“Christ Jesus, Our Sympathetic High Priest!”

“Christ Jesus, Our Sympathetic High Priest!”(Heb.4:14-16).
A story is told of a handsome young man who was in a distant land. To keep contact with his intended bride, he regularly wrote love letters to her. The letters were delivered to the lady by a not-too-handsome mailman. The lady received and read each letter with smiles. Each time as the mailman waited for a reply, he usually joined in her smiles. After some years the young suitor returned home to find that his beloved was happily married to the mailman.
Gullible Christians are like the woman. They believe in a God whose love letters reach them through the wo/man of God. As time goes on the wo/man of God begins to portray self as the suitor whom the lady sees regularly. In weakness the lady falls for the man who brings the letters than the writer. This is where brainwashiness comes in.
Those who serve in the ministry of the word and Sacraments do not drop from heaven, neither are they carved on stone. Priests and pastors are first Christians and are always Christians too. Serving as intermediaries does not elevate them to ranks that equate them with deity.
Jesus who is now seated in heaven is one such high priest who knows and sympatizes with our weaknesses. He shared our humanity, a man like us in every way – except sin. He was tempted like us, but he overcame!
The Lord Jesus Christ knows where our shoes pinch because he once wore a shoe that pinched.
Human beings like to inflate their egos by designing different kinds of thrones. Those who sit on these thrones often play God; delighting on dispensing punishment in the name of justice. They have the power of life and death over their people. That is why some lives depend on their amnesties.
On the contrary, we have a throne of grace where mercy and grace abounds, and is dispensed freely to help us when we need it.
The writer of the letter to the Hebrews puts it succinctly, such that we need not sermonize it again:
“Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. 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. Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.”
Christ has done it and is doing it. Hold your head high as you approach the throne of grace where mercy and grace awaits to help you when you need it as you fight to overcome temptations.
Sunday prayer: Lord Jesus Christ, thank you for being a sympathetic high priest who knows our weaknesses. Amen!
Have a blessed Sunday! Peace be with you!
Rev Babila Fochang.