Let me say at this point that there are some very fine expositors who think that Melchizedek is the preincarnate Christ. Well, I cannot accept that interpretation because Melchizedek is a type, of the Lord Jesus. Obviously, the antitype cannot be the typeor you wouldn’t have a type. Therefore, I interpret Melchizedek as a human being who was the literal king of Salem. Two excellent expositors, G. Campbell Morgan and Lewis Sperry Chafer, hold that he was the preincarnate Christ; so you will be in good company if you take that position. However, I believe Melchizedek was a type given to us by Moses and guarded by God. He just walks out of nowhere and walks back into nowhere. He had no beginning or ending of days. The Lord Jesus Christ is the beginning and the end. He is Alpha and Omega (see Rev_1:8). He started it all, and He will end it all. He is the AMEN. He is the One who is the eternal God and as such has no beginning or ending. The writer is telling us that we have a priest like thatHe is after the order of Melchizedek. We will see an interpretation of this in chapter 7. This brings us to a verse that I feel totally inadequate to deal with. I feel that I am just standing on the fringe in my understanding of it. Speaking of the Lord Jesus

Hebrews 5:7

Scripture tells us that on three occasions Jesus wept. I am of the opinion there were other occasions, but the record gives us only three. One was at the tomb of Lazarus. At that time, although He knew He would restore Lazarus to life, His heart went out in sympathy to the two sisters who were so deeply grieved. Because He wept for them, I know how He feels when you and I stand at the graveside of a loved one. At another time He wept over the city of Jerusalem. Since He wept over Jerusalem at that time, I am sure He has wept many times over the cities in which you and I live. They certainly provide Him with reasons for weeping! Then the third time He wept was in the Garden of Gethsemane. Why did He weep there? A cynic and unbeliever made the statement that he wished he had been present so he could have killed the Lord Jesus in some way other than by crucifixion. In saying this, it is evident that he perceived something that some believers do not firmly grasp. He would have liked to have kept Jesus from the Cross, which is exactly what the Devil wanted to do. I believe that Satan attempted to slay the Lord Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane. When He prayed in the garden, “Let this cup pass from me” (see Luk_22:42), the “cup” was death. He did not want to die in the Garden of Gethsemane. “And was heard in that he feared.” If our Lord Jesus prayed in the garden to let the cup pass because He didn’t want to die on the Cross, then He wasn’t heardbecause He did die on the Cross. My friend, He was heard; He did not die in the Garden of Gethsemane. You see, prophecy had made it abundantly clear that He was to die on a cross. We do not have a better picture of crucifixion than in Psalms 22. The Cross was an altar on which the Son of God shed His blood, paying the penalty for your sin and my sin. “The life of the flesh is in the blood,” God said, “and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls …” (Lev_17:11). In the Old Testament the blood of animal sacrifices only covered over the sin, but the blood of Christ was given “to make atonement for your souls.” Christ shed His blood on the Cross, which was an altar. He told Nicodemus, “And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up” (Joh_3:14). He did not want to die in the garden.

That, I think, was His prayer, His human prayer, as He wept and sweat great drops of blood. Our Lord was near death as He approached the Cross, and He prayed to be delivered from death so that He could reach the Cross. And we are told that He “was heard in that he feared.” “In that he feared"fear is not something that is always wrong, as we have seen elsewhere in this epistle. It would be abnormal not to fear some things. And I think we need a little more fear in our churches; we need the fear of the Lord, which is the beginning of wisdom. The Lord Jesus feared.

Hebrews 5:8

“And being made perfect"that is, made complete, made full. “Eternal salvation"the only kind of salvation He offers is eternal. If you can lose it tomorrow, then, my friend, it is not eternal. It is some other kind of salvation. But He offers only eternal salvation. “Unto all them that obey him.” What is obedience? A crowd of people asked Jesus, “…What shall we do, that we might work the works of God?” (Joh_6:28). Jesus replied, “…This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent” (Joh_6:29). Do you want to obey God? Then trust Christ. That is what He is saying. But there is something here that I do not understandI am frank to admit it. “Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered.” Why did the Son of God need to learn obedience by suffering? And why did He need to be made perfect when He already was perfect? I stand here in the presence of a mystery, a mystery that I cannot fathom. I know only that God got something out of the death of Christ that has made heaven more wonderful and has added something to heaven where everything is perfection and that the Son of God has learned something! Now I am well acquainted with the explanation that men gave, but none of them satisfy me. I just recognize that it is a great mystery. Christ took upon Himself our humanity, and in that humanity He obeyed God. He said, “I have come to do my Father’s will” (see Joh_6:39). Paul said of Him, “…[He] took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: and being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross” (Php_2:7-8, italics mine). My friend, I want you to know that when I die (if the Lord tarries) I won’t do it obediently.

I don’t want to die. I think it is morbid when folk always talk about wanting to die. I want to live on earth as long as I can. When I had cancer, many people wrote to me and said, “We are praying for you. We are asking that the Lord spare your life.” I am thankful because the Lord heard those prayers. But one dear lady in Southern California wrote to me and said, “I am not praying that the Lord will leave you here.

I know you are ready to go, so I am praying that He will take you home.” I wrote back to her in a hurry and said, “Listen, you let the Lord alone in this matter. It is just between Him and me. I don’t want you to tell the Lord when you think He ought to take me home. I want to stay here, and I’ll appreciate it if you don’t pray that prayer any more. At least, change it. Tell the Lord that you made a mistake, and that McGee wants to stay.” When the writer to the Hebrews says that Christ learned obedience by the things which he suffered, I don’t understand it. I simply recognize that I am in the presence of a mysterythat even my Lord learned something!

Hebrews 5:10

Called means “saluted” and refers to Melchizedek. Now the writer will discuss this matter of the priesthood of Christ, that Melchizedek was given to us in the Old Testamant as a type of the high priesthood of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Hebrews 5:11

THE PERIL OF DULL HEARINGThe writer puts up the third danger signal; it is like a red light flashing. He is getting ready to bring us out on the highway, but before he does, we’ve got to look both ways. There is the danger of being dull of hearing. He devotes the remainder of the chapter to this, because in the next chapter (after still another danger signal) he will deal with the great subject of Christ our High Priest after the order of Melchizedek. “Of whom we have many things to say.” The writer says, “I still have a lot of things to say.” “And hard to be uttered.” Why is it hard to be uttered? “Seeing ye are dull of hearing.” The writer, who I think was Paul, could state it all right, but they couldn’t grasp it. Have you ever said to your husband or wife after a Bible-teaching sermon, “I don’t think the pastor was quite up to it today. I didn’t feel his message was equal to what he is capable of giving”? Did you ever stop to think that the problem that day may have been with you? Are you dull of hearing? The problem may not be in the speaking, but the problem may be in the hearing. Ear trouble, today, is the big problem of believers. Christ as a priest after the order of Melchizedek is a difficult subject, and the writer is going to deal with it forthrightly. To understand the subject requires sharp spiritual perception. It requires folk to be spiritually alert and to have a knowledge of the Word of God and to be close to it. The Hebrew believers who are being addressed here had a low SQ, not an IQ, but an SQspiritual quotient. It was hard to teach them because it was difficult to make them understand.

They were babies, as many of the saints are today, and they want baby talk even from the preacher. They don’t want to hear anything that is difficult to understand. This is the reason some preachers are getting by with murder in the pulpitthey murder the Word of God. They absolutely kill it and substitute something from their own viewpoint, and the congregations like that kind of baby talk.

Hebrews 5:12

“Ye have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the oracles of God.” Some of them want a D.D. degree, but they don’t even know their ABCs. “First principles” is from the Greek word stoicheion (from which we get our English word atom, by the way), meaning “primary elements"the ABCs of the Christian life. They ought to be teachers and mature saints, but instead they are still little babies needing someone to burp them. For example, one Sunday after the morning service a church member stopped to talk to me while I was shaking hands with folk who were leaving. He said, “Dr. McGee, do you have anything against me?” I said, “No. Why do you say that?” “Well, you passed me yesterday on the street, and you didn’t speak to me.” That is baby talk. I didn’t even see that person, and it is perfect nonsense to talk like that. Someone else said, “Why didn’t the soloist sing this morning? We wanted to hear the soloist sing.” Oh, my gracious, what little babies, wanting their rattles, and wanting the bottle with the nipple on it! To these Hebrew believers the writer says, “You are such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat. You are not of age; you are not full grown; you haven’t reached maturation.” Now a baby cannot eat meat, but an adult can enjoy milk. I will admit that a lot of saints today sit and listen to baby talk from the pulpit. It is tragic indeed that they have to endure this, but they do.

Hebrews 5:13

He doesn’t know the Word of God. I don’t want to step on your toes, my friend, but I’d love to be helpful to you. You cannot grow apart from the Word of God. I don’t care how active you are in the church. You may be an officer. You may be on every committee in the church. You may be a leading deacon or elder. I don’t care who you are, or what you are; if you are not studying the Word of God, and if you don’t know how to handle it, you are a little baby. It is tragic to occupy a church office when you are just a little baby. You ought to come on and grow up. It is tragic that there are people who have been members of the church and have been saved for years, and they are still going around saying, “Goo, goo, goo.” They have nothing to contribute but little baby talk. All they want is to be burped periodically.

Hebrews 5:14

In 1Co_3:1-2, Paul says, “And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ. I have fed you with milk, and not with meat: for hitherto ye were not able to bear it, neither yet now are ye able.” In 1Pe_2:1-2, Peter says, “Wherefore laying aside all malice, and all guile, and hypocrisies, and envies, and all evil speakings, As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby.”