2007 Book of Hebrews Series – “The Suffering Servant”
Hebrews 5:1-10
Sermon preached at Curwensville Presbyterian Church – March 25, 2007

Prayer Introduction: You wake up in the morning – “Here we go again.” What will it be today: your demanding kids, your demanding boss, your aching back, your unsupportive spouse, your nosy neighbor, your mother, brother – maybe all of these? You will suffer in some way, today – that’s a guarantee.

A mother tells of wearing a T-shirt with the words: BE NICE TO ME. I HAD A HARD DAY. Her little boy looked at the words and said, “How can you tell this early in the morning?”

It’s a guarantee. Today will be a hard day. So will tomorrow. Sure, some days are harder than others. Thankfully, some days – as rare as they may seem – go without a major catastrophe.

If suffering is such a surety in our life, why are we so surprised when it happens? The co-worker’s jab, the friend’s betrayal, the doctor’s diagnosis.

And if suffering is such a surety in our live, why are we so unprepared for it? Some would say, “Suck it up and deal with it;” but that just makes us bitter. Others would say, “Change your life (your situation);” but new situations will still involve suffering. And so our practice is usually to try and cope with it with some sort of sinful habit (escapist TV, food, alcohol, drugs, busyness) the things that make for New Year’s Resolutions.

Our passage this morning – Hebrews 5:1-10 – will show us (through the eyes of the suffering servant) that God has a purpose for our suffering – and therefore we should rejoice in it.

Let’s pray as we begin…We pray now for the preacher in the pulpit. He is not worthy, but by your grace he is able. And so it is through Jesus Christ that we pray – Amen!

I. The Same, but Different (vv.1-6)

“It is easier said than done.” That’s true of many things isn’t it? Especially when it comes to rejoicing in our sufferings. God’s Word is never just about saying something that is true. God wants to make it true in your life. So we need to walk carefully through His Word, in order to change the way we walk in our life.

            The first 6 verses emphasize how Christ is the same, but also how he is different, from every Old Testament high priest before him. There were two key qualifications for high priest: (1) They must be selected from among men and (2) they must be called by God.

Let’s begin with the first 3 verses showing Jesus selected from among men. READ Heb. 5:1-3.

(A) From among men (v.1a)

Have you ever said, or heard someone say, “Why doesn’t God show himself? Why doesn’t he speak in a booming voice from the clouds, or send an angel to direct us?” In the first phrase of verse 1 we see that “Every high priest is selected from among men.” God leads his people with people. Even the high priest must be human. This is why God’s angels can not serve as high priest. And this is why Jesus had to be born fully human – in order to lead the men of God as a man of God.

            Jesus is LIKE every other high priest in that he was fully human. This is what we celebrate every Christmas: the incarnation of the Christ – the Son of God being born – God in a bod; God in a human body. Do you remember the three gifts brought by the Magi? Gold, Frankincense and Myrrh. Do you remember what those gifts represent? Gold, because Christ fulfills the office of King. Myrrh, because Christ fulfills the office of Prophet. And Frankincense, because Christ fulfills the office of Priest.

            Jesus – born fully human – is the great High King, Prophet, and Priest.

            But Jesus is UNLIKE every other high priest in that he was also fully divine. This key difference is important in three ways:

(1) For Men (v.1b)

First, the high priest was selected from among men, “For Men.” Verse 1 says the high priest, “is appointed to represent them (God’s people) in matters related to God.” In a courtroom, a defendant has legal representation. So it is that in God’s courtroom we need representation. We are guilty and so we need really good representation

            Jesus is LIKE every other high priest in that he represents God’s people.

            Jesus is UNLIKE every other high priest in that he is perfectly holy. In secular courts the lawyer can be just as crooked as the guilty defendant; but in the heavenly courts we have Jesus – who is perfectly holy. Anyone else glad for that?! Who would you rather have representing you to God – a fellow sinner, or God’s perfect Son? And yet we often try to go to God without Jesus.

            We make backward plea bargains – God if you do this, then I will do this. If you get me a pay raise, then I will begin tithing. If you give me good weather and obedient kids, then I will go to church.

            We, backwardly, ask for God to give us something, before we do anything – forgetting that God has already given us his Son.

(2) With Sacrifice (v.1c)

And God’s Son did not come empty-handed, but with a sacrifice. The last phrase of verse 1 says that the high priest came “to offer gifts and sacrifices for sins.”

            Jesus is LIKE every other high priest in that he brings a sacrifice.

Jesus is UNLIKE every other high priest in that He is the sacrifice. Turn back to Hebrews 2:17 (which we looked at a few weeks back) – “For this reason he (Jesus) had to be made like his brothers in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people.”

When someone does something wrong, they need to atone for it. But how can we pay God back for how we have wronged him? A high priest brought a sacrificial offering to God as atonement; but the blood of a bull could not make full payment. Only the sacrifice of one who has never sinned – could atone fully for our sins.

            When we place our financial offerings in the offering plate, we are not trying to pay God back for our sins; instead, we acknowledge, with thanksgiving, the offering that Jesus made of himself – the ultimate sacrifice.

(3) Suffering Like Men (vv.2-3)

Which leads us to the third way that Jesus – as fully human, but yet fully divine – serves as our high priest. Verses 2-3 tell us that high priests were to deal gently with sinners as a fellow sinner.

            Jesus is LIKE every other high priest in dealing gently with we sinners

Jesus is UNLIKE every other high priest in that he was not a fellow sinner – he never sinned.

Jesus did not need to sin in order to sympathize with us. He did not need to sin in order to understand our temptations and trials. He endured all the temptations and trials that we endure. This shows us that you don’t need to sin in order to sympathize with another sinner.

You don’t need to be a drug addict in order to sympathize with drug addicts. You don’t need to have an angry spouse, troublesome teens, an overbearing boss, financial problems, in order to sympathize with those who do. You need to point them to Jesus.

In an African hospital, a pastor who had just witnessed another death was approached by a poor, elderly woman. “You know,” she said, taking his arm, “through many losses of family and friends and through much sorrow, the Lord has taught me one thing. Jesus Christ did not come to take away our pain and suffering, but to share in it” (From Depression, by Ed Welch, p.48).

Jesus suffered for you in order to suffer with you.

(B) Called by God (vv.4-6)

Your life changes when you realize what it means that Jesus, your great high priest, was selected “From Among Men.” He came “for you; sacrificing himself; and suffering like you.” But there’s more. The second qualification for high priests is that they be “Called by God.” READ Hebrews 5:4-6

            Jesus is LIKE every other high priest in that he was called by God.

            Jesus is UNLIKE every other high priest in that he is the eternal high priest. Verse 6 quotes Psalm 110:4 – Jesus is a priest “forever, in the order of Melchizedek.” We will look at Melchizedek in a couple of weeks when we look at Hebrews 7.

            Here we see that no new priest is needed and no new sacrifice is needed. The old order has passed away. Those who think we still need priests to offer sacrifices for us not only miss the point of this passage – and this Book of the Bible, but the whole point of the Christian faith. John Calvin writes, “Those who want to found the sacrifice of the mass on this passage are more than ridiculous” (Calvin’s Commentary at the beginning of chapter 5).

II. Suffering and Obedience (vv.7-10)

This passage is not about the sacrifice of the mass, but the sufficiency of Christ’s sacrifice. This passage is also not just about the future benefits of his sacrifice (eternal life), but the present benefits of his sacrifice. READ Hebrews 5:7-10.

            Jesus’ life on earth was short; so is ours – especially in comparison to eternity. Our suffering is temporary and faithfulness will receive an eternal reward. In Jesus, we see not merely the model for how we ought to live our life, but we also see that it is only through Jesus that we are able to live this life.

            Jesus “offered up prayers and petitions.” Earlier in the service we read the prayer of Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane (Matthew 26:36-46). Jesus prayed in order that we would pray and in order that our prayers would be heard.

            Jesus prayed “with loud cries and tears.” Is this true of your prayers? Do you pray passionately, or religiously?

            Jesus prayed “to the one who could save him from death.” But Jesus did not just pray that he would be saved from death, Jesus prayed, “Thy will be done.” Is this true of your prayers? Do you pray simply to be spared from suffering, or do you pray, “Thy will be done”?

            Jesus “was heard because of his reverent submission.” Do you sometimes wonder if God really hears your prayers – because you don’t get what you pray for? Is it possible that your aren’t praying in reverent submission? James 4:2b-3 says, “You do not have, because you do not ask God. When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.”

            Jesus prayed, “Thy will be done,” which he knew meant that he was praying for suffering.

            In Jesus we see the reason why we ought to pray for suffering – and rejoice in it. Verse 8 – “Although he was a son (in fact, he was THE Son), he learned obedience from what he suffered.” This doesn’t mean that Jesus was disobedient. To learn obedience means to become obedient.

            You tell your child that their curfew is at 10:00pm. Have they learned obedience yet? No, you have just told them the rule. Obedience is not learned until it is performed.

            For Jesus to learn obedience, meant that he obeyed. Jesus learned the fullness of obedience on the cross. Jesus “passed through the school of suffering.”

            Similarly, we must pass through the school of suffering – in order to learn obedience. It has been said, “The true sign of obedience is when we choose to obey, even when it means suffering, rather than seeking comfort.”

            Verses 9-10 tell us that Jesus was “made perfect” – that is, he was made complete – he was made the perfect high priest, the perfect sacrifice, the perfect source of salvation for who? All who obey him.

            Are you obeying him? If not, you may not have salvation? Trust in Jesus as your Savior, that you may learn obedience to him as your Lord.

Jesus is LIKE us in that he suffered. He is UNLIKE us in that he suffered not for his own sins, but solely for ours. Our fallen condition causes us to suffer in this fallen world. Christ came to suffer for us in order to suffer with us. Let Jesus into your suffering, that through it you may learn obedience.

Rejoice in your suffering, knowing that it is through suffering that you learn obedience, that you will gain assurance of salvation, spiritual maturity, and grow closer to Christ. And do we not all want to grow closer to Christ?

James 1:2-4 says, “Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.”

What trials will you face today? What sufferings does God have planned for you today? Rejoice in them. For God has a purpose in your suffering. Just as Jesus learned obedience through suffering, so shall we. Jesus suffered for you in order to suffer with you. Let Jesus into your suffering that you may learn obedience and grow closer to Christ.

MAY THE TRUTH SET YOU FREE – AMEN!