- The Incarnation and the Meaning of Christmas
- Why is the Incarnation So Important?
- The Crucifixion of Christ: To Save Us From Our Sins
- Jesus Died on the Cross for You
- What is Propitiation and Why is it Important?
- Jesus is Alive! Why the Resurrection is Important
- Jesus is Alive! Why the Resurrection is Important, Part 2
- Why is the Ascension Important?
- What Happened after Jesus Ascended?
- Is Jesus Greater Than the Storm You’re Facing?
- What Does Melchizedek Have to Do with Jesus?
- The Importance of Having a Great High Priest
- Our Great High Priest Offers Mercy and Grace
- We Have an Intercessor and Advocate in Jesus
- The Future Work of Christ: He is Coming Back
- Looking Forward to the Resurrection of Our Bodies
- Here Comes the Judge: Two Future Judgments With Different Results
- The King of the World
What does the Bible mean when it teaches that Jesus is our Great High Priest? More importantly, what does it mean for us?
The writer of the book of Hebrews especially emphasizes this truth. (By the way, who is the author of Hebrews? That’s one of those questions I’m going to ask in heaven. That and, “What were you thinking when you made mosquitos?”)
Here’s just one passage as an example:
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. (Hebrews 4:14)
Having established the teaching, let’s dig in and see why it matters. Why is this so important?
First, as our high priest, Jesus offered the ultimate sacrifice for our sins. The Old Testament priest prayed for the people and offered sacrifices for them again and again. The sacrifices had to be repeated over and over, but important though they were, they did not remove the sins of the people. Symbolically, yes, but in actuality, no; they simply pointed forward to the sacrifice of Jesus.
Jesus didn’t offer a sacrifice of bulls or rams or sheep. He gave himself as the ultimate and final sacrifice. Over and over again in Hebrews, the writer uses the term “once for all” (see Hebrews 10:11-14 for an example). The sacrifice of Jesus was the one true and final sacrifice that did remove our sins. That’s why we don’t need to keep making sacrifices on an altar.
Can you imagine our church services today if, instead of passing an offering plate, we got in line with our animals so the pastor could kill them? What a mess! But then I suppose the meat could be cooked and eaten after church, which gives a whole new meaning to passing the offering plate.
After the death of Jesus, though, there is no need for even one sacrifice. When Jesus gave himself, that was the sacrifice that removed our sins. He did it once, and it was for all of us. Because Jesus died for us, the penalty for our sins was paid. No other sacrifice will ever be needed. He actually, not just symbolically, removed the sins of the people.
Breathe that truth in for a moment.
A second reason Jesus being our Great High Priest is important is because we have a Savior who can sympathize with us. Look at those words in Hebrews 4:14 above, “who passed through.” Jesus has passed through our experiences as humans. That’s how he understands our weaknesses, our temptations, and our difficulties. The next verse says this:
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. (Hebrews 4:15)
When you’re praying, Jesus is saying, “I know just how that feels.” Of course, in his omniscience, Jesus knows everything and knew everything in eternity past. But he lived as a human, he still is the God-man, and he knows through experience, not just knowledge, what life is like.
Have you ever spent a night concerned about what will happen the next day? Jesus has. He spent a night knowing that the next day he’d be beaten and nailed to a cross where he’d hang in agony for several hours.
Have your closest friends or family members ever betrayed you? Jesus felt that. One of his closest followers sold him out for a pocketful of silver.
Has anyone ever rejected you? I know the pain of having people you’ve loved and served, people you thought of as friends, turn their backs on you when the going got rough. Jesus felt that. His brothers refused to believe him. One of his dearest friends even denied ever knowing him.
Have you experienced the pain of losing a loved one? The death of his friend Lazarus brought Jesus to tears. We can assume that his step-father Joseph died at some point before Jesus reached adulthood. As a child, then, he knew the pain of losing his dad.
Physical pain? Think of the cross. Emotional pain? Nothing we have ever faced is as painful as bearing the sin of all humanity. Jesus did that, and then he experienced the pain of his Father turning his back on him. That’s a pain we will never know.
Jesus also faced temptation, and a stronger temptation than any of us has ever faced. Hebrews 4:15 says he was “tempted as we are, yet without sin.” He never gave in. We always give in at some point before the temptation reaches full power. Jesus faced temptation at its full power and never gave in.
Jesus knows the power of the temptation you face, and he’s there with you, ready to help. All the power that brought him out of that tomb and left it empty is available to you as you face temptation. It’s there if you want it, if you ask for it. And when you fail, Jesus is right there to put his arms around you and say, “I know how hard it is. I’ve got you.”
All these reasons are why you can go to Jesus with any need. Whatever pain, whatever difficulty, whatever worry, whatever temptation, you can take it to Jesus, and he’ll understand. He’s been there. So bring it to him. He wants you to bring it to him. He’s standing there, ready for you. Why? Because that’s what Great High Priests do.