Ephesians 2:1-10
For 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. He can deal gently with the ignorant and wayward, since he himself is beset with weakness. Because of this he is obligated to offer sacrifice for his own sins just as he does for those of the people. And no one takes this honor for himself, but only when called by God, just as Aaron was.
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”;
as he says also in another place,
“You are a priest forever,
after the order of Melchizedek.”
In the days of his flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to him who was able to save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverence. Although he was a son, he learned obedience through what he suffered. And being made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey him, being designated by God a high priest after the order of Melchizedek.
Welcome to Getting ready for Sunday, a podcast of first Lutheran Church. Each week I introduced the readings for the upcoming Sunday with some notes and explanation so you can be ready for worship when you arrive. I look at the Old Testament, song, epistle and Gospel reading for the upcoming Sunday and offer a few notes and explanation. The Epistle reading for Sunday March 17, comes from Hebrews chapter five verses one through 10. For 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. He can deal gently with the ignorant and wayward since he himself is beset with weakness. Because of this, he is obligated to offer sacrifice for his own sins, just as he does for those of the people. And no one takes this honor for himself, but only when called by God, just as Aaron was. 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. As he says, also, in another place, you are a priest forever, after the order of Melchizedek. In the days of his flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears to him who was able to save from death. And he was heard because of his reference, although he was a Son, He learned obedience through what He suffered. And being made perfect, He became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey Him, being designated by God, a high priest after the order of Melchizedek. Here ends the reading. Hebrews focuses a whole lot on the ancient practices of the temple and the tabernacle, the priests in the sacrificial system. So we're looking at something about that. Now, let's dive in. For 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. So this is an important piece of the priesthood in ancient Israel, is you couldn't sign up to become a priest, you were always appointed by birth. And so it was the Levites, who were the priest. And so it's not just high priests. But all priests were born into that if you were a Levite, then you were a part of this priesthood. Now, that meant that by ancient Israel's times, when Jesus was around, there were a whole bunch of them. And so they had to take turns, only a few were full time and permanent. But the high priest, he was also appointed, you didn't get to sign up or choose, he was chosen by descent through the the line, the family line of Aaron. And that's why it says every high priest is chosen from among men, and is appointed to act on behalf of men to offer these gifts and sacrifices. pretty similarly, we, within the Lutheran church believe that pastors don't get to stand up and say, I want to be a pastor, we have to be called by God through His church, it's a regular call is what we call it. And so when someone decides to enter the seminary, that doesn't make them a pastor, when they graduate from the seminary doesn't make them a pastor, what makes them a pastor, when they are called by a congregation ordained and installed and then they are, they're appointed. It's a little bit of an aside, but an important thing for us to understand. So the reading continues, he can deal gently with the ignorant and wayward since he himself is beset with weakness. Because of this, he is obligated to offer sacrifice for his own sins, just as he does for those that the people. Now this was one of the problems with the high priests of the ancient days is that they were sinners. And so they couldn't offer up perfect sacrifices without also offering up a sacrifice for themselves. So in ceremonies like the Day of Atonement, the high priest would offer up a sacrifice for himself and for his family, and then offer up a sacrifice for the people. He had to purify himself before he could present himself to the mercy seat to go into the tabernacle, and and see the Ark of the Covenant and then offer the sacrifices for the rest of the people. And so, this points out that the high priests of before Jesus, were all saying enters. And on one hand, they could Gee deal gently, because they understood, I'm a sinner, you're a sinner, we're not going to, we're not going to get all high and mighty. But it also meant that they couldn't offer a perfection the way Jesus would. And so it goes continues to talk about being appointed. It says that no one takes this honor for himself, but only when called by God, just as Aaron was. 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. As he says, also, in another place, you are a priest forever, after the order of Melchizedek. So Jesus did not stand up and say, I'm a high priest. And this is important to recognize, somewhere in the background, the author of Hebrews is likely thinking, well, if Jesus is a high priest, how is that even possible? He wasn't a son of Aaron, he wasn't even of the tribe of Levi, come on, guys. He can't be a priest. I mean, he's the savior and all but he's still there's no way you can, you can connect him to these high priestly rituals. So the author of Hebrews has to say, well, priests are appointed. And if you're appointed by God, you don't have to run through the family line of Aaron. And so Jesus didn't stand up and say, Now I'm a priest. What he was is from the Psalms, you are my son, today I have begotten you. And then later, another soul. You are a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek. Now the order of Melchizedek is interesting. You have to go back to Genesis chapter 14, where Abraham ends up winning a battle, and there are spoils. And there comes this king of Salem Melchizedek, who's also a priest of God Most High, the Abraham gives the priest a 10th, of everything he has, and the Melchizedek blesses him from God most high to weird story in the Bible, because this is like a random priest out of the middle of nowhere. And you say, this is a positive depiction of a priest in Canaan, must been the God Most High is the true God. And that Melchizedek is a priest of God Most High, outside of Aaron's line. And that's the key here, you are a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek is a priest, Jesus, who is not because he is descended from Aaron, are the Levites. But because he is appointed by God in a special way outside the normal order, because he is the Son of God. So then, it moves on to Jesus's duties as high priest. In the days of his flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears to him, who is able to save him from death. So the high priest is appointed to act on behalf of men in relation to God. And Jesus offered up prayers and supplications. And when he went to death, he cried out to him who was able to save him from his death. And it says, And he was heard because of his reverence. Jesus Christ was the perfect high priest, who cried out in trust and hope when he died on a cross, knowing that his father would raise him from the debt. It continues, although he was a Son, He learned obedience through what He suffered. No, Jesus didn't need to learn to obey God, he did it all on his own. What this is showing us is this perfect perfection of Christ, who enters into our space becomes weak, like us, and then is is perfect. He follows God's law perfectly, offers Himself as a sacrifice so that we can have eternal life. And it says, And being made perfect, He became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey Him, being designated by God, a High Priest, after the order of Melchizedek. And so Jesus becomes the source of our eternal salvation to all who follow him. He uses the word obey, not in a rules, like you got to follow all the rules or else you're out, but those who follow Christ, hear His word and respond with faith. That's what it means to obey. And so Christ then becomes the source of eternal salvation as the high priest after the order of Melchizedek. That's all we have for today. We'll see you on Sunday. Bye
Transcribed by https://otter.ai