Where are you running to?

Good morning. So we're going to be reading from Hebrews chapter 4, starting at verse 14 and going through to chapter 5, verse 10.

Hebrews 4 · chapter mention

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.

For every high priest chosen from among men is appointed to act on behalf of men in relation to God to offer gifts and sacrifices for sins.

He can deal gently with the ignorant and wayward, since he himself is beset with weakness.

Because of this, he is obligated to offer sacrifice for his own sins, just as he does for those of the people.

And no one takes this honour for himself, but only when called by God, just as Aaron was.

So also, Christ did not exhort himself to be made a high priest, but was appointed by him who said to him,

You are my Son, today I have begotten you.

As he says also in another place,

You are a priest forever, after the order of Melchizedek.

In the days of his flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications,

with loud cries and tears to him who was able to save him from death,

and he was heard because of his reverence.

Although he was a son, he learned obedience through what he suffered.

And being made perfect, he became the source of all eternal salvation to all who obey him,

being designated by God a high priest after the order of Melchizedek.

Thank you, everyone.

There we go, I'm on.

We couldn't have actually, I don't think we could have actually matched a better song with this passage today,

so thanks, Musos.

Well, two years ago, a remarkable survival story took place in the depths of the Amazon jungle.

A light aircraft travelling with three adults and four kids just nosedived into the dense jungle in Colombia.

All three adults died, sadly died pretty quickly,

leaving four kids behind, all under 13 years of age, alone and fighting the odds to survive.

The Colombian government mobilised a rescue force of elite commandos,

indigenous trackers and sniffer dogs as well.

And the search team looked everywhere for them, but they couldn't find them initially.

In fact, it took them two weeks just to find the plane,

only to realise the kids might still be alive.

Then they used helicopters to fly over a vast area,

and they had these mega speakers on the helicopters to broadcast a message

from the children's grandmother,

trying to encourage the kids to stay close to water, to stay safe.

Forty days, 40 days after the plane crash,

an indigenous tracker found all four kids barely alive,

only five kilometres from the plane.

After they received medical treatment, following the rescue,

they uncovered why it had taken so long for the rescuers to find the kids.

Even though they found clues along the way, like clothing items and footprints,

it took them so long to find them.

What they found out was they discovered before the accident,

events had happened in their home life that meant the children were scared to go back home.

So instead of running to the comfort and the safety of rescuers,

they chose to hide the fear of their own life,

because they thought things would get worse, not better, being found.

Well, we've been digging into the book of Hebrews in recent weeks,

and we've heard about the temptation present for Jewish believers at the time

to turn and run from their faith as they experienced hardship and trial.

Just like the four kids hiding from the rescue team,

the Jewish believers were tempted to give up on the safety that they could find in Jesus.

And, you know, I think we find ourselves very much in common

with the Jewish believers here in Hebrews, and the kids as well in the story.

In fact, we don't actually get a lot of detail in Hebrews

on what this difficult situation was about.

It looks like God's actually deliberately left it that way for us.

But those Jews in Hebrews, these kids, they're not so different to us, are they?

They're not so different to us.

They got anxious and scared about their future,

and they could get down about their present trials and temptations.

Don't we do just the same thing?

Perhaps you might think, and some people might argue,

look, life's pretty good here in Australia.

Like, you know, we can just whinge and complain about life.

It's an Australian thing to do.

Well, in many ways, we've got a great country.

Like, you know, we can worship with freedom.

We have some incredible tools and devices.

Who doesn't have an Android or an iPhone or something like that?

And we've got this super easy access nearly to whatever we want.

Like, you can go online and watch a movie.

You can online shop.

You can go into the shops and get just about any food that you'd like these days.

Yet, for all that, this generation is now being called the anxious generation.

And family relationships and separations are in free fall.

It's the worst it's ever been in our country.

And we're living in a very individualistic and modern...

..a very individualistic society in our modern era.

We have more ways to be connected than ever before,

yet so many people are feeling so disconnected and lonely.

So today, what we're doing is we're looking at why Jesus is better,

why he's always worth running to,

and why we can run to Jesus even when we think life is a total mess.

Because even when we think life is a total mess, Jesus still gets it.

He understands and he can deal with us gently because of who he is.

And we're going to go through four reasons today that that's the case.

Those four points are,

Jesus was sinless and resisted all temptation.

He's gentle and he can sympathise with our weakness.

He was raised to life and appointed to rescue us.

And he has modelled to us how to run to the Father

even when it comes to life or death.

Well, if you've got your Bibles there,

let's start by turning to verse 14.

Let's jump straight in.

It says this,

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.

You'll notice, firstly, we have this powerful term.

Jesus references himself as the great high priest.

Now, I'm not sure for you,

but I actually struggled in preparing for this to engage with this concept of priest.

Yet, the further into this passage I went,

it just became more and more clear.

It's critical.

For our understanding of Jesus,

we need to know what that means.

It's another dimension to who he is.

And he's not just a high priest.

He is the great high priest.

So, what's so hard about getting the idea of a high priest?

Firstly, it's a bit like a foreign language to us.

You know, when we think of priest,

we tend to think orthodoxy, institution,

like the Catholic Church or the High Anglican Church.

And, look, let's just call it,

if we said priest bot or priest Calderwood,

you'd probably have a laugh, right?

You'd probably think, that's a bit weird.

Dave Calderwood wouldn't be too impressed by that either.

I think people have tried that on him.

But, look, when we think of these institutions,

like the Catholic Church or that High Anglican Church,

it's hard not to consider recent history, isn't it?

It's really hard.

The spotlight has been put on priests

for their abuse of their power and positions,

most recently the sex abuse scandal

that the Royal Commission brought into light.

And it's done real damage to the view of clergy.

And might I even say,

the use of the name priest

might even feel a little bit repulsive to us.

So to try and get a clear picture

and try and understand what we talk about

with Old Testament priests

and Jesus being the great high priest,

we are talking about an extremely unique role,

a holy calling at a time and place

that God chose in history.

And it was this time in history,

the Israelite people in the Old Testament,

he showed his grace in a unique way towards his people

by having a selected person to represent the people to him.

It was all about God's grace and mercy.

And that's why the priests were installed as mediators.

Yet for all the priests that came and went in Israel,

the good and the bad,

there was a common problem that plagued them all.

And you see it as we touch down in 4 verse 15

and 5 verse 3.

They understood the weakness of the people stuck in sin,

but they couldn't escape that same weakness themselves.

Even they had to sacrifice for their own sins

every single year.

And Jesus, he was like these priests,

but he was different.

He is the ultimate,

the great high priest

because he is totally sinless.

So we can run to Jesus

because he is sinless

and he resisted all temptation.

Follow me with this in Hebrews 4.15

where it says he is genuinely able

to sympathise with our weakness.

Now there is a real emphasis here

and it picks up along these lines.

It's basically saying that

because Jesus resisted all temptation,

he can sympathise with us

like no other priest could

have ever done before him.

In fact, like no other person ever has.

Because in every respect,

Jesus has been tempted.

Meaning in every single way,

he has known temptation,

but he's never given in.

So he's in the perfect position

to understand exactly

what you and I are going through today.

Well, someone might argue,

well, look, Jesus never gave in to sin.

So how does he really

actually know what it felt like?

Well, in the story I told you earlier

about the kids surviving in the Amazon,

the oldest child,

a 13-year-old girl,

is credited with keeping alive

her younger siblings.

They were nine, four,

and 11 months.

Look at that,

an 11-month-year-old

survived 40 days.

So when she was interviewed

after the event,

she said at one point

she was tempted to walk out

and leave the three of them.

And she did.

She left briefly for 20 minutes,

but then she came back.

Now, for the sake of her own survival,

she would have known

it would have been easier

to make it alive without them.

She was having to share the food.

They had to split it between them.

But she never would have known.

If she walked away,

she never would have known

what it would have been like

10 minutes later,

an hour later,

or a day later.

So to this day,

probably better than anyone

here in this room,

she would understand

how great the temptation can be

to sacrifice your own family

for yourself.

She would know that better

than all of us.

It's just like this with Jesus, right?

He never laid down or walked away.

He endured without giving up.

So therefore,

he knows the strength of temptation

better than any of us.

And it's only because

he can better understand temptation

that he can sympathise with us

like no one else ever could.

Now, the word sympathise here is key.

We need to understand it.

It's the basic idea.

It's the joining of two words,

and that is with and to suffer.

So it's not just a feeling.

Sympathise is not just a feeling.

It often gets thought of that way.

It's actually a depth

of togetherness in pain.

It's saying in our pain,

Jesus is pained.

Not that he is threatened by it.

He's not threatened by it.

He's God.

But in the sense that

he can't help but be drawn to it.

In fact,

because he's been on the journey

before himself

with temptation and pain,

in his love,

he cannot be held back

when he sees us there.

I think this just absolutely

blows out of the water,

the idea that only

when life is going well,

God is there with me

or his favour is on me.

Ever heard anyone say that before?

No.

In fact,

when you are in a mess,

Jesus is drawn to help you.

He knows what it's like

to be thirsty,

to be hungry,

to be homeless,

rejected,

misunderstood,

embarrassed,

shamed,

tortured

and ultimately killed.

So,

we can run to Jesus

because he is gentle

and he can sympathise

with our weakness.

Jesus knows

we get tunnel vision.

We get tunnel vision

big time

when life's a mess.

He gets it.

We can start to question

and doubt

that what he says is true

and who he is

is good.

Jesus was just like us

except instead of being

sinfully weak,

he was sinlessly weak.

Hebrews 5 verse 2

Hebrews 5:2

says these words,

he can deal gently

with the ignorant

and wayward

since he himself

is beset

with weakness.

Now,

I really like

Dan Ortland's take on this.

A few of you might have read

the book Gentle and Lowly

but this is what he says.

The point is

that Jesus deals gently

and only gently

with all sinners

who come to him

irrespective of their

particular offence

and just how heinous it is.

What elicits tenderness

from Jesus

is not the severity

of the sin

but whether the sinner

comes to him.

The key

is coming

and drawing near

to him

and the language

of drawing near

is reminiscent

of the worship

of Old Testament Israel

where people

would draw near

to God.

at the tabernacle

or the temple

and the priests

that had even more

intimate access.

They drew near

to the altar.

The high priest

having the greatest

access of all

drawing near

to the ark,

the holy place,

the holy of holies,

symbolically God's throne.

So the wonder

of 4 verse 16

is that we

can all approach.

That we can all

approach

all the way

and we can do so

with confidence

and that the throne

we approach

is not a throne

of judgment

and condemnation

but one of grace

and mercy

with Jesus

as the high priest.

On the other hand,

if we don't

come to Jesus

because we don't

know Jesus,

just like if the priest

didn't bring the sacrifice

for the people,

we have a very

different result.

Jesus'

lamb-like tenderness

cannot be extended

to us.

Instead,

we would only know

the fierceness

of a lion-like judgment.

A few years ago,

I spent some time

working at the

Mater Hospital

in the drug

and alcohol team

and a rare opportunity

came up for me

to sit in on

a two-week program

to help people

recover from

drug and alcohol

addiction.

And in this

two-week program,

people recovering

from addiction,

they watched videos,

they listened to speakers

and generally shared ideas

how they could be

motivated towards

long-lasting change.

They'd seen

the wreck and ruin

that drugs and alcohol

had brought to their lives,

an addiction to drugs

and alcohol.

One of those days,

there was an unforgettable

speaker who introduced

himself and he told

the group this.

He said,

I'm a recovering

alcoholic.

I haven't touched

a drop of alcohol

in over two decades.

When he said that,

it was like you could

hear a pin drop

in the room.

Everyone was listening.

He went on to say,

I'm still a recovering

alcoholic because I know

if I go back to it,

it will own me.

And he made

this observation.

He made this observation.

He realised,

and he said,

he told us

about this constant

anchor

for a few people

like him

that had been

addicted

but had now stopped.

he told us

it was the relationship

with Jesus

that made

all the difference.

That's what Jesus

is like in his tenderness.

Even those battling

the worst addictions

and hidden scars

can look to him

for all they need.

Isn't that the kind

of gentleness

we all look for

in a relationship?

Someone who can

see all our flaws

yet love us anyway?

It's one of the

deepest longings

we all have

to be fully known

with all our failures

and mistakes

and yet fully loved.

How could we not

feel drawn

to that kind of love?

What's so extraordinary

about this passage

is it's not just

in Jesus' humanity

he reaches us

in this way.

In Hebrews 5 verse 5

Hebrews 5:5

we hear these words.

So also Christ

did not

sorry I'll start again.

So also Christ

did not exalt himself

to be made

a high priest

but was appointed

by him

who said to him

you are my son

today

I have

forgotten you.

So he says also

in another place

you are a priest

forever after the

order of Melchizedek.

So again we hear

what totally set

Jesus apart

as unique

to any other

priest before him.

This kind of love

and gentleness

began in the

halls of heaven.

In 5 verse 5

we hear Jesus

is appointed

by God the Father.

Jesus was

hand selected

by the Father

to become

human like us

and in total

humility

Jesus went

before the cross

knowing the

will of the

Father

that special

selection

would mean

he would be

begotten for us.

What does

begotten actually

mean?

Well the word

begotten

is actually

first mentioned

as a promise

in Psalm 2

Psalms 2:7

verse 7

so you can look

there if you like

but the answer

for what it means

actually comes

from Acts 13

Acts 13:32–34

verse 32

to 34

and it's

where Paul

is speaking

to fellow

believers

and he speaks

to the promise

being fulfilled

that Jesus

would be

raised to life

or resurrected

for us

so forgiveness

of sins

could be preached

to us.

So we can run

to Jesus

because he was

raised to life

and appointed

by God

for that very

purpose

for us

and his

ultimate

tenderness

and mercy

came to us

only because

he was appointed

to be

forgotten for us.

At the

ultimate cost

to Jesus

with his

life

he set

in motion

a change

that forever

put sin

to the sword

that forever

made Jesus

the great

high priest.

Hebrews 1

Hebrews 1:3

verse 3

says

after the

purification

of sins

he sat down

at the right

hand of majesty

on high.

This is the

throne of grace

in verse 16

the very one

we can now

approach boldly

because of

God's appointment

for Jesus

to give us

a grace

and tenderness

we never

deserved.

Now there's

more to be said

about the role

of Melchizedek

and I'm glad

Lockheed touched

on it in the

kids talk today

Jesus is compared

to his lineage

and it's an

important area

but we're not

going there today

because David

will be talking

to that in more

depth in a

couple of

weeks.

It pops up

again in

Hebrews a

couple of

times and

much more

in a couple

of weeks.

Well we

started talking

today about

how it's easy

for our

intuition to

tell us that

when things get

difficult in

life we're

more alone

than ever.

The good

news we hear

in God's

word is there

is a different

story when

you come to

Jesus.

And look I

think modern

psychology

modern psychology

points out

helpfully that

we can have a

tendency to

fight, flight

or freeze when

we get

overwhelmed.

You'd notice

that you know

like if you

were shocked

and stood

next to a

snake you're

either going to

want to kill

it, run away

or you'll be

frozen in the

moment.

That's what

happens when

you get

overwhelmed.

It's an

entirely typical

human instinct

when trouble

comes for

our brain

to like

kick into

survival mode.

The alarm

switches, we

go into

survival mode.

But what I

love about

Hebrews, what

I love about

this section

of scripture

is Jesus

shows us an

entirely different

picture, an

entirely different

way of reacting

to trouble.

He shows us

through his own

life how he

ran to the

father even

when it's

life or death.

Verse 7 to

9 says this,

please follow

with me in

your Bibles,

in the days

of his

flesh, Jesus

offered up

prayers and

supplications

with loud

cries and

tears to

him who

was able to

save him

from death.

And he

was heard

because of

his reverence.

Although he

was a son,

he learned

obedience

through what

he suffered.

Hear the

pain in

these words

with loud

cries and

tears,

with loud

cries and

tears.

As Jesus

prepared in

the garden

of

Gethsemane

for death,

he prayed.

Can you

imagine the

temptation for

Jesus to

demand a

different result?

He could

have called

a legion of

angels to

his rescue,

but he

didn't.

With

meekness and

gentleness,

Jesus stood

before the

father.

In total

humility, he

went before

us.

And he

did that so

we no longer

need to fix

our eyes on

our sin

anymore, but

on him.

We've

talked about

temptation in

Hebrews today.

Isn't it

interesting in

the garden of

Gethsemane that

Jesus told his

disciples not

just once but

twice to

pray.

Watch and

pray that you

may not enter

into temptation.

Even when the

disciples did not

listen to Jesus

and kept

sleeping on the

very cusp of

Jesus being

betrayed, he

offered mercy to

the disciples.

He said he

understood the

spirit was

willing, but

the flesh was

weak.

How much

more will he

do for us

now that he's

passed into the

heavens on the

throne of grace

and calls us to

draw near to

him?

There is

something else to

notice at

Gethsemane.

Jesus had

help from the

father and he

had companionship

from the

disciples, even

though they did

a pretty dodgy

job, right?

Just when he

needed them the

most, but he

still had their

companionship.

So Jesus drew

near vertically

and horizontally.

I think this is a

good application

point.

I think we

should stop and

ask, are we

doing the same or

are we battling

things alone,

trying to solve

things ourselves?

Sometimes during

difficulties we're

tempted to throw

in the lot and

look somewhere else

than Jesus.

So a word of

encouragement, if

you find yourself

in the storm, don't

let your situation,

your location,

your relationships,

tunnel vision you

into thinking you're

alone and God

hasn't showed up.

The devil wants

us to question

the presence, the

goodness, the

faithfulness and

the grace of

God.

Howard Hendricks, he

was a professor

and a preacher

yesteryear, last

century.

He makes the

observation, I

think it's a really

good observation.

Every believer, he

says, needs three

types of

relationships.

We need a

pool who can

mentor and

encourage, a

pool who can

mentor and

challenge us.

We need a

Barnabas who

can come

alongside and

encourage us.

And we need a

Timothy, someone we

can pour our life

into.

So say that again,

we need a

pool who can

mentor and

challenge us.

We need a

Barnabas who can

come alongside and

encourage us.

And we need a

Timothy, someone we

can pour our life

into.

I like this

illustration because

when we run to

Jesus and grasp

his gentleness, it

can't help but

change in how we

think and

behave and

flow through

what we do.

And I think it's

only natural for

that to flow

through to others

when we experience

and know Jesus

gentleness to us.

Drawing near and

understanding Jesus

mercy and

gentleness, it's a

community project.

So by extension as

believers, we need

mentoring and

challenging by

others.

We need those next

to us who can come

alongside and

encourage us.

And we need

others we can

mentor and grow,

who we can share

Jesus'

gentleness with.

So if these are

not marks you find

in your life as a

believer today, I

want you to

encourage not just

to consider finding

these relationships,

but make it your

goal.

Make it your goal

to work on that

today.

And above all,

keep your eyes on

his tenderness and

run to him.

Let's pray

together.

Father God, we

thank you for the

confidence we can

have to draw near

to you, knowing

that you love

helping us no

matter what mess or

trouble we find

ourselves in.

We stand in awe

that you are the

great high priest,

totally sinless,

that resisted all

temptation so we

might have direct

access to knowing

your gentleness and

mercy today.

We ask you might

help us find

believers that can

mentor, encourage,

and we can grow

in understanding

these wonderful

truths together.

In Jesus' name,

Amen.