Heb 5

Mature in understanding God’s work

Context: Since only a living faith in Jesus and not Moses or his laws can get us there (Heb 3), we must make haste to enter God’s rest by confidently holding on to the confession that our high priest is Jesus (Heb 4). Chapter 5 goes on to explain how Jesus became this high priest through suffering, even though he is no descendant of Aaron, and why it is essential to have Him as our teacher (instead of those who mislead others to rely on their own offerings). Like babies who are weaned to live on solid food, believers need to hear and internalize these teachings of Christ that Hebrews is about to explain. If not, they cannot grow because they won’t understand what they received freely through faith in Jesus.

Read: Hebrews 5

Warm-up: In your experience, does suffering make people better or worse? Why?

1) vv1-3: What is a High Priest?

• v1: Whom did he represent, and how?
• Why bring gifts and sacrifices? Why do people feel compelled to do so in all cultures? cf Gen 4:3
• Do people bring sacrifices in an attempt to redeem themselves even in secular societies like ours? How?
• A recurring verdict of the OT is that God was offended when Israelites sacrificed on hilltops according to their own design of worship (Deut 12:2-6). Why? Why was not simply everybody allowed to bring sacrifices wherever or whenever by themselves?
• Why did the law require designated priests to bring offerings on behalf of others? 1Chr 23:13 Was a clerical elite keen to exploit superstitious people? Why not? Num 18:24
• What did this system of priestly representation illustrate about the intrinsic value of offerings, e.g. to ‘purchase’ God’s favor? cf Heb 10:1-4 Would a mediator be necessary if the offerings themselves could appease God?
• What distinguished the high priest from other priests? Lev 16; Ex 30:10; Heb 9:6-7
• v4: Were the Israelites free to appoint anyone of their choosing as their high priest? Why not? Num. 16:40; 18:7

2) vv4-10: How did Jesus become High Priest?

• v5: By quoting Ps 2:7, what did the author wish to thereby prove?
  • Read Ps 2. What indicates that the psalmist spoke of Messiah and not just of any other king?
  • Did Ps 2 speak of priests at all?
• v6: How else then does Heb 5 prove that Jesus is indeed the ultimate priest?
  • How could the author of Hebrews be sure that Ps 110:4 compares Melchizedek to Messiah? cf Ps 110:5-6 with Ps 2:9
• Who was Melchizedek? cf Gen 14:17-20 What did Melchizedek and the Messiah have in common (Ps 110:4)?
• vv7-8: Although Jesus was always God’s son, it did not automatically make him high priest: Why not?
  • ‘with loud cries and tears’: What was the cause of such agony for Jesus? Mt 27:46-50
• v9-10: How could Jesus be made more perfect than he already was before his incarnation? cf Heb 2:10 =>For what purpose did Jesus endure such suffering?
• Read again v9. How does this teaching attract the spite and ridicule from unbelievers, and how do you see it being twisted by false teachers even to this day?
  • “…eternal salvation to all who obey him.”: How is it eternal, and do you know whether it is also for you?
  • The Greek word translated ‘to obey’ means literally to listen attentively, by implication to heed or conform to a command or authority (Stong’s lexicon). What distinguishes this “faith obedience” of Christians from obedience to the law? cf Gal 6:2; Ja 2:12
  • Why couldn’t Moses have such a following and become the Savior of all? cf Heb 3:16-17; Jn 7:19

3) vv11-14: What was so difficult to explain to the readers of Hebrews, and why?

• v11 “About this we have much to say…“:  About what?
  • How Jesus became high priest, he already explained.
  • What is there to explain about obeying Jesus? => What would be difficult to explain about that? The commandment to love your neighbor as yourself is simple enough. So what is difficult?
  • Explaining how this mediator can mediate genuine eternal salvation is harder (more like explaining pollination and the molecular mechanism of how it can give rise to a new organism) =>
• Why is it difficult to explain how God conducts this work in those who believe? cf Ecc 3:11; 1Cor 2:9-10
• v11: Is it difficult to explain this work of God even to Christians?
  • What made them ‘dull of hearing’, and what will believers do to avoid this trap? cf Heb 2:1
  • Why were they still used only to “milk” instead of solid food?
  • v12: If they still needed milk, what was wrong about that?
  • v13: What does it mean to be ‘unskilled in the word of righteousness‘? cf 1Cor 3:1-3
  • v14: Where does that skill come from, and what will be its fruit? cf 1Cor 2:6, 12-13

• Since teaching is compared to food that sustains your spiritual growth, how do you ensure that your ‘diet’ is wholesome and fitting your needs?
• If you want to teach your children (and yourself) to become godly, why bother about understanding theology?
  • Do you think the 10 commandments or even the golden rule to love your neighbor are sufficient to properly ‘distinguish good from evil’? Why or why not? cf Ro 7:11
• What tensions arise within Christian communities from the fact that not everyone is at the same stage of growth and maturity? Do you find any insights from Heb 5 useful to address this?
  • Have you ever witnessed how lack of obedience to Jesus fuels such tensions? cf Gal 6:2
• How can you pray for one another that you and your community grow in maturity?