After a description of various aspects of the Jewish high priests descended from Aaron in Hebrews 5:1-4, the author pivots (naturally) to Jesus Christ.
In the same way, Christ did not take on himself the glory of becoming a high priest. But God said to him,
“You are my Son;
today I have become your Father.”And he says in another place,
“You are a priest forever,
in the order of Melchizedek.”Hebrews 5:5-6 NIV
https://bible.com/bible/111/heb.5.5-6.NIV
Now, there were several things mentioned about high priests in verses 1-4. I do not think that all of them apply identically to Jesus as they did to high priests descended from Aaron throughout the history of the Israelites, but let’s compare the two:
- High priests were “selected from among the people”. God chose Aaron’s line for the high priesthood, and God chose Jesus (also of Jewish descent), so there is some overlap there. Jesus wasn’t from the line of Aaron, though. Now, we know that Jesus is also God, and – based on this passage – He didn’t choose Himself, so I’m reading this passage as God the Father speaking to God the Son, choosing Jesus as the ultimate high priest for humankind.
- Both Jesus and other high priests were appointed to “represent the people in matters related to God”.
- High priests would “offer gifts and sacrifices for sins”. Jesus did that, too, although His sacrifice was unique. We can offer gifts to God (particularly the gift of ourselves, our allegiance, our belief, and our trust in God), but we cannot offer any sacrifice sufficient to pay for our sins. Only Jesus could – and did – do that.
- However, ancient high priests for Israel were also “subject to weakness”, and had to offer sacrifices for their own sins. See passages like Leviticus 9, for instance, which describe instructions for Aaron on the Day of Atonement. Jesus was tempted like us, but He did not sin, so He didn’t have to sacrifice anything for Himself. In fact, there are multiple passages later in Hebrews about Jesus only needing to make one sacrifice (versus the annual sacrifices of the high priest under the Old Covenant), but we also know that He didn’t have to first die for His own sins (since He never sinned), before dying for our sins.
- Perhaps most significantly, though, Jesus didn’t greedily grab the glory of being a high priest. Like Aaron, Jesus was chosen and honored with the role of high priest by God Himself.
So, the Jewish priesthood, descended from Moses’ brother Aaron, had a lot to teach us, and it served as an example for the high priesthood of Jesus Christ. However, God often gives us hints and foreshadowing in this material world when He has something far better to offer us: in this case, a gift of Himself. In the case of Jesus’ appointment as high priest, He was the perfect candidate to bring a one-time sacrifice (i.e., the sacrifice He made of His sinless self) to God the Father, to cover the sins of those who accept Him.
May each of us remember that today: Once we accept Christ’s payment for our sins, we are no longer on our own, defending our behavior to a perfectly holy God. Instead, we admit that we have fallen short of God’s holiness (i.e., that we have sinned), but Jesus Himself can attest that we are His, and that His sacrifice covers the sins that we have committed.
From Sunday School lesson prepared for February 8, 2026
References:
- Scripture taken from the Holy Bible, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
- The College Press NIV Commentary – Hebrews, by Jim Girdwood and Peter Verkruyse. © 1997 College Press Publishing Co.
