It wasn’t an easy task. The best runners in the world were there - world record holder Roger Moens, Ernie Cunliffe, George Kerr, Christian Waegli, Istvan Rozsavoelgyi, Jerry Siebert, Bulyshev, Balke, Murphy, Matuschewski, Schmidt. Any one of these could be the winner.
High up in the pressbox looking out across the packed terraces to the brilliant green of the Olympic Games stadium international sporting writers chewed over who would win the 800 metres.
In the first four man heat a BBC comentator said; "This is ridiculous. A four man field and you can write down the first three names before the race starts." His three out of four selection didn’t include the winner either. He could be forgiven.
The winner looked awkward - he didn’t inspire confidence - Only the few who knew him recognised that the awkwardness was an outward indication of the immense strength that was soon to burst on the world running scene.
Four races later, everyone, of course, knew him. Peter Snell, of New Zealand, suddenly became a name to talk about.
Peter Snell, history was to go on to prove, was superior to any other Middle distance runner that the world had every produced.
Today of course he couldn’t win a B grade athletics race such is the toll time takes on people.
Jesus too did not appear as superior - as Isaiah says:
ISA 53:2 He grew up before him like a tender shoot,
and like a root out of dry ground.
He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him,
nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.
But Jesus was superior as we have been learning and what is more he still is today.
Jesus is a winner!!
So if you are on his team you are too as Isaiah goes on to say:-
But ISA 40:31 but those who hope in the LORD
will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles;
they will run and not grow weary,
they will walk and not be faint.
Today we consider Hebrews chapter 5 - Already in the preceding chapter the writer has shown how superior Jesus is.
He is superior to the angels.
He is superior to Moses.
He is superior to Joshua.
The rest that He provides is a superior rest to what was enjoyed in the Promised Land.
Now we come to a new aspect with regards to the truth that Jesus is better. It is that Jesus is a better priest than Aaron.
In Hebrews chapter 12 and verse 3 we read
Consider Him-------------- and over the last few weeks we have been doing just that!
Today in Hebrews chapter 5 the scriptures speak for themselves.
As I read them I asked myself what this passage should produce in me. My answer was courage.
Then I was reading in Acts chapter 4 where Peter and John healed a lame man and ended up in deep trouble with the religous authorities:-
AC 4:5 The next day the rulers, elders and teachers of the law met in Jerusalem. 6 Annas the high priest was there, and so were Caiaphas, John, Alexander and the other men of the high priest’s family. 7 They had Peter and John brought before them and began to question them: "By what power or what name did you do this?"
Here is an interesting clash - Peter and John , two men who follow Jesus who we find described in our reading from Hebrews as
AC 4:13 When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus.
When these men saw the courage of Peter and John we are told that they took note.
And what was it that they took note of?
The answer is that they had been with Jesus.
You see there is something about Jesus that gives men courage.
There is something about Jesus that changes peoples lives.
There is something about Jesus that made Peter and John couragous.
In Hebrews chapter 5 there are three important matters raised which should give us great courage.
The first is Jesus is the High Priest - What does that mean?
Of course it means many things but one thing it does mean is that Jesus is appointed by God to carry sin in his own body:-
5 So Christ also did not take upon himself the glory of becoming a high priest. But God said to him,
"You are my Son;
today I have become your Father. "
HEB 5:6 And he says in another place,
"You are a priest forever,
in the order of Melchizedek."
Jesus as High priest also became the sacrifice.
In the old days the priest used to get sacrifices and give them to God for sin.
But Jesus was a different high Priest - very different from the Aaronic Priests who did that - we are told that he is a Priest in the line of Melchizedek a Priest
GE 14:18 Then Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine. He was priest of God Most High, 19 and he blessed Abram, saying,
"Blessed be Abram by God Most High,
Creator of heaven and earth.
Melchizedek comes out of nowhere and blesses Abraham (or Abram) by serving him bread and wine -Melchizedek is not an Israelite - but He was a Priest of God most high - we will hear a lot about him when we look at Hebrews chapter 7.
But for this morning we need to note that he brings Abram bread and wine - Jesus who is said to be a Priest in the line of Melchizedek serves his disciples with bread and wine.
We read in:-
."
LK 22:19 And he took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, "This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me."
LK 22:20 In the same way, after the supper he took the cup, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you.
So what it is saying is that Jesus is a different kind of Priest altogether.
The sacrifice that he must make is his own life to act as a bridge between him and God.
Jesus dies once and for all for our sins.
Why does that make Peter and John couragous.
Because the worst that the leaders in the temple can do is to kill him.
But Jesus has defeated death and both John and Peter know that to die is to be with Christ in heaven because Jesus has brideged the gap between God and all people.
The courage of John and Peter firstly and foremostly comes from the fact that Jesus has defeated death for us.
The other night a few of us watched a bit of the journeys video at our home at the manse and Trevor Yaxly spoke of a time in his life when he was taken up into heaven where he got a glimpse of what heaven was really like.
This is an amazing experience but not one that many of us have had.
Because eternal life is a promise that Christains have it should make them couragous and very bold.
Couragous enough to live life the way that God wants it to be lived.
James Calvert (1813-1892) was a zealous missionary to cannibals on the Fiji Islands. His faithful work bore fruit in the lives of those accustomed to taking the life of others. Years later and English earl visited the Fiji Islands and was critical of a chief’s conversion to Christianity. "You’re a great leader but it’s a pity you’ve been taken in by those foreign missionaries. No one believes the Bible anymore. People are tired of the threadbare story of Christ dying on a cross for the sins of mankind. They know better now. I’m sorry you’ve been so foolish as to accept their story."
The old chief responded with a gleam in his eyes, "See that great rock overt there? On it we smashed the heads of our victims. Notice the furnace next to it. In that oven we formerly roasted the bodies of our enemies. If it hadn’t been for those good missionaries and the love of Jesus that changed us from Cannibals into Christians, you’d never leave this place! You’d better thank the Lord for the gospel, otherwise we’d already be feasting on you. If it weren’t for the Bible and its salvation message, you’d now be our supper!" (quoted in Autoillustrator.com , "SPIRITUAL GRATITUDE" from, Kindred Spirit, Volume 16, Number 1, p. 6)...
Having Christ as a High Priest should give us the courage to live life in quite a different way!!
The second thing we see in Hebrews chapter 5 that is a source of courage for us is:-
HEB 5:7 During the days of Jesus’ life on earth, he offered up prayers and petitions with loud cries and tears to the one who could save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission.
Jesus offered up prayers , petitions , loud cries and tears:-
The reason Jesus offered up prayers and petitions with loud cries and tears was because he found himself in difficult sirtuations.
We too find ourselves in difficult situations we often face the impossible and terrifying difficulties.
But of Jesus prayers we hear - "and he was heard.because of his reverent submission."
Friends you might have all kinds of difficult situations to face in your life but the truth is you will be heard if you are a follower of God.
MT 7:9 "Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? 10 Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? 11 If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him! 12 So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.
With Jesus we read:- he was heard because of his reverent submission
Friends we should have courage because we know that God hears our prayers.
There is a story told of a small boy in Wales who got lost among some old mine shafts - it was dark and he knew that he could at any moment fall into one of the mine shafts. So he didn’t move.
He simply stood still and called for his Father.
He yelled and yelled until a lantern appeared and his Father picked him up in his arms and took him safely home.
The boy could be brave - he needn’t do anything in his own strength he just needed to satnad and holler for his Father.
You can be couragous not because of what you can do.
Rather be couragous because of what God can do.
HEB 5:11 We have much to say about this, but it is hard to explain because you are slow to learn. 12 In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God’s word all over again. You need milk, not solid food! 13 Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. 14 But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil.
I once had a friend who said that they wanted to be more and more mature about the things of God.
They always seemed to be looking for a deeper and deeper relationship.
But as life moved on it became apparant that this person had significant problems in their personal life and their dealings with others.
In a small way they once deceived me over a small amount of money just a few hundred dollars.
A number of other things went wrong in this persons life as a result of them getting the very basics wrong and the result was a complete disaster.
Yet this person was regarded as mature.
Hebrews chapter 5:14 But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil.
This person is by no means an exception.
The best things we can ever do is to get the basics of our faith right. When we do that, then, we are ready to move into a deeper level in our faith.
Hebrews ch 5 12 In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God’s word all over again
But we can take great courage if having checked we are sure that we have got the elementary truths of our faith sorted out.
Once we have done this then we have got something to offer others.
You know sometinmes we can build sin uinto our life that in a way robs us of the basics of our faith.
Keith Downing shared a story about his Uncle Dick. Apparently his uncle noticed that every time he ate his favorite food, chitlins, his foot pained him immensely that evening. The family physician confirmed his suspicion of pork-induced gout, and when my uncle returned home from the doctor’s office, my aunt asked him how the appointment had gone. Uncle Dick plopped off his shoes and replied, "The doctor said I’m going to have gout about 3 times a week."
To sumarise there are three things that we take courage from from Hebrews chapter 5 that will allow us to live out our faith at a new level:
! Jesus is our High Priest. Courage that comes from knowing that eternal life is ours.
2. Every Prayer we pray - as Jesus prayed is heard by God.
3. Truths of God - Getting the elementry truths right will give us the courage to grow as a Christian.
I began by sharing how a New Zealand Athlete was superior and went on to show how Hebrews tells us about the superiority of Jesus.
If you grasp these three truths you will grow in courage and will do the kind of things that you always wanted to do in God.
The seal on all of this of course is the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit is the very opposite of fear - when you are baptised in the spirit of God and living in obedience to God you will walk by the Spirit of God in love power and a sound mind.
May God bless you in the week ahead.
Let us pray.
jgullick@xtra.co.nz
