12/8/19
Tom Lowe
Lesson #15 [ID1]: Our Compassionate High Priest (HEBREWS 4:14-16)
Scripture: Hebrews 4:14-16 (NIV)
14.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. 15. 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. 16. Therefore 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.
Introduction:
Jesus had to be made like His brothers and sisters in every respect so that He could become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, and so that He might make propitiation1 for the sins of the people.
The Jews would have been familiar with the procedure of the high priest interceding on their behalf, because it was an essential element of the Old Testament sacrificial system, though it passed out of being with the tabernacle and the Temple. It was a solemn and somber ceremony. One day a year the high priest? and only the high priest? would enter the most holy place of the temple to sprinkle blood from animal sacrifices on the Ark of the Covenant (Lev. 16). The arc was symbolic of the presence of God. Anyone who violated the Most Holy Place or the ark would die (2 Sam. 6:6-7).
Beginning with verse 14 of this chapter the writer of this epistle is going to show that Christ is superior to the Levitical priesthood.
Commentary
14.Therefore, since we have a great high priest3 who has passed through the heavens, Jesus [ His earthly name means “Savior.”], the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession [refers to our testimony].
In 4:14 the author identifies Jesus not only as a high priest but as a great high priest. He is great in nature. A perfect high priest must be one who, by nature, is in full communication with God and man. He must bring God to man and man to God. To do that, he must be in touch with God by nature. High priests are prominent throughout Scripture, but only one great high priest exists? Jesus, the Son of God. We have a great high priest who has been faithful to God. He is now in the presence of God, where He acts as our mediator. His identification with us provides a firm basis for our faithfulness, which finds expression when we hold firmly to our confession of Jesus as the Son of God. As the great high priest Jesus redefined the office because even though He was tempted in every way as we are, He has never sinned and He passed through the heavens4 into the very throne room of God to be our mediator. But Jesus didn’t just step symbolically into God’s presence in the temple; He went through the heavens to be literally in the presence of God. And His qualifications as high priest were unsurpassed. That is the past; Not only had He been the spotless, perfect sacrifice whose blood was shed, but He had already shared the human experience with those whom He was defending.
Christ is our high priest. Let me say right away that the Lord Jesus Christ was not a priest when He was here on the earth. The only mention in Scripture of Him making any kind of sacrifice [He never needed to make a sacrifice for Himself, of course.] was the time He told Simon Peter to catch a fish and take the gold piece out of its mouth so that He might pay a necessary temple tax from which the priests were exempt. He did that, I think, to make it very clear that He was not a priest here on earth. To be a priest you had to be born in the line of Aaron, and belong to the tribe of Levi. The Lord Jesus was a member of the tribe of Judah. He was not in the priestly line. Actually, He occupies three offices: (1) He was a prophet when He came over three thousand years ago? that is the past; (2) He is a priest today? that is for the present; and (3) He is coming someday to rule as king? that is for the future.
The pagan notion of priesthood colors our thinking in reference to a priest. A pagan priest actually bared the approach to God, claiming possession of some mystical power essential to bringing an individual to God. A person had to go through this priest who claimed to have this particular access.
Jesus?because He is the great high priest and on account of the superiority of His sacrifice? has entered the very presence of God on our behalf and has now brought us near to God. The author of Hebrews uses this priestly work of Christ as a ground for exhorting His audience to “hold fast our confession.” This confession is a two-fold confession: our confession of the historical Jesus and our confession of the Christian faith.
In addition to our confession of the historical Jesus, the confession also refers to every Christian’s confession of the gospel. In Romans 10:9 Paul says, “If you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.” This is the message that makes up the heart of the Christian faith and is what Christians throughout the centuries have been claiming as their confession. The second clause of Paul’s confession? ”and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead”? is not a sacred mantra or a type of some secret linguistic key. It is the very identity of the Christ we follow and the very heart of the confession we make. Christians believe and confess Jesus Christ as the resurrected Lord.
These Hebrew Christians were tempted to give up their confession of faith in Christ and their confidence in Him (Heb. 3:6). It was not a matter of giving up their salvation, since salvation through Christ is eternal (Heb. 5:9). It was a matter of their public confession of faith. By returning to the Old Testament system, they would be telling everyone that they had no faith in Christ (Gal. 2:11-21). This kind of unbelief would only bring reproach to Christ’s name.
In the progressive movement from 3:6b to 3:14 to 4:14 there is a repeated plea for faithfulness which finds its basis in the foundational truth that our great high priest is faithful.
15. 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.
Why do we need a high priest who is able to sympathize with our weaknesses? Hebrews 4:15 answers that question by explaining that Jesus could not have identified with us and fulfilled His ministry of propitiation if He had not already identified with us in our temptations and remained without sin.
This naturally leads to an important theological inquiry: what distinguishes temptation from sin? If Jesus was tempted in every way that we are and yet did not sin, doesn’t this logically assume that it is possible to be tempted and not sin? After all, if temptation2 itself were sin, we would not have a sinless Savior.
Hebrews reminds us of a significant fact: the course of our lives can be plotted in terms of the decisions we have made. Life is a series of decisions, however, which brings us to a crossroad. There is one road to be traveled and other roads to be left behind. We must make a choice. The choice of one option inevitably entails the rejection of other options.
Such times can be confusing and painful. We are fully aware that once a decision has been made, we will have to live with the consequences of that decision. We also know that we have not always made wise or correct decisions. Perhaps that is why we have a tendency to defer a decision until the matter can no longer be ignored. We are uncomfortable with decision-making. Yet to defer indefinitely is to have made a decision. There is no escape from the call to make a decision.
Israel made the wrong decision; a costly decision not to trust God. When did they stop at the border of the Promised Land? they chose not to trust God. Unbelief is actually distrust. There can be no sustained faithfulness on our part unless we are convinced that we can trust God. The fact that Jesus is “a merciful high priest in the service of God” (2:17) is demonstrated in 4:15-5:10. He is the high priest worthy of our trust because He is the Son of God who is compassionate. The capacity of the high priest to display compassion results from his own participation as a human being which is the theme of 4:15. The course of His Human life equipped Him with empathy. Consequently, He is able to identify with the covenant people and support them in their sufferings and temptations. Jesus knew by experience every type of temptation we shall ever know. He was like us in all ways, except one, He never sinned. The reference, “yet without sinning,” pertains primarily to the sin of disobedience to the will of God. While temptation may always hinder us this side of heaven, Jesus’ priestly ministry promises that it will never ultimately triumph over those who claim Christ as their high priest.
The writer of Hebrews considers the two relationships that are essential to the exercise of the priestly office, namely, the relationship to God, in which Jesus proved to be faithful, and the relationship to the people, in which Jesus proved to be compassionate. The notion expressed in the description of Jesus onas “merciful” in 2:17 implies a capacity to help and understand those who are dependant upon His ministry.
16. Therefore 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.
The high priestly ministry of Jesus has accomplished for the people of the new Covenant what Israel never enjoyed, namely, immediate access to God and the freedom to draw near Him continually. There is a promise made here; The promise is that God’s children will receive mercy accompanied by sustaining grace. Mercy and grace are closely allied and essential aspects of God’s love. That love provides the protective help that does not arrive too late but at the appropriate time because the moment of its arrival is left to the judgment of our gracious God? the song calls Him “an on-time God.”
The author of Hebrews exhorts Christians to approach the throne of grace with confidence6. This throne is the throne of God. For those who are in Christ, God’s throne is a throne of immeasurable grace. At His throne Christians are able to find grace to help them in times of need5. Even in our weaknesses we can approach the throne of grace with confidence because we know fully and finally that we have put away all our sin in Jesus Christ, our great high priest. However, for those who are not in Christ, God’s throne is a throne of terrible judgment. At His throne those who reject Christ, bear the full penalty of their sins. For those who reject Christ, “the throne of grace is a throne of wrath.
Because of the intercession of Christ, a believer can speak his mind fully and frankly to God the Father. He must speak truthfully, and he or she does not need to fear an enemy at the throne of grace. The Holy Spirit through the writer of Hebrews encourages believers to be bold when coming to the throne of God through the blood of Jesus Christ in prayer. Like little children running into the arms of their father, so we can come boldly into the presence of God through the blood of Jesus Christ and find help in the time of need.
If we could not draw near to God with confidence on account of Christ’s work, then the Christian life would be hopeless and futile. We would not dare enter God’s presence if we did not know Jesus as the One who is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9).
If Christ were not our great high priest, we could not stand before God. We would be cast from His presence for all eternity. And yet, no Christian lives under this threat. Righteous judgment has been replaced by radical mercy. Therefore, let us not shrink from God’s presence. Instead, let us draw near to Him with all boldness and confidence, knowing that He is willing to equip us with mercy and grace in our times of need.
Special notes and Scripture
[1} Propitiation is the act of gaining or regaining the favor or goodwill of someone or something. For this reason God the Son, Jesus Christ, came into the world in human flesh to be the perfect sacrifice for sin and make atonement or “propitiation” for the sins of men.
[2} The typical understanding of temptation is the enticement to wrong-doing that confronts us everyday. We typically think about it in its most graphic forms: the temptation to sin sexually, the temptation to elevate ourselves over others, the temptation to steal and cheat, or the temptation to lash out in anger.
[3} Although the office of high priest was hereditary, its holder had to be without physical defect as well as holy in conduct (Lev. 21:6-8). A high priest was consecrated (installed in office) by an elaborate seven-day service at the tabernacle or temple (Ex. 29; Lev. 8). He was cleansed by bathing, then dressed in the garments and symbols he must wear in his ministry and anointed with special oil. Sacrifices of sin offerings, burnt offerings, and consecration offerings were made for him; and he was anointed again with oil and blood of the sacrifise. Thus “sanctified” to serve as a priest and consecrated to offer sacrifice (Ex. 28:41; 29:9), he became “the saint [holy one] of the Lord” (Ps. 106:16). The priests of ancient Israel were appointed by God to be mediators between Himself and His people.
[4} “Who has passed through the heavens”?this is the holiest of all holies. Jesus was both the priest and the sacrifice. The truth of John 17:4-5 has become a reality. “I have glorified thee on the earth: I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do. And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was.”
What does “passed through the heavens” mean? It might refer to the ascension and exaltation of Jesus, or, it could mean that Jesus is so marvelous and great that heaven could not hold Him; and then it could mean that Christ has now entered the heavenly holy of holies, the ultimate and eternal presence of God.
[5} Sinful man deserves death, the sentence of justice, but he needs salvation, the gift of grace. Jesus does not give us what we deserve, but what we need.
[6} With confidence is a call to resoluteness, the resoluteness that comes from the assurance that we can rely on the solemn mercy and compassion of God.
[7] Notice, that He does not say, “Let us hold fast our salvation.” He is not talking about our salvation, but about our testimony, our witness down here. He is talking about our living for Christ. Christ died down here to save us, and He lives up there to keep us saved and to enable us to give a good witness.
