The Priest Who Knows

Hebrews 4:15–16 (NIV)
For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin. Let us then approach God's throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.

Devotion:

Under the old covenant, few dared to enter God's throne room. Once a year the high priest passed behind the curtain into the Most Holy Place, carrying blood and trembling lest he be struck down. The mercy seat was near, but the people stood far off.

The writer to the Hebrews tells us that everything has changed. God has not become any less holy. What has changed is that we now have a better High Priest. Jesus, the eternal Son, took to himself a true body. He knew hunger in the wilderness, weariness at the well, sorrow at Lazarus's tomb, and anguish in Gethsemane. The Greek word behind "empathize" means literally to suffer with. Our Lord does not watch our weakness from a safe distance; he has entered into it.

Yet he did not sin. We might think this makes him less able to understand us, but the opposite is true. The one who resists temptation to the end feels its full weight in a way that the one who gives in never does. We give way under pressure long before it has done its worst. Christ never gave way, and so he knows the force of temptation more deeply than any of us. His sinlessness does not keep him from sympathizing with us. It is the very thing that qualifies him to save us. A sinful priest would need a sacrifice for himself. Our High Priest offered himself, spotless, once for all, and now he always lives to intercede for us.

This is the ground of our confidence. We do not come boldly because we are worthy. We come boldly because he is. The throne we approach is a throne of grace because the demands of justice were satisfied at the cross. Notice what we find there: mercy and grace. We receive mercy for the guilt of what we have done, and grace for the strength to do what we must. Both are given "in our time of need." God does not give them before we need them, and he never gives them too late.

Are you weighed down today by a temptation you cannot seem to shake, or a sorrow you cannot put into words? Do not hide from God. Draw near. The One seated at the Father's right hand has walked where you walk, and he has not forgotten what it felt like.

Prayer:

Lord Jesus, thank you for coming to us and walking among us so long ago. You know our temptations and our trials, and you want to give us strength to overcome them. May we always be found praising you, and may we be unashamed to approach your throne for power to overcome the assault of the enemy of our souls. Keep us in your care, and may we walk worthy of the great love and kindness you have shown to us. Amen