Wednesday, April 30, 2014

Our Great High Priest

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. 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. 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. - Heb 4:14-16 ESV

How often do we forget or ignore the reality that Jesus is our great high priest?

Do we know that he is our Savior? Check.

Redeemer? Got it.

Substitute? Yep.

Son of God? Amen!

Lord? Harder, but I think we usually get this too.

But High Priest? I'm not sure we know what to do with Jesus in this role. So instead of pressing in and allowing the Spirit to bring the Word to bear, we just move on. After all, it is easier, isn't it? What's the old saying? Ignorance is bliss...

And yet, as one reads through the book of Hebrews, one gets the sense that Jesus as High Priest was significant both to the author and to the people to whom he was passionately ministering. Here are just a few thoughts to whet your appetite and I pray pull you deeper in to both seeing and savoring more of who Jesus is.

First, Jesus, as our high priest, is not approaching the throne from the outside like every other high priest before him, but he is coming out from the altar. He is coming from heaven itself. He really is the Son of God, with all that reality implies. Later the author of Hebrews will clearly state that Jesus does not have to continually offer a sacrifice for himself as all prior high priests did. And, the sacrifice he did offer was not for his sins but for ours. Jesus is the one and only high priest sent from heaven for us.

Next, we hold on to our faith because Jesus is our high priest. Elsewhere the Bible is clear that Jesus preserves us. John 10 is a great example of this. And yet the author of Hebrews is exhorting his flock hold fast to their confession. The reason he gives is simply because Jesus, the Son of God, came from heaven to be our great high priest. Maybe it goes without saying, but I find it quite compelling that the Biblical writers don't often feel the need to coax or cajole us into obedience. For them it is a simple reality. If Jesus is who he says he is, obedience is not an option.

Beyond this is the truth that the role of high priest was to represent men and women before God. The high priest needed to identify with God and his holiness and yet also identify with mankind and our falleness. The priests in the Old Testament could not do this perfectly because they were just as sinful as the rest of us and thus couldn't really identify with God.  And, if Jesus had simply been God or even an angel, he couldn't identify with us. But in his incarnation Jesus, Son of God, sent from heaven for us can now sympathize with our temptation to sin. He now knows hunger and grief and humiliation and abandonment. Yet without sin. Because Jesus came here, not just as an observer, but as a participant, we can never claim that he doesn't get it or that my temptation or sin or circumstance is somehow greater than the Spirit can overcome. And because he is our sympathetic high priest, he is ready to forgive us and accept us when we confess, repent and believe.

And finally (at least for this post) Jesus, Son of God, sent from heaven to be our sympathetic high priest, has opened the door for us to the very throne of God. This is significant because it is a reversal of the at least part of the curse from Genesis 3. Man and woman were banished from God's presence due to their rebellion. But now, in Christ, we can return to the God who loves us. And we can return not as conquered foes nor as groveling servants, but as confident, beloved children. And as children our confidence is in our loving Father who will richly give us grace and mercy. It is amazing to think that God is always going to give us what is best in response to our prayers. Not always what we want, but always what is best.

So Jesus is our great high priest. He is certainly many other things, but let us remember that it is because he is interceding for us right now that our faith has not failed, we are able to have victory over sin and we are confident that there is an inheritance kept in heaven for us that is unfading, in unblemished and imperishable.

To God Alone be the Glory

Friday, April 18, 2014

Its Friday...

but Sunday's coming!

Thanks to Justin Taylor: http://thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/justintaylor/2014/04/18/its-fridaybut-sundays-comin

The audio is from Easter meditation S.M. Lockridge (1913-2000), pastor of Calvary Baptist Church in San Diego from 1953 to 1993.



http://vimeo.com/39886827

It’s Friday
Jesus is praying
Peter’s a sleeping
Judas is betraying
But Sunday’s comin’

It’s Friday
Pilate’s struggling
The council is conspiring
The crowd is vilifying
They don’t even know
That Sunday’s comin’

It’s Friday
The disciples are running
Like sheep without a shepherd
Mary’s crying
Peter is denying
But they don’t know
That Sunday’s a comin’

It’s Friday
The Romans beat my Jesus
They robe him in scarlet
They crown him with thorns
But they don’t know
That Sunday’s comin’

It’s Friday
See Jesus walking to Calvary
His blood dripping
His body stumbling
And his spirit’s burdened
But you see, it’s only Friday
Sunday’s comin’

It’s Friday
The world’s winning
People are sinning
And evil’s grinning

It’s Friday
The soldiers nail my Savior’s hands
To the cross
They nail my Savior’s feet
To the cross
And then they raise him up
Next to criminals

It’s Friday
But let me tell you something
Sunday’s comin’

It’s Friday
The disciples are questioning
What has happened to their King
And the Pharisees are celebrating
That their scheming
Has been achieved
But they don’t know
It’s only Friday
Sunday’s comin’

It’s Friday
He’s hanging on the cross
Feeling forsaken by his Father
Left alone and dying
Can nobody save him?
Ooooh
It’s Friday
But Sunday’s comin’

It’s Friday
The earth trembles
The sky grows dark
My King yields his spirit

It’s Friday
Hope is lost
Death has won
Sin has conquered
and Satan’s just a laughin’

It’s Friday
Jesus is buried
A soldier stands guard
And a rock is rolled into place

But it’s Friday
It is only Friday
Sunday is a comin’!