Our Great High Priest

Hebrews 4:14-16

February 4, 2001

 

The austere words of warning in Hebrews could leave a person in despair if not accompanied by good news. For the ancient writer seeks to bring us face to face with the realities of God's holiness, justice, and wrath. He is purposeful in this, not wanting his little audience to slip away from the gospel of Christ. But his tenderness threads its way throughout the fabric of the epistle, particularly in our text.

 

After exhorting this little church to be diligent to enter the rest of God, the pastoral writer expounds in short compass the energetic, penetrating, and discerning power of God's Word. He follows by showing that the Word of God is never detached from the God who breathed it into human existence so that he might reveal himself to us. "And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are open and laid bare to the eyes of Him with whom we have to do." Nothing escapes the sight of God! No excuse can dupe him, no rationale can fool him, and no cover-up can sneak past him. God sees all about us. He intimately knows our thoughts, doubts, fears, and anxieties about living as Christians. To add to the angst of the text is the fact that it is the Lord "with whom we have to do," or with whom we will one day have to give an account. Without any stretch of the imagination, this is a terrifying verse! Frankly, if it stopped at this point I would be in great despair; for at my very best I am still an unworthy sinner. I have nothing to offer God. I have no merits to commend me to him or to assuage his just wrath against me. With the hymn writer I agree, "My hope is built on nothing less, than Jesus' blood and righteousness; I dare not trust the sweetest frame, but wholly lean on Jesus' name."

 

Every believer is a pilgrim, as Bunyan expressed it, on the journey to the celestial city. There are pitfalls, dangers, and opposition aplenty on the way. Like Bunyan's Christian we face the allurement of Vanity Fair and the misery of Doubting Castle. But we are assured that the one who began his gracious, saving work in us continues it until the day we stand before him (Philippians 1:6). Such assurance is never meant to produce lethargy in us; instead it ought to invigorate us to greater faithfulness. Here we discover Jesus Christ, our great high priest, gives timely help to struggling saints. Are you a "fellow-struggler"? Then help is on the way as we consider our great high priest.

 

I. You have a great high priest

 

As our writer re-introduces the subject of Jesus Christ as the great high priest (3:1), we are reminded of his intention. He is writing to all of us who along the way struggle with a sense of hopelessness in living for Christ. For those who have all but given up on spiritual maturity or who cannot get beyond the ominous barriers that litter the pathway before us, he writes to help us. There are no theological pontifications here. There's bread and meat for the soul. There's light for the journey of steadfastness to Christ.

 

Maybe you are one that would say, 'all of this is well and good, but how can Jesus Christ do anything for me?' You think of your failures-and all of us have them. You think of your times of doubting-doubting that almost seems to be unbelief-and you wonder if there is any help for you. You ponder the many times that you have committed and re-committed, dedicated and re-dedicated, almost until you are blue in the face. Can you know the sweetness of assurance and steadfastness before the Lord? You can because Jesus Christ is the one who has ascended in triumph to be seated as our great high priest forever.

 

1. Ascended in triumph

 

The subject of the ascension of Jesus Christ is one of the most neglected in our day. The first time I heard a sermon on Christ's ascension was when I was a college student. The state Pastor's Conference, hosted by Dauphin Way Baptist in Mobile, afforded aspiring young preachers a chance to be challenged by biblical preaching. Dr. Jerry Vines, Dauphin Way's pastor, who was virtually unknown among Southern Baptists, preached an unforgettable message on "Our Ascended Lord." The sense of worship that flooded that building still rings in my mind as I realized something of the triumph of Jesus Christ in his ascension.

 

This same sense of worship and ground of security runs through our text, "Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession." Our writer's aim is to set the believer's attention on Jesus Christ so that he will have confidence to continue on in the Christian faith, not as a reluctant believer, but as one who joyously walks in the triumph of Jesus Christ.

 

"A great high priest who has passed through the heavens," stands in contrast to the priests Israel had known for centuries. A few among them named as high priests passed through the veil of the temple to offer the blood of a sacrifice on the Day of Atonement, but none had "passed through the heavens." The implication provides us several truths that we need to consider.

 

First, why was there a need for "a great high priest"? For this we must skip quickly back to Genesis 3 and the scene in the Garden where Adam and Eve fell into sin. From that point, sin entered the world and the pain of eternal death with it. The only hope for anyone to escape the pains of death was through their sins and enmity with God being removed. But no one could do so by his own ability or merit-for all are sinners. In God's mercy he provided a temporary means for dealing with sin: the offering of the blood of a young goat as a substitute for the sinful people. The high priest was the only one who could make this offering as the mediator of the people before God. First he had to offer sacrifice for his own sins, then for the sins of the people (9:6-7). The high priest was a foreshadowing of the great high priest to come. It was the sin of the people (and the high priest in this case) that required the establishment of this mediatorial role.

 

Second, because of the temporary nature of the work of the high priests and their atonement sacrifices, they had to do this same ritual year by year. The repetitive nature of it served to remind the people that the true sacrifice, the one that could never be repeated, was yet to come. It was also a reminder of their sins and that "it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins" (10:3-4). Jesus Christ satisfied, once for all, this divine requirement of justice at the cross. "By this will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all" (10:10).

 

Third, when the high priest in office completed his duty of offering blood upon the mercy seat, he returned through the veil, out of the holy place, and back to the people. Next year, he did the same thing. But that was not the case with our Lord. After his God-satisfying, sin-atoning death at the cross, he rose from the dead, appeared to many witnesses, then "passed through the heavens." This means that there is no more day of atonement, no more requirements by God to satisfy his justice in forgiving sinners. Later the writer declares, "But He, having offered one sacrifice for sins for all time, SAT DOWN AT THE RIGHT HAND OF GOD" (10:12). Jesus ascended "through the heavens" as one who had finished the redemptive work the Father sent him to do.

 

One other thought might be helpful. Some of us seem to be so wired that we just have great difficulty accepting that Jesus Christ has finished the work of redemption. So we trust him, but we sometimes retreat to our own efforts as a means to add to his merit before God. My friend, Jesus has "passed through the heavens." The work has been completed. Rest in what Christ has done!

 

2. Seated as Man and God

 

But how do struggling believers know that God will give them help along the journey? Notice the emphasis of the language in our text, "Since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession." It is not an angel who passed through the heavens, but it is one who has a nature like our own: Jesus. The name or title that is used most frequently in the New Testament to refer to the humanity of our Lord is "Jesus." There is a Man in heaven that has gone before us triumphantly. Seated at the right hand of God is not one who is spirit alone, but God incarnate, the Man Jesus Christ.

 

We have a Friend in high places! A real man, bearing the marks of his crucifixion, continually intercedes for us in heaven. The vision that John had of the exalted Christ was that of "a Lamb standing [resurrection], as if slain [the marks of the cross]" (Rev. 5:6). When our risen Lord appeared to the disciples they noted the imprint of the nails in his hands and the spear mark in his side (John 20:24-29). Jesus has not shaken off his humanity; he has not forgotten the race he came to save as the Second Adam. He who is God ("the Son of God") continues as Man, representing us before the Father.

 

II. You have a sympathetic high priest

 

This truth can be better understood in the next statement. Our writer explains, "For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin." How human is Jesus Christ? He is the one through whom God spoke yet he made the world (1:1-2). He was made lower than the angels in his humanity yet all the angels worshiped him (2:9, 1:6). He was perfected through sufferings yet he is the one who sanctifies sinful men (2:10-11). He partook of the same flesh and blood as all humanity yet he alone was capable of propitiating before God with reference to our sins (2:14, 17). He was tempted and suffered from it yet was faithful in all things before God (2:18, 3:1-6). While it is right for us to focus on the deity of Jesus Christ and all that he has accomplished as God, our writer keeps coming back to the issue of his humanity. For it is only as a human that he qualified as our redeemer. And it is only as a human that he can be sympathetic as our great high priest.

 

1. Knows your weaknesses

 

There are limitations to the human body and psyche. There are things we can do and there are limits we cannot exceed. Some people thrive on pushing the limitations of humanity beyond the boundaries, trying to do what no one else has done before. There are those remarkable people that have braved the sub-zero temperatures, the gale force winds, and lethally thin air to climb Mount Everest. These people have pushed their bodies to the limits and seemingly defied the odds to make the ascent and descent of Everest. Some did not beat the odds and lie frozen on a glacial mass.

 

The New Testament writers want us to understand this about Jesus Christ. As God he created the world and sustains it. But as a man he was born into humble surroundings, dependent upon the loving care of Mary and Joseph. Though in him are hidden all the treasures of knowledge and wisdom, he "learned" and "grew" just as all of us do. We find him hungry after his 40-day fast and asleep on the little couch in his disciples' fishing boat after the exhausting days of ministry. Though as God he possesses the attribute of omnipresence, he walked throughout Judea and sailed with his disciples in their boat, of necessity crossing by foot from village to village on the rough terrain that characterized Palestine. Though we declare his aseity, that is, that he has no needs, as a man he felt the loneliness of betrayal, the anguish of rejection, and the grief of his friend's death.

 

So our text can declare, "For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses." As one who sympathizes he shares the complete experience of humanity. It is not a psychological sympathy as we might sometime refer to. For instance, when we hear the reports of the devastating earthquake in India and the suffering those people are enduring, we might psychologically sympathize with them. By this we ache in heart and even shed tears for what they are enduring. But we do not sympathize with them experientially. It is in this way that our writer speaks of the sympathies of Jesus Christ. He knows the human experience. He knows how weak we are, for he experienced that weakness. He knows how we can suffer, because he experienced that same suffering. He knows how we can be wronged and abused and misunderstood, because all of those things were his experience.

 

When you appeal to Jesus Christ in your struggles, you are not talking to one that knows nothing of what you are going through. Yes, by his great omniscience, he certainly knows every detail of our lives (4:13), but he knows in yet another way: through experience. Our oldest son has his first full week of Navy boot camp under his belt. I have read about the training recruits go through; I've talked with people who have gone through boot camp; I've tried to imagine the details of what takes place. I can sympathize psychologically with the things my son is enduring, but I cannot sympathize experientially. Some of you can. You are the ones that can give greater encouragement, for you have been there-done that! This is what we find in our Lord. We cry out to him in our pain, expressing the difficulties we have in enduring. We are not speaking a foreign experience to him! He knows our weaknesses.

 

2. Experienced your temptations

 

But the writer takes this a step farther. Because while all of us have the normal limitations of human weakness, the biggest struggle in our perseverance is the temptation to sin. It is not lack of energy that usually gets us, but the presence of sin's allurement. It is the trouble of being hardened by the deceitfulness of sin (3:13) that concerns us. Hear the declaration that we have "One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin." How sympathetic is our great high priest? He understands temptation, not just from a psychological, investigative sense, but experientially.

 

The word "temptation" is the common term for testing, trying, or tempting. The temptation itself is not sin. It is giving into it as a fish biting the lure that snares us with sin. The writer's use of the perfect passive participle implies the thoroughness and completion of temptation and the abiding results of our Lord's success in conquering it. Quite commonly we have some who object to this as any comfort. Their assertion is that since Jesus did not sin then he does not really know how temptation feels. But just the opposite is true. C.S. Lewis explained this clearly:

A silly idea is current that good people do not know what temptation means. This is an obvious lie. Only those who try to resist temptation know how strong it is. After all, you find out the strength of the German army by fighting against it, not by giving in. You find out the strength of a wind by trying to walk against it, not by lying down. A man who gives in to temptation after five minutes simply does not know what it would have been like an hour later. That is why bad people, in one sense, know very little about badness. They have lived a sheltered life by always giving in. We never find out the strength of the evil impulse inside us until we try to fight it: and Christ, because He was the only man who never yielded to temptation, is also the only man who knows to the full what temptation means-the only complete realist [Mere Christianity, quoted by Kent Hughes in Hebrews: An Anchor for the Soul, 131].

Temptation was real to our Lord. The devil has not wasted his time personally assaulting any of us for 40-intensive days. Yet he did our Lord; and in every case Jesus Christ resisted the devil's ploys. How extensive was the temptation of Christ? He was "tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin." Does this mean that every detailed, individual sin we face he faced? No, but it does mean that there is no category of sin, no type of sin that we face that our Lord did not successfully endure. As John Piper has expressed it, "He does not roll his eyes at your pain or cluck his tongue at your struggle with sin" [www.soundofgrace.com/piper96/09-15-96.htm]. You have One in heaven who truly understands and sympathizes with you in every weakness and temptation. So draw near to him with your burdened heart as you struggle on the journey.


III. You have a gracious high priest

 

The truths of our text are not just to increase our knowledge of Christ, but also to help us in our experience of him through the crucible of daily life. We must know him as our high priest. Unless he is the one who has mediated the way to God, then we have no salvation. And unless we know him as our high priest who sympathetically meets us in our needs, we will have grave difficulty in the journey called "the Christian life."

 

1. A call for bold praying

 

After speaking of a God before whom all of us, every detail of our lives, is laid bare, we might think that we can never pray again! How can I approach the throne of One who sees everything about me, who knows my hypocrisies, who knows the blackness of my heart, who knows my inconsistencies? It is because we have one of our own race seated upon the throne, who knows our weaknesses and sympathizes in our temptations, that we are implored, "Therefore," because of this reality, "let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need." All of the exposition on Christ as our high priest and our need for his assistance is glued with the "therefore." Because of the effectiveness of his office as our great high priest, we are exhorted to come with boldness before him.

 

A citizen in the realm of a kingdom had no right or claim to come with boldness before the throne of his emperor. To do so might imply death or certainly ejection from the emperor's presence. But not with our King. We are told to "draw near with confidence." Drawing near was a term that was used of priests approaching God in service. The present tense of the verb insists that this is to be our regular practice-indeed it is our daily privilege, moment-by-moment to come before the throne of grace for the mercy we need. To come with "confidence" means that we come boldly or with a sense of assurance before the Lord. We are able to enter the divine presence by the merits of Someone else. We have a claim to the throne because our "great high priest" who knows our weaknesses and temptations, is seated there.

 

Notice that he calls it, not the throne of judgment, but "the throne of grace." As a throne this is the sphere of divine power; as a throne of grace it abounds in divine favor and divine initiative toward weak and undeserving people. All of our incapability to live the Christian life is met with the abundance of "grace." In "grace" God willingly, out of his good pleasure, for his purposes works and provides and supplies. We do not command grace; we receive it as a gift. We do not instruct God on how to exercise grace; we just appeal and God willingly gives.

 

2. A certainty of timely help

 

But when does the great high priest take action to show us mercy and grace? It is "in the time of need." It means that our Lord's action is always in a "well-planned time" or as Piper calls it, "grace for a well-timed help" [Future Grace 295]. "Timely help" might be the best term [L. Morris, EBC, 46-47]. We must admit that we often are rather free about telling the Lord when, how and where he is to supply his grace! We often are impatient with the timing of the Lord or complaining about the measure of what he supplies or impulsive to run ahead of his working. Let us see that his promise for us who are on the journey to the celestial city is that in just the right time, his help will arrive.

 

The mercy shown and grace given may not be as you would design. At times the mercy of the Lord is to deliver us from some grievous and dangerous situation. At other times, he leaves us there but supplies the grace to trust him and rejoice in him. The brethren receiving this epistle would face the crazed persecution instigated by Nero. Some of them would be tortured-but grace was given to carry them through into the presence of Christ. Some would escape torture and imprisonment only to live long lives and face what length of days presents. For this, grace was given so that they would endure the sufferings and difficulties of life and journey to the city of our God. Timely help can be counted on because of our great high priest.

 

3. A confidence for steadfast living

 

Now let me add a therefore. Because Jesus is our great high priest, ascended triumphantly as the God-Man and because he sympathizes with us in our weakness and temptation, and because he calls upon us to pray boldly and expect to receive timely help, therefore "let us hold fast our confession." Take hold of your confession and press on as a Christian. Because of all Christ is and has done, you can be steadfast as a believer. Yes, this calls for action on your part. It requires effort, discipline, and a will to stand against your own temptations. It demands that you live differently in relationship to the world. It requires that you lean upon the strong arm of Jesus Christ and that you find help through being part of his body. And the promise is that you-as a believer-can do it through the provisions of Jesus Christ.

 

Have you declared a "confession"? It is that public declaration that Jesus Christ is your Redeemer and Lord. Biblically this was done in baptism. It was something that may have begun privately, but with the rest of the body of Christ, you have openly confessed Jesus Christ as your Lord, sealing it in that solemn and joyous time of baptism. You have identified yourself as one who has died with Christ, risen with him, and now will follow after him as a disciple. Is this your confession? Then "hold fast," keep pressing on; you can because you "have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens" for you.

 

Conclusion

 

Have you declared a confession of Jesus Christ as your Redeemer, Lord, and High Priest? There is mercy waiting for sinners who would confess him. And there is a bounty of divine grace awaiting every believer on the journey to the celestial city.

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