MENU

New Testament Reading - Jesus, our High Priest

^1-3The Jewish high priest is merely a man like anyone else, but he is chosen to speak for all other men in their dealings with God. He presents their gifts to God and offers to him the blood of animals that are sacrificed to cover the sins of the people and his own sins too. And because he is a man, he can deal gently with other men, though they are foolish and ignorant, for he, too, is surrounded with the same temptations and understands their problems very well.

⁴Another thing to remember is that no one can be a high priest just because he wants to be. He has to be called by God for this work in the same way God chose Aaron.

⁵That is why Christ did not elect himself to the honor of being High Priest; no, he was chosen by God. God said to him, “My Son, today I have honored you.”^{a 6}And another time God said to him, “You have been chosen to be a priest forever, with the same rank as Melchizedek.”

⁷Yet while Christ was here on earth he pleaded with God, praying with tears and agony of soul to the only one who would save him from premature^b death. And God heard his prayers because of his strong desire to obey God at all times.

⁸And even though Jesus was God’s Son, he had to learn from experience what it was like to obey when obeying meant suffering. ⁹It was after he had proved himself perfect in this experience that Jesus became the Giver of eternal salvation to all those who obey him. ¹⁰For remember that God has chosen him to be a High Priest with the same rank as Melchizedek.

1. Literally, “begotten you.” Probably the reference is to the day of Christ’s resurrection.
2. Implied. Christ’s longing was to live until he could die on the cross for all mankind. There is a strong case to be made that Satan’s great desire was that Christ should die prematurely, before the mighty work at the cross could be performed. Christ’s body, being human, was frail and weak like ours (except that his was sinless). He had said just a few moments before, “My soul is exceeding sorrowful unto death.” And can a human body live long under such pressure of spirit as he underwent in the Garden, that caused sweating of great drops of blood? But God graciously heard and answered his anguished cry in Gethsemane (“Let this cup pass from me”) and preserved him from seemingly imminent and premature death: for an angel was sent to strengthen him so that he could live to accomplish God’s perfect will at the cross. But some readers may prefer the explanation that Christ’s plea was that he be saved out from death at the resurrection.