Hebrew 4:14-16
Jesus the Great High Priest
14Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. 15For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet was without sin. 16Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.
Hebrews 5:1-10
1Every high priest is selected from among men and is appointed to represent them in matters related to God, to offer gifts and sacrifices for sins. 2He is able to deal gently with those who are ignorant and are going astray, since he himself is subject to weakness. 3This is why he has to offer sacrifices for his own sins, as well as for the sins of the people.
4No one takes this honor upon himself; he must be called by God, just as Aaron was. 5So Christ also did not take upon himself the glory of becoming a high priest. But God said to him,
"You are my Son;
today I have become your Father." 6And he says in another place,
"You are a priest forever,
in the order of Melchizedek."
7During the days of Jesus' life on earth, he offered up prayers and petitions with loud cries and tears to the one who could save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission. 8Although he was a son, he learned obedience from what he suffered 9and, once made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him 10and was designated by God to be high priest in the order of Melchizedek.
The author of Hebrews throughout his book, speaks of Jesus being our great, new High Priest...Jesus is a High Priest on the order of Melchizedek...He blessed Abraham after he had rescued his nephew Lot...Then he blessed Abraham by the God most High...Some Jewish teachers thought that Melchizedek did not die...His death is not discussed in Genesis...They thought Melchizedek has lived forever...
Israel since the time of Moses had a high priest...Jesus came to earth and was tempted like any other man...Though Jesus struggled with satan, with temptations, with sin around Him He did not sin...Jesus was able to see God's moral laws and follow them...He knew the Law of Moses and was able to follow those, and even interpreted those laws throughout His ministry...In man, as St. Paul tells us in Roman 7:14:25, struggles with sin as he tries to follow the Law of Moses...We want to be good, but we cannot not good...We try to please God and we just cannot quite please Him...As St. Paul says, for as I continue, to try to be good, I keep on carrying out evil...For what I want to do I cannot do...The sin, living in me, continues to stop my goodness...
Man lives in sin and struggles with it... Jesus did not sin...His thoughts, His actions, His feelings, His life was not like man's...Jesus firmly held to God's will and overcame this world...
Every high priest were selected among men and represented man...The high priests offered gifts and sacrifices for our sins...When we sin, a sacrifice was necessary...God is perfect love and perfect life...When we sin we drift further away from Him...A sacrifice was necessary for man to keep him closer to God...The high priest used to be a man and understood...The high priest knew man's weaknesses, and how men go astray...The high priest, personally, offered sacrifices, not only for us, but also for himself, and his sins...
God has come to us...We are to weak to handle this daily struggle with sin...Now we have a new High Priest, who has died, but has came back to life...He did not sin...Jesus is our new High Priest, who needs no sacrifice...God made Jesus the Ultimate Sacrifice...This Sacrifice is for us...
The One we go to is Jesus now for our hope, and our faith...He offered His prayers and tears to His Almighty Father, but followed His will to the cross...Jesus reverently submitted for us to die for our sins...He has became the source of eternal salvation...He is our hope...Jesus gives us hope because God sent Him...God has came to us...God sent Jesus, His Son, for us...Jesus is our sacrifice...The Greatest Sacrifice in the history of the world... Jesus is our source and reconciler to God's grace, because we cannot be good...Only God is good...In our daily struggles with sin, which we are responsible for, we cannot ask for justice from Him...Our struggles with sin bring us death...We now have hope for eternal life...Jesus is our Mediator...From God, who came to us, through Jesus who walked on earth, He offers us His grace...