The High Priest Made Low

"Don't judge a man until you've walked a mile in his shoes" is a well-worn cliché about reserving judgment on people. Well-worn enough to have a joke made out of it, "...that way, when you judge him, you'll be a mile away and you'll have his shoes!" But even the threadbare quality of the proverb and the tiring humor of the joke tell us that this phrase has been around a long time and is basically universally understood. It's no accident that some of the most effective social workers are those who grew up in impoverished communities. It isn't a coincidence that some of the most mission-driven police officers are those who were criminals in their youth or at least grew up around crime. Take Edson Arantes do Nascimento (known as Pele), for instance, arguably the best soccer player in history. He learned his sport in the slums of Brazil, playing with a sock stuffed with old rags because his family couldn't afford a ball. After achieving fame, he never forgot where he came from, donating to philanthropic causes and speaking out against racism. What he learned through that firsthand experience never left him. It became part of who he was. A similar experience is at the heart of the gospel - Jesus became one of us. His name was Immanuel, "God with us." Let's start by reading over our passage for today. Hebrews 5:1-10 (ESV) 5 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. The thematic language of this chapter in Hebrews concerns the Jewish priesthood, so it may seem a bit removed from our experience. But if you look closely, you realize you are reading the story of Jesus very much as a human being - as someone who was walking a mile in our shoes. Even in the midst of the complex religious language around the priesthood, Jesus' humanity comes through - with "loud cries and tears" (verse 7). Let's look at this passage today, even its most peculiar feature Melchizedek, and see what it means to have a high priest who came low. Let's look at: * Christ out of nowhere * Christ right here * Christ our leader 1. Christ out of nowhere Most of us can't even quite pronounce the name Melchizedek let alone understand why the writer of Hebrews is so excited about him. He is mentioned so casually here that the readers must have had a strong Jewish context to understand the reference. Melchizedek was a historical person who came essentially out of nowhere to comfort and encourage Abraham, thousands of years before. (You can find the details in Genesis 14.) Abraham had been through a brutal battle and this disorienting story shows Melchizedek walking up to him in the desert one day: Genesis 14:18-20 ESV And Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine. (He was priest of God Most High.) And he blessed him and said, "Blessed be Abram by God Most High, Possessor of heaven and earth; and blessed be God Most High, who has delivered your enemies into your hand!" And Abram gave him a tenth of everything. Abraham, called Abram at the time, was the start of the story of Israel. He was the only one we know of who worshipped the God of Israel and had heard from God. It must have been very lonely, and he was constantly having to convince family members and others that this God was real and cared about them. And then this guy comes from nowhere, speaking the same language about God that Abraham spoke. No one else had experienced that, at least that Abram knew, and suddenly Melchizedek is there. As suddenly as he appears, he disappears from the narrative. The next place he appears is in a Psalm: Psalm 110:3-4 (ESV) Your people will offer themselves freely on the day of your power, in holy garments; from the womb of the morning, the dew of your youth will be yours. The Lord has sworn and will not change his mind, "You are a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek." Here the psalmist is writing about a conversation between God and a shadowy priest king figure, who is never fully explained. He then designates this figure a priest in the order of Melchizedek. So, we have a shadowy figure who is somehow associated with a mysterious personage in an enigmatic exchange. Everybody following? Distraction is always a temptation here. We want to explore the mystery and try to guess the secret code of scripture and unlock it. But I think that's counterproductive and leads us away from the heart of what's being told here. What we see in Hebrews is the writer trying to connect the story of Jesus with the story of Israel and therefore the story of the world. He's interpreting it within the context he knows, not trying to give us some mystic riddle. Boiling it down, the author is saying that Jesus is not like the priests they knew, who came from the tribe of Aaron. He is something else entirely, part of the larger, global, and admittedly mysterious world of Melchizedek. Essentially, this story is bigger than us. The gospel is not just a story of the political situation of Israel in that day, nor is it just the story of our own personal devotional journey today - it is all those things, and much more. Jesus is our best friend who comforts us, loves us and "has a wonderful plan for our lives" (as the Four Spiritual Laws puts it). He's also the Lord of the universe who holds quantum reality together and strolls through the planets as King. One of the best ways to express that to the audience of Hebrews was to identify him with Melchizedek, a figure somehow greater than even Abraham, which they couldn't imagine. Melchizedek is a much deeper theological discussion that we don't have the right to ignore just because it's complex; however, the error on the other side is to become obsessed with it and let the mystery of it distract us. Neither extreme is helpful. For now, the point is that the mystery of Jesus is greater than any system or theological framework we try to cram him into. 2. Christ right here Chapter breaks, verse numbers and subtitles weren't in the original manuscripts of scripture and can sometimes be unhelpful. The discussion here of Jesus as High Priest actually starts in the end of chapter 4, where it says: Hebrews 4:15 ESV For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are-yet he did not sin. The author then turns to discussing earthly priests, which were probably a familiar class of people to the original audience. They grew up with priests, and the temple life was woven right into their own. The author reminds them that a priest can identify with them: Hebrews 5:2-3 ESV 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. So the priest is able to empathize with the people because he is one of them. The priests were the people's representatives before God and kept the ritual connection to the God of Israel. Their role was vital and highly respected, and the author here reminds the reader that the priests are just people, even to the point that they had to give sacrifices to cover their own sins. Because of this they could "deal gently" with the people - because they are just like the people they serve. Read about a page of the history of Israel and you'll find out that priests often forgot that, and let their pastoral spirits be choked by pride. Look around the greater church for a minute, and you'll see examples of pastors who seem to forget to practice humility. But the author of Hebrews points to the true reality that these people are just that - people. The exception is with Jesus. The priests are just people because they are sinful and corrupt just like the rest of us, but Jesus never was. Jesus never sinned, and therefore didn't have the experience of sin that - ideally - birthed empathy in the priests. But what he did experience was the results of sin. And that is the subtle theme the author is getting across here. Jesus experienced the pain, hunger, sickness, anxiety, fatigue, fear and every other aspect of living in the fallen world - though he never participated in the sin that brought it on. He didn't share our sin, but he did share our weakness. He knew the limited, sometimes frightening life of living in this fallen world. Therefore, he knows us. He isn't a superhero who dropped in, fixed everything, and left. He was born into our world and knew the fear and weakness of our world to the point that it killed him. * When you are tired, know that "Jesus, wearied as he was from his journey, was sitting beside the well. It was about the sixth hour." John 4:6 ESV * When you are scared, know that "And being in agony he prayed more earnestly; and his sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground." Luke 22:44 ESV * When you feel like God has abandoned you, hear Jesus say: "Why have you forsaken me?" Matthew 27:46 ESV. * When you weep, remember, "Jesus wept." John 11:35 ESV Christ is right here-Jesus was and is right with us. He can truly say, "I know how you feel." 3. Christ our leader Several years ago I lived in North Bay, Ontario for six years. I was very active in the local chapter of the professional engineers. One year as Vice Chairman my job was to organize the annual engineer's day that included guest speakers, a banquet and dance. I set up a committee to help with all the planning and details. One of the committee members was Lieutenant Colonel Frank Harvey Smith, a senior officer from the armed forces base in North Bay. I guess that because we worked together, I was once invited to an event that was held in honour of Frank. I don't recall what prompted the occasion, but I do recall that it was an opportunity for various people to express their praise and admiration for this senior officer. I remember one junior officer who made a comment that I never forgot. He said that the key criterion for evaluating someone's leadership was to ask yourself the question: Would you willingly follow this person into battle? He framed the question in the context of this senior officer and said something like, "Sir, I would follow you into Hell and back!" Now, based on my experience in the military you don't get to decide whether or not you will follow a particular officer into a war zone. You just follow orders. But was a striking way of evaluating your opinion of an officer who was to lead you into harm's way. Of course, the question for us is our Lord and Saviour. He is our commander-in-chief. He is out in front of us. He leads the way. No military officer or civilian leader begins to compare with him. Our Saviour has run the gamut of human experience while on this earth for 33 years. Would I follow Him into Hell and back? Yes, and here's why. First, look at this verse from Hebrews. Hebrews 5:8 ESV Although he was a son, he learned obedience through what he suffered. This verse makes most of us do a double take. How could Jesus learn obedience? Wasn't he already perfect? What did he need to learn? Again, Jesus was one of us. Although he never sinned, he learned to be human by becoming one. He learned life by the same skinned knees and sleepless nights and false starts that we do. He went through the full experience of being prepared for his vocation as the savior of humanity. The uncertainty and confusion of human life was the way there. The details of how exactly all this happened, we don't know, but we know he was thoroughly one of us. Instead of scorching the earth and starting over, God worked through our brokenness to heal it. Jesus blazed the trail of what it means to be human-to show us how to be who we were created to be, and to make it possible through his death and resurrection. This is Jesus out ahead of us, fixing the world from the inside. Second, another verse that speaks to the character of our spiritual commander-in-chief. Hebrews 4:14-15 (The Message) Now that we know what we have-Jesus, this great High Priest with ready access to God-let's not let it slip through our fingers. We don't have a priest who is out of touch with our reality. He's been through weakness and testing, experienced it all-all but the sin. If there is one thing that a leader must absolutely have to be respected by his followers, it can be summarized in one word - integrity. Human leaders can let us down when they give into temptation and morally fall. But this verse tells us that Jesus experienced the same reality as us but never sinned. Did he just have a charmed life that ended after 33 years? No, far from it. This verse also tells us that he was tempted as we are. The author of Hebrews does not elaborate but leaves it the to the imagination of his readers to fill in the details. We assume that Joseph, Jesus' stepfather, died before Jesus was crucified. What did Jesus experience working with his hands under Joseph's leadership? Was there an occasion when he was tempted to over charge for a piece of work or produce something of inferior quality and less expensive to build? Since he was tempted in all things there had to be one or more occasions when he noticed some pretty, young Jewish girl walking by, but Jesus never sinned. He was born to a virgin and he himself died a virgin. He never gave into a common human weakness. It seems to be almost daily news item that a prominent military, political or even religious leader is caught in some flagrant sin. You have read about our senior military officers and their shenanigans. Our prime minister referring to the Canadian military was recently quoted as saying, "They just don't get it!" And in the news, we learned about the Pandora Papers that document how the wealthy elite of the world have established offshore bank accounts to shelter their income and minimize income taxes while the rest of us have to declare all our income by April 30 of each year and face penalties if we are late in the filing of our income tax returns. Our Saviour is out in front of us. He a compassionate, loving, and caring leader. What's more he is a leader of undisputed integrity. No human being can legitimately claim to have never sinned. But as we have just read our spiritual leader never stumbled, never failed morally, never sinned yet has incredible compassion on us who have sinned innumerable times. What a saviour! What a leader! One commentator said it well: "Creation got spoken into being but salvation got shrieked into being." God could have wiped us out and started over, that would have been much easier. But instead, he brought and is bringing the new humanity to birth with all the shrieks and sweat and blood it takes for that to happen. Christ out of nowhere-The mysteries of Jesus and the gospel are far too big for us to understand. The gospel isn't just a pleasant message telling us to love each other-it's world-transforming, radioactive, somehow familiar, and completely strange at the same time. Christ right here-Jesus walked among us in the weakness caused by sin he never committed. He knows what it means to be human and so still walks among us by the Spirit-lovingly patient. He knows what we're dealing with in the human experience. He's been here. Christ leading us-God didn't start the story over; he wrote himself into it. The creator of humanity became human to show us what it means to truly be human. He blazed a trail we could never blaze and now the point is to follow our perfect leader wherever he may lead us. Our high priest was made low-correcting, healing and ultimately affirming what it means to be human. *** closing prayer *** Word count: 3015 Est. time: 25 minutes Sermon The High Priest Made Low0Page 1 of 1 Keith M. Roberts0New Life Christian Fellowship0October 17, 2021