Hebrews 4:14–5:10
14 Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has ascended into heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. 15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin. 16 Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.
1 Every high priest is selected from among the people and is appointed to represent the people in matters related to God, to offer gifts and sacrifices for sins. 2 He is able to deal gently with those who are ignorant and are going astray, since he himself is subject to weakness. 3 This is why he has to offer sacrifices for his own sins, as well as for the sins of the people. 4 And no one takes this honor on himself, but he receives it when called by God, just as Aaron was. 5 In the same way, Christ did not take on himself the glory of becoming a high priest. But God said to him, “You are my Son; today I have become your Father.” 6 And he says in another place, “You are a priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek.” 7 During the days of Jesus’ life on earth, he offered up prayers and petitions with fervent cries and tears to the one who could save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission. 8 Son though he was, he learned obedience from what he suffered 9 and, once made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him 10 and was designated by God to be high priest in the order of Melchizedek.
To understand this passage, we need to picture what the people who first received this letter — the letter to the Hebrews — were going through. It was most likely written between the years 66 and 69 and sent to a small group of Jewish Christians living in Rome. These believers were passing through a spiritual crisis. Their own countrymen were branding them traitors and pressuring them to return to their old faith in the Law of Moses, with its rituals and sacrifices. Judaism was the official, traditional religion of their people. So how could a patriot turn his back on his national religion — and at a moment when loyalty and devotion to the homeland were so urgently needed? Perhaps they were being told: “What kind of religion is this of yours anyway? You have no high priest, you have no sanctuary, you offer no sacrifices… How do you imagine you are serving God?” But the author of Hebrews says to his friends: “That is not true. Not only do we have a high priest, but our high priest is far superior to the Jewish one, because he is the Son of God, appointed to his ministry by God himself, serving in the very sanctuary of heaven, and offering a far more perfect sacrifice — a single, once-for-all self-offering that truly cleanses our sins.” Perhaps we too are under the same pressure today. And our own countrymen say to us: “What are you doing? What kind of church is this? You are of another faith, you have no patriarch, you have no domed temples with icons, you offer no sacrifices.” But I want to encourage you. We have a heavenly high priest who serves in the heavenly sanctuary. And he invites us to draw near, with boldness, into God’s presence.
As often happens, the heresies, the opponents of God’s revelation, and the persecutions of that day actually helped the church. For thanks to them the divine truth was explained and formulated even more clearly. And today we have this letter to the Hebrews, which describes our true worship, our true system of worship — and we know who our high priest is, what our covenant is, where our sanctuary is, and what our sacrifice is.
And so, we have a high priest — and not just any priest, but a “great high priest.” To understand what that means, we will look at the “job description” of the Old Testament high priest and compare it with our own. What did a high priest have to be, what qualities did he have to possess, and what authority, in order to be a good high priest?
A Man of God
First of all, the high priest had to have personal communion, closeness with God, because he was set over all the other priests; he served God, and so he had to be a man of God, with a personal relationship with God. Leviticus 16 describes how, on the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur), the high priest was to enter the Most Holy Place of the tabernacle, the holiest place, which was behind the veil — the place of God’s manifest presence — only once a year, and not without a sacrifice, but with blood that would serve as atonement before God, first for himself and his household, and then for the whole nation. So, in a sense, in the Old Testament the high priest was the one who stood closest to God, because he alone entered the holiest place… But he did so only once a year, and only by offering a sacrifice for himself.
What shall we say about our high priest, about Jesus Christ? He does not enter God’s presence only once a year. He lives and intercedes for us in heaven itself. In 4:14 it says that he has “ascended into heaven.” He has such communion with God as no human being ever could. For he himself is a Person of the very same God. Our high priest is God the Son, who is of one substance with God the Father.
The high priest not only had to have access to God, but he also had to be holy in order to have communion with God. Yet the earthly high priest was by nature a sinful man. Therefore, before he could offer a sacrifice for the sins of the people, he had to offer a sacrifice for his own sin. In 5:3 it says of the priest of Israel:
3 This is why he has to offer sacrifices for his own sins, as well as for the sins of the people. (Hebrews 5:3)
Christ, however, our high priest, had no need to offer a sacrifice for his own sin, because he is perfect. He offered himself as a sacrifice, but he offered that sacrifice not for himself, but for us — and he did it only once, “once for all,” because this sacrifice of his was perfect and sufficient. In Hebrews 7:26–27 it says:
26 Such a high priest truly meets our need — one who is holy, blameless, pure, set apart from sinners, exalted above the heavens. 27 Unlike the other high priests, he does not need to offer sacrifices day after day, first for his own sins, and then for the sins of the people. He sacrificed for their sins once for all when he offered himself. (Hebrews 7:26–27)
Such is our High Priest. He has perfect communion with God, he is holy, he is the perfect mediator between us and God.
One of Us
In the second place, the high priest had to be a representative of human beings. The high priest is a mediator between people and God. And in order to represent people, in order to plead for their sins before God, he had to be one of them. In 5:1 it says:
1 Every high priest is selected from among the people and is appointed to represent the people in matters related to God, to offer gifts and sacrifices for sins. (Hebrews 5:1)
This is why the incarnation of Jesus Christ is so important — the fact that God became man, that the Word became flesh, became a human being, became one of us. Christ had to become one of us so that he could be “selected from among the people.” In Hebrews 2:9 we read that Jesus was made “lower than the angels for a little while.” For he became a man — and indeed a mortal man. As Hebrews 2:17 says, “he had to be made like them, fully human in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people.” Our high priest is perfect, because he is not only God, but also man, one of us. He is our older brother. In Hebrews 2:11 it says:
11 Both the one who makes people holy and those who are made holy are of the same family. So Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers and sisters. (Hebrews 2:11)
Merciful, Sympathetic, and Compassionate
In the third place, the high priest had to be merciful, sympathetic, and compassionate. He had to be able to understand people’s weaknesses and problems, and not scold them or rub salt in their wounds for their mistakes, but to comfort them, to help them, to counsel them (5:2).
2 He is able to deal gently with those who are ignorant and are going astray, since he himself is subject to weakness. (Hebrews 5:2)
The high priest was compassionate because he himself was “subject to weakness.” And what shall we say about our Lord? Does he understand our problems and struggles? Does he understand our weaknesses? Does he understand our temptations? Does he understand our hardships? He has experienced it all. In 4:15 it says:
15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are — yet he did not sin. (Hebrews 4:15)
In Isaiah 53:3 it says:
3 He was despised and rejected by mankind, a man of suffering, and familiar with pain. Like one from whom people hide their faces he was despised, and we held him in low esteem. (Isaiah 53:3)
The fact that Christ never once sinned throughout his life does not mean that his life was easy. It is one thing to be innocent, and quite another to be virtuous. A person can remain innocent up to the moment he is tempted — just like Adam and Eve, who were without sin until the moment they were tempted by the serpent. But when a person keeps his innocence even in the midst of temptation, then he becomes not merely innocent, but virtuous. Throughout his earthly life, beginning with the temptation by Satan in the wilderness, Christ won battle after battle against temptation. Where Adam and Eve failed, Christ won the fight. And so we can learn from him. He knows how sin is conquered in our fleshly nature.
God the Father deliberately handed God the Son over to every kind of temptation and suffering, so that through them he might be “made perfect.” In 2:10 it says:
10 In bringing many sons and daughters to glory (that is us), it was fitting that God, for whom and through whom everything exists (that is God the Father), should make the pioneer of their salvation (that is the Lord Jesus Christ) perfect through what he suffered. (Hebrews 2:10)
This is not about moral perfecting, because Christ was, is, and always will be perfect in character and holiness. But he had to taste suffering, to taste our weaknesses and our temptations, in order to be perfected as high priest and mediator. For in order to represent us, he had to have stood in our place and felt our struggles, our troubles. There is no suffering, weakness, or temptation that we pass through which he has not also passed through and does not understand. Although he was perfect, in order to become a perfected high priest Jesus had to learn from experience what obedience costs when you live in the flesh in a world ruled by Satan. Christ knows our condition perfectly. He knows what it is “to live in the flesh.” In Hebrews 5:7–9 it says:
7 During the days of Jesus’ life on earth (notice: in the flesh), he offered up prayers and petitions with fervent cries and tears to the one who could save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission. (Hebrews 5:7)
Why did Christ cry out, and why did he weep? Was it because things were easy for him? No. It was because he was suffering. He knew what it is to pray. He knew what it is to be powerless. He knew what it is to cry out. This is what we too must do — not to wallow in self-pity, but to pray to God and cry out to him.
8 Son though he was, he learned obedience from what he suffered 9 and, once made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him. (Hebrews 5:8–9)
Christ was “made perfect” as mediator and high priest by passing through all human temptations, trials, and punishment, and by conquering them and remaining sinless. Some people pray to the Virgin Mary or to the other saints, because they think that, being human, those figures can understand them better. But is there anyone who can understand you better than Jesus? No. These verses show us that. There is no one who can understand you better than Jesus! So stop praying to the Virgin Mary, stop praying to Saint George, to Saint John, or to any other saint. Instead, pray only to God in the name of Jesus Christ, because he is the only mediator between God and human beings. In 1 Timothy 2:5 it says:
5 For there is one God and one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus. (1 Timothy 2:5)
Unlike the Jewish high priest, however, Jesus can not only understand us, but also help us. For in Hebrews 2:18 it says:
18 Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted. (Hebrews 2:18)
The Lord will not only understand you; he will help you overcome. He will help you come out of your situation a victor. He will give you strength, he will give you grace, he will give you wisdom, he will give you self-control. He will give you hope. As our high priest, Christ not only understands our weaknesses and failures, but also gives us strength and grace to endure sufferings and to overcome temptations. So when you are in temptation, do not wonder what to do, but cry out to the Lord, cry out to Jesus, because he will give you the victory!
Called and Appointed by God
And finally, besides all of these qualities so rarely found together in one and the same person (to be a man of God, having personal communion with God; to be a representative of human beings, “selected” from among them; and at the same time to be merciful and compassionate), the high priest had to be called and appointed to his place by God himself. He could not be chosen by people or appoint himself as high priest. In 5:4 it says:
4 And no one takes this honor on himself, but he receives it when called by God, just as Aaron was. (Hebrews 5:4)
In the same way Christ too, although he was the Son of God and the Son of Man, still did not seize the priestly office for himself, but was called and appointed to his place by God the Father himself. It was the Father who gave him the priestly authority and glory (5:4).
5 In the same way, Christ did not take on himself the glory of becoming a high priest. But God said to him, “You are my Son; today I have become your Father.” 6 And he says in another place, “You are a priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek.” (Hebrews 5:5–6)
Later in his letter the author of Hebrews explains to his readers what this “Melchizedek” order of priesthood is. Building on Genesis 14:18 and Psalm 110:4, and applying to them an Alexandrian rule of interpretation according to which God speaks to us not only through what is recorded in Holy Scripture but also through what is left out, he proves that the order of Melchizedek is higher than that of Aaron, because it is eternal and because it precedes and follows the Law of Moses through which the order of Aaron was established (7:1–28).
The Difference It Makes in Our Lives
And so, what difference does it make that we have a “great high priest over the house of God” (Hebrews 10:21)? How should the greatness of our high priest affect our lives? In two ways. First, the greatness and glory of our high priest ought to encourage us to hold firmly to our confession of faith and not to fall away from it. For to renounce our faith means to renounce our high priest as well, and that means to lose our salvation, our access to God, and our eternal life.
This is why I am preaching to you this morning about our High Priest. Because I believe this is the very thing that can steady our faith so firmly that we will never turn back. For I see that our church is dwindling. I see people turning back. And I say: “Lord, what am I to do, how am I to keep these people?” And God showed me: “Do what my servants did in the days of the early church. Look, this is what the author of Hebrews did. Back then people were falling away… back then people were turning back… But he said to them: ‘Listen, people, we have a great high priest!’ And that held them fast.” So this morning I say the same thing to you. This is not something I have invented. This is the holy Word of God. And I say to you: “We have a great High Priest over the house of God! So do not shrink back! Instead, abide in him! He deserves it! He loves us! He gave his life for us! He is in heaven and represents us! He ‘always lives to intercede’ for us (Hebrews 7:25)! He is far greater than any patriarch and any pope on this earth! He is the Son of God! And he is both my High Priest and yours!”
So the author of Hebrews says in 4:14:
14 Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has ascended into heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. (Hebrews 4:14)
Hold firmly to what you have professed! And in Hebrews 10:23 he repeats:
23 Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. (Hebrews 10:23)
Let us hold unswervingly to our hope, our confession, our faith. This means not to fall away, not to give up, and not to look back. But just as our high priest has been, and always is, faithful to us, so let us always be faithful to him.
Here, in our text, there is an interesting phrase. In 5:9 it says that Christ “became the source of eternal salvation for all… who obey him.” Notice, there is a qualification. Christ truly is our high priest, he truly is in heaven. And he truly is the “source of eternal salvation.” But he is not the source of eternal salvation for everyone. He is the source of eternal salvation only for those “who obey him.” You see, this makes salvation conditional. It is not unconditional for everyone, but it is only for those who obey God, only for those who remain obedient to him to the end. Therefore, let us not be stubborn. Let us not be stiff-necked. For, as you know, the stiff-necked died in the wilderness. May God help us never to shrink back, but to serve him with all our heart. Let us allow nothing to separate us from him.
The second way in which the knowledge of our High Priest ought to affect our conduct is that it should encourage us to draw nearer to God, and to do so not with fear, but with boldness. For thanks to Christ, who has already made atonement to God, for us God’s throne is no longer a throne of judgment or of wrath, but of grace. In 4:16 it says:
16 Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence (because we have a great high priest over the house of God), so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need. (Hebrews 4:16)
This speaks of mercy and of grace. With respect to our salvation from sin, mercy is “not receiving what we deserve” — that is, eternal punishment and death — while grace is “receiving what we do not deserve” — that is, eternal life and adoption into God’s family.
With respect to our daily life, mercy is forgiveness and cleansing from our sins. For we sin every day. But when we pray and confess our sin, “he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” And grace in our everyday life is “God’s supernatural ability, the gift to do something we cannot do on our own” — the divine influence at work in our life. In our daily life and ministry we need timely help so very much. And every time such a moment comes, we can cry out to God and he can give it to us. Besides, let us not forget that he is almighty, and for him nothing is “hard” or “impossible” (Jeremiah 32:27).
The fact that our high priest knows and understands us gives us added security and assurance — what the author of Hebrews calls “confidence.” Is it not a wonderful thing — to have such a great high priest and free access to God’s presence, through whom we can receive from God everything we need? This truly is an unspeakable blessing.
Notice that this call to approach the throne of grace is addressed to everyone. It is not only for certain particular people. It is not only for a few chosen ones, for a few priests. No, our great high priest removed the need for any other mediators, and now every one of us can boldly draw near to God. In the New Covenant we are all priests, while there is one who is our high priest — Jesus. Glory to God for this privilege! Glory to God for this freedom we have to enter God’s presence!
He Is the Door
In his book Miracles: Eyewitness to the Miraculous, R. W. Schambach tells a true story about a man who was very ill with spinal meningitis and rheumatoid arthritis. He was so sick that in the end he fell into a coma for about four months. He had little knowledge of God, but since he was a Catholic, his priest was called to give him the last rites. Can you imagine how you would feel if you were alive and already being pronounced dead? Although he was in a coma, the sick man could sense what the priest was doing, but he could not respond, because he was so paralyzed that he could not even blink. The priest performed all the necessary rituals and ceremonies and left the room. But at the very moment that this priest, dressed in black, walked out through the door, the sick man saw another priest, dressed in white, come in through the wall of the hospital room and stand beside his bed. The new priest bent over the dying man and addressed him by name. He said to him: “Do not worry; all you need is faith in God! I am Jesus of Nazareth, and right now I am healing you. Get up, get dressed, and go home!” At that same instant this man, who had been on his deathbed, received strength, was instantly healed, got up, went to the sink, and began to shave and get ready to leave. At that moment, however, the nurse came into the room to cover him with a sheet, because the first priest had already left. Seeing the empty bed, and the sick man up and shaving at the sink, she was frightened and began to shout: “What on earth are you doing, man? Why have you gotten up? Get back into bed at once! Don’t you know you’re dying? The priest was just here and gave you the last rites! You’re supposed to be dying! I’ve come here to carry you out, and you’re up shaving?! Get back in here at once!” The now-healed man said to her: “Listen here, nurse! That priest came and gave me the last rites, all right — but after him another priest came. He gave me ‘first rites,’ and told me to get up and go home!”
This man was perfectly healed by Jesus. Some time later, when he was recounting his testimony to Brother Schambach, he asked him: “Now, Pastor Schambach, glory to God, I believed in Jesus Christ, he healed me, he saved me, he is the Son of God, he is our High Priest. But there is one thing I couldn’t understand: why did the earthly priest leave through the door, while Jesus Christ came in through the wall? Why didn’t he just use the door?” Schambach answered him: “Because he is the door (John 10:9)!”
Christ is the door through which we can enter God’s presence. He is the new and living way by which we can approach the throne of grace with boldness, and receive mercy, and find grace to help us in our time of need!