"We Have a High Priest" Sermon: Hebrews 4:14-16

“We Have A High Priest”

[Hebrews 4:14-16]

July 8, 2012 Second Reformed Church

            We ended last week in our text looking at the Word of God – Jesus – Who is the Giver of Life:  Jesus gives spiritual life to all those who believe in Him Alone for salvation, and He also promises physical life – that our bodies – after they have died – will be raised in holy perfection to live eternally in the Kingdom of God.

            We also saw that Jesus is Omniscient – He knows everything – He sees into the deepest depths of our selves and knows everything that we have done and thought, and everyone will have to stand before Him to give an account when He returns; Jesus is Judge of the Creation.

            And we might come away from this trembling:  what hope do we have if the Almighty God knows everything we have done and all we have thought?  What hope do we have if the measure is perfection – holiness – and God will stand for nothing less? 

            The author of Hebrews tells his readers – including us – that we have reason to hope and believe the Gospel because Jesus is our Great High Priest Who Ascended:        

            “Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession.”

            We have reason to hold fast to our confession – to believe the Gospel – to live it out – and to hope in it.  Of all people on earth, we have hope because we know and believe that God came to earth in the Human Person of Jesus, lived a holy life under God’s Law, died for the sins of all those who believe, and  physically rose from the dead, ascending back to His Throne.

            Despite our sin – and the fact that God knows very well what sins we have committed – we have hope – a sure hope – that we will be received into the Kingdom of God if we hold fast to our confession – if we continue to confess the Gospel – if we do not apostatize – if we believe in Who Jesus is and what He has done.

            Why?

            Because Jesus is God the Son.  We have hope because Jesus is the God-Man – He is wholly human and and wholly God – He is 100% human and 100% God at the same time.  Jesus is a real human being, so He can really live under God’s Law and really be our Substitute before God in the Judgment, and He is really God, so He can live a perfect and holy life and credit that perfect keeping of the Law to all those who believe in Him Alone for Salvation and so He can survive taking on Himself the Wrath of God for our sins.

            This is how we understand Jesus as our Substitute – as the acceptable sacrifice that God received on our behalf that we might be made right with God and brought into His Kingdom – into that ultimate Sabbath Rest that we were talking about.

            He also “passed through the heavens” – as Paul wrote, “He who descended is the one who also ascended far above the heavens, that he might fulfill all things” (Ephesians 4:10, ESV).  And Luke reminds us, “And when [Jesus] had said these things, as they were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. And while they were gazing into heaven as he went, behold, two men stood by them in white robes, and said, ‘Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven’” (Acts 1:9-11, ESV).

            So we see that Jesus is God Who came to earth in the Person of Jesus and ascended back to His Throne and will return in the same way – descending though the clouds, with all eyes seeing Him, when He returns at the end of the age.

            But we have even more reason to believe – and be assured – that we will be received into the Kingdom – and that is due to the fact that Jesus is also our High Priest. And not just any high priest, but our Great High Priest.

            Do we remember what the main job of the high priest was?  It was to speak to God for the people and to offer sacrifices to God on behalf of the people.

            We do well to listen to God’s instruction and hear:

            “The LORD spoke to Moses after the death of the two sons of Aaron, when they drew near before the LORD and died, and the LORD said to Moses, ‘Tell Aaron your brother not to come at any time into the Holy Place inside the veil, before the mercy seat that is on the ark, so that he may not die. For I will appear in the cloud over the mercy seat. But in this way Aaron shall come into the Holy Place: with a bull from the herd for a sin offering and a ram for a burnt offering. He shall put on the holy linen coat and shall have the linen undergarment on his body, and he shall tie the linen sash around his waist, and wear the linen turban; these are the holy garments. He shall bathe his body in water and then put them on. And he shall take from the congregation of the people of Israel two male goats for a sin offering and one ram for a burnt offering.

            ‘Aaron shall offer the bull as a sin offering for himself and shall make atonement for himself and for his house. Then he shall take the two goats and set them before the LORD at the entrance of the tent of meeting. And Aaron shall cast lots over the two goats, one lot for the LORD and the other lot for Azazel. And Aaron shall present the goat on which the lot fell for the LORD and use it as a sin offering, but the goat on which the lot fell for Azazel shall be presented alive before the LORD to make atonement over it, that it may be sent away into the wilderness to Azazel.

            ‘Aaron shall present the bull as a sin offering for himself, and shall make atonement for himself and for his house. He shall kill the bull as a sin offering for himself. And he shall take a censer full of coals of fire from the altar before the LORD, and two handfuls of sweet incense beaten small, and he shall bring it inside the veil and put the incense on the fire before the LORD, that the cloud of the incense may cover the mercy seat that is over the testimony, so that he does not die. And he shall take some of the blood of the bull and sprinkle it with his finger on the front of the mercy seat on the east side, and in front of the mercy seat he shall sprinkle some of the blood with his finger seven times.

            ‘Then he shall kill the goat of the sin offering that is for the people and bring its blood inside the veil and do with its blood as he did with the blood of the bull, sprinkling it over the mercy seat and in front of the mercy seat. Thus he shall make atonement for the Holy Place, because of the uncleannesses of the people of Israel and because of their transgressions, all their sins. And so he shall do for the tent of meeting, which dwells with them in the midst of their uncleannesses. No one may be in the tent of meeting from the time he enters to make atonement in the Holy Place until he comes out and has made atonement for himself and for his house and for all the assembly of Israel. Then he shall go out to the altar that is before the LORD and make atonement for it, and shall take some of the blood of the bull and some of the blood of the goat, and put it on the horns of the altar all around. And he shall sprinkle some of the blood on it with his finger seven times, and cleanse it and consecrate it from the uncleannesses of the people of Israel.

            ‘And when he has made an end of atoning for the Holy Place and the tent of meeting and the altar, he shall present the live goat. And Aaron shall lay both his hands on the head of the live goat, and confess over it all the iniquities of the people of Israel, and all their transgressions, all their sins. And he shall put them on the head of the goat and send it away into the wilderness by the hand of a man who is in readiness. The goat shall bear all their iniquities on itself to a remote area, and he shall let the goat go free in the wilderness.

            ‘Then Aaron shall come into the tent of meeting and shall take off the linen garments that he put on when he went into the Holy Place and shall leave them there. And he shall bathe his body in water in a holy place and put on his garments and come out and offer his burnt offering and the burnt offering of the people and make atonement for himself and for the people. And the fat of the sin offering he shall burn on the altar. And he who lets the goat go to Azazel shall wash his clothes and bathe his body in water, and afterward he may come into the camp. And the bull for the sin offering and the goat for the sin offering, whose blood was brought in to make atonement in the Holy Place, shall be carried outside the camp. Their skin and their flesh and their dung shall be burned up with fire. And he who burns them shall wash his clothes and bathe his body in water, and afterward he may come into the camp’” (Leviticus 16:1-28, ESV).

            As the first high priest, Aaron was given instruction by God on how to perform the rites of the Day of Atonement:  Yom Kippur.  This was the day each year that the whole nation would come before God to confess their sins and receive forgiveness through the shedding of blood.

            We will remember that there was a place in the Temple called the Holy of Holies – this was the place where the Ark of the Covenant was kept – that ornate box which contained – among other things – the Ten Commandments.  The Holy of Holies was the place in the Temple where the Glory of God descended – and no one was allowed into the Holy of Holies – except the high priest on the Day of Atonement.  This was the holiest of places, and anyone who came unbidden into the Holy of Holies would die.

            The high priest was to bath and dress himself in white robes – symbolizing purity and holiness.  But since the high priest was a sinner like everyone else in Israel, he was told by God to take a bull and offer it up as a sacrifice for his sins and his family’s sins, before he came before God on behalf of the people – because that’s what the job of the priest was – to come before God on behalf of the people.

            Then he was to take two male goats.  And he was to cast lots – to throw dice – to determine which one was for God and which one was – effectively – given over to the devil.

            Then, he was to poke his hand into the Holy of Holies, with incense, and with blood from the bull, and waft the smoke of the incense in – which was symbolic of the prayers of the people – and flick the blood of the bull on the mercy seat – on the top of the Ark of the Covenant – symbolizing the sacrifice made for the atonement of the high priest’s sins.  Because God said,

“Indeed, under the law almost everything is purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins” (Hebrews 9:22, ESV).

            Then, he would kill the goat and take its blood into the Holy of Holies and sprinkle it as he had the blood of the bull:  the goat was killed to make atonement for God’s people – to pay the debt for the sins of God’s people.

Then the priest would come out of the Holy of Holies and take the rest of the blood of the bull and the rest of the blood of the goat and spread it all over the altar.  Then he would take the second goat and put his hands on it and confess the sins of the nation, symbolically transferring them to the goat, and then the goat would be sent out into the wilderness to die.

            In the performing of his duties, the high priest would have become covered with blood.  So the last thing he would do was to bath and put on new white robes, symbolizing that God had forgiven His people.  And so the people would be forgiven.

            Jesus also functioned as the High Priest – not merely as the Sacrifice, which we understand in His dying for the sake of the sins of everyone who would ever believe – Jesus freely offered up Himself – Jesus came before the Father in the Holy of Holies to offer up Himself – as both High Priest and Sacrifice.

            Jesus said, “I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep. And I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd. For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I may take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my Father” (John 10:14-18, ESV).

            So, Jesus was not merely the Sacrifice offered up for the sins of His people, but He was the High Priest Who came before God on behalf of the people to offer up the Sacrifice.  So, the Offerer and the Offering of the Sacrifice were holy and acceptable in God’s Sight for the first time.  Before Jesus’ Work, the sacrifices continued day after day, but with Jesus, the Perfect and Final Sacrifice was perfectly offered by the Holy and Great High Priest, so no more sacrifices are needed.

            But, then, there is an unspoken objection that the author of Hebrews answers:  “How can Jesus be the High Priest when He is God?  The high priest had to offer up a sacrifice for his own sins first, because he was one of us – he understood us – he could sympathize.  Being God, how can Jesus sympathize?”

            Here we have a question concerning the Jesus’ humanity raised again – was Jesus really human – as well as really God?

            The author of Hebrews answers, “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.”

            “Yes, the High Priest has to understand what it is to be tempted – to truly face human temptation – in order for him to mourn for his people and offer up the sacrifice on their behalf – as with one heart with them.  And Jesus does that!  Jesus is 100% human and 100% God.  Jesus was tempted – in every way humanly possible – so He is able to sympathize with us – He is able to understand the pressure and the strength of temptation and the accusations and misleading of the devil that we face every moment.  Yet, Jesus being God and filled with God the Holy Spirits, born sinless like Adam – He did not sin.”

            Putting what the author of Hebrews says in the positive:  We have a High Priest Who is able to sympathize with our weaknesses – He has experienced the weakness of being in human flesh, He has been tempted in every way imaginable, so He understands how you are tempted and how I am tempted, and He can sympathize – He can understand what we go through.   He understands our weakness – He understands every kind of temptation we face – He joins us in grief for our sin, He is concerned for us, and works for our relief – but He never sinned. 

            And that should give us hope and confidence:

We have hope in knowing that both our High Priest and His Sacrifice are holy, so they have been accepted by God.  All those who believe in Jesus Alone for salvation have been saved through Jesus’s holy offering Himself up as the Final Sacrifice for His people.

“Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”

Matthew tells us, “And behold, the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom” (Matthew 27:51a, ESV).

When Jesus declared, “It is finished,” the curtain that separated the Holy of Holies from the rest of the Temple was torn open from the top down – the Holy of Holies was exposed before the people – which meant death – except through Jesus.

We are bidden to come boldly – with confidence and not fear – before the Almighty God one His Throne.  How?  Because Jesus is our Great High Priest – God and Man in One Person Who, as High Priest, offered up Himself, as the Perfect, Holy, and Final Sacrifice – that we would be forgiven for all of our sins and made right with God so we can now come before Him as our Father, not in fear of His Holy Wrath – Jesus has borne that for us – but in awe, respect, humility, and love.

Jesus calls us to come before His Father – our Father – and ask Him for mercy and grace – when we are confronted with temptation and need help to not sin, but to turn away and follow God – when we are in physical or mental or spiritual distresses and don’t know what to do or where to turn – when we feel as though God has abandoned us – when we are being afflicted or persecuted – when we are unsure of what is expected of us – when change is spinning around us – when death is looming at our door.

“Come, beloved!  Come before your Father in confession, in worship – you are restored through Jesus, the Great High Priest, the Lamb Who was sacrificed.  The Father will give you mercy and grace to help in your time of need!”

How shall we respond to this great news?

Let us give thanks that we have a Great High Priest, Jesus, the God-Man, Who intercedes for us before the Father – Who even offered Himself up as the Only Perfect and Holy Sacrifice that we would be forever forgiven and received as sons and daughters of God.

Let us hold fast to our confession of the Gospel.  Let us know what the Gospel is and not be afraid to tell it to others, because it is the Only Hope for everyone who will ever believe.

Let us give thanks that God came to earth in the human person of Jesus so we now have a God Who knows exactly what it is to be human – to live and suffer – as a human – the One God Who can sympathize with us as we live our lives.

And let us run to the Throne of God the Father when we are tempted or in distress or confused or hurting or lonely or discouraged – whatever is happening, let us go to our Father Who loves us and bids us to come to Him so He may give us the mercy and grace we need to live as the men and women of God He has called to be.

Let us pray:

Almighty God and Father, we come this morning having sinned against You, and we are bold to come before Your Throne, truly repentant and sorry for our sins, asking that You would forgive us for the Sake of Jesus.  We come having various temptations, struggles, sorrows, and concerns, and we ask that You would give us the confidence to come boldly before You to receive the grace and mercy that Jesus secured.  For it is in His Name, we pray, Amen.