This is the beginning of the portion of the book of Hebrews, starting at 4:14, that deals with Christ’s role as the Great High Priest. This book lays out the idea of Covenant, the types and shadows of the Old Testament, the basic problem of man, the solution to that problem as provided by Christ in the New Covenant, His role as the Great High Priest, and the nuts and bolts of how this Covenant works. It is a remarkable undertaking.
Briefly recapping where we have been, Christ is great than angels, because He is God, of the same substance as the Father. He became incarnate to become fully man, but remained fully God. As such, although fully man, he remains much greater than angels and much greater than Moses. We examined the Sinai covenant of Moses and the Abrahamic Covenant. We looked at the types and shadows of the Old Testament through the lens of the Mosaic Covenant, and then through the lens of the Abrahamic Covenant. Now, we are ready for the introduction of Jesus in His role as Great High Priest.
Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. 15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. 16 Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
Starting with verse 14, what is our confession? Are we speaking in this place of the confession of sin? No, not really. Some of the great doctrinal statements of the Protestant Reformation are known as confessions (Augsburg, Westminster, Baptist.) This refers to our confession of faith in Jesus’ redeeming work on the cross. That is how the writer of Hebrews is using this word. What is significant about the Great High Priest having passed through the heavens? This goes to the point of types and shadows, again. In the earthly Temple in Jerusalem, the great high priest entered into the Holy of Holies, and there was uncertainty whether he would come back out again. They tied a rope around his foot in case he was struck dead, so they could haul out his body and not profane the place with his body that was clearly, after being struck dead for unrighteousness, unworthy of being there. But after the destruction of the Temple, it is clear that the Temple has moved to heaven, to the heavenly Jerusalem. And yet why make this whole line of argument if the Jerusalem Temple was gone? Likely because the book of Hebrews was written before 70 A.D. The Temple was figuratively destroyed on Easter morning; the physical destruction, of epically less importance, came some 37 years later. So, the point here is that Jesus did not just come through the Holy of Holies unscathed, He came through Heaven unscathed, and He’s there now, at that Temple, performing the role of Great High Priest. But here is the crux of the whole argument of Hebrews: how do we, mere humans with no supernatural portion, still toiling under the curse of Adam, draw near to the throne of grace? And when is this time of need?
Let’s focus on this because it works on two levels. First, let’s work on the large picture of redemptive history. The throne of grace is clearly Heaven. We can with confidence draw near to God, who resides on that throne, only if we are righteous. Remember here that the writer of Hebrews has followed a similar path as Paul in Romans, as Isaiah, as Jeremiah, as the Psalmist, in describing the evil of the human heart after the fall. We have no righteousness of our own. Remember in Philippians where Paul says that the righteousness that he thought he had was rubbish, dung. Let’s look closely at that section of Paul’s letter to the Philippians for a moment.
Look out for the dogs, look out for the evildoers, look out for those who mutilate the flesh. 3 For we are the circumcision, who worship by the Spirit of God1 and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh—4 though I myself have reason for confidence in the flesh also. If anyone else thinks he has reason for confidence in the flesh, I have more: 5 circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; 6 as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless. 7 But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. 8 Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith—10 that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, 11 that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead.
That is a powerful message about righteousness through faith in Christ. We can only approach the throne of God with confidence if we have this righteousness from God that depends on faith. That was Paul’s point, and it is also the point of the writer of Hebrews.
On the second level, let’s address that time of need. This phrase has the potential for tremendous abuse. This is not about making intercessions for our health, wealth and happiness. The apostles never worried a moment about such trifles. To help us understand this time of need, let’s go back to Paul again in Romans 7.
7 What then shall we say? That the law is sin? By no means! Yet if it had not been for the law, I would not have known sin. For I would not have known what it is to covet if the law had not said, “You shall not covet.” 8 But sin, seizing an opportunity through the commandment, produced in me all kinds of covetousness. For apart from the law, sin lies dead. 9 I was once alive apart from the law, but when the commandment came, sin came alive and I died. 10 The very commandment that promised life proved to be death to me. 11 For sin, seizing an opportunity through the commandment, deceived me and through it killed me. 12 So the law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good.13 Did that which is good, then, bring death to me? By no means! It was sin, producing death in me through what is good, in order that sin might be shown to be sin, and through the commandment might become sinful beyond measure. 14 For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am of the flesh, sold under sin. 15 For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. 16 Now if I do what I do not want, I agree with the law, that it is good. 17 So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. 18 For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. 19 For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. 20 Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me.21 So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. 22 For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, 23 but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. 24 Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? 25 Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin.
So, Paul tells us that our time of need is when we sin. Even though as believers we are free of the bondage of sin, because our bodies are still under the Law, under the curse of Adam, in Adam, we fail in our obedience to Christ. We know better and it bothers us tremendously. But we can now go boldly back to the throne of God, repent and receive forgiveness. How do we get there? We aren’t dead yet and the Second Coming is still in the future. We get there by prayer, through the name of Jesus, and the power of the Holy Spirit.
The first ten verse of chapter 5 are comparing the Old Testament Temple system to the New Covenant Temple under Jesus Christ. It should be self evident in reading these verses exactly why Jesus is much superior to any high priest chosen from among men. There is a quote from Psalm 110 stuck into verse 6 that refers to Melchizedek.
The LORD says to my Lord: “Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool.” The LORD sends forth from Zion your mighty scepter. Rule in the midst of your enemies! Your people will offer themselves freely on the day of your power, in holy garments; from the womb of the morning, the dew of your youth will be yours.The LORD has sworn and will not change his mind, “You are a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.”The Lord is at your right hand; he will shatter kings on the day of his wrath. He will execute judgment among the nations, filling them with corpses; he will shatter chiefs over the wide earth. He will drink from the brook by the way; therefore he will lift up his head.
This Psalm is clearly messianic and it speaks of the time between the Ascension and Judgment Day when Christ sits at the right hand of God, and then of Judgment Day. Again, we see this order of Melchizedek. Where can we find this order?
Melchizedek appears in the story of Abram, before he was Abraham, way back in Genesis 14. Can you see from this reference how the writer of Hebrews has been painstakingly fleshing out that Salvation is not from Moses, not from the Law, but rather Salvation is through faith, through the Covenant with Abraham. Over and over again, we keep coming back to Genesis and that Covenant, a royal grant, rather than the conditional covenant of Moses and the Law. We will spend more time with Melchizedek shortly, so let’s move on to the end of the chapter.
The last paragraph of chapter 5 appears to be a warning, and yet, it was presented in Bible study as a tongue in cheek jibe to entice believers to want to attain a higher level of understanding. Let’s break down that last paragraph and see what you think.
About this we have much to say, and it is hard to explain, since you have become dull of hearing. 12 For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the basic principles of the oracles of God. You need milk, not solid food, 13 for everyone who lives on milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, since he is a child. 14 But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil.
Starting from the first line, it may just be hard to explain, but you know that the writer is about to do just that, explain the order of Melchizedek to us. So what is this about being dull of hearing? We discussed this in the Hebrews 3 post concerning Psalm 94. The writer is not just taunting the listeners, he is quoting scripture, Psalm 94. What are these basic principles that these listeners need to be taught? The writer is teaching them now. They are all of the relationships between the types and shadows of the Old Testament and the Old Testament Covenants to the reality of the New Covenant in Christ. What is it to be unskilled in the word of righteousness? The Jews hear righteousness and think of compliance to the Law, in other words, the Jews think deeds. The word of righteousness is about a declaration. It is about news. It is the Gospel. Following the double entendre, the Word of Righteousness is Jesus Christ, Himself. The writer is telling the audience to stop looking at themselves, and start looking to Christ. And finally, solid food is for those who have exercised their powers of discernment. In other words, stop trying to do something; use your mind and learn something.
I want to finish up this section with another section from Paul. This is from Ephesians 4:11-14.
And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes.
These are powerful words from Paul to end our discussion. Notice how well they dovetail with the words from the writer of Hebrews. The quality of children, who can only handle milk, is that they are easily deceived by false doctrine and human cunning. The quality of mature men of Christ is discernment. Paul and the writer of Hebrews agree that doctrine is the thing. Use your mind and get the doctrine right.
Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. (Romans 12:2 ESV)
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