Draw Near
It’s safe to say that no Hebrew man or Hebrew woman in 1st century AD, would have heard the term “High Priest” and wondered what it was referencing. Upon hearing it, most of them would have pictured a man: who had a bloodline that traced back through Aaron to Levi, who was clothed with an Ephod, and crowned with a turban, and who once a year would go into the Holy of Holies, to offer sacrificial blood for the covering over sin.
Jesus met none of these criteria. Not a single one. He was from the tribe of Judah, not Levi. He was clothed in simple garments, befitting the labor of a carpenter. He was visiting the Temple, sure, but not entering in – at least not into the Holy of Holies.
Yet, the author to the Hebrews, transitioning from a focus on Jesus’ superiority to angels, and to Moses, is now making the claim that Jesus, the Son of God, is, in fact, the Great High Priest — Better than the High Priests from the line of Aaron.
And it’s a claim he’s going to expound upon in detail from here all the way up to the midpoint of chapter 10 — five chapters worth of turning the diamond of Jesus’ appointment as Great High Priest and the offering he provides, in comparison to the High priesthood of Aaron.
In today’s text, we have in miniature many of the facets of Jesus’ High Priestly ministry that will be explained at length in later sections. So, we’re going to content ourselves with majoring on a few of them here, minoring on others, trusting that those minors will become majors in the weeks to come.
So, we’re going to major on three characteristics of Jesus as the Great High Priest: He is Son, he is sinless, and he is sympathetic.
We’ll begin with son.
Son
Right away we’ll note the connection between Jesus as Great High Priest and Jesus as Son.
The text begins, 4:14,
“Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God.”
In 5:6 we see,
“You are a priest forever.” right before that, (5:5) “You are my Son, today I have begotten you.”
5:10,
“Being designated by God a High Priest” a little earlier, verse 8, “Although he was a Son”
Three times over, Hebrews labors to show us that the office of Great High Priest, and the office of the Son of God, are held by the same man – the God-man, Jesus. Hebrews wants us to see that Jesus’ Sonship, and Jesus’ Great Priesthood, go together, function together, are joined at the hip so to speak.
And we, of course, want to ask, why?
Why these two – Priest and Son? I mean, Jesus is also the Good Shepherd…why not put Priest and Shepherd together here? Jesus is Prophet. Why not put Priest and Prophet together here? Is it as if Hebrews has before it the mix-and-match combo of Jesus’ titles, and simply selects this one out of all the other options? Or, is the pairing of High Priest with Son of God particularly significant?
One way to answer that question is to look through the Bible as a whole and ask, “have we seen priest and Son paired together before?” The answer is yes. Prior to the pairing of Priest and Son in Hebrews, we see the same pairing in Exodus. God says of his people, the Israelites, about to exit Egypt,
“Israel is my firstborn son, and I say to you, ‘Let my son go that he may serve me.’” (Exodus 4:22-23)
Later, in Exodus 19, God’s speaking again to this people,
“You shall be to me a kingdom of priests” (19:6)
It’s not insignificant, we just got done talking about this very people who, though called God’s son (lowercase “s”), and a kingdom of priests, hardened their hearts in their rebellion against God. The priest-Son, of the exodus generation failed.
Is that the Priest-Son Hebrews has in mind here? Is he wanting to connect Jesus to the failed Priest-Son of Exodus? Look at the center pairing of Priest-Son in 5:5-6. It’s at the very center of this section’s chiastic structure, which is really the author’s way of saying, “You want to know what the big idea is here? Well, I’ve framed it up for you, with matching ideas on either side that lead you in to the dead center, where we find, “You are my Son” and “You are a Priest forever.” Note where these two quotes are coming from. “You are my Son” is not quoting Exodus, but Psalm 2. “You are a Priest forever” is not quoting Exodus, but Psalm 110.
See though in the Exodus generation, like Adam in the Garden before them, we find a failed priest-son, its in the Psalms, beginning in Psalm two and stretching on through to Psalm 110, that we’re told of another Priest-Son to come who will succeed. This Priest-Son is foretold in Psalm 2,
“I will tell of the decree: The LORD said to me, “You are my Son; today I have begotten you. Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage, and the ends of the earth your possession.”
And he arrives, and is enthroned, in Psalm 110,
“The LORD says to my Lord: ‘Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool.’ [and] The LORD has sworn and will not change his mind, ‘You are a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.’”
This is incredible. Hebrews is looking back on that plotline from the Psalms and saying Psalm 2 and Psalm 110 are about Jesus – the story of the Son enthroned in heaven as a Priest forever, foretold in the Psalms, is about Jesus. And, by the way, the Gospels seem to be picking up on the same story. Jesus’ baptism, at the very beginning of his ministry, we hear Psalm 2:
“This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased”
And days before his death, Jesus implying himself as Messiah, quotes Psalm 110,
“The Lord said to my Lord, ‘Sit at my right hand, until I put your enemies under your feet’” [and then he adds] If then David calls him Lord, how is he his son?”
Hebrews, pulling from the Psalms, and perhaps the gospels as well, is pointing out that: the same Son whom God appointed the heir of all things and through whom also he created the world, the same son who is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, the same son who upholds the universe by the word of his power, the same Son foretold in Psalm 2, and enthroned in Psalm 110 has become the Great High Priest, who after making purification for sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high (Heb. 1:2-3).
“You are my Son” and “You are a Priest forever” are being said of the same person, and his name is Jesus.
Jesus, Great High Priest, is the Son of God.
Sinless
Jesus is Son, and he’s also sinless.
The High Priests in Jerusalem were “Chosen from among men” (5:1). Mere men. Flesh, bone, a heart deceitful above all things (Jer. 17:9). Like the people they represented, they too were ignorant, wayward, of the flesh, sold under sin, perhaps possessing the desire to do what was right, but, without the ability to carry it out (Rom. 7:14, 18).
They, every single one of them, chapter 5, verse 2, were beset with weakness. Lacking the strength needed to live holy in a sinful world. For this reason, they were obligated to offer sacrifice for their own sins just as they did for the sins of the people (5:3). They, in a very real way, approached God with the blood of a spotless lamb, while clothed in garments stained by their own sin (Jude 1:23, Zech. 3:3).
Jesus, on the other hand, the Great High Priest, is sinless. Peerless in holiness before God.
Glorious, right? Much better than the High Priests beset with weakness, right? But how does it make you feel to know that your Great High Priest is sinless? How do you perceive him knowing that he, unlike you and me, never committed a single sin, nor was deceit ever found in his mouth (1 Peter 2:22)? Would you expect such a Priest to be relationally warm to you, near to you, interested in you, involved with your life, or knowing that you’ve sinned, and that he never did, might you, even subconsciously, assume him to be cold to you, distant, cut-off, disinterested, maybe even slightly bothered by your constant need for help?
Ask it in another way: do you picture the holy one beckoning you toward him with open arms, or turning his face away from you in hopes you stay where you are? Does his sinlessness make you think, “Oh, well if that’s how he is, then he must be very, very far away from me.” See when a sinful people hear about a sinless man we don’t, by nature, assume affection.
Hebrews is not surprised by that. In fact, it almost seems to ask, “would it, perhaps, change your perception of him if I told you that your sinless Great High Priest knows what it feels like to be tempted and to suffer?
Sympathetic
Hebrews 4:15,
“We do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses.”
Any guess as to why the author uses a double-negative here (we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize). I mean double-negatives tend to mess us up a bit. We might read them and think they’re saying one thing when in fact they’re saying another thing, and that’s the reason all our middle school English teachers told us to get rid of them. Well Hebrews uses a double-negative here because he knows what we’re all assuming: if Jesus is that great, then surely he doesn’t get us. If Jesus is that perfect, certainly he’s going to be annoyed by our weaknesses. If Jesus is that spotless, then obviously he’s not going to sympathize with our weakness.
Hebrews jumps in and says, no, no, no, no, I know what you are thinking and I’m telling you, “We do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses.” And for clarity, we can take the two negatives of this sentence and let them cancel each other out, the sentence reads, “For we do have a high priest who is able to sympathize with our weaknesses.” We do! We have a high priest who is able to sympathize with our weaknesses.
Jesus, can you sympathize with our weakness? Can you lean in when we’re feeling weary? Can you be there for us when we feel we can no longer carry on? Jesus says, “Yeah, I can do that, cause I know what is feels like to be human in a broken world.”
See that’s the thing, isn’t it? Jesus’ sinlessness is not a distant and untested sinlessness. It’s not a sinlessness that was never once challenged to obey in the face of incoming trains of suffering. It’s not a sinlessness via a lack of contact with a sinful world, lack of leaning in to life here, lack of breathing this air and walking this ground and dealing with what we call “real life.” He is not the CEO on the top floor who’s never put his hands to the work in the warehouse.
Remember, Jesus, took up residence here, lived life here, and was tested, here.
For 30 years from Jerusalem, to Egypt, to Nazareth, to Galilee, to the Decapolis, to Perea, and back again. From the fields, to the deserts, to the mountains, to the seas. From the manger, to his home, to an upper room, to the Temple, to the cross, before Pharisees, Priests, Sadducees, Scribes. Before tax collectors, fishermen, centurions, the paralyzed, the sick, the leprous. Before family, friend and foe, and even as the family and friends turned into foes. Whether working, resting, talking, listening, walking, sitting, waking, sleeping.
Jesus, The Great High Priest, entirely unlike the High Priests in the line of Aaron, endured the trials, and the troubles, and the torments of this world “Yet without sin.”
Ever obedient to the Father from eternity past, learned a new form of obedience here — obedience in the ring of suffering (5:8). Ever Perfect from before the dawning of time, he was made perfect here as he lived out a full, and holy, human life (5:9). And though he could have at any moment called down a myriad of angels to come to his aid, he, instead, offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, in reverence, and trust, that he’d be heard by His Father (5:7).
So stand in awe of him. And recognize, that the one who is the source of eternal salvation to all who obey him knows what it feels like to be human. He, get this, he, the Son of God, the second person of the Trinity, the one who upholds the universe by the word of his power, knows what is feels like to be weak.
You ever felt weak? It’s kind of like asking, “You ever breathed air before? I mean we are beset with weakness.
Maybe for you, you’ve known a weight of depression that can hang so heavy upon you, seem so authoritative over you, make you feel like you just have nothing – no energy, nor desire to overcome it.
Maybe you’re all too familiar with temptation to sin, how it lures you in, wraps its tentacles around you, whispers “Just give in, you know it’s inevitable, you’ve been here before, you are without strength to fight it.”
Maybe it’s anger, or envy, or pride, or sloth that at just the moment you think you’ve rid yourself of it, there it is again!
Have you felt weak, without strength? The shocking truth is that in the midst of your weakness, Jesus, the sinless Great High Priest, is not leaning away from you with, “Listen, I don’t get what the problem is,” but leaning in, saying, “I’m here, I’m listening, I’m here to help.”
Therefore, Draw Near
For The Christian
What then shall we say in response to these things?
“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” (4:16).
See this is where it all comes together — the call to draw near to a throne, and not just any throne, but the very throne of God Most High! The very throne from which flows flashes of lightning, rumblings and peals of thunder, the very throne that’s lined by the seven torches of fire – the seven spirits of God, the very throne that’s surrounded by a sea of glass and the four living creatures – full of eyes around and within – who day and night never cease to say,
“Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come!”
Hebrews says draw near to that throne, go forward to that throne, in your time of greatest need, and deepest shame, and most discouraging moments, move onward, and unencumbered, with greatest certainty, and surest boldness to that throne, because Jesus is standing there — as Son, at the right hand of the Father and as Great High Priest, ever living to intercede for you.
Make no mistake my brothers and sisters, the throne of God in heaven is a throne of grace!
You’ve been walking away from the Lord for some time. You’ve been indulging in the sinful pleasures of this world. You’ve been gone for too long, ignored him for too long, run away for too long. No, no you haven’t. You can yet draw near, with the confidence of Jesus’ blood shed for you, his throne is a throne of grace!
Sexual sin has gotten a hold of you, you keep trying to hide it, you keep trying to suppress it, but it’s just gotten darker, gotten deeper, just gotten a stronger grip upon you, you’ve run up a debt of sin too great for him to pardon. No, you haven’t. You can yet draw near, to his throne of grace!
You’ve gotten bitter at God, doubtful of God, he’s not provided you with the job you wanted, the spouse you wanted, the children you wanted, the health you wanted, and you feel as if he has showed up for everyone around but you, and you’ve reached the point where you just don’t have the ability any more, or desire any more, or capacity any more to wait for Him. No you haven’t. Draw near, his throne is a throne of grace!
In the midst of the strongest temptations, after succumbing to the greatest of sins, in all the moments when you think:
“I don’t have enough energy for what I got to do today”
“I have to make this decision and I just don’t have the wisdom to know what to do”
“I have all this stress, and all this fear, and all this temptation, and all this pain, and all this weakness, and I’m just now waking up to the fact that I am just a human.”
Draw near, to the Beloved Son of the Father who calls you brother!
Draw near to the Great High Priest who washes you white as snow!
Draw near, my brothers and sisters, to the throne of grace!
For Non-Christians
And for those who’ve never drawn near to this throne. Assumed he wouldn’t want you there, assume you wouldn’t be welcomed in, assumed you’d need to clean yourself up and get your act together first, hear his words to you, right now, as he calls to you, literally, from his throne of grace,
“Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me. The one who conquers, I will grant him to sit with me on my throne, as I also conquered and sat down with my Father on his throne.” (Rev. 3:20-21)
Do you hear his voice? Open the door, draw near to him as he draws near to you. And if you’re wondering, “How do I do that? What does that mean? A few of us will be up hear and would love to talk with you about what drawing near, as a sinner in need of a Savior, looks like.
Brothers and sisters, Jesus has passed through the heavens into the very presence of his father and is standing ever ready for you to draw near to him in your time of need. So, draw near. Draw near.
Table
And this brings us to the table. Each Sunday we come together we land here, at the Table. It’s at this table we remember that Jesus came to live and to die and to rise again for you and for me. It’s at this table we remember, and we celebrate, and we proclaim, that he has become the source of eternal salvation to all who obey him.
So if you’re here today and you’ve trusted in Jesus, if you’ve put your faith in Jesus, if you’ve drawn near and are continuing to draw near, then we invite you to take and eat. If you’ve not put your trust in Jesus, we ask that you’d let the elements pass, you not partake, but we pray you would, in this moment, draw near, for the very first time, to him by faith.