5:4-6
“No one takes this honour on himself”. Aaron did not apply for the job of high priest! He was appointed by God. LIkewise, a whole tribe was appointed by God to serve as priests. They were “called by God”. Jesus was called by God, appointed by Him. In John’s gospel there is frequent reference to Jesus being the one sent by the Father. Here the writer refers again to Ps 2:7, with respect to Jesus being the Son of God. Now one might wonder why the writer brings this up here. What has it got to do with Jesus being the Great High Priest? It seems that this is leading on to the next verse. Jesus is both the Son and the Great High Priest. For he then quotes Ps 110:4. Ps 110 was quoted by Jesus and is perhaps the quintessential messianic psalm. We get the first mention of Melchizedek. Much more will be said about this later in the letter.
5:7
“In the days of His flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to Him who was able to save Him from death.” What is this referring to? There are two main contenders. One is Jesus’ prayers in Gethsemane, and the other is His cries on the cross. The former seems the more likely to me, though it could be referring to both. There were other times when He prayed for Jerusalem or the people, but the verse here specifically refers to God being able to save Him from death, so a time when the cross was imminent seems the most suitable. The prayers in Gethsemane clearly demonstrate the humanity of Jesus, and that the cross was no act.
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