Bible Study for Sermon for March 25, 2012

Hebrew 5:5-10
This piece of Holy Scripture begins by stating that Christ was appointed High Priest by God.  This divine appointment (a good Methodist word) of priesthood follows an earlier statement by the author of Hebrews concerning Christ's divine designation as Son (1:1-5).  Hebrews 5:5 quotes Psalm 2:8, the same psalm that appears in 1:5, one of the opening verses of the book.  In both places, 1:5 and 5:5, the Hebrews' author declares this quote is from God speaking to Jesus about his Sonship.  In 1:5, the citation is used to illustrate that Jesus is higher than angels, for God never called an angel, Son.  Historically, the psalm may have been at the coronation of an Israelite king but seems to have been interpreted later by early Christians as messianic in describing Jesus' status as Son, which is how the author of Hebrews uses it.  Although in 1:5 the citation is used to show Jesus' superiority to the angels, here in 5:5 the author utilizes the quote to say that the same God, who designated Jesus as Son, has now also appointed him as High Priest.  The author seems to have shifted from presenting Jesus as Son in 1:5 to presenting him as priest in 5:6. 

Accordingly, the Hebrews's author employment of another Old Testament quote 5:6, Psalm 110:4, serves to describe Christ's priesthood.  Once again, it is God speaking to Christ, and the audience is allowed to overhear God's pronouncement to the Christ of his eternal priesthood.  (Honestly, there is no consensus on what is meant by "the order of Melchizedek.")  I am convicted that it is used to emphasize that Jesus' order had no beginning and will have no end.  In Hebrews 7 we get a greater understanding of the role that Melchizedek plays in the theology of Hebrews, which assists in our understanding of Melchizedek who is "without father, without mother, without genealogy, never having beginning of days nor end of life (7:3).  It is important to remember that this statement is about Melchizedek's priesthood, not his actual person and that the author of Hebrews is engaging in an interpretation of Genesis 14, not the historical person Melchizedek..

The Genesis text is silent about Melchizedek's parentage, priestly orgin, birth and death.  This absent data about Melchizedek allows the author of Hebrews to follow the practice of his day and use it to talk about Jesus.  Jesus is a priest who has no "priestly lineage, no point at which he takes over from another priest or surrenders his office to someone who will suceed him.  More importantly, a priest after the order of Melchizedek does not die since it is not mentioned and therefore Jesus will not die.  This ancient pratice provides the framework for the author of Hebrews to talk about Jesus.  Christ, like Melchizedek, has no Levitical lineage and Christ is eternal, and, therefore, so is his priestly service;  he forevers intercedes for believers (7:24).  According to the author of Hebrews God uses Scripture to foreshadow Christ. 

Interestingly, the author moves from Christ's eternal priesthood to describe Jesus' days on Earth (5:7).  Here, there seems to be a combination of eternal and fleshly, of finite and infinite, but in actuality, the author provides evidence of Christ's priestly activity.  Jesus offers up "prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to the one who is able to sympathize and intercede for those suffering.  In Hebrews 4:15 he said, "We have not a high priest which cannot be touched with feelings or our infirmities."  While we are never told what Jesus explicitly request in his prayers and supplicatons, the language suggests Jesus agony in the Garden of Gethsemany and his cries for deliverance from death.  Though the one who could have saved him from death did deliver him out of death by the resurrection, though it was not God's purpose to save him from dying.  Thus, Jesus' prayer was heard ultimately in that he was delivered from death through resurrection (5:7).

In 5:8 the writer states that Jesus "learned obedience through what he suffered."  Here the author holds Jesus up as a model for his audience and helps them see their own plight differently.  They, like Jesus, are being tested and they are beig brought to glory as well (2:10), and just as God brought Jesus out of suffering to glory, God will likewise bring them out of suffering to glory, too.  The author's statement that Jesus learned obedience seems to contradict his earlier statement in 4:15 in which Jesus is said to be sinless.  But, authentic obedience is practiced in particular situations.  Although Jesus was never disobedience to God, he could not demonstrate obedience until he was placed in situations where the will of God was challenged and obedience was required.  There was constancy in Jesus' unfailing obedience to God's will, yet as Jesus encountered new situations, his faithfulness to God was challenged, and his obedience was shaped accordingly.

Jesus' suffering ultimately leads to his perfection (maturity).  While human maturity has a moral feature, including the cleansing of one's conscience (10:1-2), Christ's perfection has no moral component since he has no sin.  Perfection for Christ entails demonstrating appropriate obedience on Earth (5:7), suffering for humanity (2:10; 5:9) and being exalted to the right hand of God (7:28).  Therefore, perfection for Christ means that he has successfully completed the human experience" and he has been exalted to glory.  It is because Christ has been perfected that he can now be the Savior and High Priest for all who obey him.  Jesus as Christ learned through obedience, obedience becomes a central element for those who follow him.  The author's words in describing Christ in 5:5-10 may suggest a contrast between Christ and Adam, whose disobedience ushered in death and not life, destruction and not salvation.  The verses close with a reiteration of Christ's eternal priesthood in the order of Melchizedek.  The eternal salvation of those who obey Christ (5:9) is assured because of the eternal priesthood of Christ, who is a "merciful and faithful High Priest in the service of God" (2:17).