Hebrews 5:1-10

Hebrews 5:1

Christ, as Son of man, called and perfected to be our High Priest.

I. The Jewish priesthood suffered from two essential defects, and was thus only a type and shadow of our Lord. (1) In the first place, the priests were as sinful as the people whom they represented. (2) The mediator ought not merely to be a perfect and sinless man, he ought also to be Divine, in perfect and full communion with God, so that he can impart Divine forgiveness and blessing. Only in the Lord Jesus, therefore, is the true mediation. And now that He has come and entered into the heavenly sanctuary as our High Priest, the word priest in the sense of sacerdotal mediator dare never be used any more.

II. The two qualifications of the Aaronic high priest, that he was from among men, and that he was appointed by God, were fulfilled in a perfect manner in the Lord Jesus. (1) The Aaronic high priest could have compassion on his fellow sinners, knowing and feeling his own infirmities. But this compassionate, loving regard for the sinner can exist in perfection only in a sinless one. The purer and higher the character, the quicker its penetration, and the livelier its sympathy. (2) Christ glorified not Himself to be made a High Priest. This is Christ's glory, even as it is the reward of His suffering, that in Him we draw near unto the Father, and that from Him we receive the blessings of the everlasting covenant. He rejoices to be our High Priest. God called Him to the Priesthood. The glory of Christ is the result of His obedience, and the fruit of the experience of earth through which He went is His perfect sympathy with us, and His all-sufficient grace, which is able to uphold us in every trial, and to carry us safely through all our conflicts, and present us unblamable in body, soul, and spirit before the Father.

A. Saphir, Expository Lectures on the Hebrews,vol. i., p. 253.

References: Hebrews 5:1. Homiletic Quarterly,vol. ii., p. 36. Hebrews 5:2. Spurgeon, Sermons,vol. xxiv., No. 1407.