Jesus' Identification with Our Broken World

The scripture reading comes from Hebrews chapter 4.

Hebrews 4 · chapter mention

Please follow along on the screen the bulletin of your own Bible.

Starting in verse 14.

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.

This is the word of God.

Amen.

Thanks Joyce for reading the passage for us today.

Morning everybody.

Morning.

That was fantastic.

Wow.

We're all awake.

We had our coffee.

If you don't know me, my name is Oscar.

I did come to Watermark for over 10 years now.

My wife and I actually met at Watermark.

So it does happen.

We have three children.

I don't want to plant any seeds or hopes.

But I'm just saying it happens.

And together with our three children, Axel, Keeve, and Elliot, we serve here at Watermark.

This is our church.

This is our family.

Let me pray for us as we dive into God's word today.

Father God, thank you that your word changes us.

Thank you that your word is powerful.

That it's not me, Oscar, just giving an interesting talk because of some great research I did, Lord.

But your word is powerful.

It penetrates deep into our hearts.

It transforms us.

It convicts us of sin.

It shows us the beauty of our Lord Jesus Christ.

It transforms us.

So, God, today I pray that as we consider your word, this passage from Hebrews, Lord, that you would work in all of our hearts, God.

I pray for our soft hearts today, for myself, for all of us today here that are listening.

I pray, God, that we would not just consider the word and then think it's interesting and then leave, Lord, but we would be forever changed, transformed.

And we would respond to your word today by the power of your Holy Spirit.

And we pray this in Jesus' name.

Amen.

So, this week we are continuing our sermon series on Advent.

And Advent is a time for us to celebrate, to prepare our hearts to celebrate the birth of Jesus at Christmas.

Some of us have been doing the Advent devotionals, which I have been just really blessed by.

You know, as a church, we don't want Christmas to just be a time for us to consume a lot of food and wine and open a lot of presents.

Although I probably will gain a few pounds in the next few weeks.

But our desire as a church is to be absolutely filled with the wonder and awe of the birth of Jesus.

We want to be blown away and excited about this.

And so I encourage all of us to continue doing the Advent devotionals if we haven't been already.

Now, last week, Chris kicked off this sermon series by teaching on how the Word became flesh.

Jesus, the Son of God, the creator of all the universe, He became flesh and moved into our neighborhood.

And today, we're going to take one step further and look at how Jesus identifies with our broken world.

He identifies with our broken world.

But first, let me ask us some questions.

Why do we like people that are similar to us?

Why is it that our friends are of the same educational, cultural, or ethnic backgrounds to us?

Why is it that when we go through trauma, we seek out support groups where we can share our experiences with those who've had the same experience as us?

I think it's because all of us, at some level, desire to be known and to be understood.

We desire to be in relationships with people that get us, that understand us.

We want to be in relationships with those who understand our quirks, our faults, our pain, but through it all, still love and accept us.

But then again, can anyone really get us or understand us?

Even the most empathetic person in the world has never really stepped in our individual shoes, right?

But God has.

God has stepped into our shoes in the person of Jesus when he came into the world and became one of us.

Jesus perfectly knows us.

He perfectly understands us.

And yet, he perfectly loves us.

Let's dive into this passage from Hebrews.

Now, the book of Hebrews was written to a Jewish audience in the first century, to those Jewish Christians who had previously put their faith and hope in Jesus,

but had subsequently rejected Jesus, possibly because of suffering and persecution, and went back to their old Jewish religious beliefs.

And so the author of Hebrews attempts to show why Jesus, above all the other beings in the Old Testament, over all the other beings, is the supreme God.

And the author slowly walks through a number of comparisons to do this.

In chapter 1, we read that Jesus is greater than the angels.

Angels are these incredible heavenly beings, but Jesus is greater.

Because he's the son of God.

The radiance of God's glory, who upholds the universe by the word of his power.

Chapter 3 of Hebrews, we read that he's superior to Moses.

Moses, the great patriarch of the Old Testament, who led God's people out of slavery in Egypt,

who met God on Mount Sinai and brought down the Torah.

But Jesus, greater than Moses.

Because Jesus came before Moses.

He was there at the beginning, from eternity.

Creating the world.

Then we get to chapter 4 of Hebrews, where the author spends the next 6 chapters on this thesis,

that Jesus is greater than the Old Testament high priest.

Now the author spends such a long time on this comparison,

because the Old Testament high priest was a central leadership figure,

who the people of Israel look to, to understand God.

But the author of Hebrews is saying,

don't look to the Old Testament high priest to understand God.

Look to Jesus, the great high priest, who is God.

And this is where we're going to focus on today.

Let's look at Hebrews 4.14.

The first verse of our very short passage today.

And we read,

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.

We don't hear this phrase high priest that much in the New Testament.

So, again, let's go back to the Old Testament to see what we can glean about this high priest.

After the Exodus, God told Moses to build this tabernacle or tent,

this sort of portable temple in the desert where God could meet with his people.

God also instructed Moses to establish priests to work and serve in the temple.

And at the center of the priesthood was the office of the high priest,

where only one man could serve at any time.

The high priest was distinguished from the rest of the priesthood.

There were a number of special duties that the high priest had,

the most important of which was that the high priest was the only person in all of Israel

who one day a year, on the Day of Atonement,

could go into this inner sanctuary, what's called the Most Holy Place,

where God's presence literally dwelled.

And the high priest would come in with a sacrifice,

to sacrifice for his own sin and for the sins of all of Israel that they committed over the past year.

This is the point.

God created this intricate system of the priesthood

and within it the office of the high priest for one reason,

to point us to the true high priest,

the great high priest, and that is Jesus.

In the Old Testament, every story, every character, every prophecy,

everything in the Old Testament is just a picture or a shadow of the Savior Messiah to come,

our Lord Jesus.

And over a thousand years later, Jesus came.

He was born into the world at Christmas.

And the author of Hebrews is saying,

okay, so you know about this Old Testament high priest.

He was one man who was supposed to be this mediator between man and God.

Now pay attention.

There is one who has come,

who is far greater,

far more worthy of glory, honor, and praise,

and this is Jesus, our great high priest.

Why?

Because Jesus' priesthood is perfect, permanent, and personal.

His priesthood is perfect, permanent, and personal.

It's a bit of a tongue twister, that one, doesn't it?

Number one, his priesthood is perfect.

Although the Old Testament high priest was the chief representative of Israel,

standing before God in the tabernacle,

he was still a mortal sinner like you and I.

Every year he had to offer an offering, a sacrifice for his own sin.

But then at Christmas,

God became flesh and moved into our neighborhood in Jesus,

and he lived a perfect life on earth.

And Jesus doesn't stand in that earthly tabernacle.

As our passage says,

he is in the heavens.

He has passed through the heavens,

and right now,

he is standing before the majestic Father,

right now,

advocating on behalf of you and I.

His priesthood is perfect.

Second, his priesthood is permanent.

The Old Testament high priest had to sacrifice bulls and goats every single year

on the day of atonement for his own sin and for the sins of his people.

And when he died,

his sons had to take over to do the same thing over and over and over again.

But now,

once and for all,

at the end of the age,

at God's appointed time,

Jesus came into the world,

lived a perfect life,

and sacrificed himself on the cross.

Just once.

That's enough for all time.

His priesthood is permanent.

And third,

his priesthood is personal.

Jesus didn't enter that most holy place

with the blood of bulls or goats.

He entered heaven,

the heavenly tabernacle,

with his own blood.

In effect,

Jesus is both the high priest

and the sacrifice.

His priesthood is perfect,

permanent,

and personal.

So therefore,

because Jesus is the great high priest,

let us hold fast our confession.

What is our confession?

Well,

it is the declaration that some of us have made here,

in front of God,

confessing that we desperately need him,

that we can do nothing without him,

and putting our faith and hope and lives in him.

But let's be honest.

For some of us,

it's been a tough slog ever since.

We've had questions and doubts

about our faith.

For some of us,

we struggle with temptation and sin constantly.

For most of us, probably.

And for some of us,

life has just been messy.

But today,

God is calling us all to him.

And wherever we are on our journey of faith,

whether or not we are still asking questions

about God, Jesus, and the Bible,

or whether we have been a Christian all our lives,

God is calling us,

every single one of us,

to him.

Let us hold fast our confession.

Let's persevere together.

And as we celebrate Advent,

and prepare our hearts

for the coming of Jesus,

let's be reminded that Jesus,

the radiance of God's glory,

who upholds the world

by the word of his power,

he could have been born in a gold palace,

but he wasn't.

He was born in the unspectacular town of Bethlehem.

He lived a humble,

down-to-earth existence,

teaching the gospel,

roaming around,

serving others.

So although Jesus is the great high priest,

although he sits at the right hand

of the majestic Father in heaven,

ruling the heavens and the earth,

because he was fully human,

he has this incredible empathy

and understanding for what we,

his people,

go through on a day-to-day basis.

Look at verse 15.

For we do not have a great 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.

Have you ever seen the TV show,

Undercover Bosses?

Nobody.

Okay.

Well,

let me,

okay,

Ed Choi has.

Okay.

You have too much time to watch TV,

Ed.

No one else does here in Hong Kong.

Well,

the premise of the show,

basically,

is that a CEO in each episode

would go undercover

and disguise himself

and take a normal operational job.

And during that time

in his normal operational working,

he would realize

how bad the working conditions are.

He would realize

how not good

the compensation and benefits were.

And he also realized

that his employees

have a difficult life.

Basically,

the CEO

doesn't really know

what's going on

at the ground level

because he's so high up there

in his office

with so many layers

in between him

and the employees,

the operational employees.

But it isn't like that

with Jesus at all.

Although he is the great king

and the great high priest,

he humbled himself,

became a man.

Philippians 2 says

that although Jesus was God,

he did not count equality with God

a thing to be grasped,

but emptied himself

by taking the form

of a servant,

being born in the likeness

of men

and being found

in human form.

He humbled himself

by becoming obedient

to the point of death,

even death

on a cross.

Jesus was fully God.

He was also

fully man.

But because he was also

fully man,

he experienced

the same emotional

highs and lows

that we all face.

Have you ever felt homesick

with COVID?

No one can travel.

Clearly,

no one's going home.

But with COVID,

travel basically is impossible.

Some of us here

in this room

have not seen our family

for years.

Well,

Jesus knew what it's like

to be homesick.

He left heaven

in the presence

of his Father

to come down to earth.

Have you ever been abandoned?

Jesus has.

He was left all alone

on that cross,

apart from his Father,

separated from his friends

and his family.

Have you ever been rejected?

Jesus has.

The priests

and leaders of that day,

his own people,

despised him.

Have you ever been betrayed,

stabbed in the back

by a friend?

Jesus has.

Judas,

one of his closest friends,

one of his disciples,

betrayed him

for a bag of money.

His own disciple,

Peter,

denied that he knew him.

Have you ever felt pain?

Jesus has.

He was left hanging

on that cross

to die.

Have you ever lost

someone you loved?

Jesus has.

His cousin,

John the Baptist,

was murdered.

His friend,

Lazarus,

died.

We can go on

and on.

What are you going through

right now?

I'm sure this year,

2021,

has been a good year

for some of us.

But for others,

I can imagine,

2021 has been

a very tough year.

In fact,

it's probably been a tough year,

a tough couple years

for a lot of us.

some of us have experienced

loneliness.

We can't see our family

because of COVID.

Some of us are experiencing

stress,

emotional stress,

or financial challenges,

family tension,

health issues.

Some of us have lost

a loved one this year.

But Jesus Christ

is not the far-removed CEO

who is up in the clouds,

in his ivory tower,

unaware of what's happening

at the ground level.

He knows what it's like

to be in the trenches

because he was born

in the trenches

and he lived all his life

in the trenches.

He was rejected

and despised

all his life.

Even before he was born,

as Chris reminded us

last Sunday,

his parents,

Mary and Joseph,

couldn't even find a place

to birth him in the inn.

And during his life,

he never,

he never had a place

that he called home.

He roamed from town to town

teaching and preaching,

but he also experienced

the same emotional highs

and lows that we face.

But because he's fully God

and fully man,

two and both,

both fully God

and fully man,

he can look at all of us,

he can look into our hearts

and say,

I understand

what you're going through

right now

because I've experienced

the exact same thing.

He knows what it's like

to feel pain and suffering,

stress and anxiety.

He was also tempted

like we are.

The most widely quoted passage

where our Lord was tempted

is from Matthew 4

where the devil tempted Jesus

in the desert

for 40 days and 40 nights.

But if Jesus truly was fully man

as the Bible says he is

and as we believe he is,

I can imagine he was tempted

in many different ways.

Think about Jesus

as a primary school student.

When I was in elementary school

back in Canada,

I remember in grade 7

we were asked to hand around

our yearbooks

for our classmates to sign

and write comments

and when I got my yearbook back

I was horrified

because a lot of the comments said,

Oscar,

you're really arrogant.

You show off too much.

You brag about how good you are

at blah, blah, blah, whatever.

I'm a sinner.

But think about Jesus.

In Torah school,

he could have recited

the entire Torah

word for word

but he didn't.

He held back

his great knowledge.

He kept his mouth shut.

He obeyed his father.

Think about Jesus

as a 20-something

young adult.

Longing to pursue

a career

and to hopefully

have some sort of stability

and to enjoy

the pleasures of life

for the next 50, 60 years.

But instead,

he obeyed his father.

He pursued the life

that he was called to pursue

of ministry,

of teaching and healing

and that led him

to his death

on the cross.

And think about

what Jesus went through

the night

he went to the cross.

Actually,

for this,

we don't have to imagine.

Scripture tells us.

Luke 22

says that the night

he was arrested,

he went up to the

Mount of Olives

and he prayed

this prayer.

Father,

if you are willing,

remove this cup

from me.

Nevertheless,

not my will

but yours be done.

And then the passage

says that Jesus,

being in agony,

he prayed more earnestly

and his sweat

became like

great drops

of blood

falling to the ground.

Jesus experienced

significant stress,

pressure,

and anxiety

knowing

he was about to go

to the cross.

He could have

wiped out

the entire Roman army

with a wave

of his hand

but he said,

not my will,

Father,

but yours

be done.

Now you may argue,

well,

Jesus never had to deal

with screaming children

or internet pornography,

right?

Well,

so does he really know

what it's like

to feel temptation?

He never sinned.

Well,

here's a helpful quote

from C.S. Lewis

to help us think

through this.

And C.S. Lewis writes,

no man knows

how bad he is

until he has tried hard,

very hard,

to be good.

Only those

who try to resist temptation

know how strong it is.

After all,

you find out

the strength

of the German army

by fighting against it,

not by giving in.

You find out

the strength

of the wind

by trying to walk

against it,

not by lying down.

A man who gives

in to temptation

after five minutes

simply does not know

what it would have been like

an hour later.

That is why bad people,

in one sense,

know very little

about badness.

They live a sheltered life

by always giving in.

We never find out

the strength

of the evil impulse

inside us

until we try

to fight it.

And Christ,

because he was

the only man

who never yielded

to temptation

is also the only man

who knows to the full

what temptation means.

The only complete realist.

So no,

Jesus didn't face

screaming kids,

nor was he tempted

by internet porn.

But at the root,

he faced the same

struggle for control,

the same desire

for pleasure

that we face

in a far greater way

than we have ever had.

The only difference

is that our Lord

never gave in.

He was given

the same decision

to sin

or not to sin

as we are given,

but time and again,

he never gave in.

He fought the temptation,

which means

he is the only person

who perfectly understands

what it's like

to be tempted.

Okay.

Are you with me?

Someone over there

is with me.

Great.

Okay.

So,

we've established

that Jesus understands

what it's like

to face emotional highs

and lows.

He knows what it's like

to face temptation,

but he doesn't just

understand

and then leave us

to our own devices

to go figure it out.

He understands us,

but he also comes

towards us

to comfort

and heal us.

He understands us

after only a few months

in ministry,

Jesus was quickly

becoming famous.

He could have set up

shop anywhere in Israel

and kicked his feet up

and many would have

come to him daily,

but he didn't do that.

He went out

actively and intentionally.

He went out

into the wilderness

to teach,

preach, heal.

He went into the city

of Jerusalem

to do the same.

He met the woman

at the well.

He met with sinners.

He met with tax collectors.

Jesus,

and today,

Jesus is still at work

calling you and I

to follow him.

to trust him,

be with him.

He's calling your name

and my name right now.

He always moves

towards us.

Now the question is,

how are we responding?

Are we moving back

towards him?

So therefore,

a lot of therefores,

so therefore,

since Jesus is the

great high priest

who perfectly understands us,

verse 16,

let us then with confidence

draw near to the throne

of grace

that we may receive

mercy and grace

in our time of need.

And this is where

we're landing.

Now draw near

suggests that we have

to be active

and intentional

with our walk

with God.

We've been saying

that Jesus always moves

towards us.

He's active and intentional

towards us.

He moves towards

people when he preached,

taught,

and healed.

And today,

he is coming to us

and asking us

to lay our burdens

on him,

to ask for forgiveness

in his name.

So how are we responding?

It's nice to hear

a sermon that

he is a great high priest

and that he understands us,

but what are we doing

about it?

We have to be active

and intentional

in our relationship

with him.

And we can draw near

to his throne

because it's a throne

of grace,

as our passage says.

It's not a throne

of judgment.

He doesn't summon us

to his throne room

to be punished

for the sake of punishment

or to satisfy his wrath.

It isn't a throne of fear.

He doesn't demand

that we come before him

so he can yell

and scream at us

to strike fear

in our hearts

to satisfy his ego.

It's a throne of grace

because one

of the fundamentally

deepest desires

of Jesus

is for us to come

to him

with all that we have,

all our messiness,

all our ugliness,

just as we are,

all our imperfections,

so that he can lavish

his wonderful love

and grace upon us.

Now,

mercy and grace

are a little bit different.

So this is a bit technical.

So mercy is not receiving

what we deserve

while grace is receiving

what we don't deserve.

Let me repeat that.

Mercy is not receiving

what we deserve

and grace is receiving

what we don't deserve.

Mercy is when we deserve

punishment for our actions.

We are all sinners.

We all fall

very short

of the mark.

But because Jesus

paid the price

as our great high priest

on the cross

and if our faith

and hope

and lives

are in him,

that punishment

is already on him

and not on us.

We deserve death

but Christ died

in our place.

Mercy is not receiving

what we deserve.

Now,

grace is slightly different.

Grace is receiving

something we don't deserve.

For example,

hypothetically,

say I yell

or I snap at my wife Celeste.

Hypothetically,

of course,

I never would do that.

Just kidding.

Obviously,

that's a joke.

And after snapping at her,

I ask for her forgiveness.

Now,

I probably deserve her

snapping back at me

or worse,

the silent treatment.

We all know

how bad that is.

But instead,

she says,

it's okay.

I forgive you.

She gives me

a big hug.

Grace is receiving

what we don't deserve.

So what does it look like

to draw near

to his throne

of grace?

Well,

it's simple,

actually.

We have to come

to him in prayer,

humbly,

honestly,

and often.

Humbly because we realize

that we desperately need him.

We can do nothing

without him.

He is our sustenance.

He is our daily bread.

Honestly,

because we lay everything

at his feet.

All of our worries

and anxiety,

all our fears,

all our goals,

all our sin

and temptations.

We leave nothing.

He knows everything already,

but he wants us

to come to him

and to confess everything,

to give everything to him.

And often,

because we need him

every day,

every single day,

we need him.

Let me close

by reading this

excerpt from a sermon

by Pastor James Allen Francis

from the 1920s

as he describes Jesus.

Here is a man

who was born

in an obscure village,

the child

of a peasant woman.

He grew up

in another village.

He worked in a carpenter shop

until he was 30.

And for three years,

he was an itinerant preacher.

He never owned a home.

He never wrote a book.

He never held an office.

He never had a family.

He never went to college.

He never put his foot

inside a big city.

Never traveled 200 miles

from the place

he was born.

He never did

one of the things

that usually

accompanies greatness.

He had no credentials

but himself.

While still a young man,

the tide of popular opinion

turned against him.

His friends ran away.

One of them denied him.

He was turned over

to his enemies.

He went through

the mockery of a trial.

He was nailed upon a cross

between two thieves.

While he was dying,

his executioner's gambled

for the only piece of property

he had on earth,

his coat.

When he was dead,

he was laid in a borrowed grave

through the pity

of a friend.

Nineteen long centuries

have come and gone,

and today,

he is the centerpiece

of the human race

and leader of the column

of progress.

I am far within the mark

when I say that

all the armies

that ever marched,

all the navies

that were ever built,

all the parliaments

that ever sat,

and all the kings

that ever reigned

put together

have not affected

the life of man

upon this earth

as powerfully

as has that one

solitary life,

the life of our Lord

Jesus Christ.

Christ.

Say amen to that.

Amen.

Amen.

So brothers and sisters,

I'm closing here.

As we look to Christmas,

as we look to the day

that God became flesh

and moved into

our neighborhood,

as we prepare our hearts

to celebrate the day

that our Lord Jesus

was born,

let's meditate

on this incredible reality

that the sovereign God

of all creation,

of the universe,

took on our humanity.

He became one of us.

Because of that,

He understands us.

He knows us.

He understands.

He experienced

all our pain,

all our suffering,

all our stress and anxiety,

all our temptation.

He's the great high priest

who understands

what it's like

to live

in our broken world.

And He is the God

who constantly

moves towards us.

Let's respond today

and move

towards Him.

Let's lay at Jesus' feet

everything.

All our stress,

all our hopes and fears,

all our anxieties,

all our sin,

and all our temptation.

We're going to

shortly enter

into a time

of communion.

A communion

is a celebration.

We're going to celebrate

this incredible reality

that although Jesus

was very comfortable

in heaven

with His Father,

He didn't have to come

to earth,

but He did.

He took on flesh.

The Word became flesh

and He came into this world

and He died for our sins.

We want to celebrate that today

because that is glory for us.

But first,

the Bible also says

that communion

is a time

for us to search

our hearts.

You know,

none of us are perfect.

All of us are sinners.

Church is not a place

for perfect people.

Jesus

asks us

to come to Him

not because we're perfect,

because we're imperfect.

Jesus is for those

who are imperfect,

but in need

of His grace

and His mercy.

So spend some time

in prayer

in the next few minutes,

asking God

to reveal

the hardest

in your heart,

whatever it is

that you're going through,

and at the same time,

let's also spend some time

laying our burdens

on Him.

All the stuff

that we've been worrying about,

whether it's school,

our education,

money,

all our frustration

with travel

and other things,

whatever it is,

let's lay it upon Him

right now.