The Rebuke of Immaturity
May 10, 2021
Commentary
This is exactly the situation with these Hebrew Christians. They had been going through the same experience again and again, all the years of their Christian life, but had never grown. In this passage the writer makes it very clear that age will never, in itself, bring Spiritual maturity.
Dr. Warren Wiersbe explains it best when he shows how the writer deals with four marks of spiritual immaturity:
Dullness toward the Word (v. 11). One of the first symptoms of spiritual backsliding is dullness toward the Bible.Inability to share (v. 12a). Not all Christians have the gift of teaching, but all can share what they learn from the Word. One of the hardest lessons children must learn is the lesson of sharing. The same is true with many Christians when it comes to sharing spiritual things.A “Baby Food” diet (vv 12b-13). The “milk” of the Word refers to what Jesus Christ did on earth. This includes His birth, life, teaching, death, burial and resurrection. The “meat” of the Word refers to what Jesus Christ is now doing in heaven as our High Priest.Unskillful in using the Word (v. 14). A characteristic of little children is that they lack discernment. A baby will put anything in its mouth. An immature believer will listen to any preacher on the radio or television and not be able to identify whether or not he is true to the Scriptures.
Application
My capacity to feast on the deeper truths of God’s Word will depend on my own Spiritual growth. In order to feast at God’s banquet table I must grow in the Lord and put into practice what I have learned. Only then will my capacity to understand increase.
Hebrews 5:9– 14 (NET)
9 And by being perfected in this way, he became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey him, 10 and he was designated by God as high priest in the order of Melchizedek.
11 On this topic we have much to say and it is difficult to explain, since you have become sluggish in hearing. 12 For though you should in fact be teachers by this time, you need someone to teach you the beginning elements of God’s utterances. You have gone back to needing milk, not solid food. 13 For everyone who lives on milk is inexperienced in the message of righteousness, because he is an infant. 14 But solid food is for the mature, whose perceptions are trained by practice to discern both good and evil.
Illustration: Qualification For Promotion
I read of a principal in a high school who had an administrative post to fill. He promoted one of his teachers with ten years of teaching experience to the job. When the announcement was made, another teacher in this school came to him terribly upset. She said, “Why did you put that teacher in this position? He has only had ten years of experience, and I’ve had twenty-five years. Yet you passed me over in favor of him.” And the principal said, “I’m sorry; you’re wrong. You haven’t had twenty years of experience. You have had one year’s experience twenty-five times.” (Source unknown).