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NOVEMBER 9
Hebrews 5:1–14
For every high priest taken from among
5 men is appointed for men in things per-
taining to God, that he may offer both gifts and 5:11 dull. The Hebrews’ spiritual lethargy and
sacrifices for sins. He can have compassion on slow response to gospel teaching prevented
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additional teaching at this time. This is a
those who are ignorant and going astray, since reminder that failure to appropriate the truth
he himself is also subject to weakness. Be- of the gospel produces stagnation in spiritual
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cause of this he is required as for the people, advancement and the inability to understand
so also for himself, to offer sacrifices for sins. or assimilate additional teaching (John 16:12).
And no man takes this honor to himself, but Such a situation exists also among the
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he who is called by God, just as Aaron was. Gentiles who have received revelatory truth
So also Christ did not glorify Himself to be- (natural or general revelation) from God in the
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come High Priest, but it was He who said to creation (Rom. 1:18–20). Rejection of that rev-
Him: elation results in a process of hardening (Rom.
1:21–32). The Hebrews had not only received
“You are My Son, the same general revelation, they had also
Today I have begotten You.”
received special revelation consisting of the
6 As He also says in another place: Old Testament scriptures (Rom. 9:4), the
Messiah Himself (Rom. 9:5), and the teaching
“You are a priest forever of the apostles (2:3,4). Until the Hebrews
According to the order of obeyed the revelation they had received and
Melchizedek”; obtained eternal salvation (v. 8), additional
who, in the days of His flesh, when He had of-
7 teaching about the Messiah’s Melchizedekan
fered up prayers and supplications, with vehe- priesthood would be of no profit to them.
ment cries and tears to Him who was able to
save Him from death, and was heard because 12 For though by this time you ought to be
of His godly fear, though He was a Son, yet He teachers, you need someone to teach you again
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learned obedience by the things which He suf- the first principles of the oracles of God; and you
fered. And having been perfected, He became have come to need milk and not solid food. For
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the author of eternal salvation to all who obey everyone who partakes only of milk is unskilled
Him, called by God as High Priest “according in the word of righteousness, for he is a babe.
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to the order of Melchizedek,” of whom we 14 But solid food belongs to those who are of full
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have much to say, and hard to explain, since age, that is, those who by reason of use have their
you have become dull of hearing. senses exercised to discern both good and evil.
DAY 9:Why does it say that Jesus “learned obedience”?
The context of Hebrews 5:7 makes it clear that “who, in the days of His flesh” refers back to
Christ,the main subject in v.5.In Gethsemane,Jesus agonized and wept,but committed Himself to
do the Father’s will in accepting the cup of suffering which would bring His death (Matt. 26:38–46;
Luke 22:44,45). Anticipating bearing the burden of judgment for sin, Jesus felt its fullest pain and
grief (Is.52:14;53:3–5,10).Though He bore the penalty in silence and did not seek to deliver Himself
from it (Is. 53:7), He did cry out from the agony of the fury of God’s wrath poured on His perfectly
holy and obedient Person (Matt.27:46;2 Cor.5:21).Jesus asked to be saved from remaining in death,
i.e., to be resurrected (Ps. 16:9,10).
“Though He was a Son,yet He learned obedience by the things which He suffered”(v.8).Christ
did not need to suffer in order to conquer or correct any disobedience. In His deity (as the Son of
God), He understood obedience completely. As the incarnate Lord, He humbled Himself to learn
(Luke 2:52).He learned obedience for the same reasons He bore temptation:to confirm His human-
ity and experience its sufferings to the fullest (2:10; Luke 2:52; Phil. 2:8). Christ’s obedience was also
necessary so that He could fulfill all righteousness (Matt.5:13) and thus prove to be the perfect sac-
rifice to take the place of sinners (1 Pet. 3:18). He was the perfectly righteous One, whose righ-
teousness would be imputed to sinners (Rom. 3:24–26).
“And having been perfected, He became the author of eternal salvation”(v. 9). Because of the
perfect righteousness of Jesus Christ and His perfect sacrifice for sin, He became the cause of sal-
vation. True salvation evidences itself in obedience to Christ, from the initial obedience to the
gospel command to repent and believe (Acts 5:32; Rom. 1:5; 2 Thess. 1:8; 1 Pet. 1:2,22; 4:17) to a life
pattern of obedience to the Word (Rom. 6:16).

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