Hebrews: The Son is a Priest Forever
Hebrews 5:5-6; Psalm 2:7 Psalm 110:4 - Our High Priest is begotten by God and appointed forever as our mediator.
“So also Christ did not glorify Himself so as to become a high priest, but He who said to Him,
“You are My Son,
Today I have begotten You”;
just as He says also in another passage,
“You are a priest forever
According to the order of Melchizedek.””
Hebrews 5:5-6 NASB1995
The references to Psalm 2 and Psalm 110 are repeated here again in Hebrews 5. Jesus did not glorify Himself to become a high priest. This came from God the Father, who has begotten the Son and appoints Him a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.
Enduring Word summarizes these two verses succinctly:
a. Christ did not glorify Himself to become High Priest: Jesus did not make Himself High Priest. Instead, just as much as Jesus was declared to be the Son (in Psalm 2:7), He was also declared to be a priest forever (in Psalm 110:4).
i. It is easy to see why the priesthood of Jesus was difficult for early Jewish Christians to grasp. Jesus was not from the lineage of Aaron. Jesus neither claimed nor practiced special ministry in the temple. He confronted the religious structure instead of joining it. In Jesus’ day, the priesthood became a corrupt institution. The office was gained through intrigue and politicking among corrupt leaders.
b. Today I have begotten You: This refers to Jesus’ resurrection from the dead. At that time He fully assumed His role as our great High Priest, having been perfected (Hebrews 5:9).
i. Jesus’ resurrection demonstrated that He was not a priest like Aaron, who had to atone for his own sin first. The resurrection vindicated Jesus as the Father’s Holy One (Acts 2:24 and Acts 2:27), who bore the wrath sinners deserved without becoming a sinner Himself.
c. A priest forever: This is an important contrast. Jesus’ priesthood (like Melchizedek’s) is unending, but no High Priest descended from Aaron ever had a forever priesthood.
i. Hebrews 7 will more fully develop the theme of Jesus as a High Priest according to the order of Melchizedek.
Jesus came from the lineage of the tribe of Judah, not Levi. The priests historically in the OT and since the early days of the NT were from the tribe of Levi. This is an important distinction, as noted in this commentary from Phil Newton, quoted in Precept Austin:
“We must not miss the emphasis of He 5:6. For the writer stresses that while the Jewish high priests were appointed divinely in the order of Aaron to serve their office, the appointment of Jesus Christ supersedes all of them. His appointment is unique in that he has no claim to the high priesthood humanly speaking since he was from the tribe of Judah, not the tribe of Levi. The high priesthood was not up for grabs or given to the highest bidder. It was a sacred trust of Aaron’s sons. But Christ was appointed as the only high priest whose mediatorial work would have eternal value. All of the others were mere shadows of Him who would be appointed by God as Mediator. Without a mediator we have no way to God. We have seen that time after time in analyzing our sinful condition. Only one has been appointed. Only one has been accepted by God: the Son Whom He declared, “a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.” Here was the predicament facing this first century audience. Some were thinking that they could chart their own course to God. They could divine their own way to eternal life. Much like the multitudes in our own day that think that the rules change or bend for them, they thought that obedient faith in Jesus Christ was not the only way to God. But the only priest whose work is “forever” is Jesus Christ. Therefore, the only one who can break through the barrier of our sinfulness and deliver us in righteousness to the Creator is the One who bore God’s judgment for us at the cross. Are you one whose faith in Jesus Christ is slipping and sliding away? There’s one anchor for the soul-Jesus Christ. (Jesus Christ: Qualified as High Priest Hebrews 5:1-10) (Bolding and links added by Precept Austin)
Here are the references again to Psalm 2 and Psalm 110:
““I will surely tell of the decree of the Lord:
He said to Me,
‘You are My Son, Today I have begotten You.”
Psalms 2:7 NASB1995
“The Lord has sworn and will not change His mind,
“You are a priest forever
According to the order of Melchizedek.””
Psalms 110:4 NASB1995
I’ll end this with a beautiful Charles Spurgeon commentary from Precept Austin:
Beloved, there is rich comfort for all believers in the fact that Christ is God’s appointed and accepted High Priest. God ordained Him to do what He has done, and is doing, and will do; and therefore it is impossible but that God should accept Him and all His work. When He came into the world the Holy Ghost bore witness to His being the Son of the Highest. At His baptism there came a voice from heaven saying, “You are my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased” (Matt 3:17; Mark 1:11), and that same voice was thrice heard declaring the same fact. The Father has given further testimony to the mission of Christ, “in that He has raised Him from the dead” (Acts 17:31), and has caused Him to enter into the heavenly places on our behalf. Moreover, He has given Him a pledge that as Melchizedek, being both king and priest, He shall sit at His right hand until He has made His enemies His footstool (Psa 110:1). Our Lord Jesus has been chosen, ordained, and glorified as our “great high priest that has passed into the heavens” (Heb 4:14). This is the groundwork of our comfort in our Lord Jesus.
My next devotional examines Hebrews 5:7-10 - The Son learns obedience through His suffering.
Heaven on Wheels Daily Prayer:
Dear Lord - Thank you for Your begotten Son and eternal High Priest, Jesus! Amen.
Credits and Citations:
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. www.Lockman.org
Precept Austin was accessed on 11/17/2025 to review commentary for Hebrews 5:5-6.
Commentary from Enduring Word by David Guzik is used with written permission. ©1996-present The Enduring Word Bible Commentary by David Guzik – enduringword.com