Summer 2013
BETTER THINGS
HEBREWS 5:5-10 – QUALIFICATIONS OF JESUS

“Christ”
He did not hold on to his heavenly state (Phil. 2:6-8)
 He came to earth, but did not campaign for the office of
high priest

 Psalm
2:7
 Psalm 110:4

These passages affirm his sonship, his priesthood and
his call from God
In Hebrews the connection of
sonship/kingship/messiaship/priesthood is made
 Hebrews also explains how Jesus could be high
priest without being a descendant of Aaron

HEBREWS 5:5-10 – QUALIFICATIONS OF JESUS
5:7-10—”Hymn of the high priest”
 In the “days of His flesh”

 He

He offered up “prayers and supplications with
loud cries and tears”
 His

had/has other days that are not “fleshly days”
prayer in Gethsemane
Was His prayer answered?
 Yes!
HEBREWS 5:5-10 – QUALIFICATIONS OF JESUS

Two-fold petition in His prayer
 Physical
deliverance
 Humble submission to the will of God

Perfection through suffering (2:10)
 Sonship
didn’t spare Him from suffering
 Learning and suffering
 emathen
– he learned
 epathen – he suffered

“perfect through suffering”
 Perfectly
(completely) qualified
HEBREWS 5:5-10 – QUALIFICATIONS OF JESUS

Christ was the one designated by God as “a
high priest after the the order of Melchizedek”
A
new order of priesthood
 Necessitates the ending of the old order, the
Aaronic order
HEBREWS 5 – SOME PRACTICAL LESSONS
1.
Christ supersedes all previous high priests,
and He can deal gently with us.

2.
3.
He suffered. And through His suffering He was
made perfect.
Not every prayer will be answered “Yes”.
God’s love is not always what one would
expect. He loves us unconditionally. His love
includes divine wisdom.
HEBREWS 5:11-6:20 – EXHORTATION: ON TO
MATURE TEACHING

Five announcement themes in Hebrews
 Christ,
Superior to the angels (1:4)
 Christ, a merciful and faithful high priest (2:17)
 Christ, a priest like Melchizedek (5:10)
 People of faith (10:39)
 Peaceful fruit of righteousness (12:11)

Distinctive features of the middle section
 Exhortation:
on to mature teaching (5:11-6:20)
 Christ, like Melchizedek (7:1-28)
 Christ, the source of eternal salvation (8:-10:18)
 Exhortation: a call to draw near (10:19-39)
HEBREWS 5:11-14 – SOLID FOOD

Three exhortations so far:
 Exhortation
against drifting from God’s word (2:1-4)
 Exhortation against disbelieving God’s word (3:74:16)
 Exhortation against dullness toward God’s word
(5:11-6:20)

The danger of their condition
 Might
lead them to apostasy (3:12)
 Irreversible consequences to apostasy (6:4-8)
 Not
likely a sudden departure, but a bit by bit slip into a
state of spiritual apathy
HEBREWS 5:11-14 – SOLID FOOD

The original readers had been Christians for a
long time and should be able to receive
“advanced” instruction
 To
think and act maturely
 Yet, they were like children and needed to be taught
the elementary principles all over again (milk)

Solid food is for grownups
 stereos
is the Greek word for “solid”
 Mature Christians need “stereo food”
HEBREWS 5:11-14 – SOLID FOOD

Who are the mature?
 Those
who have their powers of discernment trained
 By
constant practice
 Can distinguish good from evil
 “practice”

– gegymnasmena
Milk has its value, but these Christians need
“stereo food”—a fuller, deeper, maturing vision
of Christ, our high priest
HEBREWS 6:1-3 – PRESSING ON TO MATURITY

Two-fold exhortation
 Let
us leave
 And go on

If they will understand the meaning of Christ’s
priesthood and his sacrifice, this will be enough
to keep them from apostasy
 They
must decide: Is Aaron (and his descendants)
or Christ high priest?
 Who offers the real sacrifice for sins?
HEBREWS 6:1-3 – PRESSING ON TO MATURITY

Six basics that need no further emphasis
 Repentance
 Faith
from “dead works”
in God
 Washings (baptisms)
 Laying on of hands
 Resurrection of the dead
 Eternal judgment
HEBREWS 6:4-8 – A WARNING AGAINST
APOSTASY

“Impossible” to bring some back to repentance
 Those
“once enlightened”
 Who
have “tasted the heavenly gift”
 Have shared in the Holy Spirit
 Have “tasted the goodness of the word of God and of the
age to come”
 And

have then “fallen away”
Why?
 They
crucify again the Son of God
 They don’t just disbelieve Him, they denounce and
disgrace Him before the world
HEBREWS 6:4-8 – A WARNING AGAINST
APOSTASY

Apostasy illustrated by two kinds of soil
 Well-watered
 Receives
 Worthless
and cultivated
a blessing from God
soil of “thorns and thistles”
 Near
to being cursed
 To be burned

Apostasy
 Not
the same as “falling short”, but not falling away
 It is to “deliberately” keep on sinning

“Wobbling” Christians need to face the peril of
their situation
Summer 2013
BETTER THINGS