A GREAT HIGH PRIEST, JESUS! Hebrews 4:14 Where can I find the guidance I need? The word of God stands before me, full of wisdom for me to read. What will happen when I study to learn? God reveals Himself to me, and I understand His truth. Who can help me avoid mistakes? Our Great High Priest is ready to take my concerns personally. Who advocates for me when unavoidable failings happen? Our High Priest in heaven is Jesus, God's Son. Where can I turn when I need to strengthen my faith? I am called to come boldly to God's throne of grace. Where will I find the grace to help and the mercy I need? At that throne above, the High Priest for me intercedes.
I thank the gracious heavenly Father for the ongoing intercession and advocacy of our Lord Jesus Christ as my Great High Priest. Each day, I can present my case before God in His name and find that His "answers in peace" are exactly what I need. I am so grateful. This is the third of the “better things" in Hebrews, which is an exposition of Psalm 110:4. The priesthood of the Lord Jesus Christ is like the priesthood of Melchizedek in the eyes of Jewish believers.
The superiority of the Lord Jesus’ priesthood over that of Aaron is because, first, He is the Son of God. Second, as the Son of God, He is our Great High Priest, who includes all who believe in the
Lord Jesus Christ. Thirdly, as our Great High Priest, He put away our sins at the cross, and fourth, He is raised from the dead – “passed through the heavens,” and made “higher than the heavens.”
The result of this unparalleled achievement by our Great High Priest renders all earthly forms, rituals, ceremonies, and even the temple unnecessary because our worship takes place in Heaven! He is the Son of God with power, testified by the Spirit of holiness, who has been raised in glory. We now worship in the Spirit who is within us and with us in every way, just as He is also in heaven.
Now, all “worship” on earth through those who call themselves priests has no value and involves sin and blasphemy by suggesting that the work of the Great High Priest requires their additional input. True worship in spirit and truth occurs when we come into the presence of God through Christ, our Great High Priest. As a kingdom of priests, while we wait for our Great High Priest to return for us, we offer our spiritual sacrifices, which He, on our behalf, presents to God. Propitiation has already been made, and by faith, we rest in Him who sits at the right hand of the Majesty on high.
The Lord Jesus Christ as the Great High Priest is the central theme of the epistle to the Hebrews. After He was described as our High Priest in chapters two and three, warnings were given to the believing Jews not to be like their ancestors with Moses, who hardened their hearts through unbelief.
Starting from this verse through chapter seven, we gain insight into the Great High Priest. General characteristics are given from the moment He entered heaven, visible to the watching disciples who saw Him ascend into heaven, contrasting with Aaron, who went behind the veil once a year with the blood of another sacrifice each time. We now, and will always, have a Great High Priest who is constantly before the throne of God for us. That throne is now a throne of grace, allowing us to boldly approach to “obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.”
The first work He has accomplished for us was to remove sin through the acceptable sacrifice of Himself that He offered to God’s satisfaction. As the Son of God, His divinity and His authority to bring us to God form the foundation of our life and fellowship with Him. He, “who has passed through the heavens,” brings us into the holy place where we are accepted as having the condition of holiness by His grace.
The faith we have in Him, when openly confessed, keeps us from failure because of His steadfast grace toward us. This should fill our hearts with love and gratitude and move us to worship the Lord. Because of His priesthood, we have the right, purity, and power to worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness. We live in the heavenlies with Our Lord Jesus, and He lives with us. With Him in our hearts, the kingdom of heaven is in us. After the warnings about failure and falling short of what we can have, we need to remember that He is in heaven on our behalf, and we live with our faith firmly placed in Him for every need and comfort. He knows what suffering and temptation are like; He has experienced hunger and thirst. He has been disappointed and wept. He has agonized in ways far beyond what we might endure. He died and has been raised from among the dead. In all these ways, He has identified Himself with us, and now He is our Great High Priest in a way that Aaron could never meet the needs of those who needed his intercession.