Called of God

“And no man taketh this honour unto himself, but he that is

called of God, as was Aaron” (Heb 5:4)

Jesus Christ fulfilled the role of our high priest perfectly. The book of Hebrews lays out two prerequisites for this role. First he must “…have compassion on the ignorant…for that he himself also is compassed with infirmity” (Heb 5:2). In order to function as a high priest for humanity, one must first be human. This requirement includes the idea of sharing in the sufferings and travails of people in their individual lives. The writer of Hebrews records how Christ, “…in bringing many sons unto glory” was “[made] perfect through sufferings” (Heb 2:10). And again, “…being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him” (Heb 5:9).

Second, and most important, a high priest must be divinely called: “And no man taketh this honour unto himself, but he that is called of God” (Heb 5:4). The high priests function was as the mediator between man and God. Whereas prophets functioned in the role of communicating God’s will to the people, the high priest communicated the people’s self-reproach and repentance to God. With Korah, who coveted the position of priest over his duty to the tabernacle, God dealt very severely: “And the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed them up, and their houses, and all the men that appertained unto Korah, and all their goods” (Num 16:32). But Christ, being “…in the likeness of sinful flesh…condemned sin in the flesh” (Rom 8:3), is able to make the high priestly sacrifice “…by a greater and more perfect tabernacle” (Heb 9:11). This efficaciousness of this one-time offering for sin makes clear that Jesus Christ is truly “called by God an high priest” (Heb 5:10). RST