Hebrews 5:2,3 - He is able to deal gently

 5:2

Sin is deadly serious. Jesus had to die on the cross to deal with the problem. The wages of sin are death (Rom 6:23), but the priest is “able to deal gently”. The Levitical priest was able to do this because he was also subject to weakness. Now Jesus was not subject to weakness, for He had no sin, but He is able to sympathise (or empathise) with us (Heb 4:15). It talks here of those who are “ignorant and going astray”. Sin can be a result of outright rebellion, it is always a result of ignorance. The ultimate results of sin are absolutely terrible, and no sane person would ever contemplate sinning. Yet we all do. Our minds are fatally flawed.

5:3

So because of the sinfulness of the Levitical priest, he had to offer sacrifices for his own sins, as well as for the sins of the people. Jesus had no sins of His own. So in the Levitical priesthood we see many good features, but also a fundamental flaw, the priest himself was a sinner. In Christ we have all of the good features, but without the sin.