“As a High Priest”
[Hebrews 5:7-10]
July 29, 2012 Second Reformed Church
This
morning, we look for a third time at the High Priesthood of Jesus. We first saw
that we have a High Priest Who is God, the Savior, so we ought to hold fast to
our confession – we ought to always be ready to tell someone the Gospel,
because it is our hope for all of eternity. In the Gospel – in Jesus is
offering up Himself as the Sacrifice to make us right with God – we find a
human being Who is at the same time God Who can sympathize with our weaknesses
– Who can understand everything we go through – every temptation we face. And
so we can come to this God boldly knowing that we will receive mercy and grace
that He has for us in time of need.
Last week we looked at the fact that
Jesus was called to be a high priest – that He did not make Himself High Priest,
but God made Him High Priest – from all of eternity God Who had begotten His Son
also declared Him to be a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.
And now we look at Jesus as High Priest:
what did Jesus do as High Priest? Oh, we know that Jesus offered up Himself as
a sacrifice for our sin. We know that Jesus lived a holy life that we might be
credited with that holy life. But was there anything more? Was there anything
more in understanding what it is to be human? Is there anything more for us to
understand about what it meant that God became human?
“In the days of his flesh,”
The author of Hebrews emphasizes
that the High Priestly Role of Jesus does not merely mean what He did on the
cross – though that is the pivotal act of salvation – or what He does now in Heaven.
We need to also consider what Jesus did on earth – what Jesus did in the time
that He lived on earth in the human body which could sin. (Of course we know Jesus never sinned.)
Paul wrote, “Have this mind
among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the
form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied
himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men” (Philippians
2:5-7, ESV).
Consider the Holy Trinity: before
the creation, They were in perfect harmony, union, and love, as the One Holy
God. The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit always were, before the
beginning, and lived without need in perfection. But God saw that it would
bring glory to Himself if the Son incarnated and became human for the sake of
the salvation of the people that God chose for Himself.
So
God created everything that is, and the coming of the Son of God in human flesh
was promised to Adam and Eve after the Fall. And when the time was right, God
the Son left His throne and came to Earth through the Virgin Mary – a baby boy.
We can barely even glimpse what this
means. The Holy God who lived in light and truth condescended to reveal Himself
to all those who would believe and stepped off His throne and became one with
the baby in the darkness of Mary's womb. For nine months God resided in the
womb of a human being, and when the time was right, He came forth into the
world like every other baby: small, fragile, and helpless – the Almighty God.
Jesus is a real human being, Who
experienced all the realities of human life – have we ever thought about what
that means, other than to say the Jesus did not sin?
Can we imagine the Baby Jesus,
wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger, feeling His stomach rumble,
desiring to be fed? Can we even begin to imagine the experience of God as He
fed from His mother, Mary? And, sometime later, no doubt, as He lay in her arms
– or, as He lay in the manger – as He soiled Himself and could do nothing about
it – the Almighty God
Think of young Jesus, blushing as a
girl paid attention to Him. Think of Jesus, apprenticing in His father's
workshop – and the first time that He missed and hit His Hand with a hammer.
Think about the first time that Jesus had a fever, or an intestinal virus, or
an outbreak of acne – the Almighty God.
Think about the friends that He made
and the friends that He lost – even as a young person – not merely as the Rabbi
Jesus. Jesus understands human friendship, loss, and betrayal – as every young
person learns about them – the Almighty God.
Jesus experienced everything humans
experience – except for sin. “Everything” means that He experienced every type
of thing. He experienced being a baby. He experienced the pain and mystery of
growing up and His body changing. He experienced education. He experienced
work. He experienced all kinds of things that you and I experience – except for
sin. This is the Almighty God who put aside His Glory and for a little while
became a servant that in the end He would save a people for Himself and He
would be glorified. He voluntarily made it as difficult as possible to see His Glory
– He concealed His Glory under the weakness of His flesh that He might be
completely abased and brought low, so there would be nothing attractive about Him
– so those who came to Him would only come for the sake of the Word of His Gospel.
“In the days of his flesh, Jesus
offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to him who was
able to save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverence.”
Scripture tells us that Jesus
understood from childhood that God was His Father – and it was God's Work that He
must be about – and so we see this pattern of Jesus going to pray to the Father
– seeking the Father's Will – using the means that God has given humans to align
our wills with His – in conformity with His Will.
We see this most strikingly and most
passionately in the last week of Jesus's life and especially in the Garden
after the Last Supper:
Matthew tells us: “Then Jesus went with them to a place called
Gethsemane, and he said to his disciples, ‘Sit here, while I go over there and
pray.’ And taking with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, he began to be
sorrowful and troubled. Then he said to them, ‘My soul is very sorrowful, even
to death; remain here, and watch with me.’ And going a little farther he fell
on his face and prayed, saying, ‘My Father, if it be possible, let this cup
pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.’ And he came to the
disciples and found them sleeping. And he said to Peter, ‘So, could you not
watch with me one hour? Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation.
The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.’ Again, for the second
time, he went away and prayed, ‘My Father, if this cannot pass unless I drink
it, your will be done.’ And again he came and found them sleeping, for their
eyes were heavy. So, leaving them again, he went away and prayed for the third
time, saying the same words again” (Matthew 26:36-44, ESV).
Luke adds some additional details:
“And he
came out and went, as was his custom, to the Mount of Olives, and the disciples
followed him. And when he came to the place, he said to them, ‘Pray that you
may not enter into temptation.’ And he withdrew from them about a stone's
throw, and knelt down and prayed, saying, ‘Father, if you are willing, remove
this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done.’ And there
appeared to him an angel from heaven, strengthening him. And being in an agony
he prayed more earnestly; and his sweat became like great drops of blood
falling down to the ground. And when he rose from prayer, he came to the
disciples and found them sleeping for sorrow, and he said to them, ‘Why are you
sleeping? Rise and pray that you may not enter into temptation’” (Luke 22:39-46,
ESV).
“In the days of his flesh, Jesus
offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to him who was
able to save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverence.”
The betrayer had run into the night.
Jesus had celebrated the Last Supper with His disciples. Jesus knew what
awaited Him – He had told his disciples over and over during the past week that
the Son of Man must die – the Savior had to die – Jesus had to die. So Jesus
did what was natural and right for Him and went to pray to His Father, because He
knew His Father could save Him from death. He knew His Father could save Him
from being put to death – and He knew that if He was put to death, His Father
could save Him and raise Him from the dead.
And Jesus prayed to His Father – not
wanting to endure hell on the cross – yet willing to be obedient to His Father:
“My Father, if it be possible, let this
cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.” Three times He went to His Father in prayer
that night, and with loud cries and tears, He asked His Father if there was any
other way.
Jesus prayed “with loud cries and
tears” – Jesus did not merely pray these words to the Father, but He prayed
them in anguish, not wanting to suffer this death in the flesh. The psalmist
writes, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, from the
words of my groaning?” (Psalm 22:1, ESV).
These words we remember Jesus quoting on the cross – and we need to
understand that the word, “groaning,” can also be translated as, “roaring” –
“why are you so far from saving me, from the words of my roaring?” Jesus did
not merely speak these words, but He roared them out in pain – in anguish – if
there was any other way, He wanted to escape this death. He prayed with such
intensity and such stress that even the ministrations of the angel did not stop
Him from bleeding through His skin in terror of what was waiting for Him. Yet, He
joyfully submitted to the Will of His Father – as the author of Hebrews writes later
in his letter, “looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who
for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and
is seated at the right hand of the throne of God” (Hebrews 12:2, ESV).
Jesus didn't want to suffer – His Joy
was not found in suffering, but in following the Will of His Father. Jesus
endured such suffering and terror – even being forsaken by God – that He roared
out in prayer to God and He bled from emotional distress – and His prayer was
heard by His Father, but His Father said, “no,” and Jesus endured an
unimaginable hell, and His Father raised Him because He was obedient – as Peter
preached, “Brothers, I may say to you with confidence about the patriarch David
that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. Being
therefore a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that he
would set one of his descendants on his throne, he foresaw and spoke about the
resurrection of the Christ, that he was not abandoned to Hades, nor did his
flesh see corruption” (Acts 2:29-31, ESV).
Do we see that Jesus truly
understands everything we could ever experience – everything we could ever
endure? Is there anything you can think of that you could say to Him, “you just
don't understand how it is”?
As
High Priest, Jesus experienced every type of thing that we experience. He
offered up prayers and aligned His Mind with the Father’s, receiving and
accepting His Will. He suffered throughout His life, like every human suffers –
and especially the last week of His Life – in roaring and in pain and in suffering
and even in being forsaken by God Himself – He continued to turn to God and
trust Him.
And
so we have every reason to trust Him – we have every reason to go to Him and
receive such grace and mercy is awaiting all those who believe – at His throne
– we have every reason to be thanking Him again and again no matter what our
circumstances – because we have far more than we could ever deserve. Why are we
such a thankless people?
In
our pain, in our suffering, in our temptation, after having sinned, is it not
right that we turn to the Father and cry out and pray and struggle and roar,
but trust that our Father is a good and loving God who has grace and mercy for
all of His sons and daughters – even when He knows it is best for us to endure
what we would prefer to escape?
Paul
had some sort of affliction, some sort of temptation, some sort of problem – we
don't know exactly what – but he begged and pleaded that God would take it away
from him, and God heard him, but said, “no” – “But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you,
for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more
gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me” (2
Corinthians 12:9, ESV).
Then,
the author of Hebrews writes, “Although he was a son, he learned obedience
through what he suffered.” What does
this mean? If Jesus is the Son of God, then how did He learn obedience?
Again,
we have to remember that Jesus is One Person with two natures – He is God and He
is human. Jesus, in His humanity, learned to be obedient in all things – just
as any human being learns to be obedient. It was necessary that Jesus learn the
Law of God and be obedient to all of it, or we could not be saved.
Paul
wrote, “And being found in human form, [Jesus] humbled himself by becoming
obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross” (Philippians 2:8, ESV). The Almighty God incarnate humbled Himself by
learning obedience as a human learns – and Jesus was obedient even to the point
of going to the cross to die because His Father said it was the right and only
way to save His people.
God
loves His Son, Jesus, and He sent Him to die on the cross. Can we not believe
that the lives that we are living are the lives that the God Who loves us has
given us? Can we not look at the life and the obedience of Jesus through
suffering and consider our own lives and recognize that what we endure is not a
reason to doubt that God loves us, but suffering is a reason to press on in
faith to obedience?
“And being made perfect, he became the source
of eternal salvation to all who obey him, being designated by God a high priest
after the order of Melchizedek.”
As
we hear the last portion of our text read again, we first find ourselves asking
how Jesus could be made perfect. Wasn't Jesus perfect throughout His Life? How
was He made perfect? And we need to understand that the use of the word “perfect”
here is not indicating that Jesus was not perfect and then He became perfect,
but that Jesus' Work was perfected – that is that Jesus completed His work. The
author of Hebrews is not telling us that Jesus was imperfect and then He became
perfect, but that He came to earth with work to do and He completed His Work.
Because
Jesus did complete His Work, “he became the source of eternal salvation to all
who will obey him.” Notice, Jesus is the
Source of “eternal salvation.” I had a
professor at Drew who said, “I gain and lose my salvation all the time” – what
nonsense! God came to earth in the Person of Jesus, lived perfectly under God's
Law, died for the sins of everyone who would ever believe, physically rose from
the dead, and ascended back to His throne. Jesus completed His Work – He cannot
fail – if Jesus has saved you, you are saved eternally, and there is nothing
you can do to change that – because Jesus is not a mere man; He is God.
And,
we might wonder why the text says that salvation is given to those who “obey” Him
– aren't we told that salvation is by faith alone? “Jesus answered
him, ‘If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him,
and we will come to him and make our home with him. Whoever does not love me
does not keep my words. And the word that you hear is not mine but the Father's
who sent me’” (John 14:23-24, ESV).
What
does Jesus say? If you love Him, you will obey Him – which is obeying the Father.
Yes, we are saved by faith alone, but it is not a faith that is alone. What
does that mean? It means if we don't bear fruit, if we don't live differently,
if we don't strive to obey God and love God's Commands and all of His Word,
then we probably don't really believe – we probably aren't Christians.
And then we note again that Jesus
“was designated by God high priest after the order of Melchizedek.” Let us remember what we saw last week: the Only
Begotten Son of God is eternally a high priest of the order of Melchizedek – it
is in Jesus' Divinity that He is eternally a high priest of the order of
Melchizedek. Lord willing, will consider more of what that means in the future.
Let us conclude for today by
remembering these things:
As High Priest, while Jesus was on
earth before the Resurrection, He lived a real human life experiencing every
type of human experience, and He trusted and submitted to His Father's Will,
because He knew that the Father would hear Him, and the Father could deliver Him
from death – before, or even after, He died. So we know we can trust Jesus and
the Father because God sympathizes with us and understands us and all that we
experience – except sin. And, likewise, the Father has promised to raise us
from the dead whether we are delivered in this life or at last in the Restoration.
As High Priest, Jesus learned
obedience – like any other human – by submitting to the Father, no matter what
the Father's Will was. Let us follow this example in hope and trust, submitting
to the Father, no matter what His Will for us is. Let us show our love of Jesus
and the Father through obedience.
As High Priest, Jesus has totally,
completely, eternally saved His people. Let us rest assured in His Completed Work
that we are saved and not doubt that He is able and has saved all those who
believe in Him Alone for salvation.
Let us pray:
Almighty God and Father, we thank You
that we have a high priest in Jesus, Who as High Priest has lived as we live –
Who has suffered as we suffer – and more than we can imagine, Who has shown us
what it is to live a life of trust and obedience, and Who has secured for us
eternal salvation. Help us to be Your people and to make Your Gospel known
throughout the world. For it is in Jesus’ Name we pray, Amen.
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