He Can Deal Gently

Hebrews 5:2 ESV

He can deal gently with the ignorant and wayward, since he himself is beset with weakness.

In ancient Israel, the rule of the king was meant to mimic God’s rule to the people, and the priest served as a representative of the people before God. In essence, the priest “provided solidarity with the people.” Hebrews in the NT fleshes out the priest’s role, particularly in regards to Jesus serving as our high priest.

OT priests were sinful, just like the rest of mankind. So, they needed sacrifice for themselves just like everyone else. And, they would often prove themselves sinners as well. Hophni and Phinehas come to mind. Today, we too need someone to represent us before God.

Remember from our last study that Christ deals with us in solidarity - sympathetically. And, what does sympathy mean? To co-suffer. In our brokenness, Christ suffers with us, alongside us. If Hebrews 4:15 (“For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.”) tells us about what Christ is doing in His priestly ministry, Heb.5:2 tells us how he carries out that ministry - GENTLY.

First, let’s think about the fact that He can deal this way with us. The word in the Greek is dunamenos, and if you’ve been in church any length of time with a pastor who likes to quote Greek words, you may recognize the root of this word. Did anyone catch it? We tend to hear that and think of the word “power.” As a matter of fact, you may have even heard it called the “dynamite power of God.” But, it means having the ability to or capable of.

What’s the significance of this word, used in the context here? (It’s not just the possibility, but the actuality of His sympathy and gentle dealing).

Next, think of the word gently. This is a compound word - metriopathein. The first is used to indicate restraint or moderation, and the latter refers to passion or suffering. It actually shares a common root with the word sympathize. It means there is restraint in how Jesus deals with us, that he doesn’t “thrown His hands up in the air when He engages sinners.” Instead, “He is calm, tender, soothing, restrained. He deals with us gently.”

Does this word surprise you in any way? Is there a difficulty in your life right now that you need to apply the gentleness of Christ to?

So who receives this gentle dealing? Surely those who are only modest sinners, but there is a harsher dealing for those who are gross and negligent in their sin. Surely those who find it difficult to shake the bonds of a particular sin can expect to find themselves a burden to Christ that He is weary of bearing, leading ultimately to His exasperation. Actually we find that He deals gently with the ignorant and wayward. These are not two lesser classes of milder sinners. Instead, it’s a very Hebraic way of saying all sinners. The OT sacrificial system basically taught sacrifices for two classes of sins — willful and unwillful, accidental and deliberate. The writer of Hebrews is surely picking up on this idea, expressing accidental sins with the term ignorant while using wayward to refer to deliberate sins. Christ can deal gently even with the most vile sinner who comes to Him.

Does Jesus deal with us this way because He is unaware of how sinful we are? Absolutely not, for a.) He became sin for us, bearing all of our sin, and b.) He’s omniscient, known our sinfulness even more than we do, even in our most self-aware moments. You and I, we are aware of only the exposed portion of the iceberg that is our depravity. His gentleness flows from “His tender heart for His people.” That’s the kind of love our Savior has for us: “rather than dispensing grace too us from on high, He gets down with us, He puts His arm around us, He deals with us in the way that is just what we need. He deals gently with us.”

Consider John Owen’s take on Hebrews 5:2. He says Jesus can

no more cast off poor sinners for their ignorance and wanderings than a nursing (child’s) father should cast away a sucking child for its crying. …Thus ought it to be with a high priest, and thus is it with Jesus Christ. He is able, with all meekness and gentleness, with patience and moderation, to bear with the infirmities, sins, and provocations of His people, even as a nurse or a nursing (child’s) father bears with the weakness…of a poor infant.

What is Owen saying about the depth of Christ’s mercy and gentleness toward sinners?

Bear this in mind - Christ says this is who He is at heart, meaning the core of who He is. His gentle dealing is not accidental or peripheral. It is “what is most natural to Him.” Honestly, the fact that we are not already cast away does nothing but underscore His grace, mercy, and gentle dealing with us. He abundantly deals gentleness to us. John Owen went on to say, “Were there not an absolute sufficiency of this disposition in Him, and that as unto all occurences, He must needs cast us all off in displeasure.” Simplified, “Our sinfulness runs so deep that a tepid (lukewarm or lacking/half-hearted) measure of gentleness from Jesus would not be enough; but as deep our sinfulness runs, ever deeper runs His gentleness.”

Remember that he experienced life as we do, living in “the weakness of suffering, temptation, and every other kind of human limitation.” So, “the deeper into weakness and suffering and testing we go, the deeper Christ’s solidarity with us.” As we find ourselves deep down the path of pain, anguish, brokenness and sin, turn to Christ and know that we are leaning into His very heart for us. “Looking inside ourselves, we can anticipate only harshness from heaven. Looking out to Christ, we can anticipate only gentleness.”

With this in mind, what the difference between fixing our attention on our sin versus fixing our attention on Christ?