Chapter 4. 14 -5.14
Jesus is indeed our great High Priest. He speaks and mediates on our behalf. As we saw earlier in chapter 4. 14 up to the end of the chapter.
Just to remind you there are two areas in which Apollos prepared the groundwork for chapter 5.
As a reminder these points from verses 14 to 15 sets up the scene for chapter 5
“In verse 14 Apollos sets the scene and reminds his congregation of some facts. Below in the first list are the heavenly, divine characteristics of our Lord and we are called on holding on to this confession.
1. Jesus is the Great High Priest.
2. Jesus entered heaven.
3. Jesus is the Son of God
4. We are to hold to our confession.
In verse 15 we have the earthly temporal characteristics of our Lord. That Jesus really understands the problems that we are facing:
1. We have a High Priest who sympathizes with our weaknesses
2. Who has been tempted in all things like other believers
3. Jesus has no sin.”
So, we have in the two lists above divine and earthly characteristics of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ and these points will be worked out in chapter 5 more fully. Chapter 5 is such a small chapter that it is worth reading all of it:
“ For every high priest taken from among men is appointed on behalf of men in things pertaining to God, in order to offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins; 2 he can deal gently with the ignorant and misguided, since he himself also is beset with weakness; 3 and because of it he is obligated to offer sacrifices for sins, as for the people, so also for himself. 4 And no one takes the honour to himself, but receives it when he is called by God, even as Aaron was.
5 So also Christ did not glorify Himself so as to become a high priest, but He who said to Him,
“YOU ARE MY SON,
TODAY I HAVE BEGOTTEN YOU”;
6 just as He says also in another passage,
“YOU ARE A PRIEST FOREVER
ACCORDING TO THE ORDER OF MELCHIZEDEK.”
7 In the days of His flesh, He offered up both prayers and supplications with loud crying and tears to the One able to save Him from death, and He was heard because of His piety. 8 Although He was a Son, He learned obedience from the things which He suffered. 9 And having been made perfect, He became to all those who obey Him the source of eternal salvation, 10 being designated by God as a high priest according to the order of Melchizedek.
11 Concerning him we have much to say, and it is hard to explain, since you have become dull of hearing. 12 For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you have need again for someone to teach you the elementary principles of the oracles of God, and you have come to need milk and not solid food. 13 For everyone who partakes only of milk is not accustomed to the word of righteousness, for he is an infant. 14 But solid food is for the mature, who because of practice have their senses trained to discern good and evil.” Hebrews 5 Olive Tree Bible software.
For the believers and Apollos, Jesus was God’s Messiah. This is an especially important understanding of the nature of Kingship in the Old Testament. Setting the scene:
The first four verses are an explanatory reminder to the Jewish Christians. The facts show that the person who is to be High Priest is called by God.
His main functions are
- The High Priest is to be called by God even as Aaron was.
- He deals gently with the ignorant and misguided and he is not any better than they.
- One of his main job descriptions is to offer sacrifices on behalf of the people and himself.
In the same way then Jesus did not take this honour on himself, but he was called by God. Two Psalms are quoted from the Royal Psalms. These are not any ordinary Psalms.
“ Royal Psalms
The ten so-called Royal Psalms (2; 18; 20; 21; 45; 72; 89; 101; 110; 132; Nordic scholars set the figure higher)’° only form a ‘Gattung’ or ‘type’ insofar as they relate to the so-called ‘Ritual of the King’, and the royal cult at the state sanctuary. Since they stem from the heritage of the first temple, we must apply to them the liturgical categories of pre-exilic period (as indeed to the other older hymns). They therefore defy any classification which is mainly derived from post-exilic times. Their group identity bears the stamp of the pre-exilic tradition. Sample text: Ps. 2.” (Taken from Introducing the Psalms; Klaus Seybold; Page 115)
So, then scholars believe that Psalm 2 and Psalm 110 are clearly from the first Temple time, so they are very early. These Psalms therefore are linked to the rituals performed in the Temple at Jerusalem and shows the close relationship between God and the King. Psalms 2 and 110 are explicit references to Christ the Anointed One. You need to remember that all the kings of Israel and Judah were anointed. It is the title only given to a Royal King of Israel. This practice was obviously taken over by the British Royal Family! (Note that the Messiah was understood to be the king of Israel. The king was the representative of YHWH on earth. The commands from heaven were to be carried out here on earth. Note that Apollos sees this present earth only as a shadow of the real thing.)
So then on the one level Jesus Shared some characteristics of the High priest hood but then Apollos takes us to a completely higher level when it comes to Christ. The Validation of Christ as a High Priest is found in Psalm 2:
“YOU ARE MY SON,
TODAY I HAVE BEGOTTEN YOU”
And Psalm 110:
“YOU ARE A PRIEST FOREVER
ACCORDING TO THE ORDER OF MELCHIZEDEK.”
We have already met Psalm 2 in Hebrew.1 5 In that original place Apollos proved that Jesus was greater than the angels. In that the writer showed the close bond between the Father and Son that angels could never be part of.
In this scriptural recipe Apollos is showing that the Son is a High Priest in an order of priesthood that the ordinary High Priests could never share and in fact they were excluded from this High priesthood! Christ is a High Priest in the order of Melchizedek. Generally, the High Priests came from the Line of Aaron so what gives? We will go into greater depth when we hit chapter 6.
However at the moment Apollos wants to continue on the Sonship motif as we need to listen very closely to what is being said. Let us now look at verses 7 through to 10:
“7 In the days of His flesh, He offered up both prayers and supplications with loud crying and tears to the One able to save Him from death, and He was heard because of His piety. 8 Although He was a Son, He learned obedience from the things which He suffered. 9 And having been made perfect, He became to all those who obey Him the source of eternal salvation, 10 being designated by God as a high priest according to the order of Melchizedek. ”
So, the text is basically saying is while Jesus was a human being on earth he prayed a lot and asked for many things. I especially like John 17 in which Jesus prays for our behalf which is still in effect even for the believers today 2000 years later. Jesus did not only hold a title of Son of God, but he also proved it throughout his life. Jesus was indeed obedient to the point of death on a cross. Now because of his life and sacrifice Jesus Christ is indeed the only source for eternal life. There is no other way. As we said earlier, Apollos reaffirms that Jesus is a High Priest in the order of Melchizedek.
So how does all this relate to the believers?
This is an important question because we also need to take seriously what he said!
“11 Concerning him we have much to say, and it is hard to explain, since you have become dull of hearing. 12 For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you have need again for someone to teach you the elementary principles of the oracles of God, and you have come to need milk and not solid food. 13 For everyone who partakes only of milk is not accustomed to the word of righteousness, for he is an infant. 14 But solid food is for the mature, who because of practice have their senses trained to discern good and evil.” NASB
It looks like Apollos is taking the readers back to basics. What amazes me is that this theology is high theology and I think the readers must have had some serious education on these points. Comparing his teachings to the ordinary believer in a church today; if what he is saying is ‘milk’ what spiritual food are we then drinking: Water?
I think that we also need to take chapter 6.1 into account “1 Therefore leaving the elementary teaching about the Christ, let us press on to maturity… Hebrews 6:1” NASB
Apollos is an excellent teacher as he really knows how to get the readers attention. On the one hand he says that they need to go back to basics but then in 6.1 he says your now ready to listen to the heavier teachings. Obviously, this Church really loved Apollos and Timothy 3.23.
Reflection
This Week I have also been reading some of Acts. One important question that comes to my mind about these believers is what sort of backgrounds did these believers come from? Internally to this letter we have serious Jewish topics going on. This book has tentatively been given an early date:
Could this be a clue to us?
“7 The word of God kept on spreading; and the number of the disciples continued to increase greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests were becoming obedient to the faith.”
Acts 6:7 NASB
Could it be the case that Apollos was talking to some of these priestly converts?
I have no evidence for it, but it is a tantalizing hypothesis. What I mean to say is that; in this letter we have a high theology. This theology is encased in a full proof argument that I believe needed a highly skilled scholar to compile it. The content is high theology that I believe may have been aimed at members who had a profession within a priestly class and were interested in this kind of theological material. On the other hand, it is a great work that all believers throughout the centuries have looked to for comfort. John Owen is a prime example from the Puritan era. He wrote a seven-volume set on this small letter and each volume is made up of hundreds of pages!
Reflection
Apollos is writing to a set of believers who are suffering for their faith. Indeed, my thinking is leading me to think about this particular church to be in Jerusalem rather than in a larger diaspora. Whatever the case; Apollos shows us the important work Jesus is doing for us as a High Priest and his High Priesthood is higher than the Aaronite priesthood line found in the fertile pages of Genesis and the Psalms.
Why is this important for the believer?
Jesus Loves his Church. He loves us so much that he intercedes on our behalf. You are not alone. If this was the Church in Jerusalem, they were to go through the collapse of and sacking of the Jewish temple. Obviously, it is my hypothesis that it were these Christians who suffered so greatly at this time. The horrific sacking by the Romans and the carrying away of the Temples utensils. We are now in the 21st century so what is this book telling us. When I look around the world in prayer, I see much suffering, needless suffering. The message for the Christian is the same; Have faith; be firm and follow Christ come what may. How has the Church changed since then? I see a lack of faith because many believers just want a quick Sunday fix or to see their favourite pastor online. Whilst looking at these issues I also looked at chapter 13:
19 And I urge you all the more to do this, so that I may be restored to you the sooner. Hebrews 13:19
And
23 Take notice that our brother Timothy has been released, with whom, if he comes soon, I will see you. Hebrews 13:23
Apollos is going to be ‘restored’ and Timothy is to be ‘released’. I haven’t made any judgements about these words, but I have to say perhaps they are implying some time of imprisonment. Isn’t it the case that Christians around the world are suffering from corrupt leaders and this at times can mean more suffering? So let us remember to pray for our brothers and sisters that we have never met but are undergoing persecution for their faith. Persecution does not have to be far away as I saw on Twitter this 11-year-old boy was writing about alms and not arms:
So, my friends be strong in the faith and trust Christ as we are called to live for him. Next time we will look at Hebrews chapter 6 and are going to have a closer look at how we ought to live material or the paraenetic material.
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