Hebrews 5 - How Do You Measure Spiritual Maturity?
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5 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. 5 In the same way, Christ did not take on himself the glory of becoming a high priest. But God said to him, “You are my Son; today I have become your Father.” (See Psalm 2:7) 6 And he says in another place, “You are a priest forever in the order of Melchizedek.” (See Psalm 110:4)
As I mentioned yesterday, a priest is a mediator between "God and man".
Like all priests, he was required to be descended from Aaron (the first biblical priest). But unlike other priests, the high priest followed more restrictive laws, wore unique priestly garments, and was the only priest allowed to perform certain ceremonies. (wikipedia)
The high priests were anointed by oil for duty. They offered the sacrifice required on the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur). They were set apart as holy and were subject to several other restrictions on like not being around dead bodies, marrying only virgins, avoiding ritual defilement, and wore certain garments each with symbolic meaning.
Since the high priest was sinful like anybody else, he was to be merciful to others. When he offered sacrifices, he had to offer sacrifices for his own sin too. A high priest was called and appointed by God, as administered by the Sanhedrin. The high priest's son was usually the next in line, but their were deviations like with Eli's sons, who offered unauthorized sacrifices.
The author then contrasts the high priests in Israel's history with Jesus.
Psalm 2:7 was a foreshadowing of God the Father calling Jesus, His Son. In Psalm 110:4 Yahweh called him a priest in the order of Melchizedek. Melichizedek was a unique priest in that he was both a priest and a king. These were usually two different people. The priest ruled over the spiritual aspects of Israel's life, and the king over the national aspects of Israel's life.
Melchizedek, whose name means “king of righteousness,” was a king of Salem (Jerusalem) and priest of the Most High God (Genesis 14:18–20; Psalm 110:4; Hebrews 5:6–11; 6:20—7:28). Melchizedek’s sudden appearance and disappearance in the book of Genesis is somewhat mysterious. Melchizedek and Abraham first met after Abraham’s defeat of Chedorlaomer and his three allies. Melchizedek presented bread and wine to Abraham and his weary men, demonstrating friendship. He bestowed a blessing on Abraham in the name of El Elyon (“God Most High”) and praised God for giving Abraham a victory in battle (Genesis 14:18–20). - Guzik
Melchizedek is a type foreshadowing Jesus, who was both a king and priest. Because of some of the details the bible gives us on Melchizedek, some believe he could be the pre-incarnate Christ, though others believe he is just a figurative type of Christ. Guzik writes,
Are Melchizedek and Jesus the same person? A case can be made either way. At the very least, Melchizedek is a type of Christ, prefiguring the Lord’s ministry. But it is also possible that Abraham, after his weary battle, met and gave honor to the Lord Jesus Himself.
The writer of Hebrews recalls the times in Jesus' life when Jesus prayed fervently with tears. This could refer to when Jesus was in the garden and "sweat drops like blood". (Luke 22:44) Jesus submitted to and obeyed God in every way, even when he was suffering. It is interesting that he learned obedience from suffering.
Although none of us wishes suffering in our lives, suffering does increase and purify our faith. It drives us to cling to faith and teaches us how to be obedient even when we don't feel like it. The writer says this led to Jesus being "made perfect".
We must be careful not to interpret this by thinking Jesus was imperfect and/or sinful. The word "perfect" in the bible is better translated "complete" or "fulfilled". I.e. Becoming that for which it was intended. When Jesus suffered and died on the cross, he completed the mission God had given to him since the beginning of time. Jesus then became the source of salvation for all who obey him.
“Obedience is a trade to which a man must be apprenticed until he has learned it, for it is not to be known in any other way. Even our blessed Lord could not have fully learned obedience by the observation in others of such an obedience as he had personally to render, for there was no one from whom he could thus learn.” (Spurgeon)
Suffering was used to teach Jesus. If suffering was good enough to teach the Son of God, we must never despise it as a tool of instruction in our life. - Guzik
Warning Against Falling Away
11 We have much to say about this, but it is hard to make it clear to you because you no longer try to understand. 12 In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God’s word all over again. You need milk, not solid food! 13 Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. 14 But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil.
The writer seems to rebuke the Hebrew Christians, because they have not become more spiritually mature. They even seem to be pretty complacent about even pursuing spiritual maturity. One of the marks of spiritual maturity is that one would be able to teach others about the faith. We often call this "discipleship" or "discipling others". I often say you can't give away what you don't have.
In fact, the Hebrew Christians were so immature, they almost needed to start all over again learning the basics of the Christian faith. It would be interesting to know what he meant by "elementary truths". I assume it would mean how Jesus fulfilled the Old Testament prophecies, the difference between law and gospel, the means of grace, the sacraments, possibly apologetics, and how to life your life as a follower of Christ in alignment with His Word in the power of the Holy Spirit.
A mature believe can also distinguish between truth and error. We call this discernment. The church at that time was beginning to be infiltrated by many false prophets and teachers. Only by knowing the truth could they spot these false prophets. It has been said that those who learn to spot counterfeit dollars can only do so if they have memorized every detail of a real dollar!
Would you consider yourself a mature believer? Have you been trained in the elementary truths of God's Word? Being reading this devotional blog you are at least trying! Good job. Ultimately do you think you would be able to teach others?
This is not necessarily getting up in a classroom or preaching in front of the church, but could mean teaching your children, teaching Sunday, leading a small group, or discipling someone over coffee.
Remember the most basic command Jesus gave the apostles was, "Go and make disciples by baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit and teaching them to obey all that I have commanded.
Baptism and teaching. This is the way of the disciple and the purpose for the church as we reach all nations for Christ!
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