14 Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens,
Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession.
15 For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but
One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin.
16 Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we
may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
summary: v14 summarizes chapters 1-4
ultimate revelation: heb 1-4 have established that christ is the ultimate revelation because:
- he's better than angels (since he's god)
- he's better than moses (since he's god)
our response: heb 1-4 has argued that we need to pay especially close attention because the revelation of christ is better.
v14 summarizes both of these points...but takes it to a new direction.
"our great high priest"
this is the new idea here - we're transitioning to more discussion on this topic, so hang on.
for now...
the high priest is appointed by god to serve as intermediary between god and his people
this is going to be the central idea of the next 6 chapters.
"passed through the heavens"
kind of an odd phrase for us...
popular jewish cosmology held there to be several realms (7); not biblical, but held by some.
the author of hebrews doesn't seem to hold to this specifically, as in 7:26 he says that christ is, 'above the heavens'.
the author here is probably just using the phrase poetically, to establish that christ is
now exalted beyond all creation.
"the son of god"
jesus is divine; the son of god, sharing the same essence as god.
this is a recap of some of the assertions of 1-4
"god...in these last days has spoken to us in his son" (1:2)
not an issue of creation...sonship means same substance.
we've already been told jesus created the world ("through whom also he made the world", 1:2 again)
the assertion here is that jesus,
- jesus is the high priest, and the son of god.
jesus is great and exalted :
- the great high priest
- above creation
- in the substance of god
because of who he is...let us hold fast our confession
hold fast our confession?
- note the link between belief and action; hebrews will continualy link belief and outworking.
- we'll tallk more about it in a bit (v16)
this should be very familiar based on our first four chapters.
15 For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but
One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin.
things we don't know about christ and temptation
- could he have sinned? was it possible?
- how hard was it for him, since he never sinned?
we're not talking about this.
&nbps;
reviewing christ's temptation
matt 4:1,2
Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.
And after He had fasted forty days and forty nights, He then became hungry.
- note that he was led by the spirit to be tempted (god didn't tempt him, but it was god's plan for him to resist sin.
- also note that he became hungry...and is tempted on a real, physical desire (need?)
after this he is told to throw himself down from the temple, and then told to worship satan (three temptations).
he responds with scripture each time.
not sure if it's fair to refer to these as temptations, but there are a few other points that might share similarity,
especially christ in the garden of gethsemane (in agony, "let this
christ also struggles with a number of things at many points; n the garden of gethsemane (, where he looks for ano
with that as context, lets talk about our temptation.
&nbps;
a few things about temptation:
1. we have weakness
"for we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses"
weakness is part of humanity. until we are remade in the resurrection, we have weakness.
you need to believe you have weakness.
- admit it to yourself, and believe that you will need to struggle when tempted.
- admit it to others, and stop pretending otherwise; we might be able to help one another.
- an aside, but admit it to god. he already knows, and part of this will start with admiting our weaknesses.
2. we are tempted
"one who has been tempted in all things as we are"
yes...we are tempted.
do not confuse temptation with sin (sounds easier than it is).
don't expect not to be tempted.
1 cor 10:12 "let him who stands take heed lest he fall"
3. it is difficult
this isn't directly said in the passage, but it is implied since we receive sympathy.
temptation is hard to resist; it takes effort, and it can wear you down.
not a ton to say here, but when you think of temptation, don't think of saying no to something you don't really care about anyway.
you need to think about the the time when you're worn out, and you find a way to get something good through a short cut.
or when you have the chance to do something you want to that doesn't really hurt anyone anyway.
or when you realize something about yourself, and think that you might not need to fix it/change cause it's not a bit deal.
4. christ sympathizes with us
"For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses"
this is an complete contrast to the idea of our high priest being the
- son of god
- already through the heavens
- creator of all things
- god's ultimate revelation
that guy, mr ultimate, you better not cross. you ignore him, you deserve to be toast.
here we have christ as a human who has shared our difficulties, who understands our struggles, who has sympathy on our condition.
this is the absolute other side to the incarnation;
christ is god's ultimate revelation, yes.
but the incarnation is also the ultimate revelation of god's compassion, understanding, and...sympathy.
application: remember the understanding and love of god
by all means meditate on the awesomeness of god, and learn to fear him actively.
but do not ignore the love and affection of christ who knows us, who sympathizes with us.