Jesus the Great High Priest

Hebrews 4:14–5:10

Find a quiet place, alone and apart from distractions. Be comfortably alert, still, and at peace. Say the Lord’s Prayer. Sing or cant the Jesus Prayer. Pray for family, friends, neighbors, and yourself. Slowly and carefully read the passage of Scripture.

1.              Aaron, the first high priest of Israel, followed by many through the centuries. All of these died and were replaced. These only entered in the Holy of Holies once a year.

2.              Jesus, our Great High Priest, has passed through the heavens, this referring to the resurrection. The author of Hebrews then goes on to speak of the qualifications for Jesus being the eternal High Priest.

3.              The 1st is the Son’s divine appointment; no higher authority could there be.

4.              The 2nd qualification is that He is able to sympathize with our weaknesses and this due to the incarnation, the God-Man.

5.              The 3rd qualification is that though fully man and God, He is without sin

6.              The 4th qualification is that Jesus did not exalt Himself, but was appointed to be High Priest.

7.              The 5th qualification is that Jesus is High Priest forever, “after the order of Melchizedek”, the priest of Salem (think Jerusalem), whom Abraham honored and paid tithes to. (Psalm 110:4) This priest, mysterious, had no priests before or after him.

8.              The 6th qualification is that He “learned obedience” by way of suffering, and here the indication of the crucifixion.

9.              The 7th qualification is that Jesus is made “perfect,” again referencing both the resurrection and ascension.

10.           The 8th qualification is that now Jesus as High Priest, is “the sourced of eternal salvation.”

11.           The 9th qualification is that God the Father has designated Jesus to be a high priest after the order of Melchizedek, and Melchizedek prior to the days of Aaron and Moses and the whole of the priestly establishment.

12.           Of significance is that the Levitical (priestly) law provided only temporary forgiveness, and this once a year, on the Day of Atonement, or in Hebrew, Yom Kippur. Jesus, the eternal high priest, His sacrifice, stands forever.

A Rest for the People of God, part 2

Hebrews 4:1–13

Find a quiet place, alone and apart from distractions. Be comfortably alert, still, and at peace. Say the Lord’s Prayer. Sing or cant the Jesus Prayer. Pray for family, friends, neighbors, and yourself. Slowly and carefully read the passage of Scripture.

1.         The “pastoral” author of Hebrews continues his or her exhortation, which is essentially an “encouraging word.”

2.         The focus is on the “rest,” on the one hand the rest of being in the Promised Land under Moses’ leadership, and the “rest” the believer in Jesus has.

3.         In Moses’ time, those who escaped from Egypt, a type of being in sin and slavery, rebelled once in the Wilderness and as a result died there and never entered their rest, the Promised Land. Joshua (and the name is the same as the name Jesus) brought those who survived, those under 20 years of age, into Canaan, the Promised Land. All this is a foreshadowing of what would come centuries later by means of salvation in Jesus the Messiah.

4.         For the Jewish Christians being addressed in our book Hebrews, it is clear that they may enter into their rest, the Sabbath rest, by seeking to enter that rest.

5.         It is plain, in the use of various verbs in our passage, that the author is strongly encouraging his or her readers to continue to seek the “Sabbath rest for the people of God.” The author will not know who is genuinely born again and who is no in the congregation (s), being addressed.

6.         The pastoral plea is: “Let us therefore strive to enter that rest.” (verse 11) This reminds us of the words of Paul in 2 Corinthians 13:5:
“Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless you fail to meet the test!” Paul fully expects a “yes” answer.

7.         Verse 12 in our passage is one of the most difficult in Scripture. Here the author uses three poetic and literally devices commonly used in that era, about division being impossible apart from the Spirit, or Logos, of God. Meaning that God knows who belongs to Him and who does not. The author is confident that the readers will come to see they are at rest. 

A Rest for the People of God

Hebrews 3:7–19

Find a quiet place, alone and apart from distractions. Be comfortably alert, still, and at peace. Say the Lord’s Prayer. Sing or cant the Jesus Prayer. Pray for family, friends, neighbors, and yourself. Slowly and carefully read the passage of Scripture.

  1. The back story for this passage, and indeed much of Hebrews, is found in Numbers 14:1–35. The forty year (or one generation) wandering in the wilderness following the miraculous exodus from bondage in Egypt is in the mind of Hebrew’s author.
  2. Despite the deliverance, the people now free longed for the comparatively easy life under pharaoh. Seemingly at every turn, the complaints directed at  Moses were heard by their Deliverer. The people were hardening their hearts.
  3. The author applies this to Jewish Christians in the second generation of the Church, around 80 to 95 CE. He or she urges them not to “harden your hearts as in the rebellion, on the day of testing in the wilderness.”
  4. As a result, these wanderers never entered into the Promised Land, Canaan, but the second generation did so under the leadership of Joshua. Moses, the giver of the Law could not bring them in, but Joshua (Jesus is the same name) did. We see here once again the story of salvation embedded into the history of Israel.
  5. We must ask, is it possible that some in that early Christian fellowship were unconverted? This is always a possibility, even a probability. And this is why it is vital that each Christian make an examination into their spiritual condition.
  6. But then, a second issue, can a truly converted, born again person, be caught up in sinful rebellion. Indeed, who among us have not faced such temptation, even failure.
  7. The writer of Hebrews implores: “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts…” Here is a call to fearless confession of sin and a humbling of ourselves before a holy God.
  8. It is the will of God that we enter into His rest, that is, ceasing to attempt to save ourselves, but relying only upon the finished work of Jesus.
  9. Jesus said, “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28).


Jesus Greater Than Moses

Hebrews 3:1–6

Find a quiet place, alone and apart from distractions. Be comfortably alert, still, and at peace. Say the Lord’s Prayer. Sing or cant the Jesus Prayer. Pray for family, friends, neighbors, and yourself. Slowly and carefully read the passage of Scripture.

  1. The great patriarchs of Israel are Abraham and Moses, and it was Moses who was instrumental in the exodus from Egypt, was there when God gave the 10 commandments, and then brought the people of Israel to the entrance into the promised land. Indeed, Moses “was faithful in all God’s house.”
  2. The author of Hebrews is writing to Jewish followers of Messiah Jesus, who he refers to as the “apostle and high priest” of our confession. Apostle, meaning one sent, and high priest, meaning the one who stands between us and God and brings us into His presence.
  3. Previously, the author of Hebrews showed how Jesus is superior to angels (chapters one and two). Indeed, as God’s Son, Jesus is superior to Moses also, which is what is meant by writing “Jesus has been counted worthy of more glory than Moses.” And “glory” has to do with the very presence of God.
  4. Moses, in all that he did, directing the Passover event with the slaying of the Lamb, the deliverance from the Egyptian evil, the receiving of the Law—Moses was faithful in his calling.
  5. Moses’ ministry prophetically pointed to something future, he testified “to the things that were to be spoken later.”
  6. Now Messiah Jesus, Yahweh’s saving Son, like Moses was faithful over the things of God, His people, but “as a son.” And the son has the same nature as the Father, as had been at the very core of the created world.
  7. The letter’s writer states that “we are his house” by holding fast our faith and hope in Jesus, and it is highly likely that we will, which is the meaning of the “if” clause in verse 6.
  8. The community of the faithful will believe and hope in the son.