HeBrews: A Better Blend
Welcome back to HeBrews: A Better Blend. Today as we look at the 5th chapter of the book of Hebrews we will focus on the first four verses. Let’s read them:
1Every high priest is selected from among men and is appointed to represent them 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 No one takes this honor upon himself; he must be called by God, just as Aaron was.
In this chapter we learn more about why Jesus was the perfect priest. I’ll be honest with you: Hebrews is a bit difficult to study verse by verse because the topics are discussed in various places throughout the book. This issue of the priesthood is discussed not only here in chapter 5 but also in chapter 7. I don’t want to rush ahead into chapter 7, but instead, am choosing to go chapter by chapter through the book for these posts. So, just know that we will re-visit this issue of the priesthood in a couple of months.
For now, let’s see what we can learn about the Old Testament High Priest from these four verses:
- A man chosen to represent man before God and offer sacrifices for man to God
- Subject to weakness (sinfulness)
- Offers sacrifices for his sin as well as that of the people
- Appointed by God
Consider this quote from John MacArthur regarding the priest:
“the priests under the Old Covenant were bridge builders to God. “ (MacArthur New Testament Commentary: Hebrews. Moody Publishers. 1983. P 118.
I like that analogy…bridge builders to God. Once man walked with God, side by side, in the garden. Then man chose rebellion and sin and the relationship between man and God was broken. Suddenly there was a huge gulf, a great canyon with God on one side and man on the other. Man could not get across the canyon to be in God’s presence because of his rebellion and disobedience.
When God told Moses to build a tabernacle for the presence of God to dwell in, He provided a way to begin to bridge that canyon. The Old Testament priest was the one person who offered sacrifices to God to cover the sin of man. In this way, a very narrow bridge was built. This bridge was not at all user friendly because only one man could cross it and that was the high priest. He offered sacrifices to God for the sins of the people each day, and yearly he went into the presence of God to offer a sacrifice to atone for the sin of the nation. Still, no one enjoyed free and unhindered access to God. A better bridge was needed and we will talk about that next week.
Meditation Moment: How can you, as a New Testament priest, be a bridge builder in your home, your job, your church, your community, and your world? Share ways that you are seeking to build bridges today.
