Hebrews chapter 5 - A commentary

The writer discusses the following matters:

The High Priesthood:  This office was established in the O.T. by God through Aaron. He had to offer sacrifices for the people and himself constantly for sins (vs. 1-4).

The High Priesthood of Jesus Christ:  The marked difference between the Aaronic priesthood and that of Christ’s is that Jesus was the sacrifice himself for sin. He could not offer a sacrifice in his stead like the O.T. priests did for those were types of the perfect sacrifice that was made by Christ himself. Jesus agonized over the fact that he would be made sin on our behalf. He was not afraid to die, it was the manner in how he had to die that he was saddened over. Being made sin, God had to unleash his wrath on his Son and turn his back on him (Isaiah 53:1-5; II Corinthians 5:21).

Jesus learned obedience by the things he suffered (vs. 7-9):  Jesus being perfect did not learn obedience because he was unfamiliar with it. In his humanity it was essential he did all the Father commanded him so that he could fulfill all righteousness (Matthew 3:15).

Christ in His humanness humbled himself so that he could learn obedience which is a dichotomy for he is the exact object of the believer’s obedience. Once again, Christ is displaying his supreme love for those whom he came to die for; identifying himself with sinners.

Immaturity of Hebrew believers:  The writer rebukes the Hebrews for not being more spiritually in-tuned to the things he’s relaying to them. They should have been further along in their understanding of Jesus’ priesthood and that of his predecessor Melchizedek along with the gospel in general (vs. 11-14).