Jesus’ Preparation For The High Priesthood

“For every high priest taken from among men is appointed for men in things pertaining to God, that he may offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins. He can have compassion on those who are ignorant and going astray, since he himself is also subject to weakness. Because of this he is required as for the people, so also for himself, to offer sacrifices for sins. And no man takes this honor to himself, but he who is called by God, just as Aaron was. So also Christ did not glorify Himself to become High Priest, but it was He who said to Him: ‘You are My Son, today I have begotten You.’ As He also says in another place: ‘You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.’” CH 5:1-6.

There is no hypocrisy in God or in His stewardship. He does nothing that isn’t genuine. Everything is true, righteous and genuine. Jesus was not appointed High Priest because He was the Son of God. Nor was that the reason why He was raised from the dead. He did not, as many people maintain, receive a flesh like Adam before the fall, nor was He tempted in the same way as Adam was. It was not people like Adam that He was to save. He did not take upon Him the nature of angels, because it was not angels He was to give aid to, “but He does give aid to the seed of Abraham. Therefore...” etc. It had to be true that He was taken from among men and appointed for men in things pertaining to God. He had to be beset by the same weaknesses that we are beset by, in order to learn how to serve people like us.

That is why it is written: “For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin.” CH 4:15. If He had sinned in the trials, He could not have presented Himself as an offering. Our “weakness” is that we have a flesh with lusts and desires. He also had that same weakness, which was why He was tried and tempted just as we are. These trials and temptations gave Him an opportunity to put to death the sin which makes us transgressors, and thereby He opened a new way to a divine life for us even while we are in this body.

We can read about Jesus’ preparation in these verses: “Who, in the days of His flesh, when He had offered up prayers and supplications, with vehement cries and tears to Him who was able to save Him from death, and was heard because of His godly fear.” CH 5:7. He was not heard because He was God’s Son. No, God is no respecter of persons. Everything was true and genuine, because the way was to be opened for our sakes. We read that He prayed vehemently to be saved from death. Then we can ask: “Was He so afraid to die?” It is written that He was heard, yet clearly that is not true in terms of His death on Calvary. He had to die there for our sakes. It is not His death on Calvary that is meant here. It says, “in the days of His flesh.” “For if you live according to the flesh you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.” Rom. 8:13.

Here we read about the new and living way that Jesus has consecrated for us. If He had lived according to the flesh that He had received of the seed of David, He would have had to die. But He was faithful in His covenant, despite being so weak that He had to pray with vehement cries and tears to Him who was able to save Him from death. He had a tremendous fear of giving in to the flesh, even in the slightest thing—for He was a blameless sacrifice. How glorious, then, to read that He was heard! The resurrection from the dead is the proof, because death could not hold Him.

Notice how conscious He was of His weakness. Just think how humble He was to battle in that way and to acknowledge so completely His dependence on His Father. Yes, He was heard because of His godly fear. He is our forerunner, and we must have the same godly fear when we are in trials and temptations. Then we can come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain help to overcome death. That is what we, who are followers of our merciful High Priest, are called to. “Though He was a Son, yet He learned obedience by the things which He suffered. And having been perfected, He became the author of eternal salvation to all who obey Him, called by God as High Priest according to the order of Melchizedek.” CH 5:8-10. We see from these verses that He did not become a High Priest just as a matter of course. He first had to learn to be obedient, and those who want to follow Him on the new way also have to go through the same process of learning to be obedient. Then they too become priests. Peter writes of them: “But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.” 1 Pet. 2:9.

After reading this we could well ask: “Had Jesus been disobedient and therefore He had to learn obedience?” No, far from it: but He had relinquished His God-likeness. Therefore He had to regain the whole fullness of God in a human body, in order to obtain brothers. “And He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have the preeminence. For it pleased the Father that in Him all the fullness should dwell, and by Him to reconcile all things to Himself, by Him, whether things on earth or things in heaven, having made peace through the blood of His cross.” Col. 1:18-20. “For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily; and you are complete in Him, who is the head of all principality and power.” Col. 2:9-10.

In order to regain this fullness He had to walk in the light the Father gave Him. That light was quite different from His own human will, which is why He prayed, “not as I will, but as You will.” Matt. 26:39. “For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me.” John 6:38. He learned obedience by the things which He suffered.

When sufferings come, sin in the flesh starts to protest. Then the person asks, “Why did this have to happen? What’s the point of all this?” Jesus never asked such questions, because He understood to sacrifice His own will. When the Father condemned sin in the flesh in the temptations, Jesus believed and got larger and larger areas to be obedient in. The way went through the flesh, and the sacrifices were many.

We read in Isaiah 53 what kind of tribulations He had to endure. “Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise Him; He has put Him to grief. When You make His soul an offering for sin, He shall see His seed, He shall prolong His days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in His hand.” Verse 10. And in Isaiah 63 we read about the battle in Edom where, traveling in the greatness of His strength, He trampled all His enemies underfoot. Who is this? “I who speak in righteousness, mighty to save.” Verse 1. “I have trodden the winepress alone, and from the peoples no one was with Me. For I have trodden them in My anger, and trampled them in My fury; their blood is sprinkled upon My garments, and I have stained all My robes. For the day of vengeance is in My heart, and the year of My redeemed has come.” Verses 3-4.

Edom is another name for Esau, which in turn is a type of the flesh. The verses above describe the battle Jesus waged in order to destroy the lusts and desires of the flesh so that the year of redemption could come for mankind. He is our Redeemer. It was in the sufferings that these enemies were revealed so that He could crush them. “For it was fitting for Him, for whom are all things and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings.” CH 2:10. This offering took place as He constantly walked in the light through faith and obedience. The point came, then, when the Father no longer had more light to give Him that He could partake of. This took approximately 30 years.

When most religious people talk about Jesus’ sufferings and death, they usually think of the crucifixion at Calvary. But the suffering and death that we have received an understanding of here, we, too, will share in, if we obey Him. Then we partake of sanctification and become His brethren. “For both He who sanctifies and those who are being sanctified are all of one, for which reason He is not ashamed to call them brethren.” CH 2:11.

“Therefore, since Christ suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same mind, for he who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, that he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh for the lusts of men, but for the will of God.” 1 Pet. 4:1-2. Here it is quite plain that we are to follow Him. We see that there is a constant reference to “the flesh,” and people are not used to that. Yet, it was the flesh that was the veil and which hindered people from entering into the Holiest.

“... the Holy Spirit indicating this, that the way into the Holiest of All was not yet made manifest while the first tabernacle was still standing.” CH 9:8. That veil was rent asunder when Jesus cried out, “It is finished.” Now, whoever wants to can follow Him, but the way goes through the flesh, for He became the author of eternal salvation for everyone who obeys Him. We read that since Jesus suffered in the flesh, we are to arm ourselves with the same mind, that he who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin. If we are to become a “royal priesthood,” we must make the same sacrifice.

To “cease from sin” does not only mean to get victory in temptation. One can fight an enemy and overcome him, only to have the enemy return. But if we kill these enemies, as we read in Isaiah 63, then we are truly finished with them. Jesus destroyed them. The only way is to suffer. We are not to be constantly tempted by the same things. We are to slay our enemies and move on. The “land” that we then occupy becomes divine nature. We are in the new covenant that Jesus established, and it is written, He “who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness—by whose stripes you were healed.” 1 Pet. 2:24. Many people think this means healing for the body, but it is sin which is our true sickness. You can see this if you watch people who are angry, offended, anxious, etc. They are sick, and the only cure for them is to suffer in the flesh and die with Christ.

“Beloved, do not think it strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened to you...,” 1 Pet. 4:12-13. If we think it strange, then we do not understand the sacrifice in the body of Christ, or that we are baptized by one Spirit to be one body. We are members of His body and are under the same covenant to be obedient and make the same sacrifices. That is why the verse continues: “... but rejoice to the extent that you partake of Christ’s sufferings, that when His glory is revealed, you may also be glad with exceeding joy.” Here we can see that there is a difference between how much a person suffers. “The fiery trial which is to try” us is something that is difficult for us, and that is when sin in the flesh is aroused. This sin has to be put to death. I have to make use of the opportunity to put sin to death just as Jesus did, and the degree to which I partake of His glory will therefore be that much greater. It is written, “to the extent that....” Paul writes in Rom. 8:28: “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God.” Yes, those who love God also hate sin, and the greatest thing of all for them is to be conformed to the image of His Son. Rom. 8:29.

“Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts.” Rom. 6:12. Through this death, the sacrificing in the body of Christ, He freed a human body from sin. Through the sufferings and death of Christ our mortal bodies are also freed from sin, which is why it is written, “Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death?” Rom. 6:3. Through baptism I enter into the new covenant, which is, “Behold, I have come to do Your will, O God.” Then the death of Christ begins to work, so that sin does not come out of the body, but the body becomes a sacrifice acceptable to God, which is our “reasonable [spiritual] service.” Rom. 12:1.

Many people are busy serving God. They want to do something for Him who has done so much for them, and so they organize many things which are great in the eyes of other people. Large congregations and great revivals are to them a proof that God is with them and that they are servants of the Lord. Often they really do sacrifice a great deal, many missionaries in particular. Nevertheless, they understand nothing of this spiritual service.

It is because of this lack of understanding that they have nothing to say about Jesus before He was 30 years old. The only thing they can say about that period of His life is that He was in the temple when He was twelve years old. Otherwise the only things they have to speak about are the signs and wonders He did, and some of the things He said. The entire Sermon on the Mount, according to most people, was the law. He preached it, they say, so that we would see we needed grace. So they say that Jesus preached the law, in stark contrast to His own words. He said about Himself, “and the poor have the gospel preached to them.” Matt. 11:5. “For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.” John 1:17.