So also Christ did not exalt himself to be made a high priest, but was appointed by him who said to him, “You are my Son, today I have begotten you”;
Hebrews 5 has just described an ordinary high priest. He is taken from among men, he is weak, and God appoints him; he does not take the job himself. Verse 5 applies that last point to Christ. The proof of the appointment is a word God spoke about His Sonship — so why is a call to priesthood announced in the language of a Father to a Son?
The Office Is Given, Never Taken
The verse follows straight on from Aaron's call. The choice of a mediator belongs to God alone.
Leslie M. GrantGod alone decides who is fit for this place of holy mediation between God and man. Man has not the slightest choice in this appointment. In human affairs, both sides in a discussion usually have to agree on a mediator. But in this matter God alone can be trusted to make the right appointment, and He keeps this choice to Himself.
Christ kept that rule. Where the ESV says He "did not exalt himself," older translations say "glorified not Himself." One writer shows what that restraint looked like.
William KellyHe truly did not glorify Himself in any way, even when the atoning work was done. He waits for His kingdom, though He is Ruler of the kings of the earth... He waited on the One who sent Him. It was for God to speak, and God did speak.
Two Voices, Two Glories
This verse quotes Psalm 2; the next quotes Psalm 110. Each declares something different.
J. N. DarbyGod declares two glories: the glory of His Person, shown as man on the earth, and the glory of His office. He declares the first when He says, "You are my Son, today I have begotten you" (Psalm 2). He declares the second in these words: "You are a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek" (Psalm 110).
What "Today I Have Begotten You" Means
The phrase can sound puzzling. One writer takes it of Christ in His place as man on earth:
Hamilton SmithThe words "today I have begotten you" come from Psalm 2, and that passage is quoted in Acts 13:33, Hebrews 1:5 and Hebrews 5:5. This raises no difficulty, since it plainly refers to Christ as a man, Jehovah's Anointed and Jehovah's King, in connection with this world. The phrases used — "the hill of Zion," "the ends of the earth," and "this day" — belong to the earth and to time, and so confirm this view.
That declaration in time takes nothing from what He always was: "Son of God from everlasting to everlasting, in time also as man He has God declaring 'I today have begotten you'" (William Kelly).
Why Sonship Answers the Question of Priesthood
If the point were simply that God appointed Him, Psalm 110 alone would have settled it. The Psalm 2 quotation is there because of who He is.
Frederick W GrantThere can be no real doubt that the call to the office is implied in God's acknowledgment of His Sonship. Otherwise these words would be beside the point, and the second quotation would be the only one needed. On the other hand, it is His being the Son of God in humanity that makes Him fit for the priesthood — that is, for the office of mediator.
Like Aaron, and Nothing Like Him
Both were called by God. That is where the likeness ends.
Leslie M. GrantThis appointment too is wholly of God, but it is not merely an appointment from outside. God's own announcement at His birth declares the personal glory of His Son. It implies that in His Person He is God's High Priest by nature. There is nothing like this in Aaron. No personal quality had the slightest bearing on his priesthood, which simply passed on by natural descent.
The Warning Against Self-Made Priests
Taking the office of priest without God's call has always been serious.
Hamilton SmithSee how serious it is to ignore this great truth. Judgment fell on Korah and those with him, who tried to make themselves priests without being called by God. Jude warns us that in Christendom many will do the same and appoint themselves priests without God's call.
The Comfort in Who Appointed Him
Some think Christ prays in heaven to hold back God's anger. One writer answers that.
H H SnellSome speak of Christ's work of intercession in heaven as needed to calm God's anger... The truth is different. The same grace that moved God's heart to give His only Son, and to give Him up for our offences to the death of the cross, also appointed Him to the work of priesthood.
Summary
- Called — no one takes this honour; God alone appoints the mediator, and reserves that choice to Himself.
- Christ called — He did not exalt Himself; He waited for God to speak, even after the work of the cross was done.
- Called as Son — God announces the appointment in words about Sonship. His being the Son of God in humanity is what fits Him for the office.
- Called beyond Aaron — Aaron's priesthood simply passed down the family line. Christ's rests on who He Himself is.
- Called by grace — the God who gave His Son also appointed Him priest. His priesthood flows from God's love; it does not have to win it.