No one takes this honor upon himself; he must be called by God, just as Aaron was. So Christ also did not take upon himself the glory of becoming a high priest. But God said to him, “You are my Son; today I have become your Father.” And he says in another place, “You are a priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek.” Hebrews 5:4-6
Quoting Psalm 2:7 and 110:4, the writer shows us that God Himself appointed Jesus to be His Son as well as Priest. Melchizedek was both King of Salem and priest of the Most High God during the time of Abraham. Psalm 2 recognized the Son as King and Messiah as well. Jesus is our ultimate King-Priest, called and appointed by God.
From my MacArthur commentary...
the two titles [Son, Priest] are titles of subordination - the subordination not being in regard to essence or nature (cf. John 10:30, 14:9, 11), but in regard to the fulfillment of the program of redemption. Neither office diminished the eternal deity of Christ or the equality of the Trinity. Both offices had a beginning.
We have made subordination mean inequality and yet it is not always so - certainly not in this case! Reminds me of submission as well. Submission does not mean inequality either.
1 comment:
Very good point about submission not meaning inequality. Also, to go back to yesterday's verses for a moment, isn't it comforting to know that because God sent Jesus to us in human form, now that he is our high priest we can truly know that he understands what it is to be human and be tempted?
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