“The Source of Eternal Salvation” [Matt's Messages] ~ Matt Mitchell

“The Source of Eternal Salvation”

Fixing Our Eyes on Jesus

The Letter to the Hebrews

Lanse Evangelical Free Church

May 3, 2026 :: Hebrews 5:1-10

“Eternal Salvation.” Those are weighty and wonderful words (there in verse 9)!

“Eternal salvation.” Just think about that.

Salvation means rescue. We were in trouble, and we needed rescued from that trouble. In trouble with God! Our trouble was sin. We had all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. And that meant death. The wages of sin is death. And not just any death, but eternal death. Death and judgment and condemnation forever in Hell. That’s where we were headed as the sinful human race.

And we could not save ourselves. We had gotten in too deep. Nothing we did could rescue us from our sin. Someone Else had to deliver us.

And Someone Else did! Someone Else provided a great rescue. What Hebrews chapter 2, verse 3 called “such a great salvation.”

And He didn’t just save us temporarily.

He didn’t just save us for the weekend.

He didn’t just save us for a lifetime.

No, He saved us for an eternity!

He provided an “eternal salvation.” A salvation that goes on forever and ever and ever and ever and ever. What could be better than that?!

These ten verses of Hebrews talk are all about (and this is our message title taken from verse 9), “The Source of Eternal Salvation.” This is where eternal salvation comes from. This is how eternal salvation is possible. This is how eternal salvation springs forth and comes to you and me.

There are very few things more important to think about than that,. and thinking about it deeply will prepare us well to celebrate the Lord’s Supper in just a few minutes. Because that Table is all about “The Source of Eternal Salvation.” Not the Table itself or the food and drink on it, but what that bread and cup represent. Who they represent.

Who is the Source of Eternal Salvation? It’s Jesus. We know that. We’re Christians. We’ve come to church to remind ourselves of it. Jesus is the Source of Eternal Salvation.

Now, verse 9 says that “He became...” that. There was a process in place that had that result. Jesus “became the source of eternal salvation.” How did that come about? That’s what we want think about together this morning. And Hebrews chapter 5 helps us to understand.

[VIDEO WILL BE EMBEDDED HERE.]

What a big job!!!

What a big job it would be to provide eternal salvation for sinners like you and me. It would take an incredibly special Person to be the source of eternal salvation. Thankfully, Jesus is that special.

I’ve been thinking a lot about qualifications for a job recently because our daughter Robin is searching for her first job as a veterinary technician.

She has graduated with her degree at the top of her class. She has passed her national exam. She is ready to secure state licensesure as a certified vet tech. And she has done an internship and an externship. Robin is fully qualified to be a Vet Tech, and the veterinary hospital that hires her will be very blessed to have her. I say that as a completely objective unbiased father.

But what kind of qualifications would it take to “become the source of eternal salvation?”

What a job that would be?! The Person Who did that would have to be a great high priest.

We learned last time that we’ve reached this middle section of the letter that could be summed up with those three words, “Great High Priest.”

It’s in our memory verse. We sang it in the last hymn. We proclaimed it in Article 4 of our Statement of Faith. In this part of the letter, we’re fixing our eyes on Jesus as our great high priest. From chapters 4 to 10, this sermonic letter focuses our attention on how Jesus is like the high priest that these primarily Jewish believers are familiar with from their Old Testament and...even better.

These believers that he’s writing to were tempted to take their eyes off of Jesus and go back to what they were used to. But this pastor is urging them to not give up or give in and to hold firmly to the faith they had professed. Because Jesus is our great high priest.

Now, what does it take to become that? Here are the basic qualifications for the job of high priest. Verse 1.

“Every high priest is selected from among men and is appointed to represent them in matters related to God, to offer gifts and sacrifices for sins.”

They already know these things, but it’s helpful for us who are not that familiar with priests. Verse 1 explains the basic job description.

The high priest is a mediator. He is a representative. He supposed to represent sinful people before a holy God by offering up gifts and sacrifices for sins. Do you see that?

The priest stands between the sinful people and the holy God. That’s a dangerous place to stand! And so if you’re going to be that person standing between sinners who deserve God’s righteous wrath and that holy God, you better have a holy sacrifice in your hands.

We said last time that the high priest, and the high priest alone would go into the Holy of Holies, the Most Holy Place, in the tabernacle and, then later, the temple once a year on Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement and take the blood of a propitiating sacrifice to put on the atonement cover make atonement for the sins of the people.

That was his job. What were his qualifications?

Three things. Every high priest had to be:

- Human in Nature

- Subject to Weakness

- Called by God

Kids who are coming to Snack and Yack today, Mrs. Mitchell and I are going to ask you for those three things.

- Human in Nature

- Subject to Weakness

- Called by God

Let’s take them in order. To be the high priest you had to be a human. Did you see that in verse 1?

“Every high priest is selected from among men...” Or some of your versions might say, “from among the people.” The Greek word is “anthropos” which is the word that we get “anthropology” from. It emphasizes our common humanity.

Let me ask you a question. Could the high priest be an angel? No. Angels are not humans. They could not serve as a high priest. Not qualified.

Could the high priest be a Doberman Pincer? No. Dogs are not human. They may be smarter than some humans, but they cannot serve as a high priest. Not qualified.

How about this one? Could a robot be a high priest? Maybe an Anthropic A.I. Agent? No. A.I. bots are not human. They didn’t exist back then, but even if they did, they could not be a high priest. Not qualified.

You had have a human nature to be high priest. To represent humans, you had to be human.

And part of the reason for that was this second qualification. You had to be subject to human weakness. Look at verse 2.

“He [every priest] is able to deal gently with those who are ignorant and are going astray, since he himself is subject to weakness.”

The ESV has “beset with weakness.”

King James has “compassed with infirmity.”

The CSB says, “clothed with weakness.”

To be qualified as a high priest, you had to be subject to weakness. You had to be able to be tempted. You had to live with human limitations. Human sins had to look good to you in some way. You had to understand what it was really like to be human. Verse 2 says so that you could “deal gently” with those who were “ignorant” and “going astray.” Those who are acting like sheep. “We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way...” (Isa. 53:6).

That’s not good! But the high priest has to understand what it’s like. He has to be compassionate. He has to care. He has to be empathetic and sympathetic. Not merely frustrated with sinners and looking down on them because he’s above it all.

In fact, the high priest in the Old Testament was so subject to weakness that he would have given in to temptation time and again and need cleansed from sin himself. Look at verse 3.

“This is why [because he’s subject to weakness] he has to offer sacrifices for his own sins, as well as for the sins of the people.”

You can read about it in Leviticus chapter 16. The priest offered sacrifices for himself and his family and then for the rest of the people.

And here’s the third qualification: Called by God Himself. Look at verse 4.

“No one takes this honor upon himself; he must be called by God, just as Aaron was.”

To be qualified as the high priest, you didn’t just decide that you were going to be the high priest. At least if you were doing it right. I’m sure that there were plenty of pretenders in the history of the priesthood, but it wasn’t supposed to be like that.

It wasn’t like you just on day decided that you were going to be the high priest. And it wasn’t something for which you ran for election.

God just called Aaron to do it. And then his sons. In their case, it was hereditary and genealogical. You had to come from a certain tribe in Israel.

What tribe was Aaron from? Of the twelve tribes? Levi. You had to be a son of Levi. And then from the Levites, Aaron was chosen and then his sons. You had to be from Aaron’s clan to be high priest.

Human, subject to weakness, and called by God just as Aaron was. Read about it in Exodus 28, Leviticus 8, and Numbers 3.

Big job. Big qualifications.

What about Jesus? Is Jesus qualified for the job of high priest? Of course He is. Let’s start with the last one. Was He called by God? Look at verse 5.

“No one takes this honor upon himself; he must be called by God, just as Aaron was. So Christ also did not take upon himself the glory of becoming a high priest. But God said to him, ‘You are my Son; today I have become your Father.’ And he says in another place, ‘You are a priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek” (vv.5-6).

This pastor loves his Old Testament and has read it more deeply and carefully than just about anybody in history. He says that Jesus the Messiah (the Christ) did not just take upon Himself the glory of becoming a high priest. He probably could have. He had the authority. But He did not do it on His own.

God the Father called Him to this ministry. And the writer brings out two passages of Scripture to prove it.

The first is Psalm 2, verse 7 which he had already quoted back in the opening part of the letter (1:5).

It’s that enthronement song that King David probably sang over King Solomon, and we all recognize was fully fulfilled in King Jesus.

“You are my Son; today I have become your Father.”

And this pastor-theologian sees that as not only a calling to rule but to serve as a priest. Because he knows that the Son of Psalm 2 is also the Son of Psalm 110 where, “The LORD [said to David’s son his] Lord: ‘Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet’” (Psalm 110:1) which he had also already quoted in chapter 1 (v.13).

The Father invited the Son to sit at His right hand! Does that sound familiar? He has “gone through the heavens” and sits at the right hand of the Majesty on High.

And then the LORD goes on to promise on oath in Psalm 110, verse 4 (quoted here in verse 6), “You [the One seated at His right hand] are a priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek.”

There is so much here to unpack. And this letter is going to do that especially in chapter 7. This is the first of 10 times that Hebrews is going to reference Psalm 110, verse 4! He’s going to be talking about that verse a lot.

The most important thing to understand up front is that God the Father called Jesus to the priesthood. It happened in Psalm 2, verse 7 and Psalm 110, verse 4. Jesus is qualified to be our great high priest because God called Him to it. “You’re my Son. You’re a priest forever.”

Forever! That’s important, isn’t it? Because what kind of salvation do we need? “Eternal salvation.”

What if we had a priest who only lasted 100 years? Our great high priest is a priest “forever” and that means that our salvation can be forever, too.

Now, what is this Melchizedek thing in verse 6? What is a Melchizedek? It’s a person, isn’t it? That’s a name.

The Mysterious Mr. Melchizedek!

Pop quiz for you. In how many books does the Mysterious Mr. Melchizedek appear in the Bible?

Only 3. The beginning, the middle, and towards the ends. Which books? Genesis. Chapter 14. Read it this afternoon. And then he disappears until where? Psalm 110! Read that this afternoon! And then he’s not mentioned again in until right here in the Letter to the Hebrews. There’s something special going on there. Can you see what an amazing student of the Old Testament this letter writer was?

In Psalm 110, the LORD swears an oath that the Messiah will be a “priest forever in the order of Melchizedek.”

That’s a different kind of priest. It’s a priest. Someone who is human in nature, subject to weakness, and called by God. But the Melchizedekian priesthood is of a different sort than the Levitical priesthood, and we’ll have to get into that more as we get further in our study. It’s really awesome when you understand it.

So, Jesus is qualified because He’s been called by God.

What about the other two qualifications?

Is He human in nature? Yes, He is. Look at verse 7. Verses 7 through 10 are one long sentence in the original Greek. Verse 7.

“During the days of Jesus' life on earth, he offered up prayers and petitions with loud cries and tears to the one who could save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission.”

Sounds like a human to me.

“During the days of Jesus’ life on earth...” Literally that is, “the days of his flesh.” Remember “flesh and blood” from chapter 2? Jesus was and is fully human.

He took on everything that it means to be a true human. Flesh and blood and weakness. Jesus was subject to weakness. He got tired. He got beaten. He got killed.

Jesus wept. Jesus bled. He was fully human and that made Him qualified to be our great high priest!

If Jesus had not been born as a baby in Bethlehem, He could not have served as our great high priest. And we would not have eternal salvation. But He was born as human and He suffered as a human.

And He prayed as a human. Did you hear how He prayed in verse 7? It sounds like pure agony.

“During the days of Jesus' life on earth, he offered up prayers and petitions with loud cries and tears to the one who could save him from death...”

He’s yelling His prayers. Have you ever yelled a prayer before? He’s crying. He’s wailing.

Do you think about Jesus praying like that? Do you think about the tears running down His face? I don’t believe we think enough about Jesus’ sobbing. His struggle. His turmoil. His prayers were not pretty!

When did He pray like this? Well, it says, “in the days of His life on earth.” It happened on multiple occasions. I think about Him weeping like this at the tomb of his friend Lazarus.

But the time that fits the verse the most is in the Garden of Gethsemane (see Luke 22:34-46).

It says, “to the one (that’s the Father) who could save him from death.” That sounds to me like, “Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me...” (Luke 22:42). Loud cries and tears.

Oh yes, He was subject to weakness. He can understand what it’s like to be us. He can deal gently.

But, unlike Aaron, Jesus never gave in! What did verse 15 say in the last chapter? The double negative: “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are–yet was without sin.”

Through His tears like drops of blood Jesus cried, “Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.”

Hebrews calls that “reverent submission” in verse 7. “Reverent submission.” That’s what it took for us to have eternal salvation. It took “reverent submission.”

And because of His reverent submission, Jesus “was heard.” I don’t think that means just that God the Father could pick up the sound waves from God the Son in the Garden.

“What’s that? I think I hear my Son.”

No, I think that means that the Father answered Jesus’ prayer.

Is that right? Did Jesus get saved from death? It feels like, “No.” Jesus died. He was a human who suffered a human death on a cruel instrument of human torture. But verse 7 says, “He was heard.”

What do you think the answer is? I think it means that the Father answered the Son’s prayer to be saved “from death” by raising Him from the dead!

Christ is risen!

He is risen indeed.

Our great high priest prayed to be saved from death, and God the Father saved Him on the third day. And then He “passed through the heavens” and sat down.

Aaron sure never did that.

Our great high priest went through so much for us. So much suffering. You wouldn’t expect it. Especially because He was the Son of God. He didn’t deserve all of this suffering. But He chose it for you and me. Look at verse 8. (Again, this is part of a longer sentence. It all goes together. Verse 8.)

“Although he was a son, he learned obedience from what he suffered and, once made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him and was designated by God to be high priest in the order of Melchizedek” (vv.8-10).

He obviously has more to say about about that order of Melchizedek in the rest of the letter. It’s pretty important to him, and it is to us as well. But we’ll save that for later.

We do need to talk about this “learning obedience” and being “made perfect.” Those are not the words we might expect to be reading about the Son of God! And the writer knows that. That’s why he starts with “Although he was a son....”

If you remember what he said about the Son in the first four verses of the letter, you’ll remember how exalted the Son is. How superior to everything. He’s the Son of God! Heir of all thing, maker of all thing, sustainer of all things. The radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of his being! That Son!

What would He have to learn?

Obedience.

Now, that doesn’t mean that He was ever disobedient. You and I learn obedience through failure, through trial and error. But Jesus learned obedience by success. But it was learning, in His human nature.

Remember, He “grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men” (Lk. 2:52). He started out a baby, and had to learn everything. His ABC’s. His Aleph, Beth, Gimels in Hebrew. He had to learn what it meant to obey as a toddler, obey as a tweener, obey as a teen, obey as an adult–by experience.

And it wasn’t easy, especially when He had to obey the command to go to the Cross.

“He learned obedience from what he suffered...”

There’s a play on words in the Greek there. Learned is “emathen” and suffered is “epathen.” “Emathen” and “epathen.”

Jesus learned through suffering. He understands. He is able to deal gently with us. And when His learning was complete, He was the perfect high priest.

I think that’s what it means in verse 9, “once made perfect.” That doesn’t mean that He was ever morally imperfect. He never sinned. Not even once! Hebrews is very clear on this.

It means that He graduated from this school of suffering and was completely ready to serve as our great high priest.

The word for “perfect” is “teleiow” and it means to be “complete” or “have reached the goal.”

Just like Robin graduated from vet tech school and is now fully qualified to serve as a Vet Tech.

Our Lord Jesus suffered perfectly to be become our perfect high priest. And that makes Him, (v.9) “the source of eternal salvation for all who obey Him.”

He got the job! And He did the job! Isn’t that wonderful?!

How do we apply this to our lives today in 2026?

I can think of all kinds of ways, but let me suggest three.

#1. BE SAVED.

Jesus is the perfect source of eternal salvation. So, come to the source and receive that salvation for yourself. It’s not automatic. Verse 9 tells us that there is a condition. There’s a certain kind of person who receives that eternal salvation. What’s it say? V.9

“He became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him.”

And what is the command that we are called to obey?

Believe in Jesus! Put you trust in Jesus.

Again and again the Book of Hebrews the command to obey is a command to believe. This cannot mean that we must obey to somehow earn our salvation. We cannot save ourselves. Hebrews is crystal clear on that. But we must obey the call to believe the gospel. The good news of Jesus’ death and resurrection. We must put our faith and trust in this great high priest. So that He’s OUR great high priest. And we will saved.

And we’ll be obedient, too. We’ll see that again and again this book, as well.

Don’t listen to this sermon and walk away without a savior.

Look at what He did for His people! He did the job. He became a human. He took on flesh and blood. And He agonized in prayer. And He died so that we could live.

And He came back to life and passed through heavens and sat down. He became the source of eternal salvation, so get saved!

#2. BE STEADFAST.

You have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens. What does Hebrews 4:14 say that we ought to do because of that?

“[L]et us hold firmly to the faith we profess.”

In other words, “fix your eyes on Jesus” and don’t stop.

You have the perfect high priest. He is a priest forever, and your salvation is forever. Don’t turn away. Instead, approach Him. Come to Him to prayer. Every day. Be bold! Don’t be scared. He understands. “...[A]proach the throne of grace with confidence! You will mercy and find grace to help us in your time of need.

Be steadfast. Don’t give up. Don’t give in.

#3. BE THANKFUL.

Because we have eternal salvation, we have everything to be grateful for. Rescue from our sins. Not just once. Not just temporarily. Not just for the weekend. Not just for a lifetime. Or 100 lifetimes. Or 1000 lifetimes. But forever!

“Eternal salvation” through our great high priest, Jesus the Son of God.

Human in nature.

Subject to weakness.

Called by God.

Perfected by suffering.

Passed through the heavens and now at the right hand of God.

The source of eternal salvation.

Be thankful.