Heb 5:13-14 | KingComments | STEP | We ended the last section with a glance at an exceptional period from the life of the Lord on earth. Therein the writer took us to Gethsemane where the Lord Jesus was confronted with the deepest suffering that could ever happen to a man. He endured intensively the suffering on the cross ahead. By fully surrendering Himself He offered up prayers and supplications to His Father to be saved from that suffering. In full acceptance of the will of His Father He complied with His will. We see here a special event in a life of obedience. . His whole life was suffering, suffering as a result of the temptations that He was heading for because He obeyed God perfectly. Before He became Man, obedience was unfamiliar to Him. In heaven He did not have to be obedient to anyone. In heaven He could not be familiarized with obedience. Up there angels were obeying Him. Only when He came on earth He took a place of submission, primarily toward God, but also toward His parents ( ). In that way He had to practice obedience as a deed and in that sense He had to learn what it is to obey. . Unlike us He had no will of His own. He did not need to unlearn something, nothing had to be restrained or bend or changed with Him. With Him there was nothing that wasn’t subjected. In this way “having been made perfect” through His life on earth, means that in that way He was made perfectly suited to be able to exert His service as High Priest in heaven for us who are also in a position of obedience. He became obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross ( ). Obedience was the secret of His way. It is also the secret of your way, preventing you from falling into an enemy's trap. If you obey Him Who by His own obedience reached the end perfectly, He will also bring you there where He already is now. Through His service as High Priest He keeps you from the dangers and temptations of the wilderness until you have reached the final salvation, the Sabbath rest. He is the Author of an “eternal salvation”, which means that the range and its blessings extend to eternity. . Because Christ has completed His way on earth He has become perfectly suited to be our High Priest. Due to His perfectly obedient life God could designate Him “as a high priest according to the order of Melchizedek”. God designated Him after His work on earth and thereby He confirmed His service in heaven now for us. After God called Him in for that service, He is now designated as such by God (to carry out this service. The necessary condition was fulfilled by Him: He has been made perfect. A Priest Who is the Son of God would not have been able to do much for us if He had not learnt to know the reason of His service by experience. Precisely because He knows from His own experience what you may be struggling with, He is perfectly able to help you. He is the absolute assurance for your final and eternal salvation. . This verse is the beginning of a third parenthesis that runs till chapter 6:11. A parenthesis is an interruption in the argument of the writer in which he seriously warns his readers to take his teachings to heart; he warns them about the consequences if they don’t do that. In earlier parentheses he warned not to drift away from the Word (Hebrews 2:1-4) and not to doubt the Word (Hebrews 3:7-4:13). The warning in this third parenthesis is not to get bored with the Word for that will cause you to become dull of hearing. The writer points out that there is still much more to be said about Him, that is Christ as High Priest according to the order of Melchizedek. He was willing to speak about that with them, but that would only be possible if the readers had an appropriately spiritual mind. In this parenthesis he tries to achieve that they would come far enough that he could speak with them about it. At this moment it was, however, difficult to explain that. That was not caused by his ability or qualification as a teacher, but it was caused by his pupils. They were not able to understand his teaching because of their spiritual laziness. They were not always lazy, but they became lazy. They became lukewarm; they lost their first freshness because religious traditions started to influence their mind again. There is nothing that makes a person that dull in spiritual matters as religious traditions. If heavenly matters lose their radiation, earthly and visible matters become powerful and meaningful again. This acts as an additional delay in following the Christian, heavenly calling. It was not that the readers were lacking in intelligence and neither did the writer note a hostile or worldly mind. The dull making and lazing making factor was that in their heart they longed again for the old religious forms of Judaism. This hindered them to grow practically in the truth of God as it is revealed in Christendom. They were prepared to listen to the teaching of Christ on earth, for that was connected to their religion. Then at least the visible and tangible remained to exist and in that way they had a hold on their religion for their own sense. The glorified Christ as the fulfillment of all that is visible and tangible was not everything for them yet. When they were told about the latter, they delayed their speed to hear, which caused that they did not understand their true Christian position. . They were, however, for such a long time Christians that they should have been able to teach others. Instead of that they themselves needed to be taught again about “the elementary principles of the oracles of God”. They ought to be teachers in that sense that they spiritually had grown in such a way that they were able to share the spiritual things together. But the old forms of their religion, which they abandoned when they converted, became attractive again. There is hardly any greater hindrance for making progress in your spiritual life and for growing in spiritual insight. The maintaining of an old form of religion is often seen as the highest proof of devotion, while in reality formalism forms a barrier between your soul and what God wants to show you. Another hindrance for your spiritual growth is the wisdom and the philosophy of the world ( ). In Colossians 2 both hindrances are called together “principles of the world” and are put against Christ ( ). Both religious traditions and worldly wisdom are enemies of faith that is only fed by the Word of God of which Christ is the center. It was not only that the Hebrews remained stuck in their spiritual growth, due to their dullness or slowness in hearing, but they went back to the beginning. That’s why they had to be taught again what they had already known for a long time, but what had lost the essence for their heart. It no longer had authority in their life. Once God’s Word no longer fills your heart and governs your life, you sink and are in danger of returning to the world. Then you need to be taught again about the first principles of the oracles of God, which indicates the speaking of Christ on earth ( ). . The writer calls that “milk”. ‘Milk’ is the word of and about Christ on earth. They were not ready for solid food. Solid food is the word about Christ in heaven. As a Christian you live by milk if you for instance take the beatitudes (Matthew 5-7) as standard for your Christian life, while you don’t think about your heavenly position in Christ. It is not wrong to be an infant, but it is if you remain one or if you act like one again. If you think about your heavenly position in Christ you are partaking of solid food or as it is called in “the word of righteousness”. Then you are partaking of the righteousness of God in which everyone who believes shares through the perfect work of Christ. On the basis of that righteousness Christ received the place He now has in heaven and that you have in Him there. Are you unskilled in that while you ought to know better then you are an infant. To say it with the words of Galatians 4 ( ), where the same things are the issue: you are a child. Opposed to this is the spiritual mature believer who has gone through a healthy spiritual growth and who knows his position in Christ and lives accordingly. To become spiritually mature is not an automatic procedure, but a result of a habit to exercise your senses. By “senses” is meant your perceptivity or discernment. Your spiritual growth is extremely dependent on the discernment of good and bad. If you focus your eye on the heavenly Christ you are not an unworldly eccentric, but you gain insight into doing the good and refraining from evil.. Now read Hebrews 5:8-14 again. Reflection: Are there things in your life that are delaying your spiritual growth?

‏ Hebrews 5:13-14

Milk and Solid Food

We ended the last section with a glance at an exceptional period from the life of the Lord on earth. Therein the writer took us to Gethsemane where the Lord Jesus was confronted with the deepest suffering that could ever happen to a man. He endured intensively the suffering on the cross ahead. By fully surrendering Himself He offered up prayers and supplications to His Father to be saved from that suffering. In full acceptance of the will of His Father He complied with His will. We see here a special event in a life of obedience.

Heb 5:8. His whole life was suffering, suffering as a result of the temptations that He was heading for because He obeyed God perfectly. Before He became Man, obedience was unfamiliar to Him. In heaven He did not have to be obedient to anyone. In heaven He could not be familiarized with obedience. Up there angels were obeying Him. Only when He came on earth He took a place of submission, primarily toward God, but also toward His parents (Lk 2:51). In that way He had to practice obedience as a deed and in that sense He had to learn what it is to obey.

Heb 5:9. Unlike us He had no will of His own. He did not need to unlearn something, nothing had to be restrained or bend or changed with Him. With Him there was nothing that wasn’t subjected. In this way “having been made perfect” through His life on earth, means that in that way He was made perfectly suited to be able to exert His service as High Priest in heaven for us who are also in a position of obedience. He became obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross (Phil 2:8).

Obedience was the secret of His way. It is also the secret of your way, preventing you from falling into an enemy's trap. If you obey Him Who by His own obedience reached the end perfectly, He will also bring you there where He already is now. Through His service as High Priest He keeps you from the dangers and temptations of the wilderness until you have reached the final salvation, the Sabbath rest. He is the Author of an “eternal salvation”, which means that the range and its blessings extend to eternity.

Heb 5:10. Because Christ has completed His way on earth He has become perfectly suited to be our High Priest. Due to His perfectly obedient life God could designate Him “as a high priest according to the order of Melchizedek”. God designated Him after His work on earth and thereby He confirmed His service in heaven now for us. After God called Him in Heb 5:6 for that service, He is now designated as such by God (to carry out this service.

The necessary condition was fulfilled by Him: He has been made perfect. A Priest Who is the Son of God would not have been able to do much for us if He had not learnt to know the reason of His service by experience. Precisely because He knows from His own experience what you may be struggling with, He is perfectly able to help you. He is the absolute assurance for your final and eternal salvation.

Heb 5:11. This verse is the beginning of a third parenthesis that runs till chapter 6:11. A parenthesis is an interruption in the argument of the writer in which he seriously warns his readers to take his teachings to heart; he warns them about the consequences if they don’t do that. In earlier parentheses he warned not to drift away from the Word (Hebrews 2:1-4) and not to doubt the Word (Hebrews 3:7-4:13). The warning in this third parenthesis is not to get bored with the Word for that will cause you to become dull of hearing.

The writer points out that there is still much more to be said about Him, that is Christ as High Priest according to the order of Melchizedek. He was willing to speak about that with them, but that would only be possible if the readers had an appropriately spiritual mind. In this parenthesis he tries to achieve that they would come far enough that he could speak with them about it.

At this moment it was, however, difficult to explain that. That was not caused by his ability or qualification as a teacher, but it was caused by his pupils. They were not able to understand his teaching because of their spiritual laziness. They were not always lazy, but they became lazy. They became lukewarm; they lost their first freshness because religious traditions started to influence their mind again. There is nothing that makes a person that dull in spiritual matters as religious traditions.

If heavenly matters lose their radiation, earthly and visible matters become powerful and meaningful again. This acts as an additional delay in following the Christian, heavenly calling. It was not that the readers were lacking in intelligence and neither did the writer note a hostile or worldly mind. The dull making and lazing making factor was that in their heart they longed again for the old religious forms of Judaism. This hindered them to grow practically in the truth of God as it is revealed in Christendom.

They were prepared to listen to the teaching of Christ on earth, for that was connected to their religion. Then at least the visible and tangible remained to exist and in that way they had a hold on their religion for their own sense. The glorified Christ as the fulfillment of all that is visible and tangible was not everything for them yet. When they were told about the latter, they delayed their speed to hear, which caused that they did not understand their true Christian position.

Heb 5:12. They were, however, for such a long time Christians that they should have been able to teach others. Instead of that they themselves needed to be taught again about “the elementary principles of the oracles of God”. They ought to be teachers in that sense that they spiritually had grown in such a way that they were able to share the spiritual things together. But the old forms of their religion, which they abandoned when they converted, became attractive again.

There is hardly any greater hindrance for making progress in your spiritual life and for growing in spiritual insight. The maintaining of an old form of religion is often seen as the highest proof of devotion, while in reality formalism forms a barrier between your soul and what God wants to show you.

Another hindrance for your spiritual growth is the wisdom and the philosophy of the world (1Cor 2:6 ; 1Cor 3:1-2). In Colossians 2 both hindrances are called together “principles of the world” and are put against Christ (Col 2:8). Both religious traditions and worldly wisdom are enemies of faith that is only fed by the Word of God of which Christ is the center.

It was not only that the Hebrews remained stuck in their spiritual growth, due to their dullness or slowness in hearing, but they went back to the beginning. That’s why they had to be taught again what they had already known for a long time, but what had lost the essence for their heart. It no longer had authority in their life. Once God’s Word no longer fills your heart and governs your life, you sink and are in danger of returning to the world. Then you need to be taught again about the first principles of the oracles of God, which indicates the speaking of Christ on earth (Heb 6:1 ; Heb 1:1).

Heb 5:13-14. The writer calls that “milk”. ‘Milk’ is the word of and about Christ on earth. They were not ready for solid food. Solid food is the word about Christ in heaven. As a Christian you live by milk if you for instance take the beatitudes (Matthew 5-7) as standard for your Christian life, while you don’t think about your heavenly position in Christ. It is not wrong to be an infant, but it is if you remain one or if you act like one again.

If you think about your heavenly position in Christ you are partaking of solid food or as it is called in Heb 5:13 “the word of righteousness”. Then you are partaking of the righteousness of God in which everyone who believes shares through the perfect work of Christ. On the basis of that righteousness Christ received the place He now has in heaven and that you have in Him there. Are you unskilled in that while you ought to know better then you are an infant. To say it with the words of Galatians 4 (Gal 4:1-7), where the same things are the issue: you are a child.

Opposed to this is the spiritual mature believer who has gone through a healthy spiritual growth and who knows his position in Christ and lives accordingly. To become spiritually mature is not an automatic procedure, but a result of a habit to exercise your senses. By “senses” is meant your perceptivity or discernment. Your spiritual growth is extremely dependent on the discernment of good and bad. If you focus your eye on the heavenly Christ you are not an unworldly eccentric, but you gain insight into doing the good and refraining from evil..

Now read Hebrews 5:8-14 again.

Reflection: Are there things in your life that are delaying your spiritual growth?