Hebrews 5
Hebrews 5:1-14
1 For every high priest taken from among men is appointed for men in things pertaining to God, that he may offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins.
2 He can have compassion on those who are ignorant and going astray, since he himself is also subject to weakness.
3 Because of this he is required as for the people, so also for himself, to offer sacrifices for sins.
4 And no man takes this honor to himself, but he who is called by God, just as Aaron was.
5 So also Christ did not glorify Himself to become High Priest, but it was He who said to Him: “YOU ARE MY SON, TODAY I HAVE BEGOTTEN YOU.”
6 As He also says in another place: “YOU ARE A PRIEST FOREVER ACCORDING TO THE ORDER OF MELCHIZEDEK”;
7 who, in the days of His flesh, when He had offered up prayers and supplications, with vehement cries and tears to Him who was able to save Him from death, and was heard because of His godly fear,
8 though He was a Son, yet He learned obedience by the things which He suffered.
9 And having been perfected, He became the author of eternal salvation to all who obey Him,
10 called by God as High Priest “ACCORDING TO THE ORDER OF MELCHIZEDEK,”
11 of whom we have much to say, and 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 first principles of the oracles of God; and you have come to need milk and not solid food.
13 For everyone who partakes only of milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, for he is a babe.
14 But solid food belongs to those who are of full age, that is, those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.
When Jesus took on His human form, He subjected Himself to this world, to the challenges and trials that we face, to the emotions and struggles, to the temptation and opportunities to sin. The very same possibilities or trials that we face while we are here on earth.
In scripture we see Him get angry and flip tables, we see Him mourn the loss of Lazarus. He wasn’t a Holy robot that didn’t experience what we experience. He experienced our every human facet, and made the decision to remain holy and pure. He kept the Word before Him and in constant contact with His Father. He gave us the road map of how to handle life, just by living His.
In the same way, the circumstances, emotions or trials that we face are ones we don’t scoot through on Holy autopilot, but ones that we take to the Father, stay in His face and in His word to overcome, just as Jesus did.
Though essential to a full understanding of our relationship with Christ and His priesthood for us, this is something that will require more interest than a casual self-centered approach that engenders slumber rather than excitement. Awareness of the humanity, humility, and obedience that qualified Jesus as our mediator opens the door to further clarity and revelation that cannot be grasped on a milk diet. It is the identity of Jesus that not only enabled him to fulfill His purpose, but also, in like manner, enables us as we identify with Him as His new creation. As He was called Son and walked humbly in His calling, so we are called sons and daughters and equipped to walk in our calling as we submit humbly and in obedience to our purpose in Him. Rather than getting glassy-eyed at this revelation, it will be, for those who are truly pursuant of something above infantile glimpses into our redemption, an inspiring and invigorating enlightenment.
How great is our hope in this calling, to be liberated from the extreme limitations of what our flesh and unrighteousness can generate to walk in the liberty where He makes us free, empowered with unlimited grace to fulfill a purpose so much greater than our own apart from Him. This will transpire in a revelation that requires something more than just slurping the easy stuff, but chewing on the meat of Spirit-instructed revelation. This will produce teachers and not just students of a way that is ever upward and awakening.