Hebrews 4:14-5:10 Explanatory Notes

4:14 Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has passed through the skies--Jesus, the Son of God--let us hold onto the confession.
With this comment the author begins the main high priestly argument of Hebrews. He hinted that this argument was coming back in 2:17-18, and he announced his intention to consider "the high priest of our confession" in 3:1. But it is not until here in 4:14 that his consideration really begins.

In 5:1-10 the author will begin his consideration of Christ as priest, an argument he does not finish until the end of chapter 7 (with a major interuption in 5:11-6:20). Then in Hebrews 8-10 the author will consider the new covenant with its greater sanctuary and sacrifice. We can tell that 4:14-10:18 is a block of thought because of the way 10:19-25 reiterate--almost word for word at times--the statements here in 4:14-16.

The author sets up in this verse a picture that he will build on in chapters 8-10 in particular. Christ passes through layers of sky to the highest sky or heaven where God "dwells." The idea of the universe as the true temple of deity was well known in the ancient world and is attested both by Philo and Josephus. So it was all too easy to see this passage through the heavens, through the layers of sky, as the entrance of the true high priest into the true Holy of Holies.

Jesus the Son of God is the high priest of our "confession." Various suggestions are made for what exactly this confession might be. We do not have any evidence in the New Testament of anyone confessing "Jesus is a high priest." But it is quite possible that the author has in mind the confession of Jesus as the Son of God. We also know that the early church confessed Jesus as Lord (e.g., Rom. 10:9), but Hebrews does not seem to focus so much on this title. Of course in content both are royal titles that reflect Christ's kingship.

4:15 For we do not have a high priest who is not able to sympathize with our weaknesses but who in all things has been tempted similarly without sin.
Along with 2 Cor. 5:21, this verse makes a clear claim that Jesus was sinless. It is difficult to know precisely what the author meant by this statement. He is about to argue implicitly that when faced with suffering and persecution, Jesus surrendered to God. Jesus was tempted in the same way that the audience is, but did not sin by disobeying or disbelieving the promise. In a sense, the earthly Jesus is as much an example of faith just as the other heroes of chapter 11.

But we might make some more general theological observations from this verse. One is that temptation in itself is not sin. As James says similarly, it is when desire has conceived that it gives birth to sin (James 1:15). In chapter 5 we will find that by "weakness" here the author means falling into sin (5:2-3). So in the vocabulary of the author, Jesus sympathizes with our weaknesses without having them.

4:16 Therefore, let us approach the throne of grace with boldness so that we might receive mercy and we might find grace as a well-timed help.
It would be easy to see this verse as an offer for help in a time of temptation, that is, to be able to overcome it (e.g., 1 Cor. 10:13). If, on the other hand, the intercession of Christ has to do primarily with "atoning intercession" (in contrast with the Holy Spirit), then the verse could also have to do with mercy and grace after already beginning to fall into sin.

The author likely has specifically an audience that has been wavering in faithfulness under pressure. In that sense, they have not fully fallen away, but they wavering. They have not sinned beyond repair, but they are potentially on the wrong path. In Christ they will find a sympathetic high priest who can help, particularly with assurance of atonement.

5:1 For every high priest taken from among mortals is appointed on behalf of mortals in relation to the things of God, so that he might offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins.
So exactly what is a high priest? The author has an agenda with the audience. He wishes to show the audience that the Levitical system is not necessary for their atonement, that the atonement provided by Christ is fully sufficient. For those who see Hebrews written before the temple was destroyed, this argument has to be understood as an argument against participation in the Jerusalem temple and any synagogue meals that might have linked local worship with that temple. However, we think it more likely that the author is helping the audience cope with the sudden absence of a temple to make daily sacrifices for them and such.

Priests intercede to God for the mortals within their perview. In the chapters that follow, the author will argue that Christ is a greater priest than the Levitical priests in a better sanctuary with a better sacrifice. In fact, he is the reality to which these shadowy examples actually pointed in the first place. They were never really able to take away sins. Now that Christ has arrived, they are completely obsolete. The audience need not be troubled at the destruction of the temple. Their atonement is secure.

5:2 ... and he is able to empathize with those who are ignorant and who go astray, since he himself is also beset by weakness.
Christ is able to sympathize with our weaknesses because he has been tempted. But earthly high priests are sinners themselves--they are beset by weakness. Sin here is pictured as acting in ignorance. The contrast between sin as acts of ignorance and not sinning because one has a knowledge of the truth is one with which Hebrews regularly operates. Since the author here discusses Jewish high priests, we cannot conclude here that the audience is Gentile, although the idea that Gentiles are ignorant of God was apparently a commonplace.

5:3 And because of it [weakness], [the high priest] must--just as in relation to the people--so also for himself [must] offer sin offerings.
This will be a crucial difference between Christ and earthly high priests for the author. Christ does not have to offer sacrifices for himself. The phrase we have translated "sin offerings" is actually "concerning sins" in Greek. But this phrase regularly seems to allude to the Levitical sin offering.

5:4 And someone does not take the honor [of high priesthood] for himself, but [such a person is] called by God, just as was the case for Aaron.
The author here points out a well known aspect of high priesthood, one that perhaps he would not hardly need to point out to the audience. Priesthood was not a matter of personal choice, like choosing a career in the Western world today. One had to have the right background and be appointed by God.

Perhaps the author is anticipating an argument that might be made against the idea of Christ as priest. As he will argue in chapter 7, Christ at first glance does not seem to have the proper resume to be a priest. The author will quickly and ingeniously address this apparent difficulty in his argument.

5:5-6 So also the Christ did not glorify himself to become a high priest, but the One who spoke to him, "You are my Son; I today have given you birth"

also says in a different place, "You are a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek."
The author here seems to be in the middle of somewhat of a transition. It is not, in my opinion, a clear cut transition. Some would see the first four chapters in relation to Christ the Son and now a clear cut transition to Christ the high priest. To some extent this is true topically, but it is not clear to us that the author has structured Hebrews this way literarily.

In our opinion, the "appointment" of Christ to royal Son and to heavenly high priest both relate directly to Christ's exaltation and, thus, to the same basic event understood somewhat metaphorically in two different ways. The same Christ who sits at God's right hand as king passes through the cosmic sanctuary into the heavenly Holy of Holies.

Both are a matter of God's appointment. Hebrews alludes to or quotes Psalm 110:1 repeatedly in relation to Jesus as cosmic king: "The LORD said to my Lord, sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet." Paul and other early Christians understood it similarly. As far as we know, however, Hebrews is the only author to go further to Psalm 110:4 and read it in relation to Christ: "You are a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek."

5:7 ... who in the days of his flesh had offered both petitions and supplications to the One able to rescue him out of death with strong crying and tears and who was heard because of his godliness.
Some have noted that the offering of petitions and supplications sounds somewhat like priestly activities prior to Christ's exaltation. Given that this description of Jesus starts from a reference to his priesthood, this idea may be true. We remember that Christ's high priesthood is ultimately metaphorical in the sense that he was not a priest in the normal use of the word (cf. Heb. 8:4).

Many take this statement as a reference to Jesus' agony in the garden of Gethsemane. While such an allusion is possible, it is by no means certain. Jesus is not praying here for the cup to pass from him, as in Mark 14:36. After all, God answers the prayer Jesus is making here, namely, a prayer to be raised from the dead.

It may seem strange to us that the resurrection of Jesus would be in question at all. Yet this verse indicates that there was a "moral" basis for it. It is because of Jesus' godliness, his reverent submission to God, that God could justify his resurrection.

5:8 Although he was a son, he learned obedience from the things that he suffered.
This verse does not mean to say that Christ was disobedient and thus that God had to discipline him so that he would learn obedience. This statement is an allusion to the situation of the audience. They are children of God and they are undergoing suffering and God's discipline, a theme the author will unfold in depth in chapter 12.

The author thus means for the audience here to compare themselves to Jesus. He was a son like them, but he had the correct response to suffering--he obeyed God and demonstrated a godly reverence for God's will. Accordingly, God raised him from the dead. So too the audience must demonstrate obedience in the things that they are suffering.

5:9 And after he was perfected, he became a cause of eternal salvation to all those who obey him...
As we saw in 2:10, Christ's perfection in Hebrews does not imply that he was sinful and became sinless. It is rather a reference to his full readiness as a high priest, his "completeness" in relation to the atonement he has provided. From a sacrificial standpoint, Christ was not yet able to provide eternal atonement until he had died and risen from the dead.

Now, with that atonement secured, he offers eternal salvation to all who approach the throne of grace. As he obeyed God to the point of death (cf. Phil. 2:8; Rom. 5:19), showed us what the "faith of Jesus Christ" was (cf. Rom. 3:22; Gal. 2:16), so those who obey him and put their faith in him (cf. Rom. 10:11) will find eternal salvation from God's consuming fire.

5:10 ... having been designated by God a high priest after the order of Melchizedek.
We note again the timing of this designation as the point of Christ's perfection, his resurrection and exaltation. His function as this high priest is clear from the previous verse--he offers eternal salvation as Melchizedekian high priest. The author has thus demonstrated the calling of the Messiah to be high priest, perhaps a somewhat unexpected role, although certain of the Dead Sea Scrolls do speak of a messiah of Aaron and Israel. But they certainly had nothing in mind like what the author of Hebrews does.

The author will pick up this thread again in 7:1. In the meantime, however, he has a rather stern warning for the audience. If they were about to fall asleep as he began his detailed argument, he will now jolt them into attention.