Jesus the Priest, part 3

Please don’t be mistaken: Jesus is not just any priest. In the Old Testament there were priests, and there were high priests. The priests would do the service in the temple, tending to the incense, preparing the sacrifices, and so on. But there was one high priest who was charged with the greatest sacrifice of all: the sacrifice of atonement. This was a sacrifice that was done only once a year. The purpose of this atonement sacrifice was to cover the sins of the people. By sacrificing a goat, the sins of the nation of Israel were covered up. Not removed, not forgotten, merely covered up for another year. You can see how the job of the high priest was important and honorable. 
 

Neither is Jesus just another high priest. Even the high priests of the Old Testament were sinful. In fact, before he could go in and offer a sacrifice for the sins of the people, a sacrifice had to be made for the high priest’s own sins, for he was a fallen human as well. But not Jesus! He is the Great High Priest, the once and for all Priest, born to make the sacrifice for our sin once and for all. He is the Great High Priest because He has gone through the heavens. He is not just appointed by heaven; He is from heaven. God sent His Son to make the ultimate sacrifice, once and for all, for our sins, sending Jesus to be our Great High Priest. 
 

So far, all of this is just theology. Yes, Jesus is the Great High Priest, come to do for us what none of the priests of old could. But what does that mean for us today? 
 

First, because Jesus, our priest from on high was a human like us, He is able to sympathize with us. Hebrews 4:15, “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have One who has been tempted in every way, just as we are — yet was without sin.” Unlike a lot of ministers, Jesus does not try to make Himself out to be so far above us that He is unapproachable. In fact, it’s just the opposite.   

Even though Jesus was once enthroned in heaven (and is again, now), He came to earth as a human baby, in fragile flesh, in order to make it perfectly clear, that God desires to identify with us. Philippians 2:6-8 says of Jesus that He, who “being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, 7 but made Himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. 8 And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to death — even death on a cross.” Jesus shows that God was willing to come to earth and become one of us because we were unable to be more like him. 
 

That means a lot to me. I think of all the times that I fail God. I’ve been a Christian for 45+ years now, but I still mess up. I give in to some of the same old sins, I have habits that I can’t break, I have things that I should be doing for God that I don’t. Every time my old nature gets the better of me, I think that God must surely be ready to give up on me. I think that there is no way that God can love me.

But then I am reminded of our Great High Priest. Jesus knows what it’s like to be a human. He knows hunger, He knows thirst, He knows temptation, and He knows the weakness of the flesh. He knows what it’s like, to be me, because He’s been there. Even though He never once sinned (like I do), He knows how easy it is to be tempted. 

Continued tomorrow