Hebrews 5

Jesus is the Greater High Priest

We have a relatively shorter passage dedicated to the understanding of Jesus as the ultimate High-Priest.  From Aaron we already have a basic understanding of the function from God’s chosen high priest. A man chosen by God to offer gifts and sacrifices for the sins of the covenant people.  In this way, he may represent his own people before God, and while being clothed in humanity himself, he may have compassion on his brothers being susceptible to the same weaknesses (v1-4).

Christ was chosen by God for this role, just as Aaron was chosen, but unlike Aaron, Christ was chosen to a greater priestly order and not after the levitical priesthood (v5-6).  Christ’s qualifications as priest far out-weight the Aaronic order, instead Christ’s is priest after the kind of “Melchizedek”, a character in Genesis who acted as Abraham’s priest.  The author only mentions this fact in an allusion to Psalm 110:4, but further explanation must wait until chapter seven (v7).

For now, let the reader understand how Jesus qualification far outweigh any levitical high priest.  Through the things which He suffered, He obtained an eternal salvation for all whom He represents.  In the midst of His suffering, He learned to obey even though He is God’s Son.  How much more should we whom He represents learn to obey (v7-10)?

It is precisely because of dullness of hearing and lack of careful consideration of Christ’s word that receptors of this letter are not advanced in their relationship with God as they could be.  Their apparent lack of understand between the connection between Christ and Melchizedek serves as an illustration of their dullness of hearing.  Therefore, the author, and perhaps their other presbyters have been feeding them “milk” rather than stronger food fit for those more mature in their faith (v11-14).