Why is it so important that Jesus is our Great High Priest? Most of us would probably point to verse 1, which emphasizes the sacrifice He offered up on our behalf, a sacrifice which, as verse 9 says, makes Him the source of eternal salvation for all who trust in Him.

But as important as this is, the author of this letter reminds us that there’s a whole lot more to the office of priest than just offering sacrifices. Since these sacrifices are offered for sins, verse 2 points out that priests have to deal with people’s ignorance and weakness, counseling them, and reassuring them of God’s forgiveness for those who truly repent. And although Jesus never sinned, our author reminds us just a few verses before this passage that He did go through all kinds of suffering in this world. All this means that we can be sure that He understands our temptations, and sympathizes with us.

In verse 7, the author mentions how Jesus prayed while engaging in His earthly ministry, and praying for the people is a big part of every priest’s job. In Romans 8:34, Paul makes it clear that Jesus continues to pray for His people in the presence of the Father in Heaven.

And that’s why our author makes so much of the fact that, like all merely human priests, Jesus was appointed by God to His priesthood. Quoting from Psalm 2 and Psalm 110, he makes it clear that Jesus is not only the Son of God, but that He was appointed a priest forever.

So, let this wonderful truth sink in: the Great High Priest whom God has appointed is praying for all His people, pleading the perfect sacrifice of His own blood on our behalf – so how can we doubt that all who trust in Christ are forgiven? But at the same time, this Great High Priest also understands all our temptations and has shared in all our sufferings, so we can be sure of His grace and mercy. Surely we can trust One Who is so powerful and yet so loving.

Hebrews 5:1-10 (NAS)

For every high priest taken from among men is appointed on behalf of men in things pertaining to God, in order to offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins;
2 he can deal gently with the ignorant and misguided, since he himself also is beset with weakness;
3 and because of it he is obligated to offer sacrifices for sins, as for the people, so also for himself.
4 And no one takes the honor to himself, but receives it when he is called by God, even as Aaron was.
5 So also Christ did not glorify Himself so as to become a high priest, but He who said to Him, “Thou art My Son, Today I have begotten Thee”;
6 just as He says also in another passage, “Thou art a priest forever According to the order of Melchizedek.”
7 In the days of His flesh, He offered up both prayers and supplications with loud crying and tears to the One able to save Him from death, and He was heard because of His piety.
8 Although He was a Son, He learned obedience from the things which He suffered.
9 And having been made perfect, He became to all those who obey Him the source of eternal salvation,
10 being designated by God as a high priest according to the order of Melchizedek.