This sermon was preached at All Saints Church in Palmerston North in mid 2000, and so some references are to the location and the circumstances at that time.
Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are--yet was without sin. Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.
Every high priest is selected from among men and is appointed to represent them in matters related to God, to offer gifts and sacrifices for sins. He is able to deal gently with those who are ignorant and are going astray, since he himself is subject to weakness. This is why he has to offer sacrifices for his own sins, as well as for the sins of the people. No one takes this honor upon himself; he must be called by God, just as Aaron was. So Christ also did not take upon himself the glory of becoming a high priest. But God said to him, "You are my Son; today I have become your Father." And he says in another place, "You are a priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek."
During the days of Jesus' life on earth, he offered up prayers and petitions with loud cries and tears to the one who could save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission. Although he was a son, he learned obedience from what he suffered and, once made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him and was designated by God to be high priest in the order of Melchizedek. (Heb 4:14-5:10)
When I think about the priests of the old testament, I often think of all the sacrifices they had to offer on behalf of the people, and wonder what it would be like if we were still using that old sacrificial system. Suppose that every week, we had our worship, and confession, and then instead of a simple declaration of God’s forgiveness, we each brought forward our lambs, and John then sacrificed them up on the altar. Well, for one thing, it would probably boost the lamb industry in New Zealand quite significantly, particularly if it was one lamb per sin, and the carpet would need cleaning slightly more often.
In this passage from Hebrews, we are told that Jesus is our great high priest – but what is actually the role of the high priest? Chapter 5 verse 1 says that ‘Every high priest is selected from among men and is appointed to represent them in matters related to God, to offer gifts and sacrifices for sins’. In Leviticus, we read of the various types of gifts and sacrifices that could be offered by the people through the priests. Sometimes the sacrifice was an animal which was killed and at other times it was offerings of crops or flour. For example, whenever someone committed an unintentional sin, they had to offer a sin or a guilt offering, sacrificed by the priest. Also, there was the annual Day of Atonement, on which the high priest would offer sacrifices for the forgiveness of the entire nation. So the high priest offers gifts and sacrifices for sins, but the role is actually broader than that. The high priest is our representative before God – he helps us in our relationship with God. His role is not one where the high priest is too busy looking at God to help us, but his role is get alongside us, and help us relate to God ourselves.
For a high priest to be able to represent us before God, he must have been selected from among us. If he was not chosen from among us, then he is not really a true representative. For example, New Zealand has ambassadors in most countries in the world to liase with their governments, and represent the New Zealand government in those countries. Now if our ambassadors were not New Zealanders themselves, then are they really true representatives of New Zealand? Not really. In a similar way, a high priest representing us before God must have been selected from among us. He must be one of us or he is not a true representative. In verse 1 again: ‘Every high priest is selected from among men and is appointed to represent them in matters related to God’. Since Jesus was himself born a human, he has been selected from among us, and so he can represent us before God.
Now clearly if the high priest does not have a relationship with God themselves, it is very difficult for them to help us get closer to God. If they themselves are not worthy to enter God’s presence, how can they help us enter his presence. This problem was recognised in the Old Testament as well. On the Day of Atonement that I mentioned before, the high priest actually had to offer sacrifices for his own sins before he could offer sacrifices for the sins of the people. He had to restore his relationship with God before he could help the people with their relationship. But Jesus lived a sinless life. He never did anything that was wrong. He was perfect. So he was worthy to enter the presence of God by his own merits. He did not have to offer a sacrifice for himself. He did not need to restore his relationship with God prior to helping us. He has a perfect relationship with God, and so can help us into a relationship with God ourselves.
So Jesus has been selected from among us. He has a perfect relationship with God in his own right, and so is perfectly qualified to be our high priest.
If we now read verse 2: ‘He is able to deal gently with those who are ignorant and are going astray, since he himself is subject to weakness’. Even if our high priest is selected from among us, if he cannot relate to, or understand our temptations and our weaknesses, how can he be an effective representative for us before God? How can he help us in our relationship with God? It is reasonably easy to see how a human high priest could relate to our difficulties, because they are subject to the same weaknesses and temptations themselves. For example, Aaron, the first high priest appointed by God, could relate to the Israelites in their sin, because he also sinned. In Exodus after God had taken the Israelites out of Egypt, Moses went up Mt Sinai to receive the 10 commandments from God, and while this was taking place, Aaron was busy building an idol for the people to worship. He clearly was not perfect, and so he could understand why the Israelites sinned.
Jesus, however, was perfect. He lived a perfect, sinless life, and so how can he understand our temptations and our weaknesses? Well, Jesus was subject to temptation:
Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the desert, where for forty days he was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing during those days, and at the end of them he was hungry. The devil said to him, "If you are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread." Jesus answered, "It is written: `Man does not live on bread alone.'" The devil led him up to a high place and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. And he said to him, "I will give you all their authority and splendor, for it has been given to me, and I can give it to anyone I want to. So if you worship me, it will all be yours."
Jesus answered, "It is written: `Worship the Lord your God and serve him only.'"
The devil led him to Jerusalem and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. "If you are the Son of God," he said, "throw yourself down from here. For it is written: "`He will command his angels concerning you to guard you carefully; they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.'" Jesus answered, "It says: `Do not put the Lord your God to the test.'"
When the devil had finished all this tempting, he left him until an opportune time. (Luke 4:1-13)
It is important to note that a temptation is not really temptation if we don’t want to do the thing. For example, I am not really tempted to steal even if the opportunity presents itself, but if I am in bad trouble I do sometimes feel tempted to lie my way out of it. But in this case Jesus was tempted, and this was not the only instance of him being tempted that we are told of. On the night before he died, he was in the garden of Gethsemane praying, and he did not want to die. It would have been very attractive to find a way out to avoid the horrible torture and death he knew was coming. Back in Hebrews 5 verse 7 it says ‘During the days of Jesus’ life on earth, he offered up prayers and petitions with loud cries and tears to the one who could save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission.’ Luke 22:44 says: ‘And being in aguish, he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground’. Jesus was in anguish. His mission here on earth was not a simple walk in the park. He became fully human, and so was susceptible to our temptations and weaknesses even though he never gave into temptation and sinned.
So Jesus could relate to our temptations and our weaknesses, but it goes even further than that. In Hebrews 4:15 it says: ‘For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathise with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are – yet was without sin’. Jesus is able to sympathise with our weaknesses because he himself has been tempted, and is without sin. Even though he is without sin, this does not negate his ability to relate to sinners. The ability to relate to sinners is not based on the experience of the sin itself, but on the experience of knowing what it is like to be attracted to sin. And Jesus was tempted more than any one of us. It says that Jesus was tempted in every way, just as we are, but when we sin, we have given in to temptation, and so have not experienced the temptation at its most intense moment. As we are tempted, the attractiveness of the wrong thing or the level of temptation increases and keeps increasing until we either give in, or totally reject it. If we give in, then we are giving up before the temptation reaches its peak intensity. So we do not experience temptation to its fullest extent. Only he that is without sin, experiences the fullness of temptation. Only Jesus can fully understand the intensity of temptation. Jesus was tempted to avoid carrying our sin. He knows better than any one of us how difficult it is to withstand it, and so not only can he relate to us in our temptations, but he knows them even better than we do.
Our high priest is not only fully qualified in his own right to stand before God, but he fully understands us, and so can help us move closer to God.
So, what does that mean for us today? What are the implications of the high priesthood of Christ to our lives?
Let’s read Hebrews 4 verse 14: ‘Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess’. Jesus has been so highly exalted – God always hears him when he intercedes for us, which he is always doing. Our high priest, is able to understand where we come from, and yet his position in heaven is that of authority. He has both the desire to help us, and the authority to do so. This is a great encouragement for us when we are in difficult circumstances – we can know that Jesus is interceding for us. One small example of this in my life was a couple of years ago when work wasn’t going as well as it could have been. I was working as a computer network support contractor at the time, and I was on one of my first contracts and I made a few mistakes which managed to bring down the entire network at a school. It wasn’t entirely my fault, but I still should have been more careful in what I was doing. This was a cause of a great deal of anxiety. I was really worried about what was going to happen: how fast could the problem be fixed, and could I even fix it myself. It was causing me a great deal of stress. But in my anxiety Jesus was able to help me turn to him. It was really comforting to know that Jesus was interceding for me in my problems. My high priest was alongside me, helping me turn to God for help. When it comes down to it, it was really a small matter in an eternal perspective, but Jesus cared for me in that situation, and was able to help me in my anxiety. He helped me calm down, and once I calmed down I was able to think clearly again and sort out a way to fix the situation. They even employed me again the next time they needed computer support.
Nor has this happened to me only once. It is part of how I relate to God. As many of you know I finish my course at the end of this semester, and I sometimes feel a bit anxious about what my future holds. I am not sure what God has in store for me at the end of this year. And I need to know at some point in the near future, but he has not told me yet. But I know that as in the situation at work that I mentioned before, I have a high priest who is able to help me with this, and guide me through it. Although Jesus may not have been through this situation in particular, I know that he experienced anxiety when he was in the garden of Gethsemane the night before he died. I know he understands how I feel, and I can trust him to bring about the best results.
An implication of Jesus understanding our temptations is that he understands why we sin. This does not make it okay to sin, but we can know that he is pleading our case for us, and he is pleading it because he understands. If we can think of an analogy with a guy named Bob, who is in rather desperate circumstances. He is really poor, has no job and no food. So he has to resort to stealing to get some food to eat. Eventually Bob gets caught stealing, and is charged with burglary. Now, if Bob applies for legal aid, because of course he can’t afford a lawyer himself, and is assigned a lawyer who is rich, and who can always get whatever he wanted, then the lawyer would probably not understand where Bob was coming from and why he committed the burglary. Having never been in the situation himself, he wouldn’t realise what Bob was going through and feeling at the time, and just how desperate Bob was. And so, he could defend Bob, but if Bob had a lawyer who had been in similar situations himself things would be quite different. If his lawyer had been poor himself, and in desperate conditions himself, he would understand Bob. He would see Bob as a person, and the defence he could offer would be much more effective. This analogy isn’t perfect, but Jesus has been in similar circumstances to us. He has been tempted, just as we are, and so really understands where we are coming from. He can see things from our perspective.
Finally, verse 16: ‘Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need’. We can confidently approach God because of Jesus our high priest. We do not need to approach God in fear or apprehension, but in confidence as Jesus has earned the way for us. Because he has experienced human temptation, he is able to sympathise with us and is motivated to help us when we are tempted. Jesus wants to help us in our trials – all we have to do is ask.sex child lolita free download
Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are--yet was without sin. Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.
Every high priest is selected from among men and is appointed to represent them in matters related to God, to offer gifts and sacrifices for sins. He is able to deal gently with those who are ignorant and are going astray, since he himself is subject to weakness. This is why he has to offer sacrifices for his own sins, as well as for the sins of the people. No one takes this honor upon himself; he must be called by God, just as Aaron was. So Christ also did not take upon himself the glory of becoming a high priest. But God said to him, "You are my Son; today I have become your Father." And he says in another place, "You are a priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek."
During the days of Jesus' life on earth, he offered up prayers and petitions with loud cries and tears to the one who could save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission. Although he was a son, he learned obedience from what he suffered and, once made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him and was designated by God to be high priest in the order of Melchizedek. (Heb 4:14-5:10)
When I think about the priests of the old testament, I often think of all the sacrifices they had to offer on behalf of the people, and wonder what it would be like if we were still using that old sacrificial system. Suppose that every week, we had our worship, and confession, and then instead of a simple declaration of God’s forgiveness, we each brought forward our lambs, and John then sacrificed them up on the altar. Well, for one thing, it would probably boost the lamb industry in New Zealand quite significantly, particularly if it was one lamb per sin, and the carpet would need cleaning slightly more often.
In this passage from Hebrews, we are told that Jesus is our great high priest – but what is actually the role of the high priest? Chapter 5 verse 1 says that ‘Every high priest is selected from among men and is appointed to represent them in matters related to God, to offer gifts and sacrifices for sins’. In Leviticus, we read of the various types of gifts and sacrifices that could be offered by the people through the priests. Sometimes the sacrifice was an animal which was killed and at other times it was offerings of crops or flour. For example, whenever someone committed an unintentional sin, they had to offer a sin or a guilt offering, sacrificed by the priest. Also, there was the annual Day of Atonement, on which the high priest would offer sacrifices for the forgiveness of the entire nation. So the high priest offers gifts and sacrifices for sins, but the role is actually broader than that. The high priest is our representative before God – he helps us in our relationship with God. His role is not one where the high priest is too busy looking at God to help us, but his role is get alongside us, and help us relate to God ourselves.
For a high priest to be able to represent us before God, he must have been selected from among us. If he was not chosen from among us, then he is not really a true representative. For example, New Zealand has ambassadors in most countries in the world to liase with their governments, and represent the New Zealand government in those countries. Now if our ambassadors were not New Zealanders themselves, then are they really true representatives of New Zealand? Not really. In a similar way, a high priest representing us before God must have been selected from among us. He must be one of us or he is not a true representative. In verse 1 again: ‘Every high priest is selected from among men and is appointed to represent them in matters related to God’. Since Jesus was himself born a human, he has been selected from among us, and so he can represent us before God.
Now clearly if the high priest does not have a relationship with God themselves, it is very difficult for them to help us get closer to God. If they themselves are not worthy to enter God’s presence, how can they help us enter his presence. This problem was recognised in the Old Testament as well. On the Day of Atonement that I mentioned before, the high priest actually had to offer sacrifices for his own sins before he could offer sacrifices for the sins of the people. He had to restore his relationship with God before he could help the people with their relationship. But Jesus lived a sinless life. He never did anything that was wrong. He was perfect. So he was worthy to enter the presence of God by his own merits. He did not have to offer a sacrifice for himself. He did not need to restore his relationship with God prior to helping us. He has a perfect relationship with God, and so can help us into a relationship with God ourselves.
So Jesus has been selected from among us. He has a perfect relationship with God in his own right, and so is perfectly qualified to be our high priest.
If we now read verse 2: ‘He is able to deal gently with those who are ignorant and are going astray, since he himself is subject to weakness’. Even if our high priest is selected from among us, if he cannot relate to, or understand our temptations and our weaknesses, how can he be an effective representative for us before God? How can he help us in our relationship with God? It is reasonably easy to see how a human high priest could relate to our difficulties, because they are subject to the same weaknesses and temptations themselves. For example, Aaron, the first high priest appointed by God, could relate to the Israelites in their sin, because he also sinned. In Exodus after God had taken the Israelites out of Egypt, Moses went up Mt Sinai to receive the 10 commandments from God, and while this was taking place, Aaron was busy building an idol for the people to worship. He clearly was not perfect, and so he could understand why the Israelites sinned.
Jesus, however, was perfect. He lived a perfect, sinless life, and so how can he understand our temptations and our weaknesses? Well, Jesus was subject to temptation:
Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the desert, where for forty days he was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing during those days, and at the end of them he was hungry. The devil said to him, "If you are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread." Jesus answered, "It is written: `Man does not live on bread alone.'" The devil led him up to a high place and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. And he said to him, "I will give you all their authority and splendor, for it has been given to me, and I can give it to anyone I want to. So if you worship me, it will all be yours."
Jesus answered, "It is written: `Worship the Lord your God and serve him only.'"
The devil led him to Jerusalem and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. "If you are the Son of God," he said, "throw yourself down from here. For it is written: "`He will command his angels concerning you to guard you carefully; they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.'" Jesus answered, "It says: `Do not put the Lord your God to the test.'"
When the devil had finished all this tempting, he left him until an opportune time. (Luke 4:1-13)
It is important to note that a temptation is not really temptation if we don’t want to do the thing. For example, I am not really tempted to steal even if the opportunity presents itself, but if I am in bad trouble I do sometimes feel tempted to lie my way out of it. But in this case Jesus was tempted, and this was not the only instance of him being tempted that we are told of. On the night before he died, he was in the garden of Gethsemane praying, and he did not want to die. It would have been very attractive to find a way out to avoid the horrible torture and death he knew was coming. Back in Hebrews 5 verse 7 it says ‘During the days of Jesus’ life on earth, he offered up prayers and petitions with loud cries and tears to the one who could save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission.’ Luke 22:44 says: ‘And being in aguish, he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground’. Jesus was in anguish. His mission here on earth was not a simple walk in the park. He became fully human, and so was susceptible to our temptations and weaknesses even though he never gave into temptation and sinned.
So Jesus could relate to our temptations and our weaknesses, but it goes even further than that. In Hebrews 4:15 it says: ‘For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathise with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are – yet was without sin’. Jesus is able to sympathise with our weaknesses because he himself has been tempted, and is without sin. Even though he is without sin, this does not negate his ability to relate to sinners. The ability to relate to sinners is not based on the experience of the sin itself, but on the experience of knowing what it is like to be attracted to sin. And Jesus was tempted more than any one of us. It says that Jesus was tempted in every way, just as we are, but when we sin, we have given in to temptation, and so have not experienced the temptation at its most intense moment. As we are tempted, the attractiveness of the wrong thing or the level of temptation increases and keeps increasing until we either give in, or totally reject it. If we give in, then we are giving up before the temptation reaches its peak intensity. So we do not experience temptation to its fullest extent. Only he that is without sin, experiences the fullness of temptation. Only Jesus can fully understand the intensity of temptation. Jesus was tempted to avoid carrying our sin. He knows better than any one of us how difficult it is to withstand it, and so not only can he relate to us in our temptations, but he knows them even better than we do.
Our high priest is not only fully qualified in his own right to stand before God, but he fully understands us, and so can help us move closer to God.
So, what does that mean for us today? What are the implications of the high priesthood of Christ to our lives?
Let’s read Hebrews 4 verse 14: ‘Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess’. Jesus has been so highly exalted – God always hears him when he intercedes for us, which he is always doing. Our high priest, is able to understand where we come from, and yet his position in heaven is that of authority. He has both the desire to help us, and the authority to do so. This is a great encouragement for us when we are in difficult circumstances – we can know that Jesus is interceding for us. One small example of this in my life was a couple of years ago when work wasn’t going as well as it could have been. I was working as a computer network support contractor at the time, and I was on one of my first contracts and I made a few mistakes which managed to bring down the entire network at a school. It wasn’t entirely my fault, but I still should have been more careful in what I was doing. This was a cause of a great deal of anxiety. I was really worried about what was going to happen: how fast could the problem be fixed, and could I even fix it myself. It was causing me a great deal of stress. But in my anxiety Jesus was able to help me turn to him. It was really comforting to know that Jesus was interceding for me in my problems. My high priest was alongside me, helping me turn to God for help. When it comes down to it, it was really a small matter in an eternal perspective, but Jesus cared for me in that situation, and was able to help me in my anxiety. He helped me calm down, and once I calmed down I was able to think clearly again and sort out a way to fix the situation. They even employed me again the next time they needed computer support.
Nor has this happened to me only once. It is part of how I relate to God. As many of you know I finish my course at the end of this semester, and I sometimes feel a bit anxious about what my future holds. I am not sure what God has in store for me at the end of this year. And I need to know at some point in the near future, but he has not told me yet. But I know that as in the situation at work that I mentioned before, I have a high priest who is able to help me with this, and guide me through it. Although Jesus may not have been through this situation in particular, I know that he experienced anxiety when he was in the garden of Gethsemane the night before he died. I know he understands how I feel, and I can trust him to bring about the best results.
An implication of Jesus understanding our temptations is that he understands why we sin. This does not make it okay to sin, but we can know that he is pleading our case for us, and he is pleading it because he understands. If we can think of an analogy with a guy named Bob, who is in rather desperate circumstances. He is really poor, has no job and no food. So he has to resort to stealing to get some food to eat. Eventually Bob gets caught stealing, and is charged with burglary. Now, if Bob applies for legal aid, because of course he can’t afford a lawyer himself, and is assigned a lawyer who is rich, and who can always get whatever he wanted, then the lawyer would probably not understand where Bob was coming from and why he committed the burglary. Having never been in the situation himself, he wouldn’t realise what Bob was going through and feeling at the time, and just how desperate Bob was. And so, he could defend Bob, but if Bob had a lawyer who had been in similar situations himself things would be quite different. If his lawyer had been poor himself, and in desperate conditions himself, he would understand Bob. He would see Bob as a person, and the defence he could offer would be much more effective. This analogy isn’t perfect, but Jesus has been in similar circumstances to us. He has been tempted, just as we are, and so really understands where we are coming from. He can see things from our perspective.
Finally, verse 16: ‘Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need’. We can confidently approach God because of Jesus our high priest. We do not need to approach God in fear or apprehension, but in confidence as Jesus has earned the way for us. Because he has experienced human temptation, he is able to sympathise with us and is motivated to help us when we are tempted. Jesus wants to help us in our trials – all we have to do is ask.sex child lolita free download
Comments
Greetings Dave,
I believe we sometimes underestimate the great sacrifice Jesus made. He didn't go skippity skippity off into death, but he agonised over the ordeal he was about to face,a real struggle of subjecting his will to his fathers.About your future I believe " seek ye first the kingdom and all these other things will be added to you" Money is a servant not a master, and i believe gods promise.sex child lolita free download