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1 Every high priest is selected from among the people and is appointed to represent the people in matters related to God, to offer gifts and sacrifices for sins. 2 He is able to deal gently with those who are ignorant and are going astray, since he himself is subject to weakness. 3 This is why he has to offer sacrifices for his own sins, as well as for the sins of the people. 4 And no one takes this honor on himself, but he receives it when called by God, just as Aaron was. ~ Hebrews 5:1-4
The goal of the book of Hebrews is to present to its readers the Lord Jesus Christ as Messiah. Hebrews was written to a group of Jewish believers to show them they had made the right choice in believing in the Lord Jesus as their Savior. In addition, the writer of Hebrews presents five warnings throughout this book to help his readers see that the Lord Jesus is the fulfillment of all things Old Testament.
So, in order to enable his readers to be convinced that the Lord Jesus is the Messiah, the writer of Hebrews spends quite a bit of time in this book showing that the high priest of the Old Testament provided a picture of the Lord Jesus as the Ultimate High Priest and Messiah. This, by the way, is what sets Christianity apart as better than Judaism. The Lord Jesus, as our High Priest, is so superior to the high priests of the Old Testament.
According to today's text, God required three qualifications for the high priest. He was selected by God from the people, sympathetic with the people, and sacrificing for people.
In v.1 of today's text we read, "Every high priest is selected from among the people and is appointed to represent the people in matters related to God, to offer gifts and sacrifices for sins."
The first qualification for the high priest was: He was selected by God from among the people. During Old Testament days, the high priest was the mediator between man and God. The prophets presented God to man, while the priests presented man to God. Priests were able, by God's ordained patterns, to perform certain duties that brought people into the presence of God.
The word "appointed" in v.1 means ordained to an office. No priest has ever been chosen arbitrarily, nor were they selected on the basis of their own will, but by God. God didn't choose angels to be priests. He chose men who would act on the behalf of men. Angels do not have the nature of men. God's high priest had to be a man who was subject to the temptations of men. He had to be a man who had experiential acquaintance with suffering in order that he might minister in a merciful way.
In v.2 of today's text we read, "He is able to deal gently with those who are ignorant and are going astray, since he himself is subject to weakness."
The second qualification of the high priest was he had to be sympathetic with the people. To be able "to deal gently" means to have compassion on another. A person who is non-compassionate could care less about anybody else's pain. This is why it was required of a priest to come from men, because he had to be able to bear gently with those who ignorantly go astray.
Sympathy feels everything, while omniscience knows everything. As our ultimate High Priest, Christ did not need to learn any new information, He knew it all. He did need to learn human feelings through His incarnation so that He could be sympathetic beyond being omniscient. This is the genius of God.
In v.3 of today's text we read, "This is why he has to offer sacrifices for his own sins, as well as for the sins of the people."
The third characteristic of the high priest was he had to sacrifice for the people. In addition to offering a sacrifice for the people, the high priest had to offer the sacrifice for himself, as well, because he was sinful. But, when the Lord Jesus provided the sacrifice, He did so without His own sin. There was no need for Him to offer a sacrifice for Himself, since He was God and is sinless. That in itself makes Him a greater high priest than any other high priest who ever had lived before.
In v.4 of today's text we read, "And no one takes this honor on himself, but he receives it when called by God, just as Aaron was.
Once again, the writer of Hebrews emphasizes to be the high priest, one had to be picked by God. This is instructive since the Lord Jesus Christ is our High Priest. And, in sending the Lord Jesus to earth, the Father in heaven fulfilled the requirements of all of those high priests who came before Him. You see, God had to become a man, otherwise He would not have been able to feel what we feel and go through what we go through. If He had not come as a man, He would have had no basis, experientially, to operate as a high priest on our behalf. So, God did not keep Himself transcendent and separate from sinful man. He entered into the world of men, in order that He might be the just and sympathetic and merciful and faithful High Priest.
And so, the incarnation was an absolute necessity. It was an imperative if salvation was to be accomplished. Aren't you glad the Lord Jesus was willing? Especially since He knew way in advance what it would take to redeem you and me back to God.
