2025-02-16 Hebrew 4:14-5:10 Our Great & Compassionate High Priest

Introduction

In John’s Gospel account there is an instance were certain God-fearing Greeks sought to meet Jesus. In John 12:20-21 we read 20 And there were certain Greeks among them that came up to worship at the feast: 21 The same came therefore to Philip, which was of Bethsaida of Galilee, and desired him, saying, Sir, we would see Jesus.I believe one of the goal’s of the author of Hebrews is to answer this same request. 1Peter 1:8 says “Though you have not seen Him, you love Him. Though you do not now see Him, you believe in Him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory,” So as we open our Bibles may the desire of our hearts be the same as those God-fearing Greeks had 2000 years ago. May we desire to “see Jesus”.

Text Read

14 Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. 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. 16 Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. 1 For every high priest chosen from among men is appointed to act on behalf of men in relation to God, to offer gifts and sacrifices for sins. 2 He can deal gently with the ignorant and wayward, since he himself is beset with weakness. 3 Because of this he is obligated to offer sacrifice for his own sins just as he does for those of the people. 4 And no one takes this honor for himself, but only when called by God, just as Aaron was. 5 So also Christ did not exalt Himself to be made a high priest, but was appointed by Him who said to Him, “You are My Son, today I have begotten You”; 6 as He says also in another place, “You are a priest forever, after the order of Melchizedek.” 7 In the days of His flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to Him who was able to save Him from death, and He was heard because of His reverence. 8 Although He was a son, He learned obedience through what He suffered. 9 And being made perfect, He became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey Him, 10 being designated by God a high priest after the order of Melchizedek.

Text Explained

Last weeks text ended with a call to strive for that eternal rest. We looked into the fact that our striving is the fruit of salvation and not the root of it. Because we are saved, we are to do good works for just as out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks, so also out of the abundance of the heart the hands do. We as Christians are called to a life of faithful obedience to our Lord. However, you and I don’t have to look very far to see where we fall short in our striving to obey our Lord. We get angry, we curse, we lust, we hate in our hearts, and we are lifted up with pride. Then conviction comes and we realize we have fallen face first into the mud in our striving to obey our Lord. So what are we to do? God is perfect and holy and we are not. That is the reason that upon the heels of the call to strive, we are given a powerful and positive encouragement. That encouragement is found in our High Priest, Jesus. With Jesus as our helper we may be able to hold fast. 14 Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. Because of Jesus we are able to hold fast to what we profess to be true in both word and action. Now one may say that Jesus is not qualified for He is very God. How can God be our High Priest? He is not the same as us. One might put it this way: “Yeah well that’s Jesus. He doesn’t count.” To this objection we read verse 15 15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but rather we have one/high priest who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. In other words, the transcendence of His divinity made no difference in His humanity. Hebrews 2:17 has already told us “Therefore He had to be made like His brothers in every respect, so that/in order that He might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people.” As one scholar notes, “...Christians have in heaven a high priest with an unequaled capacity for sympathizing with them in all the dangers and sorrows and trials which come their way in life, because He Himself, by virtue of His likeness to them, was exposed to all these experiences. Yet He endured triumphantly every form of testing that mankind could endure, without any weakening of His faith in God or any relaxation of His obedience to Him. Such endurance involves more, not less, than ordinary human suffering: “sympathy with the sinner in his trial does not depend on the experience of sin but on the experience of the strength of the temptation to sin which only the sinless can know in its full intensity. He who falls yields before the last strain.” (FF Bruce Epistle to the Hebrews) So, because our High Priest has been tempted in every respect like you and I, yet without sin, He is able to sympathize with our weaknesses, and because He is able to sympathize, verse 16 Let us then with confidence The word confidence here is παρρησία meaning “a state of boldness and confidence, sometimes implying intimidating circumstances” it carries the idea of freedom and openness in speaking. And so while coming before the throne of God ought to be intimidating, we can come near with openness because it is a throne of grace. Again verse 16 16 Let us then with confidence (not pride or arrogance) draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help when? in time of need. Dear one, the throne of grace in heaven is what the mercy-seat in the temple was a picture of. On earth, for the OT Israelites, the mercy-seat was the place where, on the day of atonement the blood of the token sacrifice would be sprinkled covering the sins of the people and the grace of God would be extended to His people. Yet “...the presence of the Christians’ high priest on the heavenly throne of grace bespeaks a work of atonement completed not in token but in fact, and the constant availability of divine aid in all their need. Thanks to Him (Jesus), the throne of God is a mercy-seat to which they have free access and from which they may receive all the grace and power required “for timely help” in the hour of trial and crisis.” (FF Bruce Epistle to the Hebrews) This is how you and I may find present rest in our times of need. This is our High Priest and from here our text shifts and lays out two general qualifications for a high priest. Now since the purpose of high priest in this context is to be the mediator from man to God. Their job was to be the representative of man before God. Thus the high priest must 1) be able sympathize with those he represents and 2) he must be divinely appointed to that office.

1 For every high priest chosen from among men is appointed to act on behalf of men in relation to God, to offer gifts and sacrifices for sins. Here in verse 1 we see that every high priest is chosen from among men, meaning he must be a man, and his responsibility is specifically representing man to God and he does so by offering gifts and sacrifices for sin. While gifts and sacrifices include a variety of offerings, the focus of the high priest and the focus in our text is more specific because of the qualifier of “for sins.” Meaning verse 1 is focusing on the responsibility of the high priest on the annual Day of Atonement where the high priest was required to carry out his sacrificial duties on behalf of the entire nation. So, because of the fact that the high priest was a fellow human, 2 He can deal gently with the ignorant and wayward, since he himself is beset with weakness. In other words, the high priest can συμπαθέω/sympathize ‘to understand completely how one feels’. He, the high priest can sympathize with those he represents because he is a fellow man. Illustration: A person may be able to sympathize when a friend has lost a parent, but if they have lost their own parent, then they are able to empathize b/c they have also gone through it. The high priest can empathize with the people because he is also a person who is tempted. Yet the problem for all prior human high priests is that they not only were tempted but they failed to perfectly endure their temptations. 3 Because of this he/high priest is obligated to offer sacrifice for his own sins just as he does for those of the people. Even so, the position of high priest was not one a person could claim for themselves. It is a position that God called a man to. 4 And no one takes this honor for himself, but only when called by God, just as Aaron was. So in verses 1-4 we see that a high priest must 1) be able sympathize with those he represents and 2) he must be divinely appointed to that office. Does Jesus fit that criteria? Yes and even more! 5 So also Christ did not exalt Himself to be made a high priest, but was appointed by Him/God the Father who said to Him/Jesus, “You are my Son, today I have begotten you”; 6 as He/God says also in another place, “You are a priest forever, after the order of Melchizedek.” So we see that Jesus was appointed by the Father to the position of High Priest to represent man to God. Yet Jesus is not of the Aaronic Priesthood. Jesus is a high priest after the order of Melchizedek. Now the author of Hebrews will expand on Melchizedek later but suffice it to say, represents an eternal priest who did not need to offer sacrifices for his own sin. So we find here that Jesus was indeed divinely appointed by God to the position of High Priest and indeed a Priesthood greater than Aaron’s. So that leaves the question: is Jesus able to sympathize ‘to understand completely how we feel’? Well, let’s read verse 7-8 and see if we have our answer. 7 In the days of His flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to Him/the Father who was able to save Him from death, and He was heard because of His reverence. 8 Although He was a Son, He learned obedience through what He suffered. Is Jesus able to understand the human condition? The text would answer that question in the affirmative. He prayed, He strongly wept, He learned obedience. Now don’t get lost in the phrase ‘He learned obedience.’ Jesus was already and always perfectly obedient. Jesus experienced as a human, how difficult it is to obey God’s will in the midst of trials. Yet without sin. 9 And being made perfect/complete, He became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey Him, 10 being designated by God a high priest after the order of Melchizedek. So yes Jesus was divinely appointed by God as the One who would represent man to God AND Jesus is %100 able to sympathize with mankind for He suffered as we do and experienced the fullest temptations a human could and never once sinned. Thus He is the High Priest after the order of Melchizedek. But what does that mean for us today?

Text Applied

Jesus Sympathizes with our Struggles. When the struggles of life happen, we are so often quick to go to a friend, coworker, or social media and share all our problems and struggles looking for a sympathetic ear. Yet we so often fail to go to our High Priest. Jesus knows what it is like to go to God with heartaches that make a person weep. Jesus knows what it is like to suffer Jesus knows what it is like to be tempted. God to Him and cast those cares upon your High Priest. 1 Peter 5:7 “casting all your anxieties on Him, because He cares for you.” And He is big enough to handle all of them. Jesus sympathizes with our struggles so why do we go to everyone else before we go to Him? Perhaps we go to others instead of Him because we know that the Word/Jesus is able to discern between the thoughts and intentions of our hearts? Maybe it is because we know that Jesus will sympathize but also call out the wrong in our lives. Maybe we don’t go to Jesus because we know some of our suffering is because we made foolish decisions and we know Jesus will bring conviction? Or perhaps it is as simple as we haven’t made going to Christ first a habit. Regardless the reason, in our struggles we need to go first to Christ because He understands completely how we feel and He is able to give help in our time of need.

The Throne of Grace is Open. Do you believe that? Do you understand the incredible privilege that has been given to the sons and daughters of God? The throne of God is open. Stop and consider. The eternal, omniscient, omnipotent KING of ALL sits upon His throne and we His weak and frail rebellious creations are able to go before this throne make requests of Him. Not because there is anything good in us, but because of our High Priest. The text says we are not only to come but we are to come not timidly, but with boldness before the Creator and Sustainer of the Universe and make our requests known. All of this is based upon Jesus our High Priest. As the Apostle Peter said in 1 Peter 3:18 “For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit,” You and I can go before the throne of Grace and just as Jesus did, we can offer prayers and supplications with strong cries and tears knowing that we are heard through Jesus Christ. Yet we so rarely do so. Dear one, go to the Lord in prayer, cast your cares upon Him, plead your requests before Him, trusting that He is able to fulfill your request. Pray Until Something Happens. (P.U.S.H.)

Jesus Sympathizes with all of our struggles and through Him we are able to go before the Throne of God and boldly make our requests known. So why aren’t you doing that?