Jesus Sympathizes.

Jesus Sympathizes.

Hebrews 4:14-16NKJV

Mark Twain once said: “Most people are bothered by those passages of Scripture which they cannot understand; but as for me, I have always noticed that the passages in Scripture which trouble me most are those which I do understand.”

Paul mentioned Christ as our High Priest before in (Hebrews 2:17,3:1), but did not attempt to prove it until now, which he does at great length in Hebrews 4:13 through Hebrews 10:39) in over 5 and a half chapters.

 Hebrews 4:14-16NLT So then, since we have a great High Priest who has entered heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to what we believe. 15 This High Priest of ours understands our weaknesses, for he faced all of the same testings we do, yet he did not sin. 16 So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most.

This mornings text—Hebrews 4:14-16, should be understood, and applied. And when it’s fully understood it produces…stronger faith, greater authority, powerful prayer, and maturity. P.H

We have been called to ‘consider Jesus’ as our Great, Faithful High Priest of our profession— (Heb. 6:1). The token of Jesus’ finished work is, He passed into the heavens—(Heb. 4:14b).

He is there seated, His work completed, He’s seated at the right hand of God (Heb.12:2). There He forever lives to make intercession for us (Hebrews 7:25).

This morning, I want us to study these 3 verses of scripture.

Therefore, we begin by looking at, Hebrews 4:14NKJV Seeing then that we have a great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession.

Notice Jesus is called a great High Priest.

The Aramaic High Priest can be translated, “One who has sorrow with us in our affliction.”

The priesthood of Jesus is superior to that of Aaron. One of the themes through the Book of Hebrews, is that Jesus is greater than!

Thomas Goodwin—This High Priest can relate, even though Jesus is now in heaven, He is just as open and tender in His embrace of sinners and suffers as ever He was on earth.

Again, Hebrews 4:14TPT So then, we must cling in faith to all we know to be true. For we have a magnificent King-Priest, Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who rose into the heavenly realm for us, and now sympathizes with us in our frailty.

How can I be sure Jesus sympathizes? Because Jesus knows what it is to be thirsty, hungry, despised, rejected, scorned, shamed, embarrassed, abandoned, misunderstood, falsely accused, suffocated, tortured, and killed.

He knows what it’s like to be lonely.

Illustration: Did you know that the number one threat against seniors is loneliness?

Brothers and Sisters, Jesus is the only cure.

The Bible proclaims this about Jesus in, Isaiah 53:2TPT He sprouted up like a tender plant before the Lord, like a root in parched soil. He possessed no distinguishing beauty or outward splendor to catch our attention—nothing special in his appearance to make us desire him.

NKJV, For He shall grow up before Him…like a tender plant in parched soil.

This represent both the barrenness of humanity before God and the barren season of Israel’s history when Jesus appeared.

The Passion Translation says this—A root cannot live in dry ground, yet we see a hint here that the Messiah would be miraculously born. A root in dry ground is an allusion to the virgin birth of Jesus, who was conceived without a human father.

Jesus’ friends abandoned him when he needed them most—If He had lived today in the 21st Century, every last Twitter follower and Facebook friend would have un-friended him.

Hebrews 4:14a So then, we must cling in faith to all we know to be true.

When you obtain knowledge, plus experience through God manifestations, you know what is true—what matters.

Hebrews 11, list many men and women in faith, who clung to Jesus’ faith.

The Message Bible from Hebrews 4:14 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.

“Decide today to make a new faith grip.” P.H

Hebrews 4:14b For we have a magnificent King-Priest, Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who rose into the heavenly realm for us, The Son of God rose into the heavenly realm for us. —Jesus paid sins debt in full.

Listen to these powerful verses from, Colossians 2:13-15TPT This “realm of death” describes our former state, for we were held in sin’s grasp. But now, we’ve been resurrected out of that “realm of death” never to return, for we are forever alive and forgiven of all our sins!