JESUS IS OUR GREAT HIGH PRIEST 1. HE IS DIVINE 2. HE IS SYMPATHETIC 3. HE IS OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS

Transcription

1 PASTOR JEFFREY A. BOVEE HEBREWS 4:14-16 CWS LENT 1 C JESUS IS OUR GREAT HIGH PRIEST 1. HE IS DIVINE 2. HE IS SYMPATHETIC 3. HE IS OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS Hebrews 4:14-5:1 Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. 15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are-- yet was without sin. 16 Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need. Dear fellow redeemed: If you ve ever read the book of Job, you may know that there is a theme that Job comes back to over and over again. In the midst of his deepest misery, he seeks a mediator, someone to stand between him and God. He longs for an advocate, someone who can arbitrate between himself and his holy Judge, someone to seek God s good favor on his behalf. Many centuries later an obscure monk in Germany, laden with the guilt of his sin, and wondering whether God would ever accept him, sought the same thing. Martin Luther believed that he was condemned by God, and did not know how to find peace with his just Judge. How he longed for an advocate who would deliver him from God s wrath. And not only Job and Martin Luther, but every sinner who has ever felt the sting of guilt in his conscience and asked, how can my life ever be right with God, has sought the mediation of an advocate who would put things right between us and God. As we are confronted with God s law, we realize that we are not worthy to come into the presence of the holy Judge of all the earth. But there was consolation for Job and Martin Luther, just as there is for all of us today. The great hope and comfort for every sinner is Jesus Christ the Great High Priest. He is our Advocate and Mediator. He is unlike any other priest, for he is a heavenly priest. The writer of the book of Hebrews teaches us three things about Jesus, our Great High Priest. First of all 1. HE IS DIVINE Our text begins: Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. We do not know who wrote the book of Hebrews. Some believe it was St. Paul. However, St. Paul contended that he learned his doctrine directly from Christ, and not from the Apostles, but the author of Hebrews in chapter two indicates that he did learn his teachings from others. The second century church father Origen, referred to this book of the Bible as the Epistle of Barnabas to the Romans, believing that Barnabas, one of Paul s traveling companions, had written it. Since Barnabas name means Son of Exhortation, and exhortation is one of the key themes of the book, it would be a possibility. Luther speculated it may have been Apollos, while others have proposed other guesses.

2 We really don t know for sure. The one thing we do know without doubt however, is that whoever the author was, he -- and we do know it was a male because he refers to himself in the masculine he was an expert on the Old Testament. Perhaps like no other book in the Bible, the book of Hebrews focuses on how everything in the Old Testament law finds its fulfillment in Christ Jesus, the Messiah. From the internal evidence in the book, we find that the author was writing to Jewish Christians in Rome who were being persecuted for their faith, probably just at the beginning of the reign of Nero. Although the persecution had not yet come to the point of anyone having been put to death (which would come in the not too distant future), these converts were considering forsaking their faith in Christ and reverting back to Judaism, since Jews were still being tolerated in Rome at that time, but Christianity was outlawed. The writer warns his audience not to go back to law seeking salvation but encourages them to hold fast to Christ who is the fulfillment of all that the law points to, but was not able to provide. One of the most prominent themes in the book is that of the high priest. The author makes mention of the priesthood twenty-seven times in this book. Chapters 5, and 7 through 10, are dedicated almost completely to work and symbolism of Old Testament worship in connection with the work of the high priest. Why so much time spent on this topic? Because the priesthood of the Old Testament was pointing to something, or more precisely to someone, greater than what was found in the Old Testament. It is of course, a picture of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. He is the divine high priest. In order to understand the importance of the high priest, we need to know what a priest is. The difference between a priest and prophet is that a prophet speaks God s message to man; but a priest speaks on man s behalf to God. The priest also sacrifices to God on behalf of man. The priest is therefore a mediator a go-between bridging the gap between God and mankind, serving as an advocate or arbitrator. Moses served this position, as he prayed that God would not destroy the children of Israel when they rebelled against God. As you know, there are some church bodies that have priests instead of pastors. Some people think they are just different names for the same thing, but they really are not. A pastor is a shepherd. But the reason the Roman church, for example, has priests is that there is the idea that we cannot go directly to God without a mediator or a buffer. Not only the priest, but also the Virgin Mary and the saints serve this purpose in their beliefs. Some time ago a television reporter went around asking Roman Catholic worshipers why Mary was so important in their beliefs, and the majority of them said they thought Mary, as the mother of Jesus, might be more kind to them than Jesus or the Father and allow them to find favor with God. Why do people have such an idea? Because by nature, sinners know that they are not worthy to come before God. They realize that they cannot stand in his holy presence. They seek someone more righteous than they are to insulate them against God s all-righteous glory. The problem is, they are looking in the wrong place. The Bible tells us that there is such a mediator, but it is not the Virgin Mary or the saints or any earthly priest. Not even Moses or Aaron, or any of the priests appointed by God himself could serve to reconcile sinners to God. The only one able to do it is Jesus Christ. St. Paul says of Jesus: 1 Timothy 2:5-6 For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, 6 who gave himself as a ransom for all men-- the testimony given in its proper time. Jesus is our mediator, because Jesus is the Great High Priest. Unlike the priests of old or any of the priests today, Jesus is a heavenly priest. He is able to do for us what no one else could do. The author of Hebrews reminds us that God demands perfection, but the priests of the Old Testament couldn t provide it; only Jesus could. He writes: Hebrews 7:27-28

3 Unlike the other high priests, he does not need to offer sacrifices day after day, first for his own sins, and then for the sins of the people. He sacrificed for their sins once for all when he offered himself. 28 For the law appoints as high priests men who are weak; but the oath, which came after the law, appointed the Son, who has been made perfect forever. Jesus did not have to repeat his sacrifice, year after year after year, the way in which the Old Testament priests had go into the Holy of Holies on the Day of Atonement every year with the blood of a bull to sacrifice for the sins of himself and for the people. Jesus sacrifice was done once for all time. When Jesus said on the cross, It is finished! It really was finished. Our debt to God was fully paid and our guilt was atoned for. His perfect blood paid our debt. Jesus the Great High Priest is divine, that is, he is God. That assures us that everything he did counts for us and makes us certain of our salvation. Our forgiveness no longer depends on us or on any mere human act, but on God himself. The writer of Hebrews also teaches us that 2. HE IS SYMPATHETIC He writes: For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are-- yet was without sin. Back in 1995 singer and song-writer Joan Osborne came out with a song called, One of Us, in which she said: If God had a name what would it be? And would you call it to his face? If you were faced with him In all his glory What would you ask if you had just one question? If God had a face what would it look like? And would you want to see if, seeing meant That you would have to believe in things like heaven And in Jesus and the saints, and all the prophets? And yeah, yeah, God is great Yeah, yeah, God is good Yeah, yeah, yeah-yeah-yeah What if God was one of us? Just a slob like one of us Just a stranger on the bus Trying to make his way home. Just trying to make his way home Like a holy rolling stone Back up to heaven all alone Just trying to make his way home Nobody calling on the phone 'cept for the Pope maybe in Rome.

4 Now I don t claim to know anything about Joan Osborne, and I don t know if she was asking an intelligent question or whether she was merely being cynical. But her questions are all answered by the Bible, aren t they? God does have a face, and he revealed it to the world. 2 Corinthians 4:6 tells us: For God, who said, "Let light shine out of darkness," made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ. God has a name, and he revealed it to us so that we may call on him. And God does understand what it is like to be a stranger in the crowd, and what it is to be lonely, tired, hungry, in pain Jesus did it all. He shared our humanity so that he might become like us in every way. What is more, Jesus knows what it is to be tempted. The Bible teaches us that he was tempted in every way, just as we are, yet without sin. Not only was Jesus tempted in the wilderness, but as we learned from the sermon this past Wednesday night, in Gethsemane, Satan found the more opportune time he had been waiting for in order to try to dissuade the Son of God from fulfilling his mission. But Satan failed. Jesus overcame him, and did so for all of us. Jesus does not condone our sin nor is he apathetic toward our sin. However, he understands our plight and knows our weaknesses. He is merciful and forgiving. He is ever calling us to himself to seek our salvation, not in the good things we attempt to do for God, but in his perfect sacrifice. Because the third thing the author notes about Jesus the Great High Priest is that 3. HE IS OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS We read: Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need. Every time we pray the Lord s Prayer, we begin by saying, Our Father in heaven. Those words are so important, as Luther reminds us in the Small Catechism: With these words God tenderly invites us to believe that he is our true Father and that we are his true children, so that we may pray to him as boldly and confidently as dear children ask their dear father. In other words, every time we pray these words and call God our Father we are reminded that we have a right relationship with God because of all that Jesus did for us. Yes, it is true that we fear God and stand in awe of him. But the fear of God for the believer is not like the slavish fear of the unbeliever who does not know God s love. We can come to God with the boldness and confidence that a loved child has coming to his parents to ask for their help. We can know that God loves us and that he will hear and answer our prayers for Jesus sake. Jesus is our righteousness. He makes us worthy in God s sight. His perfection has been credited to us. What is more, we can be certain that we belong to God and that heaven is ours through faith in Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior. When we were baptized we were baptized in the name of God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. God put his name on us, just as you would put your name on a child if you adopted him or her into your family. That child who bears your name belongs to you. He is really a son or a daughter. In a much greater way, God has made us his children through the power of the gospel message. We can come boldly before the throne of grace to find help in time of need because God extends this invitation to us. By the way, Job and Martin Luther both found the mediator they sought. Luther through the study of the Bible discovered that we no longer need an earthly priest since God has made all of us priests who go directly to God through Jesus Christ the Great High Priest. For the Bible says: 1 Peter 2:9 You are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. And likewise, Job was led by the Holy Spirit to understand there is someone who pleads our case before God. He said: Job 16:19-21 Even now my witness is in heaven; my advocate is on high.

5 20 My intercessor is my friend as my eyes pour out tears to God; 21 on behalf of a man he pleads with God as a man pleads for his friend. That someone is our Great High Priest Jesus Christ, who lived in our place the perfect life we could not live; who died as the perfect sacrifice for our sin; and who rose from death and sits at the right hand of God ever to live as our mediator and advocate before God s throne. As St. John says: 1 John 2:1-2 My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have one who speaks to the Father in our defense-- Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. 2 He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world. Amen.