Heb. 4:14-5:11, Our Great Sympathetic High Priest

In Heb. 4:14 we return to the theme of Hebrews. We have a merciful and faithful High Priest (Heb. 2:17).  The Spirit calls us to consider this High Priest (Heb. 3:1).  Now let us acknowledge this High Priest (4:14ff).

·       What makes our High Priest great?  First, as we have noted, He passed through the heavens.  Second, He is able to sympathize with our weaknesses, having been tempted in all points as we are.  Every enticement we experience (1 John 2:16, the lust for things, the lust for pleasure and the lust of pride), He experienced.  He experienced the fullness of these temptations because He never gave in to them.  He was without sin. 

·       What are the duties of a High Priest?  He does “things pertaining to God” (5:1), things that will appease or satisfy God’s righteous demands so the sinful people he represents can have a relationship with God.  These “things” involve giving gifts, such as free-will offerings and non-blood offerings in the Levitical system.  Further, he offers sacrifices, both for himself and for the people.

·       What are the qualifications of a High Priest?  First, he must be taken from men.  He is one of the “group” that he represents.  In that way he can sympathize with the sinners who desire to please God.  Second, he is appointed “on behalf of” men.  He represents them before God.  Third, he is appointed by God.  He must be God-approved.  This is not done by popular vote of the people or appointment by the king or anyone else.

Aaron illustrates this.  His appointment by God is recorded in Ex. 27:20-28:1. But Christ also meets these requirements.  His appointment by God is recorded in Psalm 110:4 (Heb. 5:6): You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.  Furthermore, He was appointed “from” the group He represents before God.  He represents sinful mankind.  As Heb. 2 made clear, our High Priest, the Son of God, was made lower than the angels that He might taste death for everyone.  Thus, not only was He a Man; He was a tested and proven Man.  He “learned obedience by the things which He suffered.”  Think about this.  He never disobeyed.  But His obedience was not just conferred upon Him because of His deity.  He was tested.  The word for this is He was “perfected” (5:9).  Here is a definition of that term, as it is important in the rest of Hebrews.

The fundamental idea is the bringing of a person or thing to the goal fixed by God. The word speaks here of Messiah having reached the end which was contemplated in His divinely appointed discipline for the priesthood. This consummation was reached in His substitutionary death on the Cross. (Kenneth Wuest)

Jesus, our High Priest, has been perfected.  He is fully qualified for the position.  We can come to God through Christ, and be fully assured that we will be received.