The Source of Eternal Salvation
Hebrews 5:1-10
July 26, 2015
As you know we are studying through
This wonderful book called “Hebrews”
From the beginning I have told you that
We don’t know the specific group of people this letter was written to except that they were people who weren’t taking Jesus as seriously as they should have.
• They had certainly been taught about Him
• They knew His claim to be the Son of God
• They knew about His death on the cross
• They knew about His resurrection from the dead
• They had even made a public profession of faith in Him
SO WHAT WAS THE PROBLEM?
Due to the present hardships they faced,
They were considering abandoning Jesus and returning to Judaism.
These were Jews who claimed to believe in Jesus,
But their loyalty to Jesus was being severely tested.
They were being completely banned from all things Jewish.
• No synagogue
• No temple
• No sacrifices
• No feasts
• No priest
And this reality was a hard one for them to swallow.
They are being forced decide which method is going to save them.
Please understand, these were not proud or arrogant or agnostic people.
These people knew they were sinful.
These people knew they needed forgiveness from sin.
These people knew they needed salvation.
The question was where did they think salvation was going to come from?
Was it going to come through Judaism, or Jesus?
And no longer can they walk in both camps.
In an effort to squash Christianity,
Jews had decided that those who followed Jesus
Would no longer be allowed access to the temple and its privileges.
So those who have professed Jesus
Must decide if He is worth losing Judaism over.
It is to that group in crisis that the Holy Spirit inspired
One of the most intense letters of the entire New Testament.
He is writing to assure these hesitant Hebrews that Jesus is greater than anything they have ever had before.
• He is greater than the prophets (1:1-4)
• He is greater than the angels (1:5-14)
• He is greater than Moses (3:1-6)
• He is greater than Joshua (4:6-11)
And now he is going to show them that Jesus is greater than Aaron.
And this is his main objective.
In fact, he will spend the next 6 chapters on this one theme.
Now he has already sort of hinted at it for you.
Hebrews 1:3 “And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power. When He had made purification of sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,”
Hebrews 2:17-18 “Therefore, He had to be made like His brethren in all things, so that He might become a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. For since He Himself was tempted in that which He has suffered, He is able to come to the aid of those who are tempted.”
Hebrews 4:14-16 “Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin. Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”
He has already given you a taste.
• He has already shown you that Jesus is a SUCCESSFUL high priest, sitting at the right hand of the Father.
• He has already shown you that Jesus is a SYMPATHETIC high priest, having become human and faced our temptations.
• He has already shown you that Jesus is a SUPERIOR high priest, since He actually passed through the heavens to atone for you.
Now it is time to leave the hints behind and move into full-tilt theology.
He is going to spend six chapters showing you that
In Jesus you have a high priest like no other.
He is a high priest ordained by God.
He is a high priest anchored within the veil.
He is a high priest perpetually as One who never retires.
He is a high priest with a new and better covenant.
He is a high priest with a better and more effective sacrifice.
He is a high priest with a total and eternal atonement.
And by the time the writer is finished his goal is to leave no doubt
That leaving Judaism to lay hold of Jesus is a “no-brainer”.
He is actually driving toward this one main request
That you see in the final chapter of the book.
Hebrews 13:8-14 “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. Do not be carried away by varied and strange teachings; for it is good for the heart to be strengthened by grace, not by foods, through which those who were so occupied were not benefited. We have an altar from which those who serve the tabernacle have no right to eat. For the bodies of those animals whose blood is brought into the holy place by the high priest as an offering for sin, are burned outside the camp. Therefore Jesus also, that He might sanctify the people through His own blood, suffered outside the gate. So, let us go out to Him outside the camp, bearing His reproach. For here we do not have a lasting city, but we are seeking the city which is to come.”
That is where the writer is driving this bus.
To get all those who are in turmoil and confusion
To see that even though we have reproach,
In Jesus we have something more valuable and more lasting
Than anything ceremonial religion can offer,
And to get them to pick Jesus over everything else.
Beginning this morning he is about to put his argument into overdrive.
And it all stems around the idea of Jesus being your great high priest.
Now I fully understand that for most of you in here
The concept of a high priest may in fact be a little foreign.
If you didn’t grow up Jewish or if you didn’t grow up Catholic,
You might not have a real good grasp on the point or the purpose.
That’s ok because the writer is actually going to
Outline the purpose of a high priest very clearly for you.
It is our first point this morning, let’s look at it:
#1 FACTS ABOUT THE HIGH PRIEST
Hebrews 5:1-4
Now in order to help us understand this thoroughly I just want to
Take these 4 verses and show you 3 basics about a high priest.
1) HIS OCCUPATION (1)
“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;”
I don’t know if any verse in Scripture does a better job of
Summing up the importance of a priest than this one.
You see that the truths he reveals here
Are those which apply to “every high priest”
That is to say, if these qualities don’t fit a person,
Then they are not a suitable high priest.
Here we learn WHAT HE IS
“taken from among men”
And very simply, he is “taken from among men”
Because it is men who he represents.
“taken from among men is appointed on behalf of men”
You will see very quickly in this verse that his role is to be a “go-between”
Or a mediator or a type of delegate on behalf of men.
So if a group of men seeks to send a delegate on their behalf to someone else, it only stands to reason that this delegate would be one of them.
So the priest is very simply a man from among men,
Who does his work on behalf of men.
He is for you, he is on your side
We also see WHAT HE DOES
“is appointed on behalf of men in things pertaining to God,”
And so now we see where this advocate or delegate is headed.
He is a person taken from among men
With the job of going and doing business with God.
Last week we read the statement from Eli to his wicked son:
1 Samuel 2:25 “If one man sins against another, God will mediate for him; but if a man sins against the LORD, who can intercede for him?”
Well the answer is: The High Priest
Picture a group of men on one side of a valley and holy God on the other.
The sinful men have offended God and God is angry about to judge.
The purpose of the high priest is to go to God on behalf of the sinful men
And seek terms of peace with this holy and angry God.
He would be responsible to find out things like:
• What did we do that offended you?
• What should we have done not to offend you?
• What can we do to make it up to you?
• Will you please not destroy us?
That was the purpose and the objective.
And because Israel had been through generation after generation of this type of procedure, they knew exactly what holy God required.
And so the PRIESTS RESPONSIBILITY became evident.
“in order to offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins;”
That is what his job is.
He approaches holy God on behalf of sinful men
And takes the offerings and sacrifices that God requires
In order not to destroy sinful man.
So do you want me to sum up for you the purpose of a high priest?
HIS JOB IS TO SAVE YOU FROM JUDGMENT
And can I be extremely clear and serious here?
YOU NEED A HIGH PRIEST
A high priest is not a luxury
A high priest is not a novelty
A high priest is an absolute necessity
Are you a sinner? Yes
Does God hate sin? Yes
Is God able to crush you into a fine powder as a result of your sin? Yes
You need a high priest.
If you don’t have one, you are in great trouble.
The high priest will go from you to God to make atonement for your sin.
That is his occupation
2) HIS OBLIGATION (2-3)
“he can deal gently with the ignorant and misguided, since he himself also is beset with weakness; and because of it he is obligated to offer sacrifices for sins, as for the people, so also for himself.”
Here we find out something very enlightening about the priest.
Now you remember, what group was he taken from?
• He was taken from among men.
• Those sinful men who were in danger before God; he was one of them.
Now this is both a blessing and a curse all in one.
The fact that he is a sinner just like the rest of them
Means he will be sympathetic and he will be committed to his job.
I mean his eternity hangs in the balance right there with yours,
So you can bet he’ll take his responsibility seriously.
There is no fear of him getting over to God and then changing sides.
He’s going to be on your side, because he needs what he is trying to accomplish just as much as you do.
“he himself also is beset with weakness; and because of it he is obligated to offer sacrifices for sins, as for the people, so also for himself.”
So it’s a blessing that he’ll be committed.
THE PROBLEM is that from an ability standpoint,
He’s not any better than you.
It would be nice if we had a priest who had never messed up,
But the reality is when you take a priest from among men,
He’s gonna have problems.
So while this priest is SYMPATHETIC, he is also INCOMPETENT.
That is to say:
We aren’t really sending a qualified delegate to handle this matter of atonement.
We would really prefer a priest who was sympathetic and successful,
Not just sympathetic.
But you see the OCCUPATION and the OBLIGATION of the priest.
One more essential reality:
3) HIS ORDINATION (4)
“And no one takes the honor to himself, but receives it when he is called by God, even as Aaron was.”
And I’m going to spend a little more time here,
Because this is the main point the writer wants you to catch this morning.
Here the writer wants you to understand that
Not just anyone can be a priest.
The delegate that is going to go before God on behalf of the people
Must be someone who is pre-approved by God.
Did you see what he said?
“And no one takes the honor to himself, but receives it when he is called by God, even as Aaron was.”
It was God who specifically chose Aaron.
1 Chronicles 23:13 “The sons of Amram were Aaron and Moses. And Aaron was set apart to sanctify him as most holy, he and his sons forever, to burn incense before the LORD, to minister to Him and to bless in His name forever.”
Numbers 3:10 “So you shall appoint Aaron and his sons that they may keep their priesthood, but the layman who comes near shall be put to death.”
In fact you may remember that THIS VERY ISSUE
Actually came up among the children of Israel from time to time.
Some of the rabble actually complained that it wasn’t fair that
Aaron be the high priest, they thought someone else should get to do it.
Remember?
Numbers 16:1-3 “Now Korah the son of Izhar, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi, with Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, and On the son of Peleth, sons of Reuben, took action, and they rose up before Moses, together with some of the sons of Israel, two hundred and fifty leaders of the congregation, chosen in the assembly, men of renown. They assembled together against Moses and Aaron, and said to them, “You have gone far enough, for all the congregation are holy, every one of them, and the LORD is in their midst; so why do you exalt yourselves above the assembly of the LORD?”
Korah was actually a cousin of Aaron and Moses and he thought he should have his turn to be high priest and the delegate before God.
He even challenged Moses and Aaron.
Do you remember what happened?
God opened up the ground and swallowed Korah alive.
Numbers 16:31-35 “As he finished speaking all these words, the ground that was under them split open; and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them up, and their households, and all the men who belonged to Korah with their possessions. So they and all that belonged to them went down alive to Sheol; and the earth closed over them, and they perished from the midst of the assembly. All Israel who were around them fled at their outcry, for they said, “The earth may swallow us up!” Fire also came forth from the LORD and consumed the two hundred and fifty men who were offering the incense.”
I guess it mattered to God.
But Israel wasn’t finished.
Numbers 16:41 “But on the next day all the congregation of the sons of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron, saying, “You are the ones who have caused the death of the LORD’S people.”
So in chapter 17 God proved it again.
So in chapter 17 God had all the heads of all the twelve tribes of Israel bring a staff to Moses and write their names on it. All twelve staffs were placed in the tent of meeting and God revealed who was the selected high priest.
Numbers 17:8 “Now on the next day Moses went into the tent of the testimony; and behold, the rod of Aaron for the house of Levi had sprouted and put forth buds and produced blossoms, and it bore ripe almonds.”
I think you get the point.
Aaron was God’s selected high priest.
That staff was even to be kept as a sign to remind all Israel of the fact.
See, if you were going to send someone before God,
It had to be someone God was willing to talk to.
And at various times in Scripture we encounter people
Who tried to step into that role and GOD WOULDN’T HAVE IT.
Remember Saul?
He was about to fight the Philistines but he wanted to approach God first to see if he would win, but Samuel was late.
1 Samuel 13:8-14 “Now he waited seven days, according to the appointed time set by Samuel, but Samuel did not come to Gilgal; and the people were scattering from him. So Saul said, “Bring to me the burnt offering and the peace offerings.” And he offered the burnt offering. As soon as he finished offering the burnt offering, behold, Samuel came; and Saul went out to meet him and to greet him. But Samuel said, “What have you done?” And Saul said, “Because I saw that the people were scattering from me, and that you did not come within the appointed days, and that the Philistines were assembling at Michmash, therefore I said, ‘Now the Philistines will come down against me at Gilgal, and I have not asked the favor of the LORD.’ So I forced myself and offered the burnt offering.” Samuel said to Saul, “You have acted foolishly; you have not kept the commandment of the LORD your God, which He commanded you, for now the LORD would have established your kingdom over Israel forever. “But now your kingdom shall not endure. The LORD has sought out for Himself a man after His own heart, and the LORD has appointed him as ruler over His people, because you have not kept what the LORD commanded you.”
It mattered to God didn’t it?
How about Uzziah?
2 Chronicles 26:16-21 “But when he became strong, his heart was so proud that he acted corruptly, and he was unfaithful to the LORD his God, for he entered the temple of the LORD to burn incense on the altar of incense. Then Azariah the priest entered after him and with him eighty priests of the LORD, valiant men. They opposed Uzziah the king and said to him, “It is not for you, Uzziah, to burn incense to the LORD, but for the priests, the sons of Aaron who are consecrated to burn incense. Get out of the sanctuary, for you have been unfaithful and will have no honor from the LORD God.” But Uzziah, with a censer in his hand for burning incense, was enraged; and while he was enraged with the priests, the leprosy broke out on his forehead before the priests in the house of the LORD, beside the altar of incense. Azariah the chief priest and all the priests looked at him, and behold, he was leprous on his forehead; and they hurried him out of there, and he himself also hastened to get out because the LORD had smitten him. King Uzziah was a leper to the day of his death; and he lived in a separate house, being a leper, for he was cut off from the house of the LORD. And Jotham his son was over the king’s house judging the people of the land.”
Getting the point?
You don’t just take the honor as priest.
• God has to appoint you.
• God has to select you.
• God has to agree to meet with you.
Now, those are THE FACTS ABOUT THE HIGHT PRIEST.
• His job is to save you from judgment.
• He’ll do a good job because he himself also needs saving.
• And the only one who can do it is the one whom God agrees to meet with.
So let’s get to the main point.
#2 FACTS ABOUT CHRIST
Hebrews 5:5-10
Now that you know the requirements and purpose of the high priest,
Listen as the writer explains to you how Christ
Not only meets those requirements, but how He actually exceeds them.
There are three things he wishes to show you about Christ.
1) HIS WAS ELECTED BY GOD (5-6)
“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”; just as He says also in another passage, “YOU ARE A PRIEST FOREVER ACCORDING TO THE ORDER OF MELCHIZEDEK.”
The writer (as he loves to do) quotes from 2 Old Testament passages.
• First he quotes from Psalms 2:7 “You are My Son…”
• Then from Psalms 110:4, “You are a priest forever…”
Now that passage about Melchizedek is one that
He’s going to spend a lot more time on later,
But for now you simply need to see the point
That the writer is making from those two verses.
God chose someone to be “a priest forever”
Who did He choose? – “My Son”
The writer quotes those two passages in conjunction
To show you that God chose His Son to be a priest forever.
And that is important because
If Christ wasn’t chosen by the Father then He can’t be a priest.
But Christ didn’t appoint Himself, God actually selected Him for the job.
So the first main thing you need to know is this:
JESUS CHRIST IS GOD’S SELECTED PRIEST
And based on what we just learned
About God only doing business with the One He has selected,
I’d say that is a pretty big deal.
So Jesus was elected by God.
2) HE WAS EDUCATED THROUGH SUFFERING (7-8)
“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. Although He was a Son, He learned obedience from the things which He suffered.”
Now we also learned that we wanted a priest
Who was really, really, sympathetic to our position.
No one wanted a priest whose heart wasn’t really in it.
You don’t want a delegate to go seek out terms of peace
Who doesn’t really care if you get peace or not.
You want a priest who won’t take “no” for an answer.
Let me tell you why Jesus is that type of priest.
First, you need to be aware that when He became a human,
He suffered immensely.
“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…”
Anyone remember the Garden of Gethsemane?
Yeah, it was awful for Him.
• He begged
• He pleaded
• He screamed
• He cried
• WHAT DID HE WANT?
He wanted to be delivered from death.
“Father, let this cup pass from Me”
Now, He didn’t want that if that was not the will of God,
But from a human standpoint, that is what He wanted.
At this point some would interject then and say:
“Well, He must not have been much of a priest, because God obviously didn’t hear His prayer.”
That’s not true.
Scripture says, “He was heard because of His piety.”
The Greek word there translated “piety”
Actually means “godly fear” or “reverence”
It means He had the highest possible view of God you could have.
He had more admiration for God than anyone else.
He thought so highly of God that God heard His prayer.
Then why didn’t God deliver Him from death?
(8) “Although He was a Son, He learned obedience form the things which He suffered.”
It wasn’t that God didn’t hear His prayer.
It was that suffering was part of His education.
What was He learning?
“He learned obedience”
What, you mean Christ wasn’t obedient?
No, that’s not what it means.
It means He learned the cost of obedience.
He learned how hard obedience was.
Look, in a minute you’re going to see Him ask you to obey Him. (That’s in verse 9) But before He asks you to obey Him,
It is important that He know exactly what He is asking.
In that garden He learned why obedience is so hard.
• He felt the pull of fear
• He felt the dread of death
• He felt the anguish of suffering
• And at that moment He learned why it is so hard for you to obey.
In one moment Jesus because sympathetic to your weaknesses.
So now, when you blow it.
You have a high priest who goes before God who knows why.
HE IS SYMPATHETIC!
You have one who has been SELECTED by God
And who is SYMPATHETIC to your dilemma.
And so that brings up our third point.
3) HE IS EFFECTIVE FOR ETERNITY (9-10)
“And having been made perfect, He became to all those who obey Him the source of eternal salvation, being designated by God as a high priest according to the order of Melchizedek.”
There again we see the effect of His education.
“having been made perfect”
This doesn’t mean that Jesus was previously imperfect, for He wasn’t.
He was always perfect in a spiritual sense.
Rather the word here means “complete”.
After the education of His suffering He now had everything He needed
To be the kind of priest you needed.
So, “having been made perfect, He became to all those who obey Him the source of eternal salvation,”
What a great statement!
“He became to all those who obey Him the source of eternal salvation,”
Now first let’s make sure we see EXACTLY WHAT HE IS OFFERING.
For He is offering something that no priest ever offered.
Every priest offered forgiveness.
Every priest offered salvation.
But Jesus offered “eternal salvation”
That is – salvation forever
A salvation that wouldn’t expire
A salvation that never needs to be renewed
A salvation good for all eternity
And Scripture says that since He is perfect
He is “the source of eternal salvation,”
“source” translates AITIOS (I-tee-os)
It is a word that means “causing” or “responsible for”
It was a word that Pilate used three times regarding Jesus.
Luke 23:4 “Then Pilate said to the chief priests and the crowds,
“I find no guilt (AITIOS) in this man.”
So in a very real sense the writer is saying that
Jesus is guilty of bringing about eternal salvation.
And please understand the implication.
APART FROM JESUS THERE IS NO ETERNAL SALVATION.
The best any Jewish high priest could offer was temporary salvation.
In fact, they had to renew their offering
Every year at the Day of Atonement.
During that feast, the high priest, a man selected by God from among men, would actually travel into the presence of God to bring about terms of peace between sinful man and a holy God. But the best terms he could ever achieve was a yearly contract.
AND THEN JESUS COMES ALONG.
• The Son of God, selected to be a priest.
• Educated through suffering and made sympathetic to your weakness.
• Traveled into the very presence of God to intercede and make atonement that would last forever.
Jesus negotiated eternal peace with God.
Isn’t that good?
Believe me when I tell you there’s never been another priest like Him.
Now for the 100 million dollar question:
WHOSE PRIEST IS HE?
• Is He the priest for every single human being?
• Did He just step in there and make it square for every single person?
And the answer is “no”
He is High Priest of a select group.
WHAT GROUP?
(see if you can spot it)
“He became to all those who obey Him the source of eternal salvation, being designated by God as a high priest according to the order of Melchizedek.”
WHOSE PRIEST IS HE?
“those who obey Him”
Up in verse 8 we saw that Jesus “learned obedience”.
That word “obedience” is the noun form of word “obey” here.
He is asking you to do the same thing for Him that He did for you.
• He is asking you to die to self.
• He is asking you to say, “Not My will by Yours be done”
• He is asking you to fully entrust yourself to Him
To these Jews it would be to forsake their Jewish roots
And embrace the path that He has for them.
And that is where it gets real.
• Jesus isn’t asking you to acknowledge Him
• Jesus isn’t asking you to know some facts about Him
• Jesus isn’t asking you to be familiar with Him
• Jesus is asking you to deny yourself and follow Him
BUT IT’S HARD!
Trust me, no one knows that more than Jesus.
He learned that in the garden.
But the promise is that if you will endure the hardship
And commit your life to Him,
Then you will have just found the only High Priest who can give you “eternal salvation”
That’s a pretty good trade off isn’t it?
I told you very early in this sermon, you need a high priest.
Now I’m telling you that Jesus can be that high priest,
If you will surrender your life to Him.
Now, if you already have, and you are now living in obedience to Christ, then friend REJOICE!
You have eternal salvation!
You have a contract with God through Christ that will never expire!
He caused it
He negotiated it
He purchased it
He is the author and finisher of it
No more Day of Atonement for you, Jesus achieved it once and for all.
Hebrews 4:14-16 “Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin. Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”
