Universal Respect

N. T. Wright shares the story of an Australian prisoner of war to illustrate Jesus’s role in this passage: “Tom Moore was in charge of the Australian barrack, which meant that he was responsible both to the German authorities for the state of the barrack and to the Australians for representing the interests of the men. … He spent most days going to and fro between Germans and Australians, and the other leading figures in the camp, making sure everything was sorted out despite the appalling conditions. He won universal respect. This is the kind of intermediary role which Hebrews now describes in terms of the high priesthood which Jesus continues to hold. Of course, as with some of Jesus’ own parables, not all the details fit: I’m not suggesting that God the father is like a hostile officer, or indeed that the church is like an army barrack in a prison camp” (Wright, Hebrews for Everyone, 43).