overview - In chapter 5, the writer names two requirements for becoming a high priest: (1) the person must be selected from among the people; (2) the person must be called, not selected on the basis of high priest entrance exam scores. In this Sunday’s lesson, these two qualifications are answered in reverse and fulfilled by Jesus.

use of psalm 29 & 110 - You are my son/You are a priest forever. Kingship and priesthood. Why did these two psalm fragments loom so critical in early Christian liturgy and christological formulation? And why are they bound together here? Some interpreters suggest a pre-existent (Son) and post-existent Christ (priest). F.F. Bruce offers an alternate view: the two citations are a response to messianic expectations at Qumran. Essenes anticipated two messiahs-one royal (Davidic) and the other priestly (Aaronic). The writer says, "Don’t expect two messiahs, but one-Jesus Christ-who is both priest and king."

begotten - Note that begotten refers to designation, not parentage. Such is also the psalm’s original meaning. The royal psalm genre envisioned God appointing Israel’s king as being "God’s Son." That’s probably why this verse doesn’t appear as a proof-text in the synoptic birth narratives.

 

How has "walking in someone else’s shoes" helped you to understand someone else’s actions or views?

What examples could you provide to corroborate the statement, "Leadership secured from the outside may not be in the best interest of the company"?

What is more important to you-Christ as High Priest or Christ as Sovereign ruler in your life? Why?

 

explore jesus’ role - The Hebrews writer presents Jesus in two primary motifs: Jesus as someone like us-our brother or sister and thus, sympathetic to our struggles; and Jesus as one who experienced life with faithfulness and obedience to God, and thus one who serves as a model for our Christian pilgrimage. You might want to explore such motifs as a way to understand how we relate to Jesus.

jesus at prayer - I wonder what image our listeners have most of Jesus? Shepherd? Storyteller? Supreme Sacrifice? Here, the writer makes an interpretive choice in providing us a very different vignette of Jesus: Jesus in agonizing, fervent, passion-filled prayer. A homily could explore our "vignettes," look at the Hebrews vignette, and move to other pastoral and perhaps less valued or celebrated portraits of Christ.

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[1] The New Interpreter’s Bible IX (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1995), page 61.