Continuing the argument with added layers of explanation, verses one through six tells us this, “For every high priest taken from among men is ordained for men in things pertaining to God, that he may offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins: Who can have compassion on the ignorant, and on them that are out of the way; for that he himself also is compassed with infirmity. And by reason hereof he ought, as for the people, so also for himself, to offer for sins. And no man taketh this honour unto himself, but he that is called of God, as was Aaron. So also Christ glorified not himself to be made an high priest; but he that said unto him, Thou art my Son, to day have I begotten thee. As he saith also in another place, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec.”
From the author's wholly Jewish perspective, the high priest, under their law, was a man who stood in the breach for the people. He was their representative to God. He was, in a sense, their defense attorney. He was a man just like them and a sinner just like them; he made sacrifices and offerings and prayers on their behalf as well as on his own behalf. Being a man, he could have compassion on those who tried and failed, on those who made mistakes, on those who used poor judgment. The high priest stood for the Jewish law but he was a man and also subject to the same human nature as those he served. No high priest ever took it upon himself to become a high priest, rather, it was required that he be authorized by one greater than himself in the chain of command. Likewise, Jesus, a man, was authorized by a higher power when God said to him, you are my son, on this day I beget you.
In verses seven through ten, the author continues to show the connection between Jesus and the high priest. While he was a flesh and blood man, he offered up prayers and supplications. His tears were real as he pleaded to the only one able to save him from death. Two things stand out: Jesus feared and Jesus was heard. Even though he was the son of a King and would become King himself, he took on him all that he suffered as a man to learn the obedience due to God by all men. His total submission to suffering and obedience made him perfect. He was able, then, to write the terms for salvation. How nice it is when your defense attorney is also the judge. Jesus became an all-time high priest with a one-time sacrifice. The thing about Melchisedec was that he was not only a high priest, he was also a King.
Next, comes the rebuke. We start at verse eleven. The author gives an honest assessment of the people he was trying to get through to. They were “dull of hearing.” They were dense. They were opinionated and settled in their ways. They had all but buried themselves in predeterminations. Who were these bone-headed louts? Verse twelve shows us that they were the religious elite. The audience of our author was none other than the church. They were the Pharisees, the Sadducees, the high priests, and doctors of the law. They were the very people ordained to lead the common man. Despite their high station, the author had no words of praise for them. There was much to be said, and the arguments he was presenting were difficult enough for the wholly enlightened.
These men, however, these “teachers” of the people, were far removed, in their own conceits, from the basic tenets of God's truth. The author blatantly informs them that they need to go back and attend the class, 'Truth 101.' They are described as self-deluded babes that imagine they have teeth for the meat of God's word, when, indeed, they must be breastfed the truth if they are to get anything at all out of the word. Those were not nice words, there was no honor in them, in fact, they were reverse-accolades.
Then, in verses thirteen and fourteen, the author explains what he means, and he lays it out plainly. He does not pull his punch. As Pharisees and other leaders go, they were “unskillful in the word of righteousness.” They were children pretending to be grown. The strong meat of God's word did not belong to them, it belonged to people of full spiritual age, who have put their senses through their paces, and who have exercised them to the point where they are able to discern good from evil. Babes cannot tell good from evil, they are only playing dress-up, walking around in the clunky shoes that belong to adults.
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