You’ve Got a Friend in High Places

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Since Jesus changes everything, why did God wait so long to send Jesus?

Why is there a two-thousand-year history of dealings with Israel before sending Jesusinto the world?

God had planned for Jesus to come and die and give us the grace of forgiveness even before there was a history. Paul says in

2 Timothy 1:9 (NLT): “For God saved us and called us to live a holy life. He did this, not because we deserved it, but because that was his plan from before the beginning of time—to show us his grace through Christ Jesus.”

God could have planned to send Jesus in Noah's day or just after the Tower of Babel or in the days of the bondage in Egypt. Why the long delay?

In our text today we have one piece of the puzzle, that helps us understand why God delayed in sending Jesus:

Hebrews 4:14-16: 14 Since we have a great High Priest, Jesus, the Son of God who has passed through the heavens from death into new life with God, let us hold tightly to our faith. 15 For Jesus is not some high priest who has no sympathy for our weaknesses and flaws. He has already been tested in every way that we are tested; but He emerged victorious, without failing God. 16 So let us step boldly to the throne of grace, where we can find mercy and grace to help when we need it most.

Since there are no high priests around today this category for understanding Jesus is foreign to us. But God planned centuries of history with Israel, recorded in the Old Testament, as a backdrop to help make sense out of the coming of Jesus.

So, who was the High Priest ?What was his role for the nation of Israel and how doesthat compare to our High Priest,Jesus Christ?

Since Jesus is our great high priest who has passed through the heavens, we must persevere (4:14).

14 Since we have a great High Priest, Jesus, the Son of God who has passed through the heavens from death into new life with God, let us hold tightly to our faith.

Since Jesus is our sympathetic and sinless high priest, we must pray in times of need (4:15-16).

15 For Jesus is not some high priest who has no sympathy for our weaknesses and flaws. He has already been tested in every way that we are tested; but He emerged victorious, without failing God.

When faced with temptation, Jesus used the spiritual resources available to all of us in order to win the battle: the Scriptures, the Holy Spirit’s presence, and commitment to God’s Will.

Because Jesus is a sympathetic and sinless high priest we should draw near in prayer.

16 So let us step boldly to the throne of grace, where we can find mercy and grace to help when we need it most.

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5:1-6The job of every high priest is reconciliation: approaching God on behalf of others and offering Him gifts and sacrifices to repair the damage caused by our sins against God and each other. 2 The high priest should have compassion for those who are ignorant of the faith and those who fall out of the faith because he also has wrestled with human weakness, 3 and so the priest must offer sacrifices both for his sins and for those of the people. 4 The office of high priest and the honor that goes along with it isn’t one that someone just takes. One must be set aside, called by God, just as God called Aaron, the brother of Moses.5 In the same way, the Anointed One, our Liberating King, didn’t call Himself but was appointed to His priestly office by God, who said to Him,You are My Son. Today I have become Your Father,6 and who also says elsewhere,You are a priest forever— in the honored order of Melchizedek.

Aaronic High Priest his work:

1The job of every high priest is reconciliation: approaching God on behalf of others and offering Him gifts and sacrifices to repair the damage caused by our sins against God and each other.

If God’s wrath against sin is so dreadful, then we need to flee to the cross for refuge and daily live with gratitude that Jesus bore our penalty on the cross.

Aaronic High Priest his identification with the people:

2 The high priest should have compassion for those who are ignorant of the faith and those who fall out of the faith because he also has wrestled with human weakness, 3 and so the priest must offer sacrifices both for his sins and for those of the people.

Aaronic High Priest his appointment:

4 The office of high priest and the honor that goes along with it isn’t one that someone just takes. One must be set aside, called by God, just as God called Aaron, the brother of Moses.

5 In the same way, the Anointed One, our Liberating King, didn’t call Himself but was appointed to His priestly office by God, who said to Him,You are My Son. Today I have become Your Father,6 and who also says elsewhere, … 6You are a priest forever—in the honored order of Melchizedek.

If our sin is so hideous that God required nothing less than the death of His perfect, sinless son as the only solution, then we would be foolish to think that any human solution will suffice.

References

Our Great High Priest – Alan Carr

The Great High Priest – Anne Robertson

Our High Priest – Justin Imel

Our Great High Priest – John Macarthur

Draw Near to the Throne of Grace with Confidence – John Piper

The Throne of Grace – Bible.org

“Jesus as High Priest” – James Patterson