Hebrews 5:4 And no one takes this honor for himself, but only when called by God, just as Aaron was.
A high priest is chosen by God for this job. It is a calling. The high priesthood was passed on from father to son in a lot of the Old Testament. The problem with this is that a high priest is acting from duty and out of family expectations. Often this type of situation can lead to mediocre performance or a lack of integrity. This can happen also with kings. In the Old Testament, David rose as king of Israel as a special calling through the prophet Samuel. Kings who came later were put in their position because they were the sons of previous kings. Many times, these kings did a poor job in leading the kingdoms and had many compromises of morality. It is interesting to apply this to clergy or other types of spiritual leaders today. Just because a father or mother is a minister does not mean that a child should be. Each individual must answer the call of God for him or herself. The children of ministers may likewise become ministers, but they should do so only if God is leading them. Pastor’s kids have a lot of benefits that other children do not have. They can learn about ministry from the earliest days. They see the ins and outs of ministry in more ways than children of the laity. But God must be the one who calls them to the special ministry of serving as shepherds of God’s flock. Sometimes stress and pressure are put on children of clergy with the expectation that they will also become ministers. We should avoid that and let them grow up and follow wherever God leads them and in what they are interested. The author is writing about this idea to emphasize the qualities of a high priest. Verse 6 will apply this idea to Jesus who was specifically appointed to be a high priest because no one else is qualified to be the mediator. This was part of God’s plan from the beginning. This should cause us to ponder and accept what Jesus has done for us by providing salvation.
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