Hebrews 5

Jesus Christ is Our Great High Priest (Hebrews 4:14-5:11)


A high priest... (Hebrews 5:1-4)
1. Has to be a man
2. Represents men before God
3. Atones for our sins through sacrificial offerings
4. Has to be compassionate and understanding (for even the high priest is only human and is thus subject to weakness)
5. Has to be called by God


Jesus was called to be our high priest (Hebrews 5:5-8):
1. Jesus was called by God.
2. Jesus was designated a high priest in the order of Melchizedek.
3. Jesus was a man (Hebrews 5:7 speaks of His reincarnation).
4. Jesus learned experientially what it meant to obey, pray, and love God. (Although Jesus was God, when He became man, He willingly put aside His Godly powers and lived as man and never once used those powers as man. He therefore knew what it meant to suffer, for He suffered the worst for us. Jesus suffered not only persecution from ungodly men but also God's wrath for mankind for us!)
5. Jesus offered himself up as the ultimate and supreme sacrifice to atone for the sins of man forever.


(We will address the difference between the priesthoods of Aaron, Levites, and Melchizedek in Hebrews 7.)


Are we growing up? (Hebrews 5:12-14)


Just as we physically mature from babies to adults, we need to mature spiritually.


Immature Christians...
1. Are unskilled and ignorant of the word of God. "Milk" represents the first principles, the basics. Immature Christians never move beyond the milk; they never gain a deeper understanding of the Word beyond the basics.
2. Cannot discern between living righteously and wickedly. They consume everything, good and bad. They have no idea what is good and what is evil. They cannot discern between good and bad doctrine. Why? Because they have never gained a deeper understanding of the Word beyond the basics!
3. Contributes little to the work of the Lord.
4. Are dependent on others for their growth.


Note that if we are just beginning to establish our relationship with Jesus, it is absolutely reasonable for us to be immature Christians. We all have to start out as babies! However, if we never progressed, if we never move beyond the diapers, so to speak, then our immaturity represents stunted growth. Just as babies cannot effectively protect themselves from the world, if we never move beyond spiritual immaturity, we, too, will not effectively protect ourselves from Satanic and demonic attacks.


Mature Christians...
1. Are skilled in the way of righteousness. They have moved on to the "meat" of God's Word, the deeper principles of God's Word.
2. Discern between good and evil. Jesus warned us to be aware of false teachers. How do we do that? Know the Word.
3. Contributes to others; shares with others. Mature Christians can guide younger Christians. As young Christians, we benefit much from mature Christians. As we mature, we, too, can start reaching out to the in-coming young Christians and pass on what we have learned.