⁴ And no one takes the honor to himself, but receives it when he is called by God, even as Aaron was.

High priesthood is an honor, a privilege. After all, the one occupying that position is the sole individual, out of millions of people in Israel, selected as the go-between, standing between God and man. The high priest officiated at the annual sacrifice, called the Atonement (Ex 30:8, Lev 23:26). In general the role of all the priests was honorable, and their compensation included the prerogative of drawing their living from the sacrifices offered by the people. They were a sort of “clergy” class among the people.

In the church, though, under the new covenant of grace, there is no more class distinction between the “clergy” and the “laity,” for we have all been made priests. As Peter wrote, “You also, as living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house for a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ” (1 Peter 2:5, see also Rev 1:6). What an honor that is, that we have the prerogative of going directly into God’s presence to offer a new kind of sacrifice. For example, we can offer up the “sacrifice of praise” (Heb 13:15-16).

Now, it is important to catch the focus of our passage today. The honorable role of being high priest is not something that results from a popular vote or from the ambitious lobbying of a status-seeking individual. A man does not become a high priest through his own initiative. The role of priest is one that is received, not something achieved. It is a calling from God. While in the next verses, this will be demonstrated about Christ that He was in fact called by God, we must take a brief excursus to show that Israel continually failed in this regard. Almost immediately, Moses’ and Aaron’s role as high priest was challenged. Korah and his associates took the initiative to worship God in their own way (Num 16:1-3). Nadab and Abihu arrogated to themselves the decision to offer their own kind of sacrifice, one that God didn’t command (Lev 10:1-1). Probably one of most egregious, most presumptuous acts of defiance was King Uzziah’s bold taking of sacrifices into the temple, in direct disobedience to the Lord. “But when he became strong, his heart was so proud that he acted corruptly, and he was unfaithful to the Lord his God, for he entered the temple of the Lord to burn incense on the altar of incense” (2 Chron 26:16).

One must worship God in the way God has appointed. And no one can do the work of the priesthood unless God has called him to it.