Psychologists thought they would experiment with monkeys to determine how necessary mothers are. They are always coming up with wonderful projects like. Others might take it for granted because of common sense that you need mothers. But they made it an experiment in the name of science. They wrapped a rug around some wire mesh and added a couple of milk bottles to feed the baby monkey but they found that a fake mother made a terrible one. Though it provided all the physical nutrients it could not provide the love the baby really needed to thrive. Thank you, psychologists, for wrecking that monkey’s life and providing us with the information we all knew intuitively.
In a sense this is true with fallible human substitute high priests. They cannot accomplish what THE real high priest can. In this passage of Scripture the author of Hebrews now begins to make a demarcation between the human high priest in the line of Aaron and the true high priest Jesus Christ. His similarities with Jesus ended in verse 4 and now he begins to show how in reality the high priest in the line of Aaron was completely inadequate to provide for man according to his true need. The key idea of these verses is as the Son of God, Jesus accomplished for us what no other human high priest could ever have done. And in this passage there are four truths the author notes about the high priesthood of Jesus.
1. He Was Called by God (vv. 5-6, 10)
First we see He was called by God. The author notes this in vv. 5-6 and verse 10. There he says, “Christ did not glorify Himself so as to become a high priest, but He who said to Him, ‘You are My Son, today I have begotten You;’ just as He says also in another passage, ‘You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.’” Now the author moves from Jesus’ Sonship to His priesthood. He again quotes the Old Testament Scripture he had mentioned in 1:5 to remind us that in the same way the Father designated Jesus as the Son so He designates Jesus as a high priest according to the order of Melchizedek. In other words the other says, “The one who said, “that” also said, “this.” There is to be no dispute over the position of Jesus. He is not only the Son of God but also He is the true high priest. And He didn’t steal this title or take it for Himself. God gave Him the office of the high priest. It is His. And it is His alone. There are two characteristics of His call to priesthood.
A. It is eternal
The first characteristic of this priesthood is it is eternal. The author quotes from Psalm 110 to describe Jesus’ call to priesthood. It was a familiar Messianic psalm. The Jews recognized it as such and Jesus quoted from the beginning of this psalm in that famous dispute with His opponents found in Matthew 22. When their questions had been silenced by Jesus’ wisdom Jesus posed a question of His own for them. From this passage in Matthew we read Jesus said, “‘What do you think about the Christ? Whose son is He?’ They said to Him, ‘The Son of David.’ He said to them, ‘Then how does David in the Spirit call Him Lord, saying, (And here Jesus quotes from Psalm 110) “The Lord said to my Lord, sit at my right hand until I put your enemies beneath your feet?” If David then calls Him Lord how is He his son?’”
Psalm 110 is clearly Messianic from beginning to end and the author of Hebrews quotes from verse 4 of the Psalm. He says, “You are a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.” Here the Father is giving to Jesus an eternal priesthood. This priesthood will not be relinquished. It will not be passed down from generation to generation. It will not be outmoded. This is a forever priesthood. It is good news to us because Jesus’ office as high priest will never be superseded. No one has to take up where He left off. This is the point the author is seeking to make. This high priesthood is complete in Jesus and there is no further work to be done in the line of the priest. We are going to see the ramifications of this truth in the coming weeks as we delve further into the book of Hebrews.
B. It is not based on the Old Covenant
The second characteristic of this high priesthood of Jesus is it is not based on the Old Covenant. In verse 10 he reiterates what he said in verse 6 when he notes Jesus had been “designated by God as high priest according to the order of Melchizedek.” In saying this he tells us the priesthood of Jesus was not linked to the Old Covenant priesthood. Jesus was not following a line of priests from Aaron. He was not one of those priests. He was a priest like Melchizedek. Now the author is going to describe how Jesus was like Melchizedek in the coming chapters and though his arguments will be difficult to follow at some times they will be instructive if you make the effort to understand them. Perhaps the reason they are most difficult for the average churchgoer is they have never heard of Melchizedek. But he is right there in the Old Testament. Have a look for yourself in Genesis if you are unaware of who he is. But here he introduces Jesus’ likeness to the ministry of Melchizedek.
It is at just this point the author of Hebrews begins to differentiate Jesus’ ministry from the high priestly line of Aaron. The line of the Aaronic high priest would be temporary. Jesus’ ministry in the likeness of the priest Melchizedek would be permanent. Jesus had no weaknesses yet Aaron and his line did. And Aaron did not just have weaknesses but sin. Jesus was tempted in all ways as we are yet without sin. Yes Jesus would be tempted and would suffer terribly but that was the extent of his likeness to Aaron. And the author, after a short interlude in the next chapter and a half will resume his description of Melchizedek and the superiority of his priesthood over any mere human priesthood.
2. He Cried Out to God in His Distress (v. 7)
The second truth we see about the high priesthood of Jesus is He cried out to God in His distress. In verse 7 we read, “In the days of His flesh, He offered up both prayers and supplications with loud crying and tears to the One able to save Him from death, and He was heard because of His piety.” Jesus cries out to His Father in the distress of His soul. This passage refers most clearly to Jesus’ trial in the Garden of Gethsemane. And the author fills in some details for us not revealed in the Gospel accounts. If you remember Jesus is praying to His Father and struggling over the decision to carry out His will. He was not sinning. He was an obedient Son. He knew the dregs of this cup he would drink would be severe. And his feelings were not yet in line with what He must do. And so as an obedient Son He made an appeal to His loving Father. He did not seek to be disobedient. He only wanted to be obedient. But in the anguish of the moment He cried out to His Father to reveal to Him if there might be some other way in which He might still be obedient and yet not drink the cup. And when all was said He submitted Himself to His Father’s will because of the strength He found in coming to Him in strong crying and tears. Jesus didn’t come in rebellion. He didn’t come with a fist in the face of His Father. He knew His loving Father would only do what was right and best and so He came crying and pleading as this obedient Son. He was a Son who “always did what His Father said.” There are three qualities to this cry of Jesus in His distress.
A. He was singly focused in His plea
The first quality of Jesus’ cry was He was singly focused in His plea. The verse says He offered up prayers and supplications with loud crying and tears “TO THE ONE ABLE TO SAVE HIM FROM DEATH.” Jesus didn’t go anywhere else in this matter. It was a matter He brought to His Father alone. He didn’t try to gain consensus from the angels. He didn’t try to get the angels to go to His Father and say, “You know, what you want Jesus to do is a little harsh don’t you think?” He didn’t plead with His disciples to pray to the Father for Him. You know Peter would have been at it in an instant. Remember he rebuked Jesus once for mentioning the cross. Can you picture him now speaking to God? “God you can’t send Jesus to the cross. After all how are our aspirations for political greatness going to be realized?” No Jesus went to the Father alone. The author calls the Father “the One able to save Him from death.” Jesus knew that if He could avoid death on the cross it would be because His Father allowed it. Jesus being an obedient Son could do nothing else but focus His cry upon the One able to save Him from death.
B. He was earnest in His plea
The second quality of Jesus’ cry was He was earnest in His plea. The verse says, “He offered up both prayers and supplications with loud crying and tears.” He was earnest in His cry. He wasn’t unconcerned about this affair. The Gospel accounts show us the great emotion with which He prayed. He was praying earnestly. How do you pray? When you have difficulties and trials do you pray with loud crying and tears to the Father? Or do you pray as if the outcome of your prayer doesn’t matter. Do you pray about life and death things? Are you really concerned that your family knows Christ or does it not matter to you? Are you in tears over your struggle with sin or does it not move you that your sin is an offense before a holy God?
Jesus was having a very difficult time with this and He didn’t shrug off his responsibility to pray. Some people see loud crying and tears as a sign of weakness. The truth is they will not humble themselves in such a way to be earnest in their prayers. I have cried over friends and family. I have wailed over sin in my life. I have prostrated myself on the floor and sobbed for God to give me the strength to do the right thing. Are you willing to be earnest in prayer?
Instead of seeing this as a sign of weakness we need to understand it as a sign of spiritual strength. Don’t think you are weak spiritually if you are struggling through whether you are going to obey God or not. IT IS weakness IF you choose the easy way. It is weakness if you don’t have time to be concerned about whether you are going to do right or do wrong. I would rather be troubled about a difficult decision to obey God than to not be concerned and follow whatever way feels good to me. Let me ask you a question. When were you so concerned about doing God’s will it troubled you almost to the point of death? When were you so distressed about doing right in the midst of a great difficulty it caused you to sweat and you fell on your face to pray that God would strengthen you so as not to sin?
When was the last time you got ready for work and fell down in your room and cried out, “God I know John makes me so mad I could spit. Help me so I don’t sin against you! I don’t want to dishonor you by swearing again.” Or when did you come before God and say, “Lord, they’re going to ask me to lie at work again. Father you are truth. I mock you when I lie. Come to my help O God so I have the strength to say to them that I’m only going to tell the truth from now on regardless of the circumstances.” Or how long has it been since you said something like, “Father, I feel like I’m suffocating in the midst of this problem. Help me to recognize Your hand in it. Help me to live through it in Your strength because I cannot do it. I’ll fail You if you don’t strengthen me. Help me.”
When are you going to be earnest in your prayer life with God? Don’t play Christian. Don’t come here pretending you are the most sanctified Christian in the world and then go home and live in your complacency. Be earnest in your prayer life before the Father. If you know you’re not earnest cry out to God to make you sincere in your relationship with Him. There is nothing wrong with being distressed if you know where to go when you are. Jesus was distressed in the midst of seeking to do the Father’s will but He went straight to the source of the one who was able to hear and He was earnest in His plea.
C. He was reverent in His plea
The third quality of His cry we see is He was reverent in His plea. The end of verse 7 says, “He was heard because of His piety. Jesus was strengthened to do the Father’s will because He sought His will in complete submission to it. He wasn’t looking for a concession that would circumvent His Father’s will. He wasn’t the little boy who pleaded and prodded his father until his father acquiesced. No Jesus was reverent in His plea. His plea knew of nothing except submission. And so when Jesus had come to the end of His request He was able to say, “Yet not what I will but what you will.” Jesus was heard and His prayer was answered in that He submitted to His Father and was strengthened to do what His Father asked Him. This was how He was heard. Some would say Jesus’ prayer was answered to be rescued from death. But this is not what the text says. Some would say Jesus was crying to the Father to be prevented from dying before the time He was supposed to or so He would not suffer eternal punishment and remain dead. But the text merely says He prayed to the “One who was able to save Him from death.” Only the Father could have saved Him from death. But He was heard, not in the fact that He was prevented from dying but in the fact of His reverent submission to the Father. The Father heard Him and strengthened Him to completely carry out His will. The Gospel accounts of Jesus’ time in Gethsemane make this clear enough. And the fact that He was strengthened to carry out the Father’s will is what we will see in the next two verses.
3. He Completed His Work (vv. 8-9)
In verses 8&9 we see the third truth about the high priesthood of Jesus. This is He completed His work. Here it says, “Although He was a Son, He learned obedience from the things which He suffered. And having been made perfect, He became to all those who obey Him the source of eternal salvation.”
That first part of this, “Although He was a Son, He learned obedience from the things which He suffered” shows us the Father’s will for Jesus was to pass through suffering. He was to experience firsthand the suffering that made Him perfect. The author isn’t saying there was something wrong with Jesus. This is not what He means when he says Jesus was made perfect. But in the experience of His suffering and temptation He completed the work of the Father. It was in His identification with humanity He suffered. There is a difference between knowing something and experiencing something. In this way Jesus learned obedience. He showed His obedience to the Father’s will by the things He suffered. Jesus didn’t bypass suffering because He was the Son of God. On the contrary because He was the Son of God He suffered. There is suffering in this world because of sin. We suffer because sin has permeated every aspect of our creation. And there is going to be suffering. And for Jesus to have fully taken humanity upon Himself He needed to suffer because suffering is part of the human experience in a sin cursed world.
Too many Christians think the path of Christlikeness is without suffering. If they encounter suffering they think they are receiving the raw end of the deal. And plenty of Christians will tell you this; “Friend, if you are suffering you’re not right with God. If you were right with God you wouldn’t be experiencing this.” This is pagan philosophy not Christian philosophy. Yet these ideas continue to be passed through the Christian realm. Many still think those who follow Christ should experience no suffering because “the chastening for our well-being fell upon Him.” Oh yes God wants us to experience well being but that well being is to be had in the midst of suffering. Yes many still see their lot as Christians as a lovely trek with no problems or discouragements. But how can this be when the author of our salvation followed the school of suffering Himself. And Peter notes this very truth in the fourth chapter of his first letter. He says since Jesus has suffered in the flesh we are to arm ourselves with the same mind because “he who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin.” God’s work of allowing us the privilege to suffer can make us Christlike.
Now understand, we are not to make ourselves suffer. But when suffering appears in our lives, since God is sovereign, we are to see it as a God ordained opportunity to watch His work in us. If Jesus learned by the things He suffered then we too need to understand our suffering as opportunities for learning.
Note also that when it says, “And having been made perfect” it does not mean Jesus wasn’t the perfect Son of God before this. It means He completed everything His Father had for Him to do. The word can be translated “complete” or “mature.” When a person finishes school we say they have completed their course of study. Jesus went through the school of suffering and graduated. Yes, it seemed apparent Jesus would do everything the Father commanded. Yet how would we know until He did? It seemed He would ward off every temptation but how could we be certain unless He actually did it. Until then would it not only be potential. But now through the cross work of Jesus we see He did do it. And having done everything the Father told Him to do He is able to accomplish the purpose for which He came for He graduated into His glory. And we see this in verse 9.
4. He Became the Cause of Salvation for Those Who Respond to God’s Word (v. 9)
The final truth we see about the high priesthood of Jesus is He became the cause of salvation for those who respond to God’s Word. Verse 9 reads, “And having been made perfect, He became to all those who obey Him the source of eternal salvation.”
As the source of eternal salvation Jesus is the One to whom everyone must go to receive it. He is the only One upon whom the title of “the source of eternal salvation” was granted. There is no one else to whom we may flee for safety. There is no other one that may bring us to Jesus. He is the source and we must go to the source. Peter said it in the book of Acts. “There is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved.” And as the author of Hebrews will make clear very shortly it is the blood of Christ shed on our behalf and poured on the altar that opens this door of eternal life.
The author notes Jesus is the source of eternal life to everyone who obeys Him. Now this word is always used (except in Acts 12:13) as submitting one’s will to someone else. And in several cases it is used in relation to believing the Gospel (Acts 6:7, Romans 10:16). And the author uses it here in the same way he uses it in Hebrews 11:8 where it reads, “By faith, Abraham, when he was called, obeyed by going out to a place which he was to receive for an inheritance.” Abraham’s obedience was in response to God’s Word, God’s call. And his response, the author notes, was by faith.
The obedience that brings salvation is an obedience that responds to God’s Word through faith. So the question is, “Have you responded to God’s Word so as to be saved from your sin and be given eternal life?” God’s Word says, “Stop trusting your works to be saved and trust in the Son alone.” God’s Word has not changed. The message has been the same all along. Even when the Jews came to Jesus they were still looking for some way to bring about their own salvation. In John 6 they said to Him, “‘What shall we do, so that we may work the works of God?’ Jesus answered and said to them, ‘This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He has sent.’”
The obedience that brings salvation is a submission to God’s Word to believe that only in Jesus Christ, the perfect high priest, can we have eternal life. Anyone who will not humble himself to forsake his self-dependence and self-effort and trust in Christ alone does not have eternal salvation because he is not submitting to the source of eternal salvation, Jesus Christ.
Not only is this submission to the Word of God eternally important for you who need to put your trust in Jesus Christ but also it is important for us who have already done so. For in this submission to the Word of God we see the road to godliness IS suffering. And if we wish to shun suffering and get it behind us instead of seeing for what reason God wants us in it, we miss the road to holiness God has ordained for us.
It is in the midst of suffering we can praise Jesus because He was there with us. He went there for us. And when we experience agonizing pain, physical, emotional or spiritual we can praise God in the midst of it because we know He is in the fire with us bringing us to a place of further surrender to His will. The Christian who truly wants to know God and walk with Him in the garden alone will find the garden in which he walks with His Lord is not a garden in which the dew falls upon the roses but one in which the thorns are the most prominent feature. And if in those moments of suffering we will not with strong crying and tears submit unto our Father and say, “Your will be done” then we cannot find the joy on the other side of our pain. For the joy on the other side of our pain is the close presence of Him who said, “Cast all your cares on me because I care for you” and “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” If we do not submit to it we will instead end up being bitter people who have no close relationship with our Heavenly Father because we never sought Him in the times of suffering He called us to draw near to Himself.
Let Jesus, our great high priest, be not just the source of your eternal salvation but the example by which you enter into sufferings.