Sermon Notes

4 14 Since, then, we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast to our confession. 15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who in every respect has been tested[e] as we are, yet without sin. 16 Let us therefore approach the throne of grace with boldness, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
5 Every high priest chosen from among mortals is put in charge of things pertaining to God on their behalf, to offer gifts and sacrifices for sins. 2 He is able to deal gently with the ignorant and wayward, since he himself is subject to weakness, 3 and because of this he must offer sacrifice for his own sins as well as for those of the people. 4 And one does not presume to take this honor but takes it only when called by God, just as Aaron was. 5 So also Christ did not glorify himself in becoming a high priest but was appointed by[a] the one who said to him,
“You are my Son; today I have begotten you”;
6 as he says also in another place,
“You are a priest forever, according to the order of Melchizedek.”
7 In the days of his flesh, Jesus[b] offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to the one who was able to save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission. 8 Although he was a Son, he learned obedience through what he suffered, 9 and having been made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him, 10 having been designated by God a high priest according to the order of Melchizedek. (New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition, NRSVue)
4 14-16 Now that we know what we have—Jesus, this great High Priest with ready access to God—let’s not let it slip through our fingers. We don’t have a priest who is out of touch with our reality. He’s been through weakness and testing, experienced it all—all but the sin. So let’s walk right up to him and get what he is so ready to give. Take the mercy, accept the help.
5 1-3 Every high priest selected to represent men and women before God and offer sacrifices for their sins should be able to deal gently with their failings, since he knows what it’s like from his own experience. But that also means that he has to offer sacrifices for his own sins as well as the peoples’. 4-6 No one elects himself to this honored position. He’s called to it by God, as Aaron was. Neither did Christ presume to set himself up as high priest, but was set apart by the One who said to him, “You’re my Son; today I celebrate you!” In another place God declares, “You’re a priest forever in the royal order of Melchizedek.”
7-10 While he lived on earth, anticipating death, Jesus cried out in pain and wept in sorrow as he offered up priestly prayers to God. Because he honored God, God answered him. Though he was God’s Son, he learned trusting-obedience by what he suffered, just as we do. Then, having arrived at the full stature of his maturity and having been announced by God as high priest in the order of Melchizedek, he became the source of eternal salvation to all who believingly obey him. (The Message, MSG)

In his commentary on Hebrews, Thomas Long makes a striking observation about the 1st Century CE community to which this writing is addressed. Long says:
“They are tired—tired of serving the world, tired of worship, tired of Christian education, tired of being peculiar and whispered about in society, tired of the spiritual struggle, tired of trying to keep their prayer life going, tired even of Jesus. Their hands droop and their knees are weak (12:12), attendance is down at church (10:25), and they are losing confidence. The threat to this congregation is not that they are charging off in the wrong direction; they do not have enough energy to charge off anywhere. The threat here is that, worn down and worn out, they will drop their end of the rope and drift away. Tired of walking the walk, many of them are considering taking a walk, leaving the community and falling away from the faith.”
Doesn’t that sound just like many contemporary Christians and the 21st century Black Church? We are worn down and worn out by lackluster worship attendance and fellowship since the Covid-19 pandemic. We are worn down and worn out by the constant onslaught of political, social, economic, and racial discrimination brought upon us by the resurgence of racist and totalitarian political leaders on the federal, state and local levels. We are worn down and worn out by the right-wing conservative evangelical Christian Nationalism that makes a mockery of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Like the 1st Century CE community of “Hebrews,” we are exhausted—tired and worn out!
Into this morass of physical and spiritual exhaustion that the Hebrews are experiencing, the author of this New Testament book proclaims a powerful word of encouragement to 1st century Hebrews which also benefits 21st century believers. The writer preaches, “keep on keeping on,” because God is yet making all things right through Jesus of Nazareth. In the face of the suffering, persecution, doubt, depression, confusion, and exhaustion that the Hebrews are currently living through, the author of tells them to look to Jesus as the ultimate intercessor and high priest.

The Letter to the Hebrews has traditionally been considered to be one of Paul’s letters. However, its lack of attribution, elevated language/writing style, and silence on the tensions between Jews and Greeks in the early Church indicates Hebrews is a disputed writing of Paul that was written in Paul’s name, after Paul’s death, by one of Paul’s students. Although the letter is anonymous, Paul, Barnabas, Priscilla, Apollos, Stephen, and others, have all been proposed as a potential writer of Hebrews. While attesting to Pauline authorship, the African Church father Origen, said, “But who wrote the epistle, in truth God [alone] knows.” Hebrews began circulating with the Pauline letters in Eastern Christianity as attested by a 3rd century manuscript known as the Chester Beatty Biblical Papyrus II, where it follows Paul’s letter to the Romans. In this manuscript, the title is listed as “To the Hebrews.” Because ancient scribes bound numerous writings together into a single collection, they would add titles to indicate the beginning of a new text.
With regards to geographical context, Hebrews is mentioned by Clement of Rome in 1 Clement, which was written in CE 96, and the letter does not mention the destruction of the Jerusalem Temple in CE 70—it references worship practices that are still being carried out in the temple. Also, an early copy of the book found in Rome seems to indicate its first recipients were inhabitants of that city. Further, because 13:24 mentions Italian believers who are challenged to “go outside the gate” to endure persecution as Christ did, it is clear these Christians were suffering persecution from the Roman Empire. Therefore, Hebrews was likely written in Rome, Italy before the destruction of the temple around 69 CE.
With regard to literary contexts and genre, Hebrews does not follow the characteristics of an occasional pastoral letter. There is no greeting or opening prayer and there is no discernable pastoral issue or crisis which the writer addresses. Instead, 13:22 indicates it is a highly developed “word of exhortation,” that was written to encourage Hebrew Christians to remain steadfast in their confession of Jesus Christ instead of backsliding into non-messianic Judaism due to current persecution. Some scholars have even suggested Hebrews was written as a synagogue sermon for the Ninth of Av (the Jewish holy day that commemorates the destruction of the two Jerusalem Temples), because Exodus 20 and Jeremiah 31, figure prominently in Ninth of Av observances and in the book of Hebrews.
With regard to canonical contexts, Hebrews substantially differs from other New Testament writings because it is the only book within the New Testament with a fully developed Christology—the study of the nature of Christ. Also, it’s connections to other writings from the early Christian period are difficult to discern because of its anonymity and unknown origins. Further, many scholars agree that Hebrews has a heavy anti-Jewish perspective. Because Hebrews is the canonical foundation of the theological idea that Christianity has “replaced” Judaism. This week’s lesson text (4:14 – 5:10) explores how—according to the author of Hebrews—Jesus is the ultimate intercessor on behalf of humanity before God.

4 14-16 Now that we know what we have—Jesus, this great High Priest with ready access to God—let’s not let it slip through our fingers. We don’t have a priest who is out of touch with our reality. He’s been through weakness and testing, experienced it all—all but the sin. So let’s walk right up to him and get what he is so ready to give. Take the mercy, accept the help.
In the opening verses of the lesson text, the author affirms that Christians find our power as we approach God’s throne of grace. “Throne” speaks of authority and power; “grace” refers to unearned favor. These two thoughts are combined in Jesus—a man of infinite power, yet, in sympathy with us, He shows us favor. Though Jesus has transitioned into the place of supreme power—and he has absolutely no limits upon his divine abilities to affect change in the heavenly and earthly realms—Jesus is yet also tremendously concerned with our problems: “We have a high priest who can feel it when we are weak and hurting.” Previously, the writer described Jesus as, “the Pioneer of our salvation (Hebrews 2:10).” This is the thought of the phrase here. Christ has already gone the whole course before us. He has felt every pressure, he has known every pull, he has been drawn by every allurement and enticement that we face, and he has been frightened by every fear, beset by every anxiety, depressed by every worry. Yet he experienced all of this without failure, without sinning, without forgetting or ignoring his purpose. Therefore, Jesus understands all of our sorrows and griefs. Any and every help that we need, Jesus is and Jesus will. Petersen says that we should “take the mercy, accept the help!” He is talking about accepting the grace that has been afforded through Jesus Christ.
5 1-3 Every high priest selected to represent men and women before God and offer sacrifices for their sins should be able to deal gently with their failings, since he knows what it’s like from his own experience. But that also means that he has to offer sacrifices for his own sins as well as the peoples’. 4-6 No one elects himself to this honored position. He’s called to it by God, as Aaron was. Neither did Christ presume to set himself up as high priest, but was set apart by the One who said to him, “You’re my Son; today I celebrate you!” In another place God declares, “You’re a priest forever in the royal order of Melchizedek.”
In this portion of the lesson, the writer goes deeper into the discussion of how Jesus is high priest. The writer details the requirements to be a priest in Israel, plumbing those qualifications with Jesus. These qualifications reference the requirements and supporting information that is outlined in Exodus 28-29, Leviticus 8:1-36, and Numbers 16-18.
• A priest must first be human, and of the people, in order to represent humans.
• A priest must offer sacrifices; they must ritualistically deal with the problem that separates humanity from God—sin. Further, the priest must come to grips with the universal problem of guilt. The ritualistic response to sin and guilt is life sacrificed and a priest must offer the sacrifice. Jesus fulfilled this two-fold requirement on the cross at Calvary, when he became both the priest and the sacrifice. Jesus offered himself as a sacrifice for humanity’s guilt.
• A priest must be appointed by God, from the line of Aaron; no human can ordain priests. The purpose of a priest, then, is to cleanse and strengthen, to make us fit for life. If a priest does not do that, they are worthless. The writer of Hebrews says this clearly applies to Jesus. He fit all of the requirements accept Aaronic lineage. However, his priesthood of a higher more distinctive lineage than Aaron. At his baptism, Jesus entered into the priesthood of Melchizedek, which means he supersedes the Aaronic priesthood—according to the writer of Hebrews.
In Hebrews 7:3, the writer of Hebrews says Melchizedek was, “without father or mother, without genealogy, without beginning of days or end of life, like the Son of God, he remains a priest forever).” Melchizedek’s priesthood did not depend on his genealogy (unlike the Levitical priests). His priesthood was a different kind, a different order. Similarly, the Hebrew scripture say nothing about his birth or death (unlike the patriarchs). He did not create a dynasty of priests, each dying and passing the priesthood to a son. Nevertheless, he remains known as a priest even today. “He remains a priest forever ... is declared to be living (Hebrews 7:3, 8).”
As the writer seeks to further bolster Jesus’ qualifications as high priest, he quotes Psalm 2 and Psalm 110. Psalm 2:7 is a scripture that the gospel writers invoke at Jesus’ baptism, “you are my son; today I have begotten you.” Psalm 110:4, predicted that a Messiah would be a priest in the vein of Melchizedek; not according to genealogy, but by special appointment. This implies that the Levitical priesthood was temporary, and the new order was permanent. In Hebrews 5:6, the writer confidently affirms that Jesus of Nazareth is also a priest by Divine special appointment.
7-10 While he lived on earth, anticipating death, Jesus cried out in pain and wept in sorrow as he offered up priestly prayers to God. Because he honored God, God answered him. Though he was God’s Son, he learned trusting-obedience by what he suffered, just as we do. Then, having arrived at the full stature of his maturity and having been announced by God as high priest in the order of Melchizedek, he became the source of eternal salvation to all who believingly obey him.
In the final verses of the lesson text, the writer of Hebrews asserts that Jesus offered priestly prayers through his suffering at Gethsemane. There is no other incident in the Gospel accounts that fits the description of this passage where, with prayers and supplications; loud cries and tears, Jesus cried to his Father to save him from death. In the Garden, Jesus prayed three separate times questioning the necessity his suffering. He begs the Father to make clear to him why his death is necessary. His experience was sudden, baffling, confusing and bewildering—just as we are baffled, confused, and bewildered by the tests, trials, and troubles that suddenly befall us. Jesus experienced what it means to obey God when every cell in his body wanted to disobey, when everything within him cried out to flee this experience. Yet, knowing this to be the will of God, Jesus obeyed and trusted God to see him through. He learned what it feels like to hang on when failure makes us want to give up.
Like the Christ Hymn of Philippians 2:6-11, the writer of Hebrews employs hymnic qualities to explain how Jesus experienced suffering and humiliation, but was ultimately exalted by God the Father to be our high priest in the order of Melchizedek. In Genesis 14, we are told that Melchizedek was king of Salem and priest of God. He met Abraham returning from the defeat of the kings and blessed him. Abraham gave him a tenth of everything. The Hebrew word, “Melek,” means king; the Hebrew word “Tzedek” is of translated as righteousness. So, Melchizedek’s name means “king of righteousness.” Further, since Salem is a form of the Hebrew word, “Shalom,” which means peace, Melchizedek was also a “King of peace.”
These titles are significant because the writer of Hebrews interprets Melchizedek as precursor to Jesus Christ. However, Jesus replaces Melchizedek—according to the writer—because his priestly ministry of intercession was paved by the suffering and death he experienced as a human. It is important that Jesus was fully human, because as one who was human, he is singularly qualified to intercede on our behalf before God’s throne of grace.

i. Thomas G. Long, Hebrews: Interpretation: A Bible Commentary for Teaching and Preaching (Kindle Edition), p. 3.
ii. James Earl Massey and Jennifer T Kaalund, “Hebrews,” in Brian K. Blount, Gay L. Byron and Emerson B. Powery’s True To Our Native Land: An African American New Testament Commentary Second Edition (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2024), 471.
iii. Levine, Amy-Jill Levine and Marc Zvi Brettler, The Jewish Annotated New Testament (Kindle Edition), p 460.
iv. Ibid.