Hebrews 5:1-4

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.

Jesus is our High Priest.  There are ways in which He is similar to the priests that served the nation of Israel and there are ways in which the differences between the two of them are stark.  The author of Hebrews describes what Israel’s priests were like in this passage so we can see some of these similarities and differences.

PRIESTS REPRESENT MEN BEFORE GOD: The basic job description of a priest is to represent God to the people and the people before God.  The priests in Israel were chosen from among the men and for the men to represent those men before God.  He would offer sacrifices on behalf of the sins of the people.  Jesus was far more than this because He offered Himself as a sacrifice for our sin.  While priests were offering sheep and other innocent animals as sacrifice for our sin, Jesus offers His own body as the perfect, innocent and ultimate sacrifice.  The priests were only foreshadowing this saving sacrifice.

PRIESTS UNDERSTAND SIN AGAINST GOD: The priests could deal gently with the people he represented because he understood perfectly how easy it was to sin and how hard it was to live in obedience because he experienced the same things.  The priest would have to offer sacrifices for himself as well as others because he too was a sinner.  He related perfectly to sinners because he was one.  As he was responsible to make these sacrifices, he certainly would have been more attuned to the holiness of God and the terrible cost of sin; but he was still a sinner.  Jesus relates to us because He was tempted in every way as we are and suffered even greater levels of temptation, yet He never gave into that temptation.  His perfection is what made His sacrifice effectual. 

PRIESTS ARE CALLED BY GOD: Priests do not become priests by their own choosing.  They were appointed by God and recognized by the people.  They were given the authority to do the things they did because of their familial relationship to Aaron and their adherence to the standards revealed by God.  Jesus was appointed by God as the supreme sacrifice because He is the Son of God.  No other person on the planet throughout the history of the world could have done what He did.  Jesus is the only one chosen by God to be able to accomplish redemptions story.

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