Hebrews Chapter Five, As For The People, So For The Priest

 

Hebrews 5:2 He can have compassion on those who are ignorant and going astray, since he himself is also subject to weakness. [3] Because of this he is required as for the people, so also for himself, to offer sacrifices for sins.

 

Because the high priest is chosen from among men to minister on behalf of his brethren he can commiserate with their weaknesses. The author tells us that the high priest can exercise compassion on those who, through ignorance, go astray.

Ignorance is a defensible shield until understanding pierces it. The high priest approaches the ignorant with compassion. Here again we see Jesus our Lord represented, who always approached the downtrodden and ignorant with compassion, bearing the truth in love. We read, “so the priest shall make atonement for him regarding his ignorance in which he erred and did not know it, and it shall be forgiven him,” Leviticus 5:18. Ignorant sin is still sin, and imputed to the sinner, Leviticus 5:17. Yet the path to atonement lay open through the mediation of the high priest. The high priest demonstrates compassion by atoning for them and covering the sin they committed, demonstrating God’s forgiveness through this act.

 

Ignorance is spiritual blindness. God commands compassion toward the blind, and for those who see to lead them in the right way. To this end the high priest fulfills his ministry by recognizing ignorance from deliberation and acting accordingly. Our Lord pointedly showed the marked difference between the two states when, challenged by the Pharisees, He responded: “If you were blind, you would have no sin; but now you say, ‘We see.’ Therefore your sin remains,” John 9:41. Superior knowledge does not always translate into a more spiritual person. Sometimes it simply makes us arrogant, especially if that knowledge is isolated from godly love, which tempers arrogance and provides the basis for genuine edification, 1 Corinthians 8:1.

 

From Exodus into Deuteronomy we read the phrases “they shall bear their sin” or “they shall be cut off from their people.” The concept is that willful sin in the face of understanding immediately condemns the guilty. Later we read in Hebrews, “For if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins,” Hebrews 10:26. Knowledge puffs up; it also raises the risk factor, so to speak. Those who receive the knowledge of the truth need to go on to “receive the love of the truth,” which is synonymous with those that, “believe the truth,” 2 Thessalonians 2:10, 12. Knowledge must be internalized and become faith in the object of that knowledge’s focus, Hebrews 4:2.

 

Jesus warns us, “Therefore take heed how you hear. For whoever has, to him more will be given; and whoever does not have, even what he seems to have will be taken away,” Luke 8:18. Deliberate sin in the face of understanding in the times of Israel’s government meant being cut off from his people. This meant that the sinner understood the action being taken was wrong, as well as the consequences attendant to it, but pursued it regardless. The atonement made on his behalf by the high priest was treated with contempt, rather than embraced with worship when realization dawns that the lamb died to spare the sinner’s life. The same truth is valid for the ignorant, save for the fact that they did not know, or at least clearly understand, the danger their actions placed them in. Jesus, our perfect High Priest, was kind and tender toward the ignorant, while scathing in rebuke toward those who knew better but were no better.

 

The high priest empathizes with those going astray, we are told, because he is also subject to the same weaknesses we suffer. He is chosen of God, but as verse 1 related he is still a man under the curse of sin. Because of this truth he must sacrifice not only on behalf of the people he was chosen to represent, but as a fellow sinner. Leviticus 9:7, already cited, explains that the high priest must atone first for himself, and then for the people he is charged with. The high priest in this instance must recognize that he is no better than those he offers sacrifice on behalf of. The slain lamb represents his sin and death as well, which provides a special impetus for practicing compassion on the straying. If there was ever a restraint designed to hinder arrogance because of the lofty role given to him, it would be that first and foremost the high priest needed to recognize that his death was accomplished with the lamb’s sacrifice, too. Thus atoned for, he could extend that same spirit of grace toward all of Israel: the grace of a God whose provision offered a means of escape from sin’s penalty while satisfying God’s justice.