Thursday, September 24 –
We are continuing our readings through the New Testament,
and we are in the book of Hebrews. Today,
we read Hebrews 4:14 – 5:10. After you’ve finished reading the text, please
come back, and we’ll walk through it together one more time.
The letter of Hebrews was addressed to Jewish Christians in the first century –
many of whom were struggling with their faith because of family, village, and
synagogue opposition, as well as Roman persecution. The natural question that arose was, “If
following Jesus is supposed to be God’s will, why are things so terrible?” It is a principle we discover in God’s word,
that God often puts people in tough places to test their faith and expose their
insecurities and weaknesses. The book Pilgrim’s Progress is an allegory
story that follows the line of discovery in the book of Hebrews. God keeps bringing Christian back to the
truth found in his word, because, “…the word of God is alive and active.
Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and
spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.
Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is
uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account” (4:12-13).
God’s word exposes, uncovers, and draws back the curtains on our pretend
faith, or weak areas. He doesn’t do that
to shame us, but to drive us towards a solution beyond ourselves.
The place of real security and real power is in Jesus
Christ, who now is our Great High Priest – “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. 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” (4:14-16).
We think our weaknesses, sin, failures will drive God far away from us, but
in fact, it is just the opposite. God does not let us wallow in our sin, He
sent His Son to do something about it, and he invites us to come over and over
again. The exhortation is to run to the
throne of God, for Christ knows about us, better than we know ourselves, and he
has grace and mercy to give to those who humbly come. It is crucial to remember that God wants to
be gracious to us. When we come
confessing our sin, he provides us with the grace of forgiveness, welcomes us
with open arms like the Prodigal Father (Luke 15).
The compassion of Christ carries on as the writer begins to
explain – in a very long section of the book – the High Priestly ministry of
Jesus.
“Every high priest is selected from among the people and is appointed to
represent the people 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.
And no one takes this honor on himself, but he receives it when called by
God, just as Aaron was. In the same way, Christ did not take on 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” (5:1-6).
Leaving behind their Judaism meant leaving behind the Temple, the Priesthood,
and the Sacrificial system they had trusted in.
In our own time, trusting in Jesus as Savior means leaving whatever is
not allow us to see Jesus alone as our Savior.
Jesus’ appointment to his office as the Great High Priest is once again
a “greater” priesthood than any that existed on earth. The Jews selected their High Priest, and as
great as He might be, he still had to offer sacrifices for his own sin. The Father selected Christ, and he did not
need to offer sacrifices for his own sin, but he did offer up himself as the
perfect sacrifice of atonement for the sins of all who place their trust in
Him.
In context, Jesus had to endure temptations, and he did,
perfectly. So, he knows what it is like
to be tempted, and he can understand our weaknesses and failures, even though
he had never sinned.
“During the days of Jesus’ life on earth, he offered up prayers and
petitions with fervent cries and tears to the one who could save him from
death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission. Son though he
was, 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” (5:7-10).
“During the days of Jesus’ life” refers to the difficult things he faced in
everyday life while living on the earth.
Lest we think Jesus breezed through life like a Mathematical scholar
taking a third grace arithmetic test, Jesus needed prayers, petitions to the
Father to live above the sinful temptations.
He lived obediently – an active obedience – that the writer describes as
“reverent submission.” Jesus kept
his focus constantly on the Father.
Because Jesus actively obeyed, without sin, his perfection makes it
possible for Him to be the source of our eternal salvation, and to be appointed
by the Father to be our Great High Priest.
What the writer does not say is that the Father prevented him from
suffering. Jesus still went to the
cross.
Let’s pause and look again.
Twice in these last verses, the author says Jesus’ priesthood ministry
is “in the order of Melchizedek.”
Jewish believers based their concept of the Priesthood from Moses and
the giving of the Law to the nation of Israel.
The nation of Israel’s first Priests were all from the family line of
Aaron, Moses’ brother. Melchizedek (mël-kēz-ë-dëk) predates all of the Law, going
back to the days of Abraham. We will
meet him further along in our readings, but the point the author is making is
that Jesus’ priesthood ministry is like Melchizedek’s ministry – it was not
based on the Law, but it was based on a King, who was also a Priest. As I said, we’ll see a fuller picture of
Melchizedek and Jesus later on in this letter, but it’s very clear that Jesus
is greater than the priestly ministry of the Jewish temple.
Jesus took his ascended position at the Father’s right hand to fulfill the mandate for a perfect High Priest – one who had no sin but became Sin for us (2 Corinthians 5:20-21). The Old Testament priesthood – as necessary as it was before Christ came – was no longer effective, nor needed, after Jesus’ atoning death. Law can never save, but Grace always saves, because God sovereignly and effectually calls us by Grace to faith in Christ. After we are saved, we have become part of God’s family – heirs of the promise – and yet we live in a fallen world, with a fleshly nature that stills sins. We need a great High Priest. We need grace, mercy, and forgiveness, and only a perfect High Priest – who lived a perfectly obedient life and died a perfect sacrificial death – can continue to keep us saved! Our High Priest knows us better than we know ourselves, and he is able to save those who come to Him!
Peace
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