Hebrews 5

Apparently, the intended recipients of this letter, the Christian Jews, were having a hard time connecting the dots between the Old and New Testaments, and the author seems a little frustrated by it. You can go so deeply into the theology of Christ, but only if you have a strong foundation. How similar are we in our churches today. We send our children to their Sunday School classes every week, but are they really gaining a foundation theologically. I think not, in most cases, judging from my observations of adults in the church, and I think it's sad that we still, like the author of this book, have to go back to the basics week after week to be understood.

Part of the basics in this passage is to further explain Christ's relationship to man. The author reminds the reader that God originally placed men in the role of high priest. God selected these men, and they were the intermediary. Being men, they could empathize with the believers, but being men, they also had to offer sacrifices for their own sins. Each year they could enter the presence of God to offer an imperfect sacrifice for themselves and for the people, but they would have to repeat the process the very next year. When God appointed Christ as a high priest, He created a situation where a perfect offering for sin could be made. Since Christ was man, He still had the connection with the people that allows Him to "deal gently with those who are ignorant and going astray," and since He was perfect He did not have offer any sacrifice for Himself. That means that His sacrifice would not expire in a year. His sacrifice is eternal.