Sunday, October 21, 2018

Hebrews 5:1-10




Hebrews 5:1-10 (NRSV)
5 Every high priest chosen from among mortals is put in charge of things pertaining to God on their behalf, to offer gifts and sacrifices for sins. 2 He is able to deal gently with the ignorant and wayward, since he himself is subject to weakness; 3 and because of this he must offer sacrifice for his own sins as well as for those of the people. 4 And one does not presume to take this honor, but takes it only when called by God, just as Aaron was.

5 So also Christ did not glorify himself in becoming a high priest, but was appointed by the one who said to him,

“You are my Son,
today I have begotten you”;
6 as he says also in another place,
“You are a priest forever,
according to the order of Melchizedek.”

7 In the days of his flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to the one who was able to save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission. 8 Although he was a Son, he learned obedience through what he suffered; 9 and having been made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him, 10 having been designated by God a high priest according to the order of Melchizedek.

Hebrews 5: 1-10 form an introduction to 5:1-10:39, introducing Jesus as high priest. The author has organized the section well, showing Jesus to be the one who meets the qualifications of being high priest. These verses display a tight unity.  The author intends to first show that although Jesus is not of Levitical descent, he was indeed a high priest, one like us, who bears out infirmities, weaknesses, and petitions before God.  The theme of Hebrews 5:1-10 is that God appointed Jesus and Jesus perfected that appointment through obedience. The work and calling of the high priest provide a background against which the author develops the notion of the high priesthood of Christ.

Here is a brief summary of the points the author makes in verses 1-10. First, Christ is not a self-appointed priest, but the one designated by God.  Second, Christ has fully identified with human weaknesses.  The first connection is that the prayers of Jesus as he faced death bear the marks of loud cries and tears. Jesus cried and God heard him. The author promises nothing more nor less for us as well. Third, the high priest becomes the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him.  Jesus becomes a model for the readers.

Every high priest chosen from among mortals is put in charge of things pertaining to God on their behalf, to offer gifts and sacrifices for sins. It refers to the sin offering as well as the guilt offering. One can read of the office of priestly sacrifice in Leviticus 1 (burnt offerings), 4 (sin offering for the priests, Israel, king, and the rest of the people), and 9 (inauguration of the priesthood of Aaron). In this verse, the author offers a textbook definition of what a high priest does. 2 He is able to deal gently with the ignorant and wayward, since he himself is subject to weakness. Priests have understanding toward people who have made mistakes, since he has made them as well. Priests are in solidarity with the rest of the community before God. The priest shares in the general weakness of the people of God. 3 Because of this, he must offer sacrifice for his own sins as well as for those of the people. Thus, in Leviticus 4:3-12, the priest is the one who has sinned and needs to present his offering upon the altar. On the Day of Atonement, the priest offers a sacrifice for himself and his family and then offers a sacrifice for the people.[1]  4 Further, one does not presume to take this honor, but takes it only when called by God, just as Aaron was. God called Aaron and his sons, Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar, from among the people of Israel to serve God as priests (Exodus 28:1). Thus, they did not acquire the priesthood by achievement, but by divine appointment. The author will make the connection with Aaron rather than Moses, which in this part of the book will receive full development.

In Hebrews 5: 5-6, in Israel, the office of priest and king were separate persons.  In the period between the Old and New Testament, priest and ruler often were together, especially during the Hasmonean period, around 140 BC. Many identified the Hasmonean leader with Psalm 110. The author will unite king and priest here. Yet, he does so in a way that challenges us. Human beings admire mastery. A religion that admits that life is inevitably tragic will lose out in the minds of many. Therefore, 5 Christ also did not glorify himself in becoming a high priest, but God appointed him, as the one who said to him in Psalm 2:7, referred in in Hebrews 1:5 as well, "You are my Son, today I have begotten you." The point is that God has appointed priests, so also God has appointed Christ. The author declares this quote is from God speaking to Jesus about his sonship. Luke will use it to refer to the baptism of Jesus, while this author uses it to refer to the installation of Jesus as high priest. In Hebrews 1:5, the citation illustrates that Jesus is higher than the angels are, for God never called an angel, Son. Historically, the psalm was part of the ritual sung at the coronation of an Israelite king. However, early Christians seem to interpret it as messianic in describing the status of Jesus as Son, which is how the author of Hebrews uses it.[2]  The author utilizes the quote here to say that the same God, who designated Jesus as Son, has now also appointed him as high priest. Some scholars believe that a noticeable shift occurs in chapter 5 because until chapter 5 the author has concentrated primarily on presenting Christ as Son. Yet from 5:6 onward, the author changes the focus to Christ's priesthood.[3] Thus, 6 as he says also in another place, Psalm 110:4, "You are a priest forever, according to the order kata thn taxin of Melchizedek." This quote serves to describe the priesthood of Christ. Once again, God is speaking to Christ. We as readers overhear the pronouncement by God to the Christ of his eternal priesthood. Scholars debate as to what Christ as the priest “after or according to the order" of Melchizedek actually means. While the author uses both Genesis 14 and Psalm 110:4, the author only uses Genesis to describe what a priest "after the order" of Melchizedek signifies, which is a "king-priest who does not come from a Levitical genealogy and whose office as priest does not end."[4] Here is the point. Only the fact that he is Son qualifies Christ to be high priest for us all.

 In Hebrews 5: 7-10, the author wishes to prove that Jesus Christ has the necessary qualifications for high priest. 7 In the days of his flesh en taiz hmeraiz thz sarkoz autau. Interestingly, the author moves from the eternal priesthood of Christ to describe the days of Jesus on Earth. Here, the author appears to place in juxtaposition the eternal and fleshly, as well as the finite and infinite, but in actuality, the author provides evidence of the priestly activity of Christ. Jesus offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to the one who was able to save him from death, and God heard him because of his reverent submission. The similarity of this passage with Psalm 116:1-8 is suggestive. The Psalmist speaks of his love for the Lord, who heard his cry for mercy, even as the cords of death entangled him and the anguish of the grave overcame him. He called upon the Lord to save him. He invites his soul to return to its rest, for the Lord has been good, delivering him from death, his eyes from tears, and his feet from stumbling. All of this is in order that he may walk before the Lord in the land of the living. None of this similarity with the Psalm diminishes the obvious allusion to Gethsemane. God heard him because Jesus offered to God respect and devotion. The prayer of Jesus in Gethsemane was a prayer of total submission to the will of the Father. We can see this connection in the presentation by Matthew. Jesus throws himself on the ground and prays that his Father, if possible, will let the cup pass from him. Yet, he submits to whatever the Father wants (Matthew 26:39). He submits to drinking the cup so that he will do the will of the Father (Matthew 26:42).[5] This language illustrates the humanity of Jesus in that he was and is able to sympathize and intercede for those suffering. The author said earlier that we have a high priest who is touched by the feelings of our infirmities (Hebrews 4:15).  While the author does not explicitly tell us what Jesus requested in his prayers and supplications, the language suggests the agony of Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane and his cries for deliverance from death. He experienced distress and agitation and admits his grief. He prays for the passing of this hour, as he faces death. Yet, he also wants the will of the Father. The hour has come for his betrayal to death (Mark 14:32-43).[6] In a passage of questionable authenticity, but part of the tradition, an angel came to Jesus and gave him strength. His prayer had profound anguish, so much so that he sweat looked like great drops of blood fall to the ground (Luke 22:40, 43-44).[7] He felt deeply his troubled soul. Yet, should he ask the Father to save him from this hour? No, for this hour of his death is the reason the Father sent him (John 12:27).[8] Yet, the one who could save him from death instead delivered him out of death by resurrection. It was not the purpose of God to save Jesus from dying.[9] Thus, God heard the prayer of Jesus ultimately in that God delivered him from death through resurrection (5:7). The author may have written the creed simply based on the suffering of Jesus, without an allusion to Gethsemane, but it is more likely he was aware of that story.

In Hebrews 5: 8-9, we find a second confessional statement associating Jesus with the suffering servant of II Isaiah.  While II Isaiah refers to Israel this author refers to Jesus. 8 Although he was a Son, he learned obedience through what he suffered. In Greek, this is a word play on emathen/epathen. The Bible nowhere attempts to describe this learning. The point of the learning is the affirmation of the sinless quality of the life of Jesus. Jesus lived with the fallen condition of humanity. He lived and bore it as the Son. Yes, he wrestled with the fallen condition of his humanity, learning and struggling, yet, as the Son, God had to win in his life choices. In that sense, Jesus struggled as we all do to do the will of God. The Son is one with us all in that struggled. Yet, he made his life choices perfectly.[10] Christ maintained his perfection in freedom in a way that was not by any means self-evident. In his acts, he was without sin. He was perfectly obedient.[11] The statement that Jesus learned obedience seems to contradict his earlier statement in 4:15 in which he says Jesus sinless. Yet, most of us must admit that our best learning about life often comes through the greatest difficulties we have faced. Thus, one practices authentic obedience in particular situations. Jesus demonstrated obedience as life placed him situations in which doing the will of God and obedience confronted challenges from the people and institutions around him. Jesus was never disobedient to the will of God. He had unfailing constancy in obedience to the will of God. Yet, Jesus encountered new situations that challenged his faithfulness to God.[12] Here the author holds Jesus up as a model for his audience and helps them see their own plight differently. He reached a new level in the experience of obedience, fulfilling the plan of God through his death. Thus, Paul could say that the Son humbled himself, becoming obedient to the people of death upon a cross (Philippians 2:8). In John, Jesus sanctifies himself so that God may sanctify his followers in truth (John 17:19).  Life in this world tests the followers of Jesus, in a way that God will bring them to glory as well (2:10), and just as God brought Jesus out of suffering to glory, God will likewise bring them out of suffering to glory, too. In addition, Jesus 9 had life challenges that made him perfect teleiwqeiz. The aorist passive participle form of teleiow appears. It suggests the sense of completeness rather than an absolute standard. It suggests reaching the goal or destiny of his life as high priest. His suffering leads to his "perfection" in that sense. The reference to when the challenges of life perfected Jesus is to perfecting his office of priest and victim. While human perfection does have a moral feature, including the cleansing of one's conscience (10:1-2), Christ's perfection has no moral component since he has no sin. Perfection for Christ entails demonstrating appropriate obedience on Earth (5:7), suffering for humanity (2:10; 5:9) and being exalted to the right hand of God (7:28). Therefore, perfection for Christ means that he has "successfully completed the human experience" and God exalted him to glory.[13] The perfecting of Christ means that he can now be the Savior and high priest for all who obey him.

            This passage has become important in dealing with the difficult modern task of the development of Christology in the New Testament. Jesus accepted the consequences of obedience to the mission God gave him. Only in his completed life is he the Son, for his suffering perfect him as the Son. He learned obedience in the school of suffering, which should remind us of the Gethsemane prayer.  One must not limit the notion of incarnation to his birth. If other things did not happen, such as his baptism, his proclamation of the rule of God, the path of suffering, and his resurrection, he would not be the Son. The statement gives expression to the tension between learning obedience in time to be the eternal Son. The status of sonship and obedience to the Father go together. Obedient subordination to the Father characterizes Jesus as the Son. Further, obedience by Jesus finds expression in the ministry of Jesus to others by bringing to them the salvation of the reign of God, as well as his self-offering of Jesus as a sacrifice to the Father.[14]  The suffering of Jesus is not a destiny that causes the one afflicted by it to grow and mature. When the Son suffers, God has willed it, because it seemed right to God. These few words embrace the whole path of the Son. They state that Jesus honors God as his Father, entrusts himself to God, confident that God will give him the office and dignity that God wills. The point of “learned” here is that he learned from Scripture. The saying is a witness to the obedience that marked the Son. Yet, the notion of the development of Jesus is out of the question, whether moral growth or a developing maturity in Jesus for the fulfillment of his task. Such conclusions are the error of idealism. It points to the paradox that the Son is the one who suffers. Suffering, not learning, brings the Son to the goal appointed for him by God. The Word of God causes Jesus to accept suffering.[15]

In particular, Christ became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him. These verses are like a confession of faith. The emphasis is on the humanity of Christ. A priest must be human since he represents human beings. He must share their sufferings since he must feel compassion for them. Jesus suffered in this way all through his life on earth, and especially in his agony and death. Just as Christ learned through obedience, obedience becomes a central element for those who follow him. The writer's words in describing Christ in 5:5-10 may suggest a contrast between Christ and Adam, whose disobedience ushered in death and not life, destruction and not salvation.[16]

The segment closes with a reiteration of Christ's eternal priesthood in the order of Melchizedek. Some scholars think this verse continues the second confession of faith in verses 8-9. Buchannan (Anchor Bible Commentary) treats it as an editorial comment by the author, and that is how I am treating it.  Qumran identifies the Messiah with Melchizedek.  10 God has designated him as a high priest according to the order kata thn taxin of Melchizedek.  We get a greater understanding of the role Melchizedek plays in the theology of Hebrews, which assists in our understanding of Melchizedek in chapter 5. He compares the eternality of Christ's priesthood to that of Melchizedek who is "without father, without mother, without genealogy, neither having beginning of days nor end of life" (Hebrews 7:3). It is important to remember that this statement is about Melchizedek's priesthood, not his actual person and that the author of Hebrews is engaging in an interpretation of Genesis 14, not the historical person Melchizedek.[17] The Genesis text is silent about Melchizedek's parentage, priestly origins, birth and death. The absence of information about Melchizedek in these matters permit the author of Hebrews to engage in a Jewish exegetical technique called non in thora non in mundo (literally, "If it is not in the law, it does not exist.") which means if the text is silent about something, then it could be considered nonexistent. Thus, the silence presents an opportunity for the author to interpret Christ's priesthood as one that is “after the order” of Melchizedek -- Jesus is a priest who has no "priestly lineage, no point at which he takes over from another priest or surrenders his office to someone who will succeed him.[18] More importantly, a priest after the order of Melchizedek does not die since Genesis does not narrate the death of Melchizedek. Thus, the narrative of Melchizedek provides an interpretive frame for Christ. Christ, like Melchizedek, has no Levitical lineage. Christ is eternal and, therefore, so is his priestly service, forever interceding for believers (7:24). According to the author, God uses Scripture to foreshadow Christ.[19]

            Of all the Christological roles in the New Testament, none should be more immediately relevant to the human situation than high priest should.  Since we do not bump into high priests every day, a sermon on the high priestly Christology of Hebrews may require a certain teaching dimension to get listeners aboard, but the force and clarity of the image are powerful.  A priest is one who handles the holy mysteries of God for the rest of us, one who prays, who leads us in worship.  Priests are mediators between humanity and God.  Rather than lord over the lowly laity, in the manner of some priests, Jesus the great high priest suffered.  He learned his priestly duties through obedient suffering.  When Jesus speaks in our behalf to God, Jesus personally knows that of which he speaks.  He is the one who was priest, not through his grasping for priestly glory, but rather in what he endured in behalf of those whom he came to save.



[1] Then Moses said to Aaron, "Draw near to the altar and sacrifice your sin offering and your burnt offering, and make atonement for yourself and for the people; and sacrifice the offering of the people, and make atonement for them; as the Lord has commanded." (Leviticus 9:7)
Aaron shall offer the bull as a sin offering for himself, and shall make atonement for himself and for his house. (Leviticus 16:6)
Then bring near to you your brother Aaron, and his sons with him, from among the Israelites, to serve me as priests—Aaron and Aaron's sons, Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar. (Exodus 28:1)
[2] (Gerald F. Hawthorne, New International Bible Commentary, ed. F.F. Bruce [Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan, 1979], 1507).
[3] (Kenneth Schenck, Understanding the Book of Hebrews: The Story Behind the Sermon [Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 2003], 76).
[4] (Kenneth Schenck, Understanding the Book of Hebrews: The Story Behind the Sermon [Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 2003], 113, note 32).
[5] And going a little farther, he threw himself on the ground and prayed, "My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me; yet not what I want but what you want." (Matthew 26:39)
Again he went away for the second time and prayed, "My Father, if this cannot pass unless I drink it, your will be done." (Matthew 26:42)
[6] 32 They went to a place called Gethsemane; and he said to his disciples, "Sit here while I pray." 33 He took with him Peter and James and John, and began to be distressed and agitated. 34 And he said to them, "I am deeply grieved, even to death; remain here, and keep awake." 35 And going a little farther, he threw himself on the ground and prayed that, if it were possible, the hour might pass from him. 36 He said, "Abba, Father, for you all things are possible; remove this cup from me; yet, not what I want, but what you want." 37 He came and found them sleeping; and he said to Peter, "Simon, are you asleep? Could you not keep awake one hour? 38 Keep awake and pray that you may not come into the time of trial; the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak." 39 And again he went away and prayed, saying the same words. 40 And once more he came and found them sleeping, for their eyes were very heavy; and they did not know what to say to him. 41 He came a third time and said to them, "Are you still sleeping and taking your rest? Enough! The hour has come; the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. 42 Get up, let us be going. See, my betrayer is at hand." (Mark 14:32-43, with parallels in Matthew 26:36-46 and Luke 22:41-42, 45-46)
[7] 40 When he reached the place, he said to them, "Pray that you may not come into the time of trial." … 43 [Then an angel from heaven appeared to him and gave him strength. 44 In his anguish he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat became like great drops of blood falling down on the ground.] (Luke 22:40, 43-44, with the latter two verses of questionable authenticity.]
[8] 27 "Now my soul is troubled. And what should I say—"Father, save me from this hour'? No, it is for this reason that I have come to this hour. (John 12:27)
[9] (New International Bible Commentary, ed. F.F. Bruce [Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan, 1979], 1514).
[10] Barth, Church Dogmatics, I.2 [15.2], 158.
[11] Barth, Church Dogmatics, IV.1, 59.2, 260.
[12] (Craig Koester, "Hebrews," Anchor Bible, v. 36 [New York: Doubleday, 2001], 299).
[13] (Kenneth Schenck, Understanding the Book of Hebrews: The Story Behind the Sermon, [Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 2003], 69).
[14] Pannenberg (Systematic Theology Volume 2, 316, 375, 384, 439, Volume 3, 318)
[15] Rengstorf, TDNT, Volume 4, 410-412.
[16] (New International Bible Commentary, ed. F.F. Bruce, [Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan, 1979], 1514).
[17] (Kenneth Schenck, Understanding the Book of Hebrews: The Story Behind the Sermon, [Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 2003], 77).
[18] "(Kenneth Schenck, Understanding the Book of Hebrews: The Story Behind the Sermon [Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 2003], 78).
[19] (Kenneth Schenck, Understanding the Book of Hebrews: The Story Behind the Sermon [Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 2003], 78).

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