Jesus the High Priest

Hebrews  •  Sermon  •  Submitted   •  Presented   •  23:56
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Jesus offers up our prayers and supplications.

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Context

Hebrews 1 - God speaks most clearly to us through His Son, Jesus Christ
Hebrews 2 - Jesus proclaimed a messaged declared by angels; the Gospel
Hebrews 3 - The Jews at that time viewed Moses as a representation of the law and they held the law in very high regard; Jesus is so much better than Moses because he fulfilled the law. The right response to sin is responding to the Gospel message. The time is today.
Hebrews 4 - We are encouraged to respond to the message today and enter into God’s rest today.
The writer of Hebrews has talked about how Jesus fulfills the law of Moses
Can you articulate the Gospel message in a single sentence?
In our focus scripture today, Jesus is compared to a High Priest

The High Priest

A High Priest first appeared in Exodus when the Hebrew people were being led out of captivity
God made Aaron, the brother of Moses, and his family line was the priests of the people
The tabernacle was holy, but inside the tabernacle was the most holy place
The place where God would meet with the people
In His own room
Above the ark of the covenant
This most holy place was separated from the holy tabernacle by some curtains
This was the place where God met with His people
not only was it beautiful and made with the finest materials
it was holy
it was sacred
it had to be made exactly how God said to make it
Not only the tabernacle with great detail, He prescribed exactly how he was to be worshiped
The problem was that not many of the people were clean enough, both physically and spiritually to go into the most holy place
that is not in their current condition or state
So God directed Moses to establish for Him a priesthood
The priests were the ones that were responsible for directing worship the way God said to worship
They wore special garments, and performed special rituals that involved keeping the tabernacle in good order as well as keeping themselves in good order
They also conducted worship on behalf of the people
They made the people’s worship acceptable to God
They bridged the gap between God and His people
The High Priest was the leader of the priests
He not only led the priests and people through worship
He also was responsible for Yom Kippur (Day of atonement)
On a certain day of the year the High Priest would go into the most holy place and offer a blood sacrifice for the sins of all the people
He was the only one, chosen by God, to be able to offer up a worthy sacrifice for the people
And that was only after he went through a lot of ritualistic exercises to prepare himself
At the time that the people are reading this letter; the Jewish people still had and utilized the priesthood to represent them to God
The writer of Hebrews is about to compare Jesus to the priests
but not just any priest; the Highest priest
Why do you think God picked a single person to represent His people?
Hebrews 4:14 ESV
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.
Jesus has become our High Priest
He is the one that sacrificed (past tense) for us
That is, if we hold fast to that truth; that confession
Hebrews 4:15–16 ESV
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. 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.
We no longer have or need a finite man to be our priest
We have God Himself in the person of Jesus as our High Priest
That said, the writer wants to remind us that Jesus, although fully God, is also fully man
This is huge for us
God isn’t a watchmaker god
a god that just gets things going then watches what he created
God is a God that intimately knows us
He became us in every way
except he became a perfect version of us
A kind of us that could and did live a life free of sin
Even though he faced the same temptations (or stronger) that we do
The writer then goes on to examine the implications of this representation
Hebrews 5:1–3 ESV
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. He can deal gently with the ignorant and wayward, since he himself is beset with weakness. Because of this he is obligated to offer sacrifice for his own sins just as he does for those of the people.
Every earthly high priest picked by men is sinful
100% of them
In the world of addiction recovery, the best counselors are the ones that have defeated addiction
They have been through the same things that the person struggling has been through
It is because of this that they can deal gently with the person that is struggling;
But because he is an imperfect man acting as a priest for the people, he needs to first offer a sacrifice to clean himself of his own sin before he can offer a sacrifice for his people
This is how God ordained it, the writer goes on to say
Hebrews 5:4–6 ESV
And no one takes this honor for himself, but only when called by God, just as Aaron was. 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”; as he says also in another place, “You are a priest forever, after the order of Melchizedek.”
This preacher wants us to know that this idea of representation is not a new one
Back in Genesis 14 Abram was met by the King of Salem, Melchizedek
After Abram was defeated
Melchizedek is called the priest of the Most High God
Melchizedek is somewhat mysterious; so we are not going to get into that, but just to look at the idea of the priesthood
It proves that this concept of priests representing God is much older and far deeper than some man-made religion
The writer references Psalm 110
Indicating that this particular priesthood, the one of Jesus, is eternal
Hebrews 5:7–10 ESV
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. Although he was a son, he learned obedience through what he suffered. And being made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey him, being designated by God a high priest after the order of Melchizedek.
When Jesus was conducting His earthly ministry
He acted in a priestly fashion
He interceded for people
He prayed for people
And God heard Him
Remember priests needed to first cleanse themselves of their own sin
Then God would hear him
The author of life and death heard him
Now remember a priest needed to first atone for his own sin
But Jesus, had no sin to atone for
And He is God
For these reasons
He becomes the perfect, everlasting sacrifice
His perfection covers all who believe in Him
His sacrifice covers all sins eternally
That is past, present, and future

Jesus is My Priest

Throughout church history, especially American protestant church history...
We have pulled away from the idea of needing a priest
This was a knee jerk reaction to abuses in Christendom
Abuses where the priest abuses his power for personal or church gain
But we want to remember that we do in fact need a priest
We need someone who can stand in the presence of a Holy God and atone for our sins
No mere man can do that for you
But Jesus did
Is Jesus your High Priest?

Amen!

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