"1For every high priest chosen from among men is appointed to act on behalf of men in relation to God, to offer gifts and sacrifices for sins. 2 He can deal gently with the ignorant and wayward, since he himself is beset with weakness.3 Because of this he is obligated to offer sacrifice for his own sins just as he does for those of the people. 4 And no one takes this honour for himself, but only when called by God, just as Aaron was.
5 So also Christ did not exalt himself to be made a high priest, but was appointed by him 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,
after the order of Melchizedek.”
Hebrews 5:1-6
We come in this chapter to a consideration of the High Priestly work of Christ. First of all the Apostle discusses the office of High Priest in general, going back to the Old Testament writings for the picture he gives. The priest is 'for men... to God', just as a prophet is 'to men…. for God'. There are two points to note here. First of all, the phrase 'gifts and sacrifices' (1). There is a distinction in the two terms which is very important. Sacrifices for sin we can well understand, but there is something else necessary in the divine-human relationship. If we think in terms of what God requires of us as His creatures, leaving out the question of sin altogether for the moment, we may realise that His desire is for the love and devotion and homage of our hearts. These are the 'gifts' that are well-pleasing to Him. This stands even when the question of sin has been dealt with by sacrifice, and it is this twofold respect in which Christ our High Priest 'stands in' for us in the substitutionary atonement He made on our behalf. Secondly, a high priest must have two principal 'qualifications' - and we may well apply this to all who seek to serve God in the gospel - he must have compassion (2), and he must be called of God (4), not the one without the other. It would be difficult to decide which was the more important. Certainly no one who does not feel the constraint of the gospel - 'woe is me if I preach not...' should venture into the service of the Lord, but that is only one element according to this word, and if a man conscious of the call of God does not also have a heart touched with the feeling of the infirmities of men, he will not make much headway. An unfeeling 'high-priest' is a contradiction in terms. But of this more tomorrow.