Come and Go Sunday School Lesson by Dr. Frank Carver and Dr. Herb Prince for Sunday, 8 June 2014

Come and Go Sunday School Lesson by Dr. Frank Carver and Dr. Herb Prince for Sunday, 8 June 2014

GOD HAS SPOKEN

The Education of Jesus

Part One

(Hebrews Sixteen)[The following outline is that of Kevin L. Anderson, Hebrews: A Commentary In The Wesleyan Tradition, New Beacon Bible Commentary (Kansas City: Beacon Hill Press, 2013), 5-6. I. Hearing the Apostle and High Priest of Our Confession: Hebrews 1:1—4:13 II. Jesus’ Superior High Priesthood: Hebrews 4:14—10:18 The Qualifications of the Great High Priest (4:14—5:10). The Great High Priest (4:14-16). Qualifications of Ordinary High Priests (5:1-4) Qualifications of the High Priest like Melchizedek (5:5-10) Preparing for Advanced Teaching on Christ’s High Priesthood (5:11—6:20) The High Priest like Melchizedek: The Son Perfected Forever (7:1-28). The Superior Ministry of the Son’s High Priethood (8:1—10:18) III. Call to Persevering Faith and Acceptable Worship: Hebrews 10:19--13:25]

Hebrews 5:1 For every high priest, being taken from among men, is appointed for men in things pertaining to God, that he may offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins. 2 The high priest can deal gently with those who are ignorant and going astray, because he himself is also surrounded with weakness. 3 Because of this, he must offer sacrifices for sins for the people, as well as for himself. 4 Nobody takes this honor on himself, but he is called by God, just like Aaron was. 5 So also Christ didn’t glorify himself to be made a high priest, but it was he who said to him, “You are my Son. Today I have become your father.”[Hebrews 5:5 Psalm 2:7] 6 As he says also in another place, “You are a priest forever, after the order of Melchizedek.”[Hebrews 5:6 Psalm 110:4] 7 He, in the days of his flesh, having offered up prayers and petitions with strong crying and tears to him who was able to save him from death, and having been heard for his godly fear, 8 though he was a Son, yet learned obedience by the things which he suffered. 9 Having been made perfect, he became to all of those who obey him the author of eternal salvation, 10 named by God a high priest after the order of Melchizedek. 11 About him we have many words to say, and hard to interpret, seeing you have become dull of hearing. 12 For although by this time you should be teachers, you again need to have someone teach you the rudiments of the first principles of the revelations of God. You have come to need milk, and not solid food. 13 For everyone who lives on milk is not experienced in the word of righteousness, for he is a baby. 14 But solid food is for those who are full grown, who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern good and evil.(World English Bible)

Hebrews 5:8, 14:       “Although he was a Son, he learned obedience through what he

suffered; and having been made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him. . . . But solid food is for the mature, for those whose faculties have been trained by practice to distinguish good from evil.”

How does Moses make his tea?

Hebrews it![From Tommy Williams.]

It is a crisis of spiritual action. . . .The object is not proof but life. The appeal is . . . to the will.[P. T. Forsyth, Positive Preaching and the Modern Mind (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1980 [reprint from1907 edition by A. C. Armstrong and Son]), 14. Forsyth is talking about what the Bible is for the preacher.]

Introduction

The Hebrews passage before us, 5:1-14, is too heavy to be carried all in one load. So we have arbitrarily split it into two studies that belong conceptually together, 5:1-7 and 5:8-14. The core of verses 1-14 come when the author of Hebrews tells us that Jesus “learned obedience through what he suffered.” Question: Did Jesus need to learn “to obey”? What do you think? How do you understand this statement? The important question that follows is “What are we to learn from Jesus’ education as one of us?

We have seen that all our author desires to say is already in essence set forth in 1:1—4:16. Our last study on 4:14-16 summed it all up in an exalted declaration, “we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God,” which closes with what we should do with its truth: “Let us therefore approach the throne of grace with boldness, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” Easier said than done! We humans are often blind to grace!

So beginning with 5:1, the writer seeks to help us in the next nine chapters to understand what he has said thus far; he desires that we further open our heads and hearts to the magnificent speech of God in “a Son” (1:2). He seeks to enable us more fully to grasp in our minds “the word of God” (4:12), which will enlarge our hearts in ways that transform our “faith”-ful living; he wants to make us all practicing theologians—to think and live more biblically and accurately as Christians!

In 5:1-10, the writer to the Hebrews gives a kind of preliminary picture as he sets forth a brief comparison of two priesthoods—a Levitical high priest and Jesus as a high priest of a different kind. This he does in two brief paragraphs, each only one long sentence in Greek: 5:1-4 and 5:5-10.

We begin with

I.

Ordinary High Priests

5:1-4

1Every high priest chosen from among mortals is put in charge of things pertaining to God on their behalf, to offer gifts and sacrifices for sins.2He is able to deal gently with the ignorant and wayward, since he himself is subject to weakness; 3and because of this he must offer sacrifice for his own sins as well as for those of the people.4And one does not presume to take this honor, but takes it only when called by God, just as Aaron was.

We face two basic questions: “What is this high priest like,” and “What does he do?” Verse 1 can be labeled “virtually a dictionary definition of high priest”[Anderson, Hebrews 162. Bold type is NIV text.]: “Every high priest chosen from among mortals is put in charge of things pertaining to God on their behalf, to offer gifts and sacrifices for sins.” A high priest is selected from among men and appointed to represent them, the people, in matters related to God. This is their function, further defined as offering “gifts and sacrifices for sins.”

The pairing of “gifts and sacrifices” (also in 8:3 and 9:9) is best understood “as a comprehensive expression for the sacrificial duties of a high priest.”[Anderson, Hebrews 162.] But for what “sins” are they offered? First, is the author talking about the daily sin offerings (7:27; 10:11) or those offered on the Day of Atonement (9:25; 10:1, 3)? F. F. Bruce, famous among a past generation of evangelical scholars thinks the latter:

it emerges clearly in the course of his later argument that the particular sin offerings which he has in mind are those presented annually on the Day of Atonement; that was the occasion above all others on which the high priest in person was required to discharge the sacrificial functions.”[F. F. Bruce, The Epistle to the Hebrews, The New International Commentary on the New Testament (Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, rev. ed. 1990), 119. Bruce was professor at the University of Manchester in the same city as our Nazarene Theological College with friendly and co-operative relations between them.]

So, “What sins are in view?” In the Old Testament, they would be sins of “ignorance” or “sins unintentionally” (Leviticus 4:2, 13) in contrast to the sins of the “high hand” (Numbers 15:22-31). The sins of ignorance were pardonable; the sin of presumption was not.

But for the Jews the sins of ignorance meant more than simple lack of knowledge. They included the sins committed when a one is swept away in a moment of impulse or anger or passion, when one is mastered by some overmastering temptation, when a man repented in sorrow for something that he had done. But by the sin of presumption they meant the cold, deliberate, calculated sin for which one is not in the least sorry, the open-eyed disobedience to God. The priest existed then to open the way for the above first class of sinner back to God – so long as the sinner wanted to return.[William Barclay, The Letter to the Hebrews, Daily Study Bible Series (Philadelphia: Westminster, rev. ed. 1976), 43f. This background will help us understand the meaning of Hebrews 10:26: “For if we willfully persist in sin after having received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins.”]

With the function of the high priest presented in verse 1, verses 2 and 3 set forth the first characteristic of a high priest, how he is qualified to be such. The Levitical priest, by being human with weakness “an unavoidable and pervasive” part of his own life along with all men, can “deal gently” with those “who ignorantly go astray.”[Harold W. Attridge, The Epistle to the Hebrews, Hermeneia (Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1989). 144.] Therefore, “he must offer sacrifice for his own sins as well as for those of the people.” The “sins” are not the high-handed deliberate sins of the wilderness generation—they did not enter, but the more unintentional sins due to human weakness. With some holiness folk, just mistakes? Hardly, we know what we are doing in our weak moments!
The second characteristic of a high priest is his divine appointment, already indicated in verse 1--“chosen”—and now declared plainly in verse 4: “And one does not presume to take this honor, but takes it only when called by God, just as Aaron was.” Anderson notes that “the divine ordination of Aaron, and the hereditary succession of his office, are unquestioned facts about the priesthood”[Anderson, Hebrews, 164. Bold type is NIV text.] in the Old Testament. No one takes “this honor” upon himself, but must be “selected” and “called by God.”
Now what is Jesus like as a high priest and what does he do? The writer to the Hebrews strangely declares that Jesus is a priest of a different kind altogether, he is fully qualified to be

II.

An Extraordinary High Priest

5:5-10

The writer to the Hebrews presents Jesus’ high priesthood first

as

1.

One “designated by God”

5:5-6

5So also Christ did not glorify himself in becoming a high priest, but was appointed by the one who said to him, “You are my Son, today I have begotten you”; 6as he says also in another place, “You are a priest forever, according to the order of Melchizedek.”

In the two Greek sentences that make up our text, verses 1-4 and 5-10, the second sentence picks up where the first left off, with Jesus’ appointment as high priest: “Christ did not glorify himself in becoming a high priest.” The “one,” God, whose voice Jesus heard speaking in the Psalms, appointed him. The two Psalm citations “bring together the twin emphases of Hebrews Christology: Jesus as the Son of God and high priest”[Anderson, Hebrews, 165.] for the first time.
The first is the familiar Psalm 2:7, “You are my Son, today I have begotten you,” a messianic text which in ancient Israel indicated the divine coronation of the Messiah as the royal heir to the throne of God as we have already cited from Psalm 110:1: “Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for my feet” (1:13, 1:3). The same voice spoke in another Psalm text, a rather surprising choice: “You are a priest forever, according to the order of Melchizedek” (Psalm 110:4).

The first Psalm citation (2:7) suggests Christ’s fitness for the office of high priest; the second, based on the irrevocable oath of God, “the LORD has sworn and will not change his mind” (110:4), designates the “how” of Christ’s high priesthood—“a priest forever.” As descendant of David and not Levi, Jesus’ priesthood is of another order or likeness entirely, that of the mysterious Genesis figure, Melchizedek, to whom Abraham gave a tithe on his return from defeating the kings who had taken Lot captive (Genesis 14:1-24). Jesus divine appointment as “a priest forever, according to the order of Melchizedek” is his first qualification to fulfill the role of a high priest (vv. 5-6).[We will deal more with Jesus’ priesthood “according to the order of Melchizedek” when we come to chapter 7. See the lesson “In the Beginning God” “Genesis Sixteen: Who Was Melchizedek?” (April 22, 2012).]

Jesus second qualification to fulfill the role of high priest (vv. 7-8) is of such significance that we will treat it in two stages, in each of the two parts of our study of Hebrews 5:1-14. First we look at Jesus life of prayer,

2.

How “Jesus offered up prayers”

5:7

7In the days of his flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to the one who was able to save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission.

This was the writer to the Hebrews report about how Jesus prayed. The question always asked about this brief description is, “Is the author here reflecting on Jesus’ experience in the Garden of Gethsemane?” In the Gospel of Mark we read that

They went to a place called Gethsemane, and [Jesus] said to his disciples, “Sit here while I pray.” He took with him Peter and James and John, and began to be distressed and agitated. And said to them, “I am deeply grieved, even to death, remain here, and keep awake (14:32-34).

Luke adds to the description: “In his anguish he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat became like great drops of blood falling down on the ground” (22:44).[Another possibility for the background is the voices of the righteous-sufferer found in the Psalms. See Attridge, Hebrews, 149. Anderson, Hebrews, 167, favors viewing the Hebrews account as a reflection of the Gethsemane experience in the light of the Christian use of the righteous-sufferer psalm material.]
The phrase “in the days of his flesh” refers to the historical incarnate life of Jesus on earth viewed from the vantage point of Christ as high priest. But it does not mean that Jesus no longer shares in our common humanity.[Anderson, Hebrews, 166.] Jesus is forever “very man”! He forever knows intimately the depth of human weakness; he experienced the messiness of our fallen existence. As Jesus prayed, his “prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears” were typical of traditional Jewish piety.[Jesus’ “prayers and supplications” were “offered up” (v. 7) to God just as the Levitical priest offered “gifts and sacrifices for sins” (v. 3). The sacrificial nuance in 5:7 from 5:3 is retained.] That Jesus prayed “to the one who was able to save him from death” points to the content of his prayer. As Anderson asks,

How could Jesus truly share “in every way” in our flesh-and-blood humanity (2:17), and “taste death for everyone” (2:9), without also experiencing the recoil and dread toward death that have been the common lot of humankind (2:15)?.[Anderson, Hebrews, 169.]

And although Jesus was not delivered “from” but delivered “up” to death,[Romans 8:32. NRSV reads, “He who did not withhold his own Son, but gave him up for all of us . . . ”] “he was heard because of his reverent submission.” God accepted Jesus’ prayers as he expressed the godly fear, the same disposition of “reverence” that we as God’s people are to express when we pray, when we give ourselves to the worship God in all of life. When we think about this submitting of ourselves in reverence to God, Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s faith is instructive:

I believe that God can and will let good come out of everything, even the greatest evil. For that to happen, God needs human beings who let everything work out for the best. I believe that in every moment of distress God will give us as much strength to resist as we need. But it is not given to us in advance, lest we rely on ourselves and not on God alone. In such faith all fear of the future should be overcome. I believe that even our mistakes and shortcomings are not in vain and that it is no more difficult for God to deal with them than with our supposedly good deeds. I believe that God is no timeless fate but waits for and responds to sincere prayer and responsible actions.[DBWE 8, 46. This occurs in “After Ten Years” presented to his family and friends, Christmas 1942, before Bonhoeffer’s arrest on April 5, 1943.]

And to what extent does this kind of faith also characterize Jesus’ “reverent submission” in the crucial moments of his life—even as he faced the cross?

Conclusion

When we continue with our next lesson at verse 8 with Jesus’ second qualification to fulfill the role of high priest, we have the following theological affirmations to understand and to assimilate into our lives of faith as Christians:

8Although he was a Son, he learned obedience through what he suffered; 9and having been made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him; 10and having been made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him, having been designated by God a high priest according to the order of Melchizedek (vv. 8-10).

As we bring together the discussion just completed and the one we hope to have a few weeks hence, one question we are asking about Jesus is, “How does the following quotation from Dietrich Bonhoeffer relate to the incarnate or human life of Jesus?” In the crucibles of his life did Bonhoeffer catch the spirit/Spirit of Jesus himself?

Who stands firm? Only the one whose ultimate standard is not his reason, his principles, conscience, freedom, or virtue; only the one who is prepared to sacrifice all of these when, in faith and in relationship to God alone, he is called to obedient and responsible action. Such a person is the responsible one, whose life is to be nothing but a response to God’s question and call. Where are these responsible ones?[DBWE 8, 40. Same source as above which was “written as a New Year’s reflection on the events and issues of the past months as the conspiracy had gained momentum.” Quoted from John W. De Gruchy, “Editor’s Introduction to the English Edition,” DBWE 8, 11.]

In God’s providence, these words are directed to us as humans, but Jesus was as human as we are!
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