Who in the days of his flesh, when he had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto him that was able to save him from death, and was heard in that he feared;
All Commentaries on Hebrews 5:7 Go To Hebrews 5
Thomas Aquinas
AD 1274
239. – As we have said at the beginning of this epistle, the Apostle’s intention is to show that Christ is more excellent than all those from whom the Law derives authority, namely, the angels, by whose ministry it was given: ‘Being ordained by angels in the hand of a mediator’ (Gal. 3:19), and Moses, who was the law-giver: ‘The law was given by Moses’ (Jn. 1:17) and the priesthood and high priesthood of Aaron, by whom the Law was administered. Having finished the first two he now deals with the third, namely, the excellence of Christ’s priesthood over that of Aaron. In regard to this he does two things: first, he shows that Christ is a high priest; secondly, that He is more excellent than the high priest of the Old Law (chap. 7). In regard to the first he does two things: first, he shows that Christ is a high priest; secondly, he prepares his hearers for what follows (v. 11). In regard to the first he does three things: first, he shows what is required of a high priest; secondly, that these are found in Christ, and concludes that He is a high priest (v. 5). In regard to the first he does three things: first, he describes the high priest’s office; secondly, he shows the compassion necessary in a high priest (v. 2); thirdly, he shows the way of attaining the high priesthood (v. 4).
240. – Regarding the office he mentions four things: first, the loftiness of this office: chosen from among men; secondly, its usefulness: appointed to act on behalf of men; thirdly, the material: in relation to God; fourthly, the action: to offer gifts and sacrifices for sins.
241. – He says, therefore: This office suits a man, but not an angel. Hence, he says that we have a great high priest and He is Christ: For every high priest chosen from among men, ought to be a man. But God willed that man have someone like himself to whom he might run. Hence, the Church, too, has ordained that when someone from the college is found useful, a foreigner should not be chosen: ‘I will give her vine-dressers out of the same place’ (Hos. 2:15); ‘You shall set him whom the Lord, your God, shall choose out of the number of your brethren. You may not make a man of another nation king that is not your brother’ (Dt. 17:15). But he is chosen from, because he should excel the others, as Saul did (1 Sam. 10:23). Accordingly, Christ asks Peter, whom He wished to set over the others, if he loved Him more than the others (Jn. 21:15).
242. – The end and utility is that he is appointed to act on behalf of men, i.e., for their benefit. He is not appointed for glory or for accumulating riches or for enriching his family: ‘And ourselves, your servants through Jesus’ (2 Cor. 4:5); ‘According to the power which the Lord has given me unto edification and not unto destruction’ (2 Cor. 13:10). But if he seeks his own, he is not a shepherd, but a hireling.
243. – The nature of the dignity is that the high priest is set over the others. For just as a leader or ruler is set over a city, so the high priest in the things that appertain to God: ‘You shall be to him in things that pertain to God’ (Ex. 4:16); ‘for the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty to God unto the pulling down of fortifications’ (2 Cor. 10:4). Therefore, just as the things which pertain to the worship of God transcend temporal things, so the pontifical dignity exceeds all other dignities. Therefore, high priests should not entangle themselves with secular business and neglect the things that pertain to God: ‘No man being a soldier to Christ entangles himself with secular businesses’ (2 Tim. 2:4).
244. – The act of the high priest is to offer gifts, i.e., voluntary oblations, not extorted: ‘Of every man that offers of his own accord, you shall take them’ (Ex. 25:2) and sacrifices for sins, i.e., which are offered to him to satisfy for sins: ‘The priest shall pray for him and for his sin, and it shall be forgiven him’ (Lev 4:26). This indicates that everything offered, whether voluntary of under vow or for satisfaction, shall be offered according to the disposition of the prelate.
245. – Then (v. 2) he shows what is required in the exercise of the high priesthood, namely, pity. In regard to this he does three things: first, he shows that for the exercise of the high priesthood mercy and compassion are required; secondly, a merciful motive (v. 2b); thirdly, the sign of mercy (v. 3).
246. – He says therefore: I say that he must be in the things that appertain to God; yet he should be mediator between man and God: ‘I was the mediator and stood between the Lord and you at that time’ (Dt. 5:5). Therefore, just as he should by the devotion of prayer reach God as one extreme, so by mercy and compassion he should reach man, the other extreme. Hence, he says: who can have compassion on the ignorant and wayward: ‘Who is weak and I am not weak?’ (2 Cor. 11:29). On the other hand: ‘They are not concerned for the affliction of Joseph’ (Am 6:6). But defects are of two kinds: some fail from ignorance; hence, he says, on the ignorant. But to be ignorant is, properly speaking, to lack knowledge of things one ought to know. Others fall from certain knowledge, and in regard to this he says, and are wayward, i.e., err.
247. – The motive for mercy is mentioned when he says, became he himself is beset with infirmity. That motive is infirmity, and those who are sometimes infirm: ‘But we have this treasure in earthen vessels’ (2 Cor. 4:7). The reason for this is that he may have compassion on the infirmities of others. This is the reason why the Lord permitted Peter to fall: ‘Judge of the disposition of your neighbor by yourself’ (Sir. 31:18). Therefore, he says, because he himself is beset with infirmity, namely, as to penalties and guilt: ‘Have mercy on me, O Lord, for I am weak’ (Ps. 6:3); ‘for I am a weak man and of short time and falling short of the understanding of judgment and laws’ (Wis. 9:5). And note that he says, beset. For carnal men have the weakness of sin within themselves, because they are not subject to sin; and they are also beset by the weakness of the flesh: ‘Therefore, I myself with the mind serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin’ (Rom. 7:25).
248. – But the sign of this is that even in the Old Law (Lev 9), as well as now, as is clear from the canon of the Mass: ‘And to us sinners’, it has been decreed that the priest offer also for himself, which he would not do, unless he were oppressed by the weakness of sins, with which he is beset. Indeed, if he is in mortal sin, he should not celebrate. And therefore, he says: Because of this he is bound to offer sacrifice for his own sins as well as for those of the people.
249. – Then he describes how one goes about attaining to the priesthood when he says, And one does not take the honor upon himself. For it is contrary to nature for anything to raise itself to a higher state than its nature, as air does not make itself fire, but is made so by something higher. Hence, God’s discipline does not allow anyone to take the honor to himself, by favor, money, or power: ‘Have we not taken unto us honors by our own strength?’ (Am 6:14); They have reigned, but not by me’ (Hos 8:4), but is called by God, as Aaron was. Therefore, the Lord confirmed his priesthood with a rod which flowered. Hence, those should be accepted who do not impose themselves. Hence, in olden times they were indicated by a visible sign, as was St. Nicholas and many others.
250. – Then (v. 5) he shows how Christ is high priest. In regard to this he does two things: first, he shows that the aforesaid belongs to Christ; secondly, from this he draws a conclusion (v. 10). In regard to the first he does three things: first, he shows that Christ was made a high priest not by Himself but by God; secondly, he treats of His office (v. 7); thirdly, of his mercy (v. 8). In regard to the first he does two things: first, he shows that Christ did not promote himself; secondly, by whom He was promoted (v. 5b).
251. – He says, therefore: so also Christ did not exalt himself. Here it should be noted that he does not say that He did not make Himself a priest, but that he did not exalt himself to be made a high priest. For there are some who exalt themselves to become a priest, as hypocrites who demonstrate certain qualities, in order to be chosen or to obtain prebends. Yet no one makes himself high priest. But Christ not only did not make Himself high priest, he did not exalt himself to be made high priest: ‘I seek not my own glory; there is one that seeks and judges’ (Jn. 8:50), and later: ‘It is my Father that glorifies me’ (Jn. 8:54). This is true, insofar as He is man, because as God He has the same glory as the Father.
252. – Then (v. 5b) he shows by whom he was promoted. First, he shows by Whom He was glorified; secondly, how He was appointed high priest (v. 8b). But He was glorified by the divine judgment, because the Lord spoke to Him in Ps. 2 (v. 7): ‘You are my son: This day I have begotten you’, and in Mt. (3:17): ‘This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased.’ Therefore, when He shows Him begotten from eternity, He shows His glory: ‘Who, being the brightness of his glory and the figure of his substance’ (above 1:3). As man He also receives the high priesthood from God: as he says also in another place: ‘You are a priest for ever according to the order of Melchizedech’. But the Apostle uses the authority of the Palms as being more famous and more often consulted. He says, priest, because He offered Himself to God the Father: ‘He loved us and gave himself for us an oblation and offering to God’ (Eph. 5:2). But lest anyone suppose the priesthood of Christ is that of the Old Law, he distinguishes the former on two points: first, its authority, because it is for ever, whereas the other was temporary and passed away with the coming of the One prefigured. Likewise, its victim has the power to bring one to eternal life, and it lasts for every. Secondly, its ritual, because animals were offered in the one, but bread and wine here; hence, he says, according to the order of Melchizedech.
253. – Then (v. 7) he shows that what pertains to the priestly office belongs to Christ: first, he shows his condition; secondly, His act (v. 7b); thirdly, His efficacy (v. 7c).
254. – His condition was that He was taken from men, because, as has been stated, a high priest is taken from among men. Therefore, he says, who in the days of his flesh. Here flesh is taken for the entire human nature: ‘The Word was made flesh’ (Jn. 1:14). But are the days of His flesh no longer here? It seems that they are, for it says in Luke (24:39): ‘A spirit has not flesh and bone, as you see me to have.’ Why, then, is the time before His Passion and resurrection considered the time of his flesh more than now? I answer that flesh stands for the weakness of the flesh, as in 1 Cor. (15:50): ‘Flesh and blood cannot possess the kingdom of God.’ But before the Passion Christ had weak and corruptible flesh. Therefore, he says, in the days of his flesh, i.e., in which He wore flesh similar to the sinner, but not sinful.
255. – His act was to offer prayers and supplications, which is the spiritual sacrifice Christ offered. But they are called prayers, i.e., petitions: ‘The continual prayer of a just man avails much’ (Jas. 5:16). They are also called supplications on account of the humility of the one praying: ‘He fell upon his face, praying’ (Mt. 26:39). To whom? To God the Father, who was able to save him from death. He was able to do this in two ways: in one way, by saving Him from death: ‘Father, if it be possible, let this chalice pass from me. Nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will’ (Mt. 26:39). In another way, by raising Him up: ‘Because you will not leave my soul in hell’ (Ps. 15:10); and again: ‘But you, O Lord, have mercy on me and raise me up again’ (Ps. 40:11). The priesthood of Christ is ordained to that spiritual sacrifice: hence, He was appointed to offer gifts and sacrifices for sins: ‘The sacrifice of praise shall glorify me’ (Ps. 49:23); ‘We will render the calves of our lips’ (Hos 14:3).
256. – His efficacy is shown by the way He prays. But two things are necessary in one who prays, namely, fervent love along with pain and groans. These are mentioned in Ps. 37 (v. 10): ‘Lord, all my desire is before you, as to the first, and my groaning is not hidden from you’, as to the second. But Christ had these two. Therefore, in regard to the first he says, with loud cries, i.e., with a most efficacious intention: ‘And being in an agony, he prayed the longer’ (Lk. 22:43). Again, in Luke (23:46): ‘and crying with a loud voice, he said, ‘Father, into your hands I commend my spirit.’ Because of the second he says, and tears: for by tears the Apostle means the internal groans of the one praying. But this is not mentioned in the Gospel; but it is probably that just as He wept at the resurrection of Lazarus, so also during His Passion. For He did many things that are not written. But He did not weep for Himself, but for us whom the Passion was to benefit: although it did benefit Him, inasmuch as He merited exaltation by it: ‘For which cause God has exalted him and given Him a name which is above every name’ (Phil. 2:9). Therefore, he was heard for his godly fear, which He had toward God: ‘And he filled him with the spirit of the fear of the Lord’ (Is. 11:3).
257. – Nevertheless, it seems that He was not heard; first, for Himself, because the chalice did not pass from Him; secondly, for the others from whom He begged forgiveness: ‘Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do’ (Lk. 28:34). I answer that Christ was heard in regard to everything He wished. But it was under the influence of the sensitive appetite and of the will acting as a natural appetite that He shrank from death. It was under these influences that He prayed and thus showed Himself true man. But under the influence of the will informed by reason He willed to die; hence he says: ‘Not at I will, but as your will’ (Mt. 26:39). Furthermore, He did not wish to forgive all of them, but only those who believed; and many were converted later.
