Hebrews 5:1-10

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• Reading the Text:
  • NRSV (with link to Anglicized NRSV) at Oremus Bible Browser.
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• Historical References, Commentary and Comparative Texts:
  • Chapter XXXVI of The First Epistle to the Corinthians, Clement of Rome (ca. 96.)
  • Chapter II, Chapter XIV, Adversus Judaeos, Tertullian (c. 198)
  • Chapter IX, Considering Repentance,  Tertullian (c. 203)
  • I.3, Commentary on the Gospel of John, Origen. (c.228)
  • Book I, Chapter 3, Ecclesiastical History, Eusebius of Caesarea, (c. 320).
  • From the Geneva Notes.
    • "Christ being exceedingly afflicted and exceedingly merciful did not pray because of his sins, for he had none, but for his fear, and obtained his request, and offered himself for all who are his."
  • From Matthew Henry's Commentary.
    • "How many dry prayers, how few wetted with tears, do we offer up to God!"
  • From Wesley's Notes.
    • "Indeed, his human nature needed the support of Omnipotence; and for this he sent up strong crying and tears: but, throughout his whole life, he showed that it was not the sufferings he was to undergo, but the dishonour that sin had done to so holy a God, that grieved his spotless soul. The consideration of its being the will of God tempered his fear, and afterwards swallowed it up; and he was heard not so that the cup should pass away, but so that he drank it without any fear."
  • The Ministerial Office (Hebrews 5:4). Sermon by John Wesley.
    • "Ye that are rich in this world, count us not your enemies because we tell you the truth, and, it may be, in a fuller and stronger manner than any others will or dare do. Ye have therefore need of us, inexpressible need."
  • From the Commentary on the Whole Bible (Jamieson, Fausset and Brown, 1871).
    • "No Christian minister, as such, is ever called Hiereus, that is, sacrificing priest. All Christians, without distinction, whether ministers or people, have a metaphorical, not a literal, priesthood."
  • From The People's New Testament, B.W. Johnson, 1891.
    • "He offered "atonement for his own sins and for the sins of the people." This was shown forth in the very garments he wore when he offered the national atonement once a year. On the shoulder of the ephod (Exod. 28:10) were two onyx stones, on which were engraved the names of the twelve sons of Jacob, the representatives of all the tribes of Israel, of Levi the priestly tribe as well as the others. As he stood before the mercy-seat interceding, he bore all these names before the Lord."
• Contemporary Commentary, Studies, and Exegesis:
  • Commentary, Hebrews 5:5-10, Michael Joseph Brown, Preaching This Week, WorkingPreacher.org, 2009.
    • "Although Jesus 'learned obedience from the things he suffered,' which implies that he grew in his understanding of the divine will, the reading for today wants us to be certain that even at the moment of the incarnation Jesus was thoroughly committed to carrying it out."
  • Commentary, Hebrews 5:1-10, Pentecost 21, Bryan J. Whitfield, Preaching This Week, WorkingPreacher.org, 2009.
    • "Why does salvation depend on a high priest who is subject to weakness, who prays in crisis, who learns what the human lot is like? Why does Jesus' service as high priest require his identification with us?"
  • "First Thoughts on Year B Epistle Passages in the Lectionary," Pentecost 20, William Loader, Murdoch University, Uniting Church in Australia.
    • "...right in the heart of God there is empathetic love for each of us on our life's journey."
  • Hebrews 5:1-10, Proper 29B, Comments (commentary) and Clippings (technical notes for in-depth study), Chris Haslam, Anglican Diocese of Montreal.
  • "Parking Lot Palms," Stephen Paul Bouman, 2003.
    • "Our context for mission must have something to do with turning our church’s life toward a motel of 'priests according to the order of Melchizedek,' as well as the deep corporal and spiritual needs shared by all humanity in the solidarity at Ground Zero."
  • "Jesus the Priest," Fred Craddock, The Christian Century, 2003.
    • "The death, burial and resurrection of Jesus are not all we need to know. And the point in his life which most vividly touches our own, qualifying him to be our priest, is his time of fervent prayer."
  • "What God Wants," Thomas G. Long, The Christian Century, 2006.
    • "It was not pain and violence that God desired. It was human life as God created it to be, summoned it to be."
  • Hebrews 5:1-10, Wandering But Not Lost, Stanley N. Olson, Word & World Texts in Context, Luther Northwestern Theological Seminary, 1985.
  • "The Qualifications of a High Priest," "The Source of Eternal Salvation," Rev. Bryan Findlayson, Lectionary Bible Studies and Sermons, Pumpkin Cottage Ministry Resources.
    • "Is it a sin to contemplate sin?"
  • Commentary, Hebrews 5:5-10 (Lent 5B), Dwight Peterson, Preaching This Week, WorkingPreacher.org, 2009.
    • "As Lent approaches its climax in Holy Week, the story of Jesus descends into suffering of the most intense kind: betrayal by friends, conviction by an unjust court, torture and execution by the cruelest of methods. Christ truly did learn obedience through what he suffered. And in so doing he "became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him." This is the heart of the Gospel. And the author of Hebrews knew it."
  • "First Thoughts on Passages on Year B Epistle Passages in the Lectionary," Lent 5, William Loader, Murdoch University, Uniting Church in Australia.
    • "This is first century theology finding its way of asserting that right next to God there is a voice urging compassion for those hard up against it. Later generations will develop trinitarian doctrine and find ways of asserting this primitive idea in more integrated ways, speaking of solidarity as something which God does not need to be told about but which is central to God's being."
  • Hebrews 5:5-10, Lent 5B, Comments (commentary) and Clippings (technical notes for in-depth study), Chris Haslam, Anglican Diocese of Montreal.
• Articles & Background:
  • "The Context of the Crux at Hebrews 5:7-8," James Swetnam, Filologia NT, 2001.
  • "Melchizedek in the MT, LXX, and the NT," J.A. Fitzmyer, Biblica Vol. 81(2000) 63-69. (Abstract)
    • "In the Epistle to the Hebrews, Melchizedek becomes the type of Christ, who is designated there as a ‘priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek’ (5,6; 6,20); he is thus the antitype of Melchizedek, depicted as in Ps 110,4."
  • "The Moral Function of Doctrine," Ellen T. Charry, Perkins School of Theology. Theology Today, 1992.
    • "Christians are not alone in the world, and they do not have to invent the means for attaining their happiness. God has given a roadmap with designated landmarks and rest stops. Thus, from a practical vantage point, dogmatic theology and the church that it sustains turn out to be a therapeutic community for those who hitch their wagon to the Lord's star."
  • "The Crux at Hebrews 5:7-8," J. Swetnam, Biblica 81 (2000).
    • "Hebrews understands Jesus' citing the initial verse of the psalm [22] as an agreement to all that the psalm implies, i.e., as an implicit petition to die. Further, the main verse alluded to in Ps 22 seems to refer to the tôdâ which Jesus celebrated with His disciples, and this explains how He could `learn' obedience: He learned by experience the benignant effect of obedience to God."
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  • Black, David Alan, "Hebrews 1:1-4: A Study in Discourse Analysis,"  Westminster Theological Journal, 1987.
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  • Bouman, Stephen Paul, "Parking Lot Palms," The Christian Century, 2003.
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  • Charry, Ellen T., "The Moral Function of Doctrine," Theology Today, 1992.
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  • Craddock, Fred, "Jesus the Priest," The Christian Century, 2003.
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  • Dozeman, Thomas B., "The Priestly Vocation," Interpretation, 2005.
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  • Galloway, Lewis F., "Between Text and Sermon: Hebrews 4:14 - 5:10," Interpretation, 2003. (See also, "Hebrews," issue focus of Interpretation, 2003.)
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  • Gray, Patrick, "Brotherly Love and the High Priest Christology of Hebrews," Journal of Biblical Literature, 2003.
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  • Lightfoot, Neil R., "The Saving of the Savior: Hebrews 5:7 ff," Restoration Quarterly, 1973.
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  • Long, Thomas G., "What God Wants," The Christian Century, 2006.
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  • Olson, Stanley N., "Wandering But Not Lost," Word & World, 1985. (Section on this text begins on page 430.)
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  • Omark, Reuben E., "The Saving of the Savior: Exegesis and Christology in Hebrews 5:7-10," Interpretation, 1958.
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  • Songer, Harold S., "A Superior Priesthood: Hebrews 4:14-7:28," Review and Expositor, 1985.
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  • Stevenson-Moessner, Jeanne, "The Road to Perfection - An Interpretation of Suffering in Hebrews," Interpretation, 2003. (See also, "Hebrews," issue focus of Interpretation, 2003.)
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• Reviews:
• Sermons:
  • "Suffering for Faith," the Rev. Eugenia Gamble, Day 1, 1997.
• With Children:
• Drama:
• Graphics & Bulletin Materials:
• Hymns and Music:
  • Hymns with Scripture Allusions: Hebrews 5:7. The Cyber Hymnal.
  • Hymnal Scripture References, The Lutheran Hymnal, Lutheran Worship.
  • At Digital Hymnal (midi files, guitar chords, karaoke files, projection text):
    • In a Little While We're Going Home
• Fine Arts Images Linked at The Text This Week's Art Index:
  • Crucifixion
• Movies Listed at The Text This Week's Movie Concordance:
  • Obedience/Servanthood
  • Honor
  • Sacrifice
  • Prayer
• Study Links and Resources for the Book of Hebrews