Solid food is for the mature

Hebrews 5 from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

For every high priest taken from among men is appointed on behalf of men in things pertaining to God, in order to offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins; ² he can deal gently with the ignorant and misguided, since he himself also is beset with weakness; ³ and because of it he is obligated to offer sacrifices for sins, as for the people, so also for himself. ⁴ And no one takes the honor to himself, but receives it when he is called by God, even as Aaron was.

⁵ So also Christ did not glorify Himself so as to become a high priest, but He who said to Him, “You are My Son, Today I have begotten You”; ⁶ just as He says also in another passage,“You are a priest forever According to the order of Melchizedek.”

⁷ In the days of His flesh, He offered up both prayers and supplications with loud crying and tears to the One able to save Him from death, and He was heard because of His piety. ⁸ Although He was a Son, He learned obedience from the things which He suffered. ⁹ And having been made perfect, He became to all those who obey Him the source of eternal salvation, ¹⁰ being designated by God as a high priest according to the order of Melchizedek.

¹¹ Concerning him we have much to say, and it is hard to explain, since you have become dull of hearing. ¹² For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you have need again for someone to teach you the elementary principles of the oracles of God, and you have come to need milk and not solid food. ¹³ For everyone who partakes only of milk is not accustomed to the word of righteousness, for he is an infant. ¹⁴ But solid food is for the mature, who because of practice have their senses trained to discern good and evil.

In today’s text it says: Christ did not glorify Himself so as to become a high priest, but He who said to Him, “You are My Son, Today I have begotten You”;  just as He says also in another passage,  “You are a priest forever According to the order of Melchizedek.”… He became to all those who obey Him the source of eternal salvation, being designated by God as a high priest according to the order of Melchizedek.    If we are to truly know Jesus, if we are to understand all that He is for us and to us, then we need to understand what it means that He is a high priest, a priest according to the order of Melchizedek. The idea of a priest is something we understand, at least somewhat. The Jewish priests were the ones responsible for the sacrifices in the temple. The high priest was the only one who could go into the Holy of Holies, the inner part of the temple where God Himself was present. The Holy of Holies was separated from the rest of the temple, where priests and men could go, by a veil, a heavy curtain. The high priest would go in, beyond the veil, once a year to offer an atoning sacrifice for the people.

The text says:  “You are My Son, Today I have begotten You”    John 3:16 says:  “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.”     Jesus, the only begotten Son of God, became our high priest. He offered Himself, the perfect sacrifice, without sin, once for all. There is no longer need for the temple veil which separated the holiness of God from sinful man. In Matthew 27:50-51, when Jesus was on the cross, it says:  Jesus cried out again with a loud voice, and yielded up His spirit.  And behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom; and the earth shook and the rocks were split.      Jesus, our high priest, opened the way for us to go into the very presence of the holy God. Jesus still operates as a high priest, not continually making sacrifices but as we read in  Romans 8:34:    Christ Jesus is He who died, yes, rather who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us.      Jesus sacrifice on the cross is the greatest act of intercession known to man. Still Jesus is with the Father, ever interceding for us. He is continually presenting us to the Father, not based on our own righteousness, but through the redeeming, reconciling and restoring finished work of the cross.

Jesus is the only begotten Son of God, but through Christ we are adopted as children of God. Romans 8:14-17 says:   For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, “Abba! Father!” The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God,  and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him.    

So we have a basic understanding of what it means that Jesus is our high priest. What does it mean though that He is a priest in the order of Melchizedek, rather than a priest, like other Jewish priests, from the order or line of the Levites? In Genesis 14:18-20, we read about Melchizedek, a priest and king, from the time of Abraham.           And Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine; now he was a priest of God Most High.  He blessed him and said, “Blessed be Abram of God Most High, Possessor of heaven and earth;   And blessed be God Most High, Who has delivered your enemies into your hand.” He gave him a tenth of all.       That Jesus is a priest in the order of Melchizedek as opposed to the Levites, indicates that He is both a high priest, fulfilling our every spiritual need and also a king, one with authority in natural, governmental matters. Jesus is in fact the King of Kings. He is the Lord of Lords. His authority is absolute. In Matthew 28:18 Jesus says:  “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.”      Jesus has authority over both the heavenly government and all earthly ones, a comforting truth for our time.

We need to recognize that Jesus is not only our high priest, our Savior and Redeemer, but also He is our Lord and King. His absolute authority in heaven and earth, includes His absolute authority in our lives. Romans 5:8 says:  God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.     Indeed, Jesus became our high priest, even as we were in our sin, but we cannot continue to call Him our Savior and our Redeemer, if we won’t also call Him Lord and King. We cannot walk in the blessings of Christ as children of God and choose also to remain in our sin.

Today’s text ends saying:    Concerning him we have much to say, and it is hard to explain, since you have become dull of hearing. For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you have need again for someone to teach you the elementary principles of the oracles of God, and you have come to need milk and not solid food. For everyone who partakes only of milk is not accustomed to the word of righteousness, for he is an infant. But solid food is for the mature, who because of practice have their senses trained to discern good and evil.   Many people today want to continue to hear and walk in the message of God’s love and grace. They want to hear the encouraging words of God’s promises and blessings for their lives. Many even want to walk in the power and authority we have been given by and through Christ. Yet they only drink milk. They fail to eat solid food, the solid for of God’s Word and will. We are to be those who are mature, who practice, training our senses to discern good and evil. Jesus Himself says:   “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter.  Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’  And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.’”  

To know Jesus, as high priest, as Redeemer, Savior, Lord and King, to truly follow Him, we need to eat the solid food of God’s Word. We won’t truly know Him if we simply drink in the sound bites and simple promises quoted on social media. We won’t even know Him if all we do is go to church and hear a teaching about Him. We need to regularly look deeply into God’s Word. Jesus is the Word made flesh and He will be revealed to us through the Word and the Spirit.

Heavenly Father, Lord Jesus Christ; precious Holy Spirit, forgive me when I simply drink of the light and pleasurable things of You. Teach me the deeper things, the solid food of Your Word and Your will. May I know You fully as Savior and Redeemer, but also as Lord and King. May I walk in the power and authority You have given me, through the cross, even as I walk in obedience to Your authority in my life.     Amen