Our Merciful and Faithful High Priest

Therefore, he had to be like his brothers and sisters in every way, so that he could become a merciful and faithful high priest in matters pertaining to God, to make atonement for the sins of the people. For since he himself has suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are tempted.

This is the word of God for the people of God. Thanks be to God.

Good morning, church! Today, we turn our hearts and minds to a profound truth found in Hebrews 2:17-18, where we learn that Jesus Christ is our merciful and faithful high priest. This passage reveals the incredible depth of our Savior's love and sacrifice, reminding us that He became fully human in every way, sharing in our struggles and temptations.

Jesus entered our world, not as a distant deity, but as one of us—experiencing the frailty of human life, feeling hunger, pain, and sorrow. Why did He do this? So that He could make atonement for our sins, bridging the gap between a holy God and sinful humanity. His atoning death on the cross was not just an act of mercy; it was the ultimate sacrifice, satisfying God's justice and covering our transgressions.

As we navigate the trials and temptations of life, we often feel isolated in our struggles. Yet, today's scripture assures us that Jesus understands our pain. He faced temptation Himself, enduring the weight of our struggles, and is therefore able to help us in our moments of need. When we falter, when we are tempted to despair or give in to sin, we have a high priest who does not condemn us but extends mercy and grace.

As we explore this vital truth today, let us reflect on the significance of Jesus as our high priest, the atonement He provided, and the help He offers in our times of temptation. May we embrace the comfort and strength that comes from knowing we are not alone in our struggles but are supported by a Savior who knows and cares for us deeply.

Big Idea: Christ is our ultimate high priest.

Hebrews 2:17a

Therefore, he had to be like his brothers and sisters in every way, so that he could become a merciful and faithful high priest in matters pertaining to God…

The author of Hebrews continues to describe how Jesus helps humanity by coming to earth in flesh and blood. He had to do this, becoming fully human in every way, so that, as our passage says, Christ could be our merciful and faithful high priest.

On our first Sunday of this series, going through Hebrews, I mentioned that the opening 3 verses of the book mention three human positions of authority for the people of God. Those positions were:

Three Human Positions of Authority in Old Testament:

Prophet - talks to people for God

Priest - talks to God for the people

King - rules the people for God

The prophet is the first of these positions that we see in the Bible. We see Noah, Abraham, Moses, Aaron, Elijah, Elisha, Isaiah, Jeremiah, and more described as prophets. These were men who delivered messages to the people of God from God himself.

We are going to skip the Priest for just a second, as we will go in depth as to Christ being our high priest.

The king was the last of these three offices established in Scripture. After taking the Promised Land from the Canaanites, the Israelites had “judges” who would rule over them. These judges were often more like military leaders, delivering the Israelites from the peoples around them who were oppressing them.

The prophet Samuel was the last judge of Israel. In 1 Samuel 8, we see that he had appointed his sons as judges, but they were dishonest men who took bribes and twisted justice to fit their own means. Because of this, the Israelites came to Samuel and asked him to appoint a king for them. When Samuel prays about it, God tells Samuel:

1 Samuel 8:7-9

“Listen to the people and everything they say to you. They have not rejected you; they have rejected me as their king. They are doing the same thing to you that they have done to me, since the day I brought them out of Egypt until this day, abandoning me and worshiping other gods. Listen to them, but solemnly warn them and tell them about the customary rights of the king who will reign over them.”

The people did not listen to Samuel’s advice from God, and so God told Samuel to appoint a king for them. Human kings draft people into the military. Human kings tax your work and your possessions. The people rejected God as their king and wanted a human king so that they could be like all of the other nations around them. And so, God gave them kings.

Finally, we get to the priest. As I said earlier, the priest was the one who would speak to God on behalf of the people. The priest would offer the sacrifices of the people for their sins. For Jesus to be our high priest, he had to be fully human in every way.

So, let’s look at the different ways that Jesus was like us.

Jesus had a physical body. He experienced feeling hot, cold, sweaty, energetic, and tired. Jesus knew the frailties of our bodies. Part of the reason the author of Hebrews talks so much about Jesus’ physical body was because of the rise in gnosticism.

One of the beliefs in gnostic thought is that the spiritual world is completely good, while the material world is flawed, or even evil. This thought pattern led many to believe that Jesus could not have been God when he came to earth because he would have been corrupted by a material body. Others believed that Christ only looked like a human, but could not have had a material body, because the material world is evil. This has caused some to believe that Jesus only had a “spiritual” body that looked physical, perhaps like an angel. These types of beliefs could be a part of why the author of Hebrews speaks so intently about Christ having a flesh and blood body, but also about his being greater than the angels.

Another way that Jesus was like us is that he faced temptation. Some weeks back, we looked at the temptation of Jesus and how he responded to the devil as the temptations were brought to him. Jesus had been fasting for 40 days. He was hungry. How many of us find it hard not to cheat on our diets or fasts? I know that I do. Why do we feel that way? It's because we feel the pangs of hunger, or in other words, we are suffering. Suffering makes it hard to endure trials and stay faithful to the plan set before us.

Satan told Jesus to prove to himself that he was the Son of God by making bread for himself since he was hungry. Satan told him to prove he was the Son of God by throwing himself down from the top of the temple, since Scripture said that angels would rescue him. Finally, Satan tempted Jesus by offering him all of the kingdoms of the world and their splendor (you know, all the things that Jesus himself created). All of these temptations came after Jesus had been fasting for 40 days. And yet, through all of those temptations, Jesus did not sin.

We have also discussed on many occasions that Jesus faced death. Jesus died a physical death, his body whipped and beaten, bruised and crushed. He knew physical pain.

These ways that Christ experienced our humanity were what made him the best high priest we could ever have. Our verses today said that Jesus being like is in every way is what made it possible for him to be our “merciful and faithful high priest in matters pertaining to God.”

What does it mean to be merciful? Mercy often gets either interchanged or confused with grace. But they are two different things, though very similar. Think of them as two sides of the same coin.

Mercy - not getting what you deserve

Grace - getting what you don’t deserve

Mercy is when a thief gets caught, but the victim does not press charges. It is when a person does something worthy of punishment, and yet does not receive the deserved punishment. Jesus, being our merciful high priest, does not hold our sin against us. Christ shows mercy on those who submit their lives to him, making him the Lord of their lives.

Grace is when a thief takes things from a house, gets caught by the homeowner, and is given cash by the homeowner as well before the thief leaves. This is what happens in the epic tale of Les Misérables by Victor Hugo. The main character, Jean Valjean, has just gotten out of prison for stealing bread to feed his sister’s starving children. After his release, he finds himself at a church, where the priest invites him in for food, wine, and a bed to sleep on. After feeding the ex-convict, the priest goes to bed.

In the middle of the night, Valjean starts packing up the silver dishes that he had eaten on just hours earlier into his bag, stealing from the priest who had provided him food and shelter, and leaves the church. The police catch Valjean with the stolen silver, asking him where he got it. Valjean replies that the priest gave it to him.

So the police take him back with the stolen silver to the church. The priest comes to the door and lets them in. The officers tell the priest that Valjean stated that the priest gave him the silver, not believing his tale. Then the priest does something incredible. He says, “Yes, I actually did give him the silver.” Then, turning to Jean Valjean, he says, “But in your haste, you forgot the most precious of the items, the two silver candlesticks. You cannot forget to take these as well.” The priest then tells the officers to let Valjean go.

In this we see both mercy and grace. We see mercy in that the priest did not press charges against Valjean for stealing the silver. And we see grace in that he then gives Valjean the most expensive items he owned in the candlesticks as well.

This is what Christ has done for us. Jesus, in taking our sin upon himself, he shows mercy by not giving us the punishment that our sins deserve, because he already suffered that punishment in our place. At the same time, by taking that punishment of sin away, Christ gives us new life that we do not deserve, raising us up from spiritual death to spiritual life, that we may life for him and with him forever.

Ephesians 2:4-5

But God, who is rich in mercy, because of his great love that he had for us, made us alive with Christ even though we were dead in trespasses. You are saved by grace!

Jesus pulled us out of the death that we deserved by his mercy, and gave us life that we did not deserve by his grace.

Now we must ask, what does it mean to be faithful? We use this word most often in regard to marriage. To be faithful to your spouse means to love that person in all circumstances, to keep your earthly affections for no one else but him or her, to be there when your spouse needs you most, to be trustworthy, loyal, and steadfast.

Our relationship of Christ and the church is often refered to in Scripture as a Groom preparing his bride for the wedding feast. The church is the bride of Christ. In this relationship there is one partner that is often unfaithful, that turns from the one it is betrothed to, seeking gratification in anything other than its future spouse. In this relationship, Christ is NOT the unfaithful one, the church is - us. We are the ones whom Isaiah says, “all we like sheep have gone astray.”

The book of Hosea screams of this analogy. God calls the prophet Hosea to marry a “promiscuous woman” (other translations use the word “harlot”) named Gomer and to have children with her.

The name “Hosea” in Hebrew is “Hoshea” meaning “salvation” or “he saves.” It is a form of the name “Yehoshea” or Joshua, which means “Yahweh saves.” The Hebrew name for Jesus, is “Yeshua,” a shortened form of the Hebrew name for Joshua. Now, although Hosea and Jesus are not the exact same name in Hebrew, their meanings are exactly the same: “He saves.”

The purpose of the book of Hosea was to show us the unfaithfulness of God’s people, continually turning to idols, false gods, foolish ambition, and self-promotion, all things that churches today still seek after instead of the love of our Savior, our groom who has never changed, never faltered, never left us, never abandoned us, and never been unfaithful to us.

Throughout the book of Hosea, Hosea never abandoned Gomer no matter how many times she was unfaithful to him. You read through the book of Judges, or through the books of Kings and Chronicles, you will see over and over and over again, “Again, the people did what was evil in the sight of the Lord.” And yet, when they see the error of their ways, repent of their evil deeds, and call on God to deliver them, he is there, faithful and true to take them back. That is because God keeps his promises even we do not.

Christ is both merciful to us and faithful to us. Having someone like that as a mediator between us and God the Father is so comforting because we can know how he is going to react to you. You can know what he will say to you. You can trust that he will be the same yesterday, today, and forever.

Hebrews 2:17b

…to make atonement for the sins of the people.

What does atonement mean? The word was actually originally coined by the British reformer William Tyndale. It brings together the English phrase “at one” along with the suffix “-ment” or “at-one-ment” to describe the reconciliation that we have with God through the sacrifice of Christ for our sins. It means that we have a restoration of relationship with God after being in conflict with him.

The Hebrew word for atonement “kaphar” is used throughout the OT and conveys the idea of a covering, both in the sense of covering to hide and also covering for someone (i.e., not charging someone with an offense or penalty). In the Mosaic Law, atonement for sin was often made by that sacrificing of an unblemished animal, like a sheep, goat, or bull.

On the Day of Atonement, the High Priest would go through a cleansing ritual and then sacrifice a bull for his own sins and the sins of his family. He would then take two goats. One goat would be sacrificed for the sins of the people with its blood sprinkled on the Ark of the Covenant within the Holy of Holies. This was the only day of the year where the High Priest was allowed to enter this part of the tabernacle or temple. The priest would then lay his hands upon the second goat, symbolically placing the sins of the people upon the goat, and then send the goat out into the wilderness, taking the sins of the people with it.

The High Priest would have to do this every year for the collective sins of the people. There were still smaller sacrifices that were to be given for sins throughout the year, but this was the major sacrifice offered every year. But these sacrifices were only a shadow, a veiled look, at what Christ would do for us in offering himself as the sacrifice for our sins.

Before we get into what the New Testament says about atonement, I want to talk a little bit about theories of the atonement. There are different theories as to what atonement means for us as Christians.

Theories on the Atonement:

Christus Victor - (Christ is the Conqueror) Christ’s death was mainly to destroy sin, death, and the devil.

Satisfaction - Christ’s death satisfies God’s justice, which can then be applied to men.

Ransom - Christ’s death paid a ransom to Satan to pay for the sins of man.

Moral Influence - Christ’s death serves as a moral influence to man on how to be good people.

Penal Substitution - Christ’s death paid the penalty for our sin, enduring God’s wrath against sin in our place, to bring us in right relationship with God.

There is a little bit of truth in each of these theories, but there is only one that completely encompasses them all - Penal Substitutionary Atonement. Christ is victorious over death because he took the punishment we deserved, meaning Christians do not have to fear death because it is a release from this world and entrance into the presence of God.

Jesus death satisfied God’s justice by paying the penalty that we deserved for our own sin. Christ’s death paid the price for sin, not as a ransom to Satan, but as a payment to God for the sins of the people. Christ’s death also gives us an example of sacrificing ourselves, denying ourselves, denying our wants and desires in service to God and to others.

The problem most people have with substitutionary atonement is that it means God gets angry at sin. Remember last week where we talked about substitutionary atonement and those who call it “cosmic child abuse.” Those who hold this view of the atonement look at their own relationships with their own children saying, “If I wouldn’t put my son through that kind of torture, then God certainly wouldn’t do that. And if he would, then that is not a God worth serving.”

What they fail to see in this argument is that sin is, as RC Sproul called it, “cosmic treason.” Sin is a direct violation of the law God has set in this world. Those violations must be punished.

Romans 6:23a

For the wages of sin is death…

So those who sin deserve death. How many people have actually sinned?

Romans 3:23

For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.

Since every single one of us has sinned, we all deserve the penalty of death. It often gets argued that because we see in the New Testament that God is “love,” the penalty of death for sin is not “loving.”

There is a term that I have spoken about before called the “simplicity” of God. It does not mean that God is simple. It means that God’s attributes cannot be split into percentages. God is completely perfect in his holiness. He is completely perfect in his love. God’s the most powerful being ever, knowing all things, and being everywhere all at once. God’s grace and mercy are perfect. That also means his wrath is not only perfect, it is holy. His wrath is also loving.

1 John 4:10

Love consists in this: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins.

God’s holiness, his complete “set-apartness” cannot be in the presence of sin because sin is a violation of God’s law. Isaiah understood this when he had his vision of the throne room of God in Isaiah 6. In the presence of God, with the seraphim crying out to each other “Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty,” as the foundations of heaven are shaking at this declaration, Isaiah cries out:

Isaiah 6:5

Woe is me for I am ruined

because I am a man of unclean lips

and live among a people of unclean lips,

and because my eyes have seen the King

Isaiah is so terrified about being in the presence of God because of his sin. In his teaching series, The Holiness of God, RC Sproul says that Isaiah was experiencing his own disintegration. When he says, “I am ruined,” the old KJV says, “I am undone,” or, “I am being ripped apart.” That is what the pure holiness of God, who has a perfect anger against sin, causes sinful humanity to feel when in his presence. We become completely and totally aware of our unworthiness to be in his presence. Sproul called this “the trauma of holiness.”

In the New Testament, there is no Greek word that directly means “atonement.” The closest words we have are “hylasterion” which is used in Romans, and “hylaskomai,” which we see in our passage today. These words actually more directly translate to the English word “propitiate,” which means to pacify or to appease the wrath of God by satisfying His justice. See, other translations of Hebrews 2:17 say that Jesus made “propitiation” for the sins of the people.

The death of Jesus on the cross, satisfying the wrath of God, was considered a sacrifice worthy of paying the debt of all who would call on the name of Jesus for salvation.

Perhaps you have heard the song by Keith Getty and Stuart Townend called, “In Christ Alone.” The second verse of that song says this:

In Christ alone, who took on flesh

Fullness of God in helpless babe

This gift of love and righteousness

Scorned by the ones He came to save

'Til on that cross as Jesus died

The wrath of God was satisfied

For every sin on Him was laid

Here in the death of Christ I live

There were progressive churches that asked permission of Getty and Townend to change the line “The wrath of God was satisfied” to “The love of God was magnified.” The writers, rightfully told them no because if God does not have wrath against sin and disobedience to his law, then there is nothing for us to be saved from. Sin has no eternal consequence if God is not allowed to be angry about it and punish those who willfully disobey him.

In his own commentary on the book of Hebrews, the puritan John Owen said this:

It is God who is the object of the act of appeasing or atoning, “to make atonement with God for your sin.” So when this word atonement is used there is always understood an offense, crime, guilt, or debt to be taken away; there is an offended person to be pacified, atoned, reconciled; the offending person needs to be pardoned, accepted; and a sacrifice or other means is needed to make atonement.

John Owen

Christ is the perfect high priest that we needed, because only the Son of God, who came to this earth as a human, understanding our weaknesses, experiencing our frailty, and yet still as God, could withstand the wrath of God against sin in our place, and so he offered himself as the atoning sacrifice.

John 10:17

This is why the Father loves me, because I lay down my life so that I may take it up again.

Only Christ could endure such torment. And even in that, was raised back to life on the third day to show that the Father had accepted this sacrificial gift.

Hebrews 2:18

For since he himself has suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are tempted.

Jesus is able to help us in our times of struggle and temptation because he dealt with struggle and suffering during his temptation. Jesus had been fasting for 40 days before he was tempted by Satan. He was so anxious praying in the garden the night before his crucifixion that he was sweating blood. Jesus watched the 12 men that he hand selected to be his followers abandon him and deny him as he was arrested and put on trial.

Jesus was beaten and whipped, had a crown of thorns pressed onto his head, had his robe thrown back onto his ravaged body, only to have it peeled back off of him, likely reopening wounds that had begun to clot, before he had his hands and feet nailed to the cross, lifted up to suffocate to death, and then endure God’s wrath against the collective sins of all who repent and believe in God.

Jesus knows your temptations. Jesus knows your struggles and sufferings. Jesus knows them because he endured more than we ever will in this life. We do not have a high priest, a mediator between us and God, who does not understand what we are facing in our lives. He knows! That knowing allows him to show his faithful, never changing, never faltering mercy to us in our weakness.

I want to finish here with a quote from John Piper from a sermon he gave on June 23rd, 1996.

Christ took on weak, vulnerable human nature not only so that he could experience death, but also that he could experience dying, and then sympathize with the temptations that come with suffering and dying. It says he was tempted in that which he suffered—this isn't the temptation of lust or greed. This is the temptation to get angry and to be resentful and sullen and self-pitying and despairing and unbelieving in the goodness of God. "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me" is a hair's breadth from blasphemy.

The point is this: not only do you have the Word of God this morning proclaiming that you are free from slavery to the fear of death. You also have a word from God this morning that when the trial comes in your dying, when you are tempted to despair or self-pity or resentment or anger or unbelief, Christ will come to help you. And he will come as one who knows, from his own agonizing experience, just what you are experiencing. And he will give you what you need to endure to the end.

John Piper

This is the heart of the gospel—a Savior who fully sympathizes with our humanity.

But there is a crucial response required from us. Jesus came to make atonement for our sins, offering mercy by taking the punishment we deserve. This is not merely a historical fact; it’s an invitation to a new life. He calls us to repent, to turn away from our sins, and to submit our lives to Him. This is not about a momentary prayer but a profound transformation of heart and spirit.

In our lives, we often chase after things that leave us empty: idols of success, pleasure, and self-gratification. But these pursuits lead us away from the love and mercy that God offers through Christ. As Romans 3:23 states, "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." Yet the promise of Ephesians 2:4-5 assures us that God, rich in mercy, made us alive in Christ even when we were dead in our sins.

Today, I urge you to recognize your need for His mercy and grace. Acknowledge your sins, turn from them, and embrace Jesus as your Lord and Savior. He is waiting with open arms, ready to offer forgiveness and a new identity as a beloved child of God. Will you respond to His call today? Embrace the freedom and life He offers, and know that in Him, you have a faithful high priest who understands and supports you every step of the way.

Next Step: I will submit my life to Christ.

Related Media

Related Sermons

Earn an accredited degree from Redemption Seminary with Logos.