I have an older sister, Becky, whom I love very much. Now Becky is two years older than me and while we were in High School, we had a very interesting relationship: I would follow her and her friends around, and she would ignore me. If someone would ask her who I was, she would be almost ashamed to tell them who I was. Those of you who have older brothers and sisters know may know what I am talking about. Thankfully we both have grown up quite a bit since then and get along great. But it’s interesting, because our text for this morning tells us that we have another brother, one who just celebrated a birthday a couple of weeks ago. And Jesus our brother is not ashamed to call us his brothers and sisters. It’s just like the hymn we sang, but even more, because Jesus is more than just a friend, he is our brother. So today we’re going to see "What a brother we have in Jesus." 1) because he came to bring us to glory and 2) because he came to be our merciful and faithful high priest.
I. He came to bring us to glory.
Two-thousand years ago in a little town called Bethlehem, a little baby was born, and his parents called him Jesus. It’s a historic fact, right? Christ, the Son of God, humbled himself and became flesh and blood like each and every one of us. Jesus became true man, a human being, our brother in humanity.
But why? Why did Christ come to this world and become man? We have to go way back to answer that question. To understand what happened in that little town of Bethlehem two thousand years ago, we have to go back even farther to another place—to the garden of Eden. In that paradise which God had created for man, that same man rebelled against God and ate from the fruit of the tree from which God had commanded them not to eat. Man sinned. He rebelled against the loving God who created and preserved him. But before we point the finger and say "Hey that Adam was pretty lousy." We should take a look at ourselves, because we just keep on in Adam’s example sinning and rebelling against God. Verse ten of our text for this morning tells us that through Christ everything in this world exists, that is, that Christ watches over and protects his beloved creation. But what do we do? At times we doubt his protection. How many people in this world can’t sleep at night because they are scared of death? We worry about money and possessions. We often put our jobs, our money, our families ahead of God and his Word. The writer to the Hebrews said it right, because of our sins, all our lives we are held in slavery. Because of our sins we are slaves of fear and death.
But in verse ten we find Christ’s purpose in coming to this world. Jesus, our brother, came to bring us to glory, to take us to heaven. Verse eleven tells us that he is the one who makes us holy. Christ came to make us holy, just like Adam and Eve before they sinned. Now that is a loving brother. Christ came to set us free from the bonds of sin, fear and death. We are no longer slaves, but free. Heaven is ours.
And that was God’s plan from the very beginning: to save the world from their sins. After the very first sin of Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden God promised to send a Savior. He promised them one who would destroy the power of death and the devil. And this Savior was going to be the "seed of the woman," a man, our brother in humanity, to take our place under the law, to live the perfect life which we cannot. That was God’s plan. He truly is the "author" of our salvation, as the text says. As the divine author of our Salvation History, God planned it out and then won in it for us on the cross. The Greek word for author here also has the idea of a person who prepares and leads the way. According to his gracious purpose, God has given us a way to heaven, our dear brother Jesus, who truly is the way, the truth, and the life.
Yes, the almighty and everlasting God lowered himself to take on human flesh. Christ became our brother in order to bring us to glory, to save us from our many rebellions against him. That is true brotherly love. But our text tells us that he came as our brother for another reason as well: to serve as our merciful and faithful high priest.
II. He came as our merciful and faithful high priest.
You know, one really interesting aspect of this letter to the Hebrews is that it shows us how Christ is the fulfillment of many "types" or symbols that are found in the Old Testament. Here we have one. The writer to the Hebrews tells us that Jesus is our merciful and faithful high priest. Do you remember what the high priest did in the Old Testament?
The priests of the Old Testament were chosen from the tribe of Levi, to serve God and offer sacrifices for the people. The high priest had the specific privilege and responsibility of offering the sacrifice for all the children of Israel on the day of Atonement. Atonement: we see that word in our text for this morning. The writer to the Hebrews tells us that Jesus our high priest "made atonement for the sins of the people." The word atonement is easy enough to understand. All you have to do is change the accent of the syllables. It is literally at-one-ment. Yeah, at-one-ment. The high priest of the Old Testament sprinkled blood in the temple to make this at-one-ment for the people, but the truth is that the sacrifices of the Old Testament in and of themselves couldn’t pay for the sins of the people, they couldn’t make the people at one with God. The sacrifices of the Old Testament served as types of the perfect sacrifice and perfect high priest that was to come.
But the high priest not only offered sacrifices, he also served as the mediator between God and his people. The high priest offered up prayers for the people as he burned incense. The smoke from this incense represented the prayers of the people rising up to God. So the high priest served in two ways. He offered up sacrifices for the people and served as the mediator for them.
But now we see that Christ is our high priest. And its true. With his perfect sacrifice on the cross, Jesus did what not one priest in the Old Testament could do. He made perfect atonement for the sins of all people. Jesus, our brother in humanity, lived the perfect life that we cannot, keeping every single one of God’s commandments. The apostle Peter tells us that he was a "lamb without stain," perfect and sinless. And so he offered himself up as the sacrificial lamb to make atonement for our sins. With his death on the cross he destroyed the power of death and the devil. Our sins are forgiven. We are again at one with God.
That is how he makes men holy, perfect before God’s eyes: with his perfect sacrifice on the cross. John tells us in his first epistle," And the blood of Jesus his son purifies us from every sin." We are washed clean, or as the text says, "holy." We are now at one, at peace with God.
But that’s not all. Jesus is still serving as our high priest in heaven. He is our divine mediator. Paul wrote to Timothy that, "there is one God, and one mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus." That is why we usually en our prayers with the words, "in the name of Jesus we pray." Because it is through our brother Jesus and because of what he did for us that we can pray to God as our loving heavenly father.
And we can trust that he is going to hear our prayers and help us, especially when we are suffering temptations. Verse 18 tells us, "Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted." He has promised us in his Word that he will not let us be tempted more than we can resist. He has promised us that he will strengthen us through his Word to be able to fight off Satan’s attacks. So let’s fight the good fight. When the devil attacks you with the many sexual temptations of the world. Pray to him and ask his protection and then pull out your Bible and read it. It is your sword in the battle. When the world you feel the temptation to cheat whether it be on a test in school or on your taxes, pray to your brother Jesus for help and pull out your sword. Our brother Jesus, our faithful and merciful high priest wants to help you.
Because he is your brother and is not ashamed to say. He came to this world, born of the virgin Mary in a small stable in Bethlehem. And as our brother he came to bring us to the glory of heaven. As our brother he came to serve as our perfect high priest. As our brother he came to give us the peace that the world cannot give. Though we have rebelled against God in thought, word, and action, we are now at one with him through our brother Jesus. So in this season in which we remember his birthday, let us sing out with joyful hearts, "What a brother we have in Jesus!" Amen.
