“We have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God” (Hebrews 4:14). IS JESUS - THE GREAT HIGH PRIEST Within the religion of the Jews, there was no more exalted position that could be held among men than that of the high priest. In the days of the New Testament, the office of high priest held significant power. He was the head of the Sanhedrin, the supreme court of Israel. But the most important task of the high priest is to enter into the innermost part of the temple and make a sacrifice for the sins of the nation on the Day of Atonement. Over the years there had been many high priests. Generation after generation had served this exalted office. Each year, for over a thousand years, a high priest had entered the Temple and offered a sacrifice. But we have something unique. We have something that the Jews never had. We have a GREAT high priest. There are two things that make Him great. 1. He is a great high priest because He has passed through the heavens. The high priest of the Jews passed through the veils into the inner part of the Temple once each year. But our High Priest has gone much further. Our High Priest has passed through into heaven itself. As exalted as the position of the High Priest of Jerusalem was considered to be, the position of Jesus Christ is much higher. 2. He is a great high priest because He is the Son of God. This is the title that is given to Jesus. He is called Jesus the Son of God. No high priest was ever able to take for himself the title of the Son of God. At best, the priest was a servant of God and a temporary mediator between God and men. Because of these two truths, we are given an exhortation. It is an exhortation to hold fast to the faith. The reason that this exhortation is given is because the readers were being tempted to abandon their faith. The earthly high priest passed through the veil to enter the holy place, but our High Priest has entered in the true holy place, the very presence of God Himself. He is the Son of God. Heb. 1:1-4. Prophet of God. Heir of all things. Maker of all things. Radiance of God’s Glory. He is the physical expression of God. He is the sustainer of all things. He is the purifier of sins. So, we have a Great High Priest because He has passed through the heavens to the true holy place in presence of God to be our High Priest forever and because He is the son of God with all that implies. Because Jesus is our great High Priest, we’ve got a friend in high places. We’ve got a friend at the throne of grace who delights to answer our prayers. Let us go boldly to the throne of grace and pour out our heart to God. We will not be turned away. Though He is not visible to us today, the same Jesus who once walked on the earth is now in heaven, having opened the way to God by His own eternal sacrifice. Because Jesus knows how sinful we really are, we don’t have to play games when we pray. We can come to God just the way we are, clinging only to the cross and claiming nothing but the blood of Jesus as our only hope. Amen.
Posted on: Fri, 14 Mar 2014 14:35:23 +0000
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