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The Better High Priest (Hebrews 5:1-10)- Pastor Kenneth Collins Maple · Fairview Presbyterian Church (PCA) Sermons

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And that word that we are looking at today comes
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from Hebrews chapter five. Hebrews chapter five,
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looking at verses one through 10. And I would
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ask that you would open your copy. And if you
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don't have one, there should be one located in
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the pew back there in front of you. And as you're
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turning there, let me just say a word of introduction
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on this passage. As a pastor, I'm well acquainted
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with commentaries. And some of you may use commentaries
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as well. Commentaries are study resources to
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help you study scripture. And they can be very,
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very useful. But when you come upon a passage
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or really a book like Hebrews, the best commentary
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that we have, say, on the Old Testament is a
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book like Hebrews. It's going to take us several
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times within this passage back to the Old Testament.
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But then it applies the word. Christ Jesus who
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is the fulfillment of that word and so let's
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look at this text now Hebrews chapter 5 verses
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1 through 10 for every high priest chosen from
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among men is appointed to act on behalf of men
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in relation to God to offer gifts and sacrifices
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for sins He can deal gently with the ignorant
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and wayward since he himself is beset with weakness.
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Because of this, he is obligated to offer sacrifice
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for his own sins just as he does for those of
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the people. And no one takes this honor for himself,
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but only when called by God just as Aaron was.
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So also Christ did not exalt himself to be made
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a high priest But was appointed by him who said
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to him you are my son Today I have begotten you
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and he says also in another place You are a priest
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forever after the order of Melchizedek in the
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days of his flesh Jesus offered up prayers and
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supplications with loud cries and tears, to him
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who was able to save him from death. And he was
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heard because of his reverence. Although he was
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a son, he learned obedience through what he suffered.
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And being made perfect, he became the source
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of eternal salvation to all who obey him, being
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designated by God a high priest after the order.
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of Melchizedek. The grass withers and the flower
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fades, but God's word stands forever. Let's pray.
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Father, we thank you for a word that is perfect,
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a word that is true, a word that accomplishes
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its purposes. But we also thank you that you
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are near to us and that you grant us understanding.
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And this is what we ask for now. Open our hearts
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and our minds to hear from you and to know this
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text and to apply it, for we ask it in Christ's
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name. Amen. I try not to recycle illustrations,
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but inevitably it happens. So if you've heard
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this one before, enjoy it for a second time.
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Years ago when I was in college at Lander University,
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I had a cousin who was in college at Anderson
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University at the same time. This cousin of mine
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played for Anderson's soccer team. And so I wanted
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to go watch her play and Lander was traveling
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to Anderson to play the game. And so I got a
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couple of friends and we're like, we're gonna
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go support Lander and cheer on my cousin Anderson.
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And so we got in the car and this is before smartphones.
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And I didn't have a Garmin or whatever just maybe
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common sense to know how to get to Anderson especially
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when you're from the upstate of South Carolina,
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but we started driving and we were going for
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a ways and it was kind of dark and We weren't
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entirely sure of where we were so we pulled over
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at one point because we saw a man on a bicycle
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and rolled down the window and said sir Do you
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know where the soccer field is? And he said,
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what soccer field? And we said, Anderson College
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soccer field. He said, Anderson, you're in Belton.
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You can't get there from here. Belton's in Anderson
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County. In that moment, I thought, well, either
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this man is like the most geographically challenged
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man in Anderson County, or he doesn't like soccer.
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But somebody else in the car said man, we don't
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know where we are Let's just go back. Let's just
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go back to Greenwood. It's late. We've probably
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already missed some of the game. Let's just go
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home Sometimes that's how we are when we counter
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encounter difficulties in this life. We just
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think We're just not gonna press on let's just
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go back and that's kind of what these Readers
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and these heaters of this letter are thinking
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they're in counting difficulty much more than
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being lost in Belton. They're encountering trouble,
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probably persecution of some sort or at least
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the threat of it. And yet, even should we encounter
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such persecution, such difficulty, let us take
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Paul's words to mind when he says, I consider
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that the sufferings of this present time are
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not worth comparing with the glory that is to
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be revealed to us. But you might say, well, how
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is this How is this possible? How do we press
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on with the sufferings of this life? We must
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remember that Christ went before us and that
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Christ is our forever high priest. And this text
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shows us this perfectly. Really, you can break
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this down in looking at two different priesthoods.
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The priesthood of Aaron and the priesthood of
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Jesus. Christ. And as we compare and contrast
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these two we will indeed see that Christ is our
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high priest. But first let's focus on Aaron and
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the priesthood for a few minutes. This is written
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at the beginning of chapter five verses one through
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four almost almost like a job description almost
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like qualifications for the office. You all have
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applied for jobs you've searched for jobs online
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and. The description of the qualifications may
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say something like, well, this is a full -time
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job. The candidate should have three to five
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years of experience and a degree in a related
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field, right? You've all seen this. Well, this
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is kind of written a little bit like that. High
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priests must be taken from men. They must be
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appointed, and they are to offer gifts and sacrifices.
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for sin. Additionally, the candidate must deal
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gently with the wayward and the ignorant since
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he himself is also a sinner. That gives us great
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background into who these priests were to be
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as they offered sacrifice for sins. And yet,
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within the text, don't miss how Aaron or how
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other high priests were supposed to be. Look
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in verse two. He can deal gently with the ignorant
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and wayward Since he himself is beset with weakness
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So this is getting at how they are to offer these
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sacrifices how they are to minister if you will
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there to do so gently your translation may say
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compassionately, but actually the word that's
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used there is Honestly, a very difficult word
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to translate because I believe it's only used
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in this instance like this one time Literally,
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very literally, it means something more like
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to deal moderately with. Perhaps you might say
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to have a kindly disposition towards. Voss says
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this about the word, to moderate one's feelings
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indicates a sinner who must change, transform,
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grow, or address possible feelings of hostility.
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especially at the inconsistencies and frequent
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failures of those he serves. And so the idea
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here is how a high priest should be towards those
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for whom he makes sacrifices, but also recognizing
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that be it Aaron or one of these other priests
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within the priestly line is also, as the text
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says, beset with weakness. Be it Aaron, be it
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someone else here. They also struggle against
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sin. But also verse two, kind of as a caveat
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to this, a little bit more dealing gently with
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the ignorant and the wayward. We should remember
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that within the Old Testament sacrifices, sometimes
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sacrifices were made for those who had sinned
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perhaps unintentionally or ignorantly. There
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were special provisions in the law for these
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people. those who might not be sinning in outright
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defiance or rebellion, right? And so to them,
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Aaron is to deal in this moderate way, this gentle
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way, this compassionate way. And this may actually
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remind you of a New Testament text that tells
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us who we are to be towards one another when
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we are battling sin. It's Galatians chapter six,
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verse one. Brothers, if anyone is caught in any
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transgression, you who are spiritual should restore
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him in a spirit of gentleness, right? Now the
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word that is used here is a different word, but
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it still communicates this idea of how we should
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be towards one another when we or someone else
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and we're helping them is battling sin. And so
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should you be helping one another, I want you
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to think How would I want someone to help me
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when I'm struggling with sin? You want help,
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don't you? Absolutely. But you also want it to
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be done in a gentle way. OK. And so that's really
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kind of what this is getting at. And that leads
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really right into the next text here, right into
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the next verse. Look at verse three. Because
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of this, he is obligated to act. Offer sacrifices
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for his own sins just as he does for those of
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the people You see and God I suppose could have
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brought an angel from the heavenly realms to
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help people To offer sacrifices to people, but
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he does not and why not? Because people understand
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people the high priest is to deal moderately
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with these people because he himself also battles
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sin and in this way then the high priest is a
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representative for the people. One commentator
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says the key idea here is representation. The
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priest had to be a human in order to represent
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other humans because it is humans who stand condemned
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before God for sin and so that's what one of
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these priests did. The high priest is a representative.
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The high priest is a mediator between people
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and God. I was trying to think of a good illustration
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from scripture that shows us this, and maybe
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you remember this particular text. You remember
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Numbers chapter 16, also called Korah's Rebellion.
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So within the Israelite camp there, there are
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people who are rising up against Moses and against
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Aaron. and they're complaining against God. And
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so Moses warns the people. He says, get away
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from the rebels. And if you remember that chapter
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16, what the Lord does with those who would rebel
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against his people, against the leadership of
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his people, the Lord opens up the ground and
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it swallows the people and their households and
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others are consumed by fire. What God does is
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he purifies the camp. That sounds like a good
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thing. to be done away with those who would rebel
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against God and against His chosen. And yet,
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chapter 16 continues to say that of those who
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were not rebelling, there are even more who are
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complaining against God and complaining against
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Moses and Aaron. They're grumbling over the loss
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of those who were killed and the Lord is not
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pleased. And so in Numbers 16 verse 45, We read
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get away from the midst of this congregation
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That I may consume them in a moment. And so Moses
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says to Aaron Take your censor and put fire on
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it from the altar and lay incense on it and carry
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it quickly to the congregation and Make atonement
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for them For wrath has gone out from the Lord.
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The plague has begun And so here's where I'm
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getting at what Aaron was to do. Aaron makes
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a sacrifice. He makes atonement for them. He
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is the representative. He is the mediator between
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God and the people. And this is, you can understand
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a very high responsibility to be a priest like
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that. Look at verse four. No one takes this honor
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for himself, but only when called by God, just
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as Aaron was. So even though, yes, this is a
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high responsibility, being a high priest is not
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something that you grab for yourself. You know,
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you don't make posters and say, vote for me or
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something. No, it's not something to be added
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to your resume. It's not something to say, look
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at me, look how I got here, because no, to be
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a priest like this was a calling, not an honor
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to be grabbed for oneself. And that leads, because
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I've already mentioned number 16, that leads
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right into number 17. Do you remember how Aaron
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was selected as a priest and those from his family
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as well? In number 17, the Lord speaks to Moses
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and directs him to go and get the 12 staffs,
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the 12 rods of the chiefs of Israel and write
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each man's name on the staff. And then Moses
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takes those staffs and places them in the tent
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of meeting. And the next day Moses goes into
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that tent and the staff of Aaron of the house
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of Levi has sprouted and blossomed, producing
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buds and bearing almonds. It's an incredible
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story, just a staff. And yet it stands out from
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all of the rest in that it has blossomed like
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a flower. And the point of that is to show that
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God truly did. Jesus contrasts with earthly priests
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because as they're all chosen, yes, by God, those
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priests are chosen from among men. But Jesus
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is chosen as the Son of God. Jesus is one of
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one as the great high priest. Who else could
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be called the Son of God and a priest forever
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after the order of Melchizedek? And this is getting
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at the glorious truth that we know. The kind
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of truth that we have affirmed together as we
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said the Nicene Creed. Jesus is the begotten
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Son of God. He is very God of very God and yet
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incarnate. Look at verse seven. In the days of
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his flesh, here we are reminded of John's gospel.
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The word became flesh and dwelt among us. And
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what does this Jesus do in verse seven? He gives
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the prayers and these supplications with loud
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cries and tears, right? And so think, when did
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Jesus offer such loud cries and tears? Well,
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friends, it was before he went to the cross.
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Do you remember the Garden of Gethsemane? In
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Mark 14, he says, my soul is very sorrowful,
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even to death. And you might remember Jesus even
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sweating drops of blood. You might remember John
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12, where Jesus says, now is my soul troubled
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and what shall I say, Father? Save me from this
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hour But for this purpose I've come into this
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hour father glorify thy name This illustrates
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how Jesus comes to do the Father's will look
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at the end of verse 7 He was heard because of
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his reverence Jesus was heard because of his
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godly fear, right? He was and his desire was
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to obey the father. But what do we make of verse
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seven when it says, who was able to save him
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from death? Maybe that confuses us when we really
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when we really think about it. How was Jesus
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saved from death? Well, here is where maybe some
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nuances into Greek might be able to help us,
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because the word there from death can also be
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translated. This preposition is out of death.
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And when you put it like that, how is Jesus saved
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out of death in his resurrection, right? Jesus
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is saved out of death in the resurrection. He
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was really raised just as surely as he really
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died. He was really raised and he went through
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it all. Again, as this mentions this term reverence,
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we should think how Jesus came to do the Father's
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will. And he was obedient all the way. to the
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cross for you and for your salvation. Children,
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do you know what Jesus' name means? Jesus' name
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means Yahweh saves. Jesus really came to save
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you and all of you. And according to verse 9,
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He is the source of your salvation, the source
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of eternal salvation to all who obey Him. And
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here's where I think that we need to be very
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precise with our language, because sometimes
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we say things like, well, my faith saves me.
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Friends, Christ saves you. Christ saves you.
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Your faith is a gift from God. A gift of his
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grace, a gift of his mercy, but Christ is the
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one who saves. I like how one pastor put it,
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faith does not make us righteous, rather faith
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lays hold of the righteousness of another. Do
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you remember how I said the high priest was the
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people's representative? As our first representative
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failed, that of Adam, who sent and plunged all
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of humanity, Into sinfulness, Christ is the representative
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who obeyed. You remember last Sunday? He was
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tempted in every way yet without sin. Christ
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is our perfect representative. Consider Philippians
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3 .9 that says, that I may gain Christ and be
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found in him, not having a righteousness of my
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own that comes from the law. but that which comes
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through faith in Christ, the righteousness from
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God that depends on faith. Christians, everybody
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in here, are you trusting in Christ and his righteousness
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for your salvation? Are you? Remember those Old
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Testament priests? They had to offer sacrifices
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for their own sins. Because they too were sinful
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but not so with Jesus and his sacrifice is the
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once and for all For all who trust in him or
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as verse 9 says all who obey him another scripture
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John 3 36 Whoever believes in the Sun has eternal
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life Whoever does not obey the Sun shall not
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see life But the wrath of God remains on him
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friends. It's not our obedience that saves we've
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already seen that It's Jesus's obedience that
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saves his his active obedience Where he kept
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the law perfectly in our place, but also his
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passive obedience and that Jesus allowed himself
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to be put up on a cross But friends believing
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in Jesus It also involves our whole being. It
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is true. We are saved by grace through faith.
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In Ephesians it says that, but after it says
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we are saved by grace through faith, it also
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says in verse 10 of chapter 2 Ephesians, we were
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created for good works which God prepared beforehand
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that we would walk in them. Regenerated hearts
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are obedient hearts. And we are to live as living
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sacrifices to the one who laid down his life
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for our salvation. And friends, the Bible is
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our only rule for faith and practice. It is.
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And so to properly obey, we must know this. To
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properly obey, we must give ourselves to the
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study and the reading and the meditating and
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the hiding in our hearts this. That we might
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not sin against God But not only Not only will
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we do this with regenerated hearts in the indwelling
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of the spirit. We will now want to Friends in
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Christ you have been set free from those heavy
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chains of sin and You have been made a servant
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of Christ and our obedience flows out of that
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and we grow as we give ourselves to the word
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as we trust in him. But here is where we might
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have another question from the text about verse
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eight. Although he was a son, he learned obedience
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through what he suffered. He learned obedience.
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What does that mean? John Owen is helpful here
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as he says, one special kind of obedience is
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intended here, namely a submission to great,
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hard, and terrible things accompanied by patience
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and quiet endurance and faith for deliverance
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from them. This Christ could not have experience
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of except by suffering the things he had to pass
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through, exercising God's grace in them all.
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Essentially what Owen gets at here is of course
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Jesus knew what obedience is and Jesus was never
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short on obedience but he experienced the obedience
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all the way to the cross. And so now consider
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that experience with the experience of the Aaronic
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priests. The text as I already mentioned talks
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about how Aaron and those other priests had to
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deal moderately with those for whom they gave
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sacrifices. Jesus didn't have to do it like that
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because Jesus never sinned. The way verse two
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is written emphasizes the priest had work to
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do on his own heart. But of course, as we have
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seen in chapter four, 14 through 16, Jesus didn't
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have work to do on his own heart because, yes,
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he was tempted in every way yet without Sin and
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I think this is why these texts use different
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words as it talks about Jesus as we saw last
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time about how he sympathizes with us This is
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a sympathy that saves Jesus understands he unto
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substitutionary death For example think about
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Jesus's baptism. We talked about this a couple
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of Wednesdays ago By the way, you should come
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to Wednesday nights, but we're talking about
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why was Jesus baptized? Have you ever thought
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about that? Why was Jesus baptized? Because he
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didn't need to be cleansed of sin. And so why?
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Well, the text is very clear as we see it in
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the gospels to fulfill all righteousness. Everything
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Jesus is doing is doing to identify with people
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and make righteousness possible, be it in his
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incarnation. Be it in his teaching be it in his
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healing and yes, of course his atoning death
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And so why not baptism? No, Jesus did not need
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to be cleansed of sin But Jesus is baptized in
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all of these things to identify with you I like
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how Jason Holopoulos puts it picture the long
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line of people who are being baptized by John
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Jesus the Christ approaches them. He has every
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right to condemn them all but instead he enters
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the line and says, let me be baptized as they
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are baptized and counted among them. Jesus comes
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in the flesh to identify with you and to save
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you out of the miseries of this life, to save
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you from what you deserve because it's all put
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on him even though he was completely innocent.
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What? a high priest that is. Look at verse 10,
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being designated by God a high priest after the
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order of Melchizedek. Many of you have asked,
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who is Melchizedek? And thankfully there's a
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greater explanation of Melchizedek in chapter
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seven, so I've got a couple more weeks to ponder
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upon that. Melchizedek is right up there with
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some of the great mysteries of the Bible like
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the Nephilim or who wrote Hebrews or what's going
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on in first Peter chapter 3 but for now let's
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understand just one or two things about Melchizedek
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as I begin to conclude first of all Melchizedek
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the name is very significant Melik in Hebrew
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means king and Zedek or Zedekah Means righteousness
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and so mash those two together. And what do you
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have? the king of righteousness But we also know
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this he was a priest And we also know this, that
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he ministered in a place called Salem, which
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is very similar to Shalom. And so it means peace.
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And so Melchizedek was the king of righteousness
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in the place of peace. Now with those kind of
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qualifications, that's pretty amazing, isn't
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it? And yet he's only a type of Christ. Pointing
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ahead to Christ, because Christ isn't looking
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back on Melchizedek. Melchizedek is looking forward
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to Christ. And so we'll get there. We'll get
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there in chapter seven. But what I want you to
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know right now, remember that all these priests
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in the line of Aaron, every single one of them
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fell short. Every single one of them had to make
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sacrifices for their own sin. Not so with Jesus.
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Because Jesus is your great high priest, but
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also don't miss this final word here in verse
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6 You are a priest for ever Those priests are
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temporary, but Jesus is your high priest forever
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Praise God. Let's pray