“Jesus the Great High Priest”

​Text: Hebrew 4:12-16
Sermon:

• So, last week, we talked about the writing of the book of Hebrews. The book was written to remind those who are new to the faith of the divinity of Jesus. This is in times of what seemed to be high persecution and people leaving the faith of Christianity to return to their Jewish tradition.
• It seems that the writer of Hebrews is still making their point on the divinity of Jesus. We can see this in verse 13, where the author states that there is nothing in creation that is hidden from God’s eyes. Since the Author is making the point that Jesus is God. Therefore, Jesus also has the bird’s eye view of all creation. The author further makes this point by stating that Jesus’ divinity and his insight into all creation makes him the great high priest.
• In the Old Testament, the high priest was a mediator between God and the people. On Yom Kippur, the high priest would enter the Holy of Holies to burn incense, offer prayers, and sprinkle the blood of sacrificed animals.
• In the same that the High Prist would be the mediator between God and mankind and burn the offerings; Jesus is the same mediator between God and mankind. It is through the understanding that Jesus is the Great High Priest that we can hold firm to our faith and confidently approach God’s thorn of Grace.
• That raises a question that we are going to focus on today: Why does God have a Throne of grace? What is the purpose of this Throne of Grace?
• This is detailed throughout our scripture for today. Since God can see all creation and nothing is hidden from God, then God knows the state of the world and the difference levels of brokenness and abuse that is tearing apart the world that we live in. God can see the corruption from the highest levels to the lowest levels and God is concerned with all of it.
• In verse 15, the author gives us another critical detail of Jesus, which in turn is a critical detail about God. The author states, “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses,” This is a showcase of the humility of Jesus. Jesus was not a tyrant that worked to overthrow the government that he is living in; instead, Jesus showed empathy to hurting and marginalized. Jesus did not use his authority to continue to oppress, but instead Jesus used his insight into all creation to connect with pain and the weakness of the people. Jesus lifts the people up to healing and accepting their position in confidence.
• We can connect with Jesus through his empathy towards us and we can learn from his teachings to be empathetic towards those that need help. We should not use any authority that we have to oppress others. We should use our empathy to create a world that bridges gape and brings healing for the betterment of all.

Conclusion: Let us be people who use our empathy to create a world that bridges gape and brings healing.