Equipping University

My grandfather died during my sophomore year in high school. He did not have much in the way of material possessions. Therefore, when he died, each member of the family received certain items that do not amount to much in financial terms but are priceless in an emotional sense. The only bad side to receiving an inheritance, no matter how large or little, is that someone must die first. The author of Hebrews labors to make this point in the passage we study next. In the latter half of chapter nine, the author mentions a "promised eternal inheritance" that is set aside for "those who are called" (9:15). However, the only way these individuals can receive this incredible prize is for a certain death to occur.

If you have ever gotten blood on your clothes, you know how difficult it is to remove that stain. Because of this, we would never think of blood as a cleansing agent. We know that blood stains; it does not clean. Blood is something we try to scrub off, not scrub with! Yet the Bible speaks often of the cleaning power of blood. It is certain that the ancient Israelites knew nothing of the cleansing nature of blood. However, in his infinite wisdom and as part of his eternal plan, God gave to them a practice that would serve as a metaphor or type to explain his ability to cleanse his people from the greatest of stains: sin. In the previous chapter of Hebrews, we discovered that the Lord initiated a new covenant with his people to replace the old covenant established under Moses and the Law. Jeremiah's declaration of the new covenant revealed all that God would do in this unconditional covenant but the prophet did not mention anything about blood. However, six hundred years later, Christ instituted the new covenan

Suppose you had previously traveled to Orlando's "Holy Land Experience" and later you were invited to travel to Israel. Suppose further that you replied, "I think I'll pass. I've already been to the Holy Land Experience. There's no need for me to go to Israel." What would people think of that decision? It is ludicrous to think that seeing a few replicas in Florida would be the equivalent of actually traveling to Israel to see those same objects in reality. The author of Hebrews asks the same question to his readers in the eighth chapter of his letter. He asks, "Are you going to give up on the real thing to chase after a replica?" The rites and rituals of Judaism are shadows of the real thing that is in heaven.

The writer of Hebrews is a pastor at heart and he will not engage in reckless pastoral care. He loves this particular flock too much to let some of them slowly drift away without telling them the painful truth. He writes harshly at times to fulfill his commission as a shepherd. In fact, this strong concern for his people motivated him to write the letter to the Hebrews and include several warnings, admonitions, and exhortations. He was not afraid to "get in their face" and speak the truth in love. This particular chapter, perhaps the most controversial in the entire letter, is one of those times.

The author has just completed a lengthy section filled with exhortation. He knows another similar exhortation is needed shortly. In between these two exhortations, he introduces a new image to his readers: the picture of the Jewish High Priest. This passage in Hebrews 5 serves as an introduction to an extended discussion of Christ as the Christian's Great High Priest. In this brief introduction, the author does not intend to answer every question about this particular role or to even raise every issue he will later discuss. Instead, this passage serves to provide a broad sweep of Christ's priestly ministry relative to the role of the Old Testaments priests. We will see that Jesus meets and exceeds every requirement to be a Great High Priest.

The author of Hebrews wrote his letter while the Temple was still standing. He did not know that the great building would be destroyed in just a matter of years. However, his letter to a group of Jewish Christians in Rome provided the answers to the questions that their Jewish family members would have been asking them repeatedly: "You have no priests in this new Christian religion. How do you have access to God?" Little did their Jewish friends and family know that they would face the same situation in a very short time. The desire for a "stand-in" or mediator between God and man is a real one and a good one. As Protestants, we rarely consider the importance of a priest. we do need a priest and we have the ultimate High Priest representing us before God - Jesus Christ. With Jesus as our Great High Priest, We have a great hope. That particular understanding is the goal of the author of Hebrews and that answer is the one he wanted his readers to be able to give to questioning Jews and pagans.