Hebrews 5:1-10
The passage today is from the book of Hebrews. Hebrews was a letter written to a church made up of Jewish believers in Jesus. They had suffered hardship as a result of their faith and were thinking of returning to their former religious life. The author of Hebrews encourages them to hold the course by showing the uniqueness of the Messiah Jesus.
Hebrews focuses largely on Jesus as our High Priest. We today aren’t very familiar with the role of a high priest. Some Christian denominations have priests, but not a high priest. Judaism itself hasn’t had a high priest or priesthood since the destruction of the Jerusalem temple in 70 AD.
The ancient Israelites, however, did have high priests. The high priest and the lesser priests served as intermediaries between God and the people. The officiated at the temple worship with sacrifices and offerings. They instructed, encouraged and comforted the people. They interceded in prayer for the welfare of the Israelites.
The High Priest had a unique mediating role. Once a year he would offer the sacrifice of atonement for the sins of the whole people. He would take the blood from a sacrificial animal into the inner room of the temple, called the Holy of Holies. This was the place where God was especially present on earth.
The high priest would sprinkle the blood on the mercy seat, the area on top the Ark of the Covenant. This offering served to restore the Israelites’ relationship with God on an annual basis.
The Jewish people still celebrate the Day of Atonement, Yom Kippur, which this year was on Oct. 11-12. There is no longer a high priest or temple or animal sacrifice. But it is a day for prayer and fasting, the reading of Scripture, and repentance.
Hebrews talks about how Jesus is the ultimate High Priest, the unique mediator between God and people. The sacrifice that Jesus offered was himself. Jesus himself was the sacrificial offering, not a goat or bull. Jesus only had to offer himself once for all time, not every year, because his offering was perfect and final. After his death and resurrection, Jesus presented his offering, that is, himself, to God in heaven. Not in the man-made temple in Jerusalem.
As our high priest Jesus makes it possible for us to personally and confidently enter into God’s presence. Where we experience loving fellowship with God and receive His blessings forever.
Hebrews tells us that Jesus “was made human in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest.” Jesus is God incarnate. But that doesn’t diminish him being truly and fully human. Jesus lived the full human experience, rejoicing as we rejoice and suffering as we suffer. He experienced multiple temptations, as we do, but without giving in to sin.
Hebrews is saying that God is merciful toward us because he knows what being human is like. He understands all the struggles and temptations of being human. He doesn’t stand over us as a harsh judge. God loves us and he’s abundantly gracious. We have a high priest who is on our side, who has our back, who is for us, not against us.
Hebrews also says that as a human “Jesus learned obedience through what he suffered.” Even though Jesus was God’s Son, that he had to grow into the person God fully called him to be.
We can think of the owner of a business who plans to pass on ownership to his son. So that the son will know the business thoroughly, his father has him work in the various departments: sales, human resources, finance, IT, customer service, and so on. Through these experiences the son learns the business from the bottom up, maturing as he does so.
In a similar way Jesus grew into his full calling through his life as a human being. And as a completed human he “became the source of eternal salvation for all who trustingly obey him.”
Because Jesus is truly human, he is our model. He’s the kind of person we can grow to become. Jesus grew in maturity as a person, and so can we. If we’re not yet the person we hope to be – and which of us is! — well, God isn’t finished with us yet.
We often struggle to make progress in the Christian life. But God promises to complete his work in us. As we continue in trusting faithfulness to God, we will grow in reflecting Jesus’s self-giving love as God’s maturing sons and daughters.
Knowing Jesus as our high priest helps us be at peace about the future. Life can be challenging, and we can be anxious about what will happen next. But in Christ we know that whatever happens, God will be with us. Whether our circumstances turn pleasing or difficult, God will lead us into a deeper relationship with him. Because Jesus is our high priest, we can face the future with hope.
Jesus is our high priest, and we have the privilege of participating in his priestly work. We all serve as priests by helping each other grow in our relationship with God. Especially by praying for one another. Hebrews says that as our High Priest, Jesus “always lives to make intercession for us.” Jesus is always praying for us in heaven. And on earth he carries out his intercessory work through us, as we pray for each other.
We pray from the heart for our family members, fellow church members, and other loved ones. And by the Holy Spirit we also pray with feeling for people in other parts the world, even though we don’t know them personally. We pray especially for those who are suffering from war and other devastations.
Intercessory prayer is an act of great love. In prayer we enter the pain and sadness of our fellow human beings and bring them before God to be remembered by him. Though he already knows and loves each one by name. And in turn, we bring God’s presence back to those we pray for, sharing with them God’s grace and comfort as we are able. In these ways we participate in Jesus’ high priestly work.
Brothers and sisters, wonderful news! Jesus is our great and merciful high priest. We can be confident that God is for us, not against us. And since God is for us, nothing can ultimately defeat us.
Jesus our high priest died for us, rose for us, and is always praying for us!
Because of him, we can be certain that “neither life nor death, nor angels nor demons, nor the present nor the future, nor anything in all creation can separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus.”
Martin Shupack, October 2024