◄ What Does Hebrews 4:15 Mean? ►

In the Old Testament, the high priest was appointed of God to represent man to God, for sinful man cannot approach a holy God and needs a mediator to stand in the gap. The high priest was the one that stood between God and man, to offer sacrifices to Him in order to atone for man's many sins. Every high priest from Aaron onward, was a representative of the final and ultimate High Priest, our Great High Priest, the Lord Jesus Christ.

Although our Great High Priest is the eternal Son of God, He laid aside His glory and became the incarnate Word of God so that as the perfect Son of Man, He could identify with the human race in every way. For He was tempted like as we are, yet He did not sin. He was poor and had no place to lay His head, yet He trusted God for all His needs. He was despised and rejected of men yet did not retaliate, but rather handed everything over the Father. He was falsely accused yet He opened not His mouth, for He trusted God to vindicate Him.

Because of His earthly walk, the Lord Jesus is able to sympathise with all our weakness, all our disappointments, all our rejections, and all our temptations. Indeed, He identified so closely with us all that He was made sin for us and paid the terrible price that we so rightly deserve.

When He walked by the way He was hungry and tired, and our Great High Priest was not exempt from the human emotions of hope and fear, of joy and pain, of anger and grief, nor was He free from suffering and sorrow, but lived a life of humble obedience to the Father in the power of the Holy Spirit.

We truly can say that we DO have a Great High Priest Who understands ALL our weaknesses, for He faced the same testings that we do, but He did not sin. He is with us today and lives inside us as we face our own troubles and trials.

The sinless Son of Man did not need to die, for sin is the reason for death, yet He chose to die and willingly gave up His perfect life so that our punishment was paid and also that we might receive His life in us, the new life in Christ, and that we might have it more abundantly. 

Heavenly Father, thank You for the precious gift the Lord Jesus gave to all humanity, coming to earth to live and die as one of us, yet without sin. Thank You that He intimately understands all the trials and troubles that come into every life via the world, the flesh, and the devil. Thank You that I can bring all my cares to Him, knowing that He understands everything that I am facing. In Jesus' name, AMEN.