Jesus: Our Priest

Will you pray with me?

Lord, now as we come to your word, we pray.

When we pray for your help, we pray because we need you this morning.

Lord, to illuminate your word to us so that we might understand it rightly.

Lord, to apply it to our hearts, that we might respond as you have called us to respond.

Lord, I ask for your help this morning.

Lord, that I might speak your words and that you might use my words to speak your truth.

Holy Spirit, be with us this morning.

Lord, help us to see the glory and the majesty of Christ.

Lord, what we have just sung, Jesus, in our place, what a great, great truth this is for us.

Lord, we pray these things in Jesus' name.

Amen.

Well, Happy New Year.

It's good to see you all.

We just got back yesterday from traveling to see family, and it's good to be here this morning.

As if you were here last week, you would know that we're doing a mini-series for these three weeks on the threefold offices of Christ.

Jesus as our prophet, priest, and king.

And so this morning, we are going to look at Jesus' high priestly ministry.

And as I was thinking about this message, I asked myself this question.

Why is Jesus' high priestly ministry good news for us?

It doesn't strike us that this is something that is easily accessible.

I don't walk down the street going to stop and shop thinking, I wish I had a better high priest today.

It just doesn't cross our minds.

It's not a part of our culture.

It's not a part of our world.

So we're going to explore what a high priest is, and then we're going to look at what Jesus' high priestly ministry is for us this morning.

If you're here and you're exploring Christianity, we're going to explore and unfold some of the great truths of who Jesus is for us.

If you've been a Christian for the whole of your life, as long as you can remember, we're going to explore Jesus and who He is.

For us.

And whether you're just exploring or have seen these truths for a long time, I hope that you will be encouraged this morning.

So first, we're going to look at just what is a high priest.

And it's interesting to think about the fact that priests have been a part of human, relating, religious life across the ages and across the times.

If you think about cultures far away from our Western culture, they still have priests of some sort.

Not always, but often.

Often there are high priests.

Why do we have this human impulse to have some kind of priest in our religious structure, regardless of what it is?

Well, because I think we have a question of how do we relate to God?

How is it that we as human beings stand before someone who in some way is greater than us or different than us, who is over us and to whom we have to give some kind of account or some kind of reckoning?

And the fact is that we don't want to stand before God on our own.

And so we have priests.

We long for a priest to stand before us instinctively.

I think we know our imperfection.

We know our weakness.

We know our need.

And so the idea of a priest has been a part of religious life throughout, I think, human history.

As we turn to the idea of it in the Bible, I want you to turn with me to Hebrews chapter 9.

Hebrews 9 · chapter mention

Excuse me.

Hebrews chapter 9.

Hebrews 9 · chapter mention

We're going to look at Hebrews chapter 9, verses 1 through 10.

Hebrews 9:1–10

To get a New Testament account of what the high priest did, I thought I'd spare you reading chapters and chapters of Leviticus this morning.

And so we're going to look at a summary in Hebrews chapter 9.

Hebrews 9 · chapter mention

I don't have the page number.

It's 1,000 and something.

And if that'll help.

1,005?

Yeah, there we go.

1,005.

Hebrews chapter 9.

Hebrews 9 · chapter mention

We're going to read verses 1 through 10 just to see how the Bible describes what the purpose of the high priest in the Old Testament was.

Now, even the first covenant had regulations for worship and an earthly place of holiness.

For a tent was prepared, the first section in which were the lampstand and the table and the bread of the presence.

It is called the holy place.

Behind the second curtain was a second section called the most holy place, having the golden altar of incense and the ark of the covenant covered on all sides with gold,

in which was a golden urn holding the manna and Aaron's staff that budded and the tablets of the covenant.

Above it were the cherubim of glory overshadowing the mercy seat of these things we cannot now speak in detail.

That's simply a description of the temple in Jerusalem where the Jewish people would gather to worship.

And then it goes on.

These preparations having thus been made, the priests go regularly into the first section, performing their ritual duties.

But into the second, that is the most holy place.

But into the second, only the high priest goes.

And he but once a year, and not without taking blood, which he offers for himself and for the unintentional sins of the people.

By this, the Holy Spirit indicates that the way into the holy places is not yet opened as long as the first section is still standing,

which is symbolic for the present age.

According to this arrangement, gifts and sacrifices are offered that cannot perfect the conscience of the worshiper,

but deal only with food and drink and various washings, regulations for the body imposed until the time of reformation.

If you want to understand this, go back on the Trinity website.

There are some great sermons on the book of Hebrews from two years ago.

It will get you a whole detail into this.

But basically, what he's describing here is that there was in the temple a special day and a special place

where this man, the high priest, would go once a year.

And he would bear sacrifices for his own sin and for the sin of the nation.

This is the pinnacle of a system of animal sacrifices in the Old Testament.

And we might think, why would God do that?

Isn't this barbaric?

Isn't this primitive?

This can't have anything to do with us.

But I think that, in fact, this whole system was given to point us to a couple of truths.

Pastor Alistair Begg summarized it this way.

He said that the whole sacrificial system and the role of the high priest in it

meant to show that forgiveness is costly

and that the punishment due to sin is death

and that without the shedding of blood, that is, without something actually dying,

sin cannot be removed.

And so the high priest had this essential role of offering up a sacrifice,

an animal sacrifice, each year for the sins of the nation

so that their sins might be covered.

In this, God gave instructions to the people in the Old Testament

about how they might approach him

because it was God himself who dwelt in that most holy place.

The question that I ask for us today is,

with no temple and with no high priest and with no sacrifices,

what do we do?

How do we live seeking to approach God and seeking to please him?

I posit to you that there are two different ways

that we tend to address this question.

The first is that, and this is probably the most common,

that we seek success in trying to be good enough

in our own estimation to be acceptable to God.

We figure that we can actually be a good enough person somehow,

that God ought to accept us.

That seems right to us.

It builds in us a self-confidence.

I'm good enough, don't you think?

But surprisingly, this attempt,

which seems like a very common

and not that hard to accomplish, right?

But in fact, it has this dark underside, doesn't it?

Because seeking to be good enough

is a terrible prison for us, isn't it?

Because it makes us live

with an unending fear of failure.

If we try to be good enough,

we always wonder, what if we blow it?

How badly do we have to blow it?

If we blow it in this way,

what happens to us then?

And we live our lives driven

to be good enough somehow.

Some of this may look like

the more uglier sides of getting ahead first at all costs,

not caring about anything,

but trying to be successful

in the eyes of whatever your subculture is

and however it measures it.

Climbing the corporate ladder,

having enough money,

having power in your society,

whatever it is.

But I think that most of us see those

and we think, well, that's kind of crass and ugly

and an attempt to be good and successful.

How about the more socially acceptable ways

that we pursue this?

I'm going to love my child better than anyone else.

I'm going to be the best volunteer

this nonprofit has ever had.

I'm going to be the most zealous employee

in this company,

not out of self-promotion,

but just so they'll see

what a good hard worker I am.

I'm going to be the straight-A student

who's going to succeed.

Even our best impulses to be good

can be driven by this desire

to be acceptable before God

and make ourself good enough.

And in doing so,

we create a prison of our own success.

Because one of the things that it does

is it means we can't ever admit that we failed.

We can't ever say,

I couldn't do it.

We can't ever admit a weakness,

let alone just a blatant sin.

I was selfish.

I did it because I wanted to hurt that person.

Or whatever it is that we do.

Now, some of us have tried this hamster wheel

of trying to be good enough,

long enough to know

that it doesn't work very well, does it?

We don't want to live in that prison,

but we think,

what do we do?

Where do we go?

And often, I think,

we respond with hopelessness

and despair.

We know we can't measure up.

There's nothing we can do about it.

And so we give up.

Not only have we failed,

but we have become a failure in this world.

And then we just live trying to survive.

But we have stopped seeking God.

We have stopped seeking to approach Him

boldly and confidently.

We have stopped seeking to relate to Him at all

because we know what He thinks of us.

We're a loser.

Friends, this may be true in our culture.

It's actually true,

in fact, as well,

even in our church.

Isn't it?

It's so easy for us to put a religious,

a Christian veneer over this same impulse

and to think,

well, if I know my Bible well enough,

if I've memorized enough verses,

if I'm active in enough activities,

if I'm there at all the work days,

if whatever it is,

you pick your standard,

if I can do it well enough,

wouldn't that be great?

Look at what a good church member I am.

Or we feel like a failure.

We think,

what am I doing here?

Why do I keep coming?

It's just an exercise in hypocrisy.

These people don't know what I'm really like,

and if they did,

they'd kick me out.

That's how we often approach church,

isn't it?

We hide.

We can't admit

what's really going on.

We hide.

We can't admit our failure.

Friends,

this shouldn't be surprising.

Isn't this what we see

even back in the Garden of Eden?

When Adam and Eve fall into sin,

what do they do?

They hide.

They blame shift.

They run away

rather than admitting,

confessing,

revealing

their sin

and their neediness.

I spent all this time

exploring this

because

I hope you see

that we in fact

do need help

in standing before God.

We don't know

how to approach God

on our own.

And instinctively,

deep down,

we know

that we need someone

to stand in our place.

Friends,

this is where

Jesus' high priestly ministry

steps in.

It is God's glorious provision

for us.

And the book of Hebrews

is the place to go

in the New Testament

to see the richness

and the depth

of Jesus' high priestly ministry

for us

and how He stands

before God

on our behalf.

If you want a full account of this,

go read Hebrews 2,

chapter 2 through 9.

It's about seven chapters.

It's rich.

It's deep.

As I said,

there's a great series

of sermons

that some other guys

preached on it

that I highly recommend

and

on our website.

But what we're going to see

is that

Jesus' high priestly ministry

does two things for us.

First,

we're going to look

at chapter 4

and see that

Jesus,

in His high priestly ministry,

He stands with us

in our humanity.

And then secondly,

we're going to see

from chapter 9

that He stands for us

before God.

So let's look first

at Jesus,

our high priest,

standing with us.

Turn with me

to Hebrews chapter 4,

Hebrews 4 · chapter mention

just a few pages back.

Hebrews chapter 4,

Hebrews 4:14–16

verse 14 through 16.

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.

Friends,

one of the glorious

truths of Jesus'

high priestly ministry

is that He stands

with us

in sympathy

with our weakness

and our humanity.

The writer of the Hebrews

has developed

the argument

about Jesus

and His uniqueness

as being both

the God,

as being both

God and man

in His role

that He comes

to be our Redeemer

and our Savior.

And He comes

to this point

and He says,

Jesus has identified

by becoming human,

He has identified

with us

in such a way

that He knows,

He knows what our life

is really like.

God is not a distant,

sovereign dictator

who is unacquainted

and unfamiliar

with the realities

of life

in a broken world.

world.

But as it says

in verse 15,

He is one

who sympathizes

with our weaknesses.

That is,

He feels

with us

what we feel.

He does not

come to us

and berate us.

He does not

come

to condemn

us

in the face

of our temptations.

why are you

so weak?

Buck up!

Get on with it!

What's wrong

with you?

This is what

we hear often,

whether from others

or in

the self-talk

in our own mind.

When we face

temptations,

when we face

trials,

we feel

the weight

of condemnation

so easily.

just for

feeling

our weakness,

not for

the sin.

Jesus comes

and He says,

I understand.

I have

been there.

I remember

once,

I had a coach

in high school,

played lacrosse,

and

He,

one of the things

that He did

with us

is that He

never made us

do a running

drill,

an exercise

that He

wouldn't do

with us.

So He'd be like,

all right,

boys,

this is what

we're doing

today,

right?

And then we'd

line up,

and He'd do it

with us

every time.

And I can't

tell you how

much authority

that gave

Him

to encourage

us,

because He

wasn't just

sitting there

in His lounge

chair,

sipping His

lemonade,

or His Diet

Coke,

or whatever,

saying,

all right,

boys,

go,

go,

you go work,

and I'm

going to sit

here and watch

you do it,

like many coaches

do.

He said,

I'm going to

do this

with you.

And in doing

that,

His encouragement

and His

exhortation

for us to

keep going

and not give

up,

had so much

weight,

because He knew

what it would

cost to do

what He'd

ask us to do.

this is what

Jesus does

for us.

Jesus,

by becoming

a human being

and identifying

with us,

by taking on

human flesh

and walking

in this world,

He knows

our trials.

Now,

some of you

may be sitting

there thinking,

yeah,

but you know

what?

Jesus never

saw internet

pornography.

Jesus never

felt the power

of the boardroom

and the seat.

He never

had two

small children

and two careers

and tried to

juggle that

schedule.

I had a

professor in

seminary who

helped me

understand this

this way.

For temptation

to be real,

it actually has

to have the

force to grab

our attention.

Right?

So,

I might be

tempted.

say I'm

trying to

eat well,

I might be

tempted by

a donut.

Right?

But you know

what?

If I don't

like donuts,

there's no

temptation there.

I just walk

right by it.

It doesn't

matter.

Right?

So,

temptation

only has

power when

there's an

actual

attraction to

doing the

thing that

you're being

tempted to

do.

Now,

Jesus was

rarely tempted

to do many

of the things

that we do.

it seems.

But interestingly,

in Matthew 4,

when the devil

comes to

tempt Jesus,

what does he

tempt him

with?

He tempts

him with the

very thing

that Jesus

would most

care about.

Show the

glory of God

in these

spectacular

ways.

Shortcut

to the

glory of

your kingdom

without the

cross.

Jesus

knows

temptation

greater than

we have

ever faced.

If the

temptations we

feel are like

the waves that

push a pebble

up and down

the beach,

the temptations

that Jesus

faced were

like the

thundering

breakers

breaking on

a rock

on the

main coast,

world,

Jesus

really does

understand.

And he

sympathizes

with our

weakness.

He knew

hunger and

thirst,

tiredness,

the rejection

of family,

the betrayal

of friends.

He knew

the sufferings

of beatings

and of nails

piercing his

hand.

And he knew

death,

the very

thing that we

fear the

most.

He knew

death for

us.

So he does

understand how

hard it

can be to

approach God.

And he says,

stop hiding,

don't give in

to despair,

but because I

understand,

hold fast.

Hold fast to

the confession

of your faith.

Don't give up

when it gets

hard.

Don't give up

when it feels

like you can't

do it anymore.

Don't give up

when you

fail.

Draw near.

Draw near

to the

throne of

God

to find

help

and grace.

Undeserved,

unearned.

Grace that

will help you

in your time

of trial.

come in the

midst of all

the trials

that you

face.

Come and

sit in his

presence

in the depth

of your pain.

Come and

rage against

him in

your anger.

Come

confess your

weakness

and despair.

Come and

receive from

this high

priest all

that you

need.

God

because he

understands

and he

sympathizes

with you.

But you

know,

friends,

maybe you've

had a friend

who's really

good at

sympathizing

with you.

Oh,

I know

that's really

hard.

Oh,

yeah,

that's very

hard.

Yes,

it's very

hard.

And then

at the end

you walk

away and

you think,

well,

at least he

gets it

that it's

hard.

But my

life hasn't

been changed,

has it?

That's not

been very

much help.

Thankfully,

Jesus is

not a

friend like

this.

Because Jesus

has done

more than

just identify

with us

and stand

with us

in weakness.

But Jesus

stands for

us before

God.

And in

doing that,

he accomplishes

something glorious

and wonderful

for us.

Turn back

with me to

chapter 9

of Hebrews.

Hebrews

Hebrews 9 · chapter mention

chapter 9,

we're going

to pick up

in verse 11.

We're going

to read 11

through 14.

Remember,

we read the

beginning of

this chapter

about the

high priest

going in

once a

year.

Here we

see

starting

in verse

11.

But when

Christ

appeared

as a

high priest

of the

good things

that have

come,

then through

the greater

and more

perfect tent

not made

with hands

that is not

of this

creation,

he entered

once for

all into

the holy

places,

not by

means of

the blood

of goats

and of

calves,

by means

of his

own blood,

thus securing

an eternal

redemption.

For if

the blood

of goats

and bulls

and the

sprinkling

of defiled

persons

with the

ashes of

a heifer

sanctify

for purification

of the

flesh,

how much

more

will the

blood of

Christ,

who through

the eternal

spirit offered

himself without

blemish to

God,

purify our

conscience from

dead works

to serve

the living

God.

Jesus

stands for

us.

In this

amazing

image,

Jesus pulls

together two

different threads

in the Old

Testament imagery

because he is in

this image both

the high priest

and the

sacrifice.

And in case

you ever

wanted to

wondered about

this,

this is part of

the beauty

and the complexity

of seeing how

the Old

Testament points

to the new.

It's not a

clean one-to-one

correlation or

correspondence.

It's this rich

tapestry of

interwoven themes

that point to

Jesus.

Jesus is also

the temple,

surprisingly.

So, when you

look at it,

it's this

beautiful picture.

But here in

these verses

particularly,

Jesus is both

the high priest

and the

sacrifice.

He offers

not the blood

of someone

or something

else,

but he offers

his very own

blood,

that is his

very own

life.

Remember when

we talked about

the Old Testament

sacrificial system

and what it

pointed to?

That forgiveness

is costly,

that the penalty

of sin is death,

and a death

must occur

for sin to be

forgiven?

Friends,

this is the

kind of high

priest that we

have,

because he

has paid

that cost

for us.

In Leviticus

16,

the day of

atonement,

this offering,

the human

high priest

would walk

in with

this offering.

He had

two offerings,

one for

himself,

and then

one for

the people.

And tradition

has it

that they

would tie

bells to

the bottom

of his

garments

and tie a

rope around

his ankle

because if

his sins,

if his

sacrifices were

not acceptable

and his

sin before

God was

real and

uncovered,

it would

result in

his death.

And if the

bells stopped

jingling,

they would

pull the

body out

with the

rope.

I'm not

sure that

ever actually

happened,

but it's

the tradition

that we

hear about

that helps

us understand

the severity

of what

happens.

And when

Jesus comes

in,

when Jesus

says,

I am the

high priest

that will

stand before

God

for you

on your

behalf,

and I

will offer

a superior

sacrifice

of my

very own

life

for you.

Jesus is

no longer

simply

sympathizing

with us

in our

weakness,

but he

is solving

the question

that we

started with,

which is

how can a

man stand

before God?

God.

If we

stand before

God in

our sin,

it is our

death that's

required,

and there's

no performance,

no service,

no good

work that

can save

us from

that.

There's

no guilty

feelings,

no religious

penance,

not even

our religious

despair can

save us.

Jesus comes

and he

says,

I can do

what you

cannot do.

I will

be the

high priest

to offer

what you

need.

Jesus offers

his perfect

life of

obedience.

He was,

as we saw

in chapter

four,

without sin,

and so

he did

not stand

under the

curse of

death and

the judgment

of death

that we all

do.

Because he

was without

sin,

he had a

perfect life

to offer,

which meant

that he

did not

have to

die for

his own

sin,

so he

could die

for ours.

In his

humanity,

it meant

that he

could actually

stand in

our place.

Bulls and

goats can

only cover

temporarily,

can only

provide,

as it says,

the purification

of the

flesh.

But Jesus

in his

humanity

identifies with

us so

that the

sacrifice of

his life

is an

even,

an a fair,

and a

just

substitute.

That a

life of a

man was

taken for

the life

of a

man.

His

death is

taken on

our behalf.

And so

the judgment

of God

on our

sin falls

upon him.

And so

Jesus

stands to

intercede

for us.

As

Hebrews

7,

25

says,

consequently

he is

able to

save to

the uttermost

those who

draw near

to God

through him,

since he

always lives

to make

intercession

for them.

What is

that intercession

that he

makes?

He stands

before God,

and when we

come to

God,

Jesus

says,

I suffered

for his

sin.

I suffered

for her

sin.

sin.

They are

taken away.

I have

done that.

I have

done it

once for

all so

that I

never have

to go

back in

again.

I have

done all

that is

needed for

those sins

to be

forgiven.

And I

have risen

from the

dead to

defeat the

power of

sin and

death and

now stand

to eternally

intercede

for you

so that

the redemption

of those

who are in

Christ will

never fail

because he

will never

die and

his sacrifice

is enough.

And so

we have

such a

great high

priest who

has gone

and offered

what we

could not

offer to

give us

what we

could not

attain on

our own.

Acceptance

from God,

forgiveness,

life,

freedom of

living with

him, and

as we saw

in 914,

both the

purity of

our

consciences

and the

freedom from

dead works

to serve

the living

God.

We no

longer have

to live on

the hamster

wheel of

performance,

trying

desperately,

to be

good enough.

We can

spend all

of our

energy

instead

joyfully

serving

God

because he

has saved

us.

What great

work that

is.

Reminds me

of the hymn

Charles

Wesley.

Arise,

my soul,

arise.

Shake off

thy guilty

fears,

thy bleeding

sacrifice,

and my

behalf

appears.

Before the

throne,

my Savior

stands.

My name

is written

on his

hands.

He ever

lives above

for me to

intercede.

With his

redeeming love,

his precious

blood to

plead,

his blood

was spilt

for all

our race

and sprinkles

now the

throne of

grace.

Five bleeding

wounds he

bears,

received on

Calvary.

They pour

effectual

prayers.

They strongly

speak for

me.

Forgive him.

Oh,

forgive,

they cry.

Nor let

that ransom

sinner die.

Friends,

the priestly

office of

Jesus has

achieved our

salvation.

He stands

not only with

us, but for

us before

God so

that we

can know

him.

I pray,

I pray for

our church

regularly that

we would be

a church that

in light of

this would be

able to be

free, free

to confess

our sins and

our failures,

free to

forsake a

life of

performing and

looking good

on the

outside,

free to

come together

as a

community

with a

high priest

who sympathizes

with our

weakness,

and to

take hold

of this

salvation that

we have in

Christ,

so that we

might love

one another,

so that we

might serve

the living God

together,

not hiding,

not despairing,

but worshiping

and rejoicing,

resting in

Jesus, our

great high

priest.

Let's pray.

Father, we

do pray

with

thanksgiving for

the offering

you have made

of your

son, Lord,

that he

willingly gave

himself up for

us, and

Lord, we

thank you

that even

today he

ever lives

to intercede

for us,

that his

blood speaks

and covers

our sin.

For all who

have placed

their faith in

Christ, this

is great news.

God, I pray

this morning if

there's anyone

here who has

not placed their

faith in Jesus

Christ, has

not taken

hold of this

high priest to

be theirs,

has not

trusted in

this sacrifice

that he

offered of

his own

life.

Lord, I

pray that

they would

repent,

repent of

their performance

and their

good works,

repent and

believe in

this Jesus,

and know the

joy of his

salvation.

Lord, I

pray for us

as a church

community that

you might make

us a community

that does not

need to run

or hide, but

Lord, can

rest in the

finished work of

Christ for us,

that all has

been done for

us, and now

we may live,

Lord, a new

and a different

life for you.

Lord, not

hiding our

weaknesses, but

confessing our

sin to one

another, and

knowing that in

Christ we have

the joyful

forgiveness and

the cleansing

of our

consciences that

we need so

desperately.

We pray these

things in Jesus'

name.

Amen.

God bless you.