SIMPLY JESUS
Hebrews 5:1-10
Jesus, the High Priest (pt 1)
INTRO
-In grade school I remember taking a field trip to the state capitol and getting to walk into the governor’s office.
-That was when Vic Atiyeh was governor of Oregon.
-He wasn’t there when we came in, but we got to see his desk.
-The desk of the most influential person in our state.
-I didn’t know anything about governors then.
-But everything about that office, that desk, that big leather chair, all those framed documents on the walls, and the big flags, told me that I was in an important place.
-It told me that there was someone important who worked there.
-Have you ever been in the presence of someone important?
-Depending on who it is, it can really make an impression on you.
-There are some jobs, titles, or stations in life that are reserved for certain kinds of people; the big wigs, key players, power brokers.
-We average people…hear about them, read about them.
-We wonder what it’s like to be them, to do what they do, to sit in the big chair behind that big desk.
-Sometimes we even day dream about what we would do if we were the one behind the big desk!
-But we suspect that the powerful people…never day dream about what it’s like to be one of the little guys.
-We suspect they don’t care one lick about how the little guys live.
-And maybe that’s true…
-But no matter where you go, in every city or country all over the world there are important people and less important people.
-You can love it, hate it, fight against it, or think it’s not fair…but that’s the way the world operates.
-In the nation of Israel the man in the big chair, behind the big desk, with the big title was none other than the High Priest.
-Today we’re looking at how Jesus compares with….
-Open your Bible to Hebrews 5 and we’ll start in verse 1:
THE OT HIGH PRIESTS (vs 1-4)
1 Every high priest is a man chosen to represent other people in their dealings with God. He presents their gifts to God and offers sacrifices for their sins. 2 And he is able to deal gently with ignorant and wayward people because he himself is subject to the same weaknesses. 3 That is why he must offer sacrifices for his own sins as well as theirs. 4 And no one can become a high priest simply because he wants such an honor. He must be called by God for this work, just as Aaron was.
-It’s important to remember that the people who originally read this letter were Jewish Christians.
-They knew all about the High Priest, they had probably been to the temple, they may have even seen the HP during a festival.
-But I can guarantee they never saw his office!
-The High Priest was the only man who could go inside the Holy of Holies.
-As Christians we don’t always understand all this high priest talk.
-Why is this in the Bible? Why is this important to us?
-It may seem useless to understand all this OT stuff.
-Understanding who the High Priests were for the OT crowd, helps us to understand who Jesus is for us in the NT era.
-Let’s look at a few key facts about those High Priests.
HIGH PRIESTS WERE MEDIATORS.
-They were holy men…they were the religious leader for the whole nation of people.
-There really is no modern day comparison to what the HP was.
-You could say they were like the Pope for Catholics or that they were like Billy Graham for Evangelicals.
-You could say that the High Priest of Israel is like…Chip Kelly for Duck fans…except slightly more spiritual…just a bit!
-There really is no adequate modern day comparison.
-These were men were revered for their great faith and
their standing w/God.
-They had special standards that they lived by.
-They had a special responsibilities.
-They even had special clothes that they wore.
-And all those things kind of make sense….
-The High Priest should stand out a bit, because they had the most important job in all the land.
-They served as mediators for God’s people.
-Verse 1 says they offered the gifts and sacrifices of God’s people.
-God gave messages to his high priests, and they passed on those messages to the people.
-They supervised a whole host of associate pastors…all those lower ranking priests who shared in the work of the Lord.
-People talked about the high priest reverently, they followed their instructions carefully.
-The word of the HP was law. You didn’t cross those men!
-But for all the pomp and circumstance…God wanted
HIGH PRIESTS WERE TO BE COMPASSIONATE.
-VS 2 says they needed to deal with ignorant/wayward people.
-And so they needed to have some compassion.
-About 10 years ago I decided to start saving for retirement and I went and talked to an investor friend of my dad’s.
-He gave me some advice and seemed very friendly.
-He shared with me that he’d done some missions work with his church. And we ended the meeting with a “call me anytime”.
-So I started saving up money to make my first investment…it took a couple years to pay down some debt & get ready…big step 4 us
-And when I was ready I called the guy up and reminded him of who I was and asked if he could help me.
-And I’ll never forget that conversation. It was short.
-And he said rather coolly, that he no longer worked with people in my income bracket and suggested that I call someone else.
-Ooh I was mad, I wanted to punch that guy through the phone!
-Money, prestige, power, can cause the big wigs to look down on the little guys. And God wanted to makes sure that never happened with his priests.
-He wanted them to be men of compassion.
-He even gave the High Priests a reminder.
-Their high priest outfit had a chest piece which included the names of the 12 tribes written on 12 stones. (Ex 28)
-As they were performing all their important duties…they had the names of their people right over their hearts.
-This was to remind them that their job was to serve the people of God. To work with them. To work for them.
-To plead with God for the forgiveness of their sins.
-God didn’t want his high priests looking down their noses at the people; he didn’t want them to have an attitude of superiority.
Because ultimately HIGH PRIESTS WERE SINNERS.
-Our text says they were subject to the same weaknesses.
-Even though these men were holy, they weren’t perfect!
-They had struggles & problems just like the normal people did.
-People might think that admitting sin would disqualify a man from being high priest.
-It’d be easy to get the idea that God is looking for perfect people to be his spokesman. But the opposite is true.
-God wanted men who knew their weaknesses, who’d come to terms with their own sin, who’d admitted their failures.
-Before the high priest made the annual offering for the people, he had to make an offering for his own sin first. (Lev 16)
-So he’d never forget that he was also a sinner. Last thing…
HIGH PRIESTS WERE CHOSEN.
-Vs 4 says that high priests weren’t men who aspired for the job.
-Wanting to be high priest was irrelevant.
-There is no path you could follow to earn a shot at it.
-That position was only available to descendants of Aaron and it was supposed to be reserved for the oldest sons in that family line
-There was nothing they could boast about.
-They were not chosen because they were the best, they were not chosen because they were the most qualified…they were chosen because they were sons of Aaron. That’s it.
-So what does all this have 2 do with Jesus & why should we care? -In the NT, under this new arrangement, Jesus is now our High Priest. And the rest of this passage explains what that means 2 us.
JESUS THE HIGH PRIEST
5 That is why Christ did not honor himself by assuming he could become High Priest. No, he was chosen by God, who said to him, “You are my Son. Today I have become your Father.” 6 And in another passage God said to him, “You are a priest forever in the order of Melchizedek.”
-All throughout Hebrews the author makes a series of careful arguments to demonstrate that Jesus is better in every way.
JESUS WAS ALSO CHOSEN AS THE HIGH PRIEST.
-But Jesus wasn’t chosen as a son of Aaron. He is the son of God!
-Have you ever been invited to a BBQ, and you say, “I’ll bring some hotdogs…and the host says, “Actually I bought steaks!”
-Even better! My day is starting to look up!
-You gals every buy something, and when you get to the register you discover there’s a discount that applies? Even better!
-That the whole pattern of the book of Hebrews.
-The OT Law, priests, system of worship was good, but JC is better
-The High Priests were chosen because they were sons of Aaron.
-But Jesus was chosen because he is the Son of God. Better!
7 While Jesus was here on earth, he offered prayers and pleadings, with a loud cry and tears, to the one who could rescue him from death. And God heard his prayers because of his deep reverence for God. 8 Even though Jesus was God’s Son, he learned obedience from the things he suffered.
-The OT high priests were compassionate with sinners because they were also sinners.
-But how could Jesus be compassionate with sinners?
-JESUS NEVER SINNED.
-Not even one time. That’s better than the High Priest
-That’s hard to get our head around. Jesus never sinned.
-Sin is doing something that God forbids. Jesus never did that.
-When we think about the 10 commandments, how many of those have we broken? Hold up fingers to show me. (kidding)
-Sin is not doing something we should do…Jesus never did that.
-Sin can appear in little things like our motivations, and desires, in our attitudes, and in our interaction with other people.
-But Jesus never had any sinful motivations or desires. Never.
-He never treated someone wrong. He never had a bad attitude.
-He was completely sinless, yet he has compassion on us sinners.
Even though he never sinned JESUS IS ALSO A COMPASSIONATE HIGH PRIEST. How can he understand what we’re going through?
-Chapter 4 says he sympathizes with our weaknesses because he was tempted in every way.
-He knows what it’s like to be tempted.
-He knows what it’s like to have that internal struggle…to wrestle with right and wrong.
-And more than that…Verses 7-8 says that Jesus suffered.
-Have you ever thought about how Jesus suffered?
-When he was being tempted in the wilderness he suffered.
-He suffered when the people he came to save rejected him.
-He struggled and suffered with the knowledge of his upcoming torture and crucifixion.
-He suffered when his friends left him.
-He suffered from physical exhaustion.
-He suffered materialistically from poverty.
-He suffered emotionally from the burden of ministry.
-And in all his struggles what did he do? He did not sin.
-In spite of all that he went through. He never sinned.
-Unlike us, and unlike the OT High Priests, Jesus never sinned.
-But look at what he did do according to verse 7:
-He prayed to the Father, He pleaded with the Father, and He shed tears before the Father.
-How many of us have poured out some heartfelt prayers to God?
-How many of us have pleaded with the Father over some need?
-How many of us have shed tears as we struggled or suffered?
-Here is some good news for us today:
-Our High priest has been there and done that.
-And when he was going through it, he took all that stuff right to the Father.
-That should grab our attention:
-The job of the High Priest was to take the needs the sins, and the requests of the people to God. He interceded on their behalf.
-As mediator that high priest took on the burdens of the people.
-And now Jesus does that for us!
-As a man he turned to the Father for help.
-And now as our High Priest he turns to the Father for our help.
JESUS IS THE MEDIATOR FOR THOSE WHO OBEY HIM.
9 In this way, God qualified him as a perfect High Priest, and he became the source of eternal salvation for all those who obey him. 10 And God designated him to be a High Priest in the order of Melchizedek.
-We’ll get into that Melchizedek part later in chap 7.
-But here is what you need to know. Just as the OT High Priests stood before God on behalf of the people…
-Jesus now stands before God on our behalf, as a perfect, sinless, compassionate, mediator and High Priest.
-That going to mean different things to different people today.
-If you’re here today and you’ve never accepted Jesus as your Lord and Savior…this is good news for you.
-It doesn’t matter what you’ve done in your past…if you’ve been ignorant or wayward Jesus welcomes you!
-He is calling you to turn to God for salvation today.
-And he isn’t sending you in to face God alone, he goes with you on your behalf. He is your mediator, your advocate, Savior.
-Others here today have accepted Christ, but you’re caught up in something…you’re feeling guilty, ashamed, or burdened.
-You’ve forgotten that Jesus is your compassionate priest who suffered the hardships of life on the earth…and wants to help you with your struggles. Turn to him.
-Some of are here today and you want Jesus to be a bigger part of your life…but you feel like Jesus is the big wig, and you’re the small fry…and that he couldn’t possible care for you.
-You’ve bought into the lie that he’s too busy for you, that your requests are too trivial, that you’re not worth his time. Turn 2 him
-And there are others here that know full well, that Jesus is the one to turn to in good times and bad…because he’s Jesus.
-And Jesus is the only one who has the power to fix what ails us.
Hebrews 4:14-15 “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.”
