Priest of the People

Hebrews 5:1-6

This continues the author's teaching about Jesus being the great high priest. The first paragraph of this section deals with the qualifications of the high priest: one of the people, represents the people to God, called by God. I think the part that speaks most loudly to me is "able to deal gently with those who are ignorant and are going astray, since he himself is subject to weakness." I am not a priest by virtue of my being a pastor. I am a priest by virtue of my being a disciple of Christ. Jesus has created a kingdom of priests. We all have direct access to the Holy Presence of God through Christ and we all have the responsibility to come before God on behalf of each other. As a pastor, I have even greater responsibility in some ways to shepherd and teach people in a way that reflects the glory and character of God. I know that I have not always dealt gently with those who are going astray. I have forgotten that I am also subject to weakness and have more often played the role of the prophet than the priest. I pray that God would increase my priestly heart.
The author's point is that Jesus did not take the authourity of being a high priest on himself but that he was appointed by God. The author uses two quotes from two Psalms to support his point. The first is from Psalm 2 which was likely sung at a king's coronation. This is frequently used as a Messianic psalm in the NT, meaning that while it had a direct historical fulfillment in the coronation of kings, that it was ultimately fulfilled in in Christ. The second is from Psalm 110. This is again has several Messianic themes in it, especially the joining of the office of King and Priest. The author introduces the theme of the "order of Melchizedek". He will pick up on this them later.
Again, for the author, it's all about Jesus. He points to Jesus as our Supreme High Priest: from the people, familiar with our weaknesses, tempted with our temptations, appointed by God to represent us before God. What a glorious picture of Christ!