The Gospel of Jesus Christ (10) Jesus Christ, the High Priest (2)

​“Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has ascended into heaven, 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 empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are - yet he did not sin. Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.” (Heb 4:14-16)
 
Review
We’ve been talking about the gospel of Jesus Christ. Last Sunday, we talked about the meaning of Jesus being our High Priest.
 
In order to understand it, we first explored what high priests did in the Old Testament.
 
The first thing God did after delivering the people of Israel from slavery in Egypt was to guide them to Mount Sinai and make a covenant with them. By doing so, God established an official relationship with them. He became their God, and the Israelites became His people.
 
God wanted to dwell among His people. So He called Moses up Mount Sinai and showed him how to make the tabernacle. The tabernacle was a powerful symbol of God’s presence with the Israelites.
 
In the Old Testament, there was an earthly tabernacle set up by human hands according to what God showed Moses on Mount Sinai. There were priests who served in the tabernacle.
 
There was a tent in the tabernacle which was divided into two rooms. The first room was called the Holy Place and only priests could have access to it. The second room was called the Most Holy Place.
 
The Most Holy Place was the most sacred place because God’s direct presence was there above the ark of the covenant, which is also called ‘the Mercy Seat.’ So no one could enter the Most Holy Place. It was completely separated by a curtain. The curtain represented God's separation from people because of their sins.
 
Here we find two paradoxical functions of the tabernacle. The tabernacle showed the presence of God among His people, while the curtain in the tent in the tabernacle showed the severed relationship between God and His people.
 
Even though God wanted to be with His people so much that He ordered Moses to build the tabernacle, there was still a wall that kept the Israelites out of God's direct presence, the wall they could never cross. There was no way yet for the Israelites to directly experience God’s presence beyond the curtain.
 
But there was one person who could enter the Most Holy Place. The high priest entered the Most Holy Place just one day a year on the Day of Atonement in order to make atonement for all the sins of the Israelites. That was the most important task the high priest had.
 
On the Day of Atonement, the high priest entered the Most Holy Place three times. First, he entered the Most Holy Place with incense to conceal the atonement cover with smoke. Then he came out and entered the Most Holy Place for the second time with bull’s blood for the atonement of his own sin.
 
After that, he came out, killed a goat, and entered the Most Holy Place for the last time with the blood of the goat to make atonement for all the Israelites. That’s what the high priest mainly did in the Old Testament.
 
What’s important here is that the author of Hebrews compares Jesus' redemptive work to the work of the high priest in the Old Testament.
 
Just like how the High Priest made atonement for all the Israelites’ sins with goat’s blood, Jesus came to the world to make atonement for all people’s sins. What’s different is that He didn’t make atonement by goat’s blood but by His own blood that He shed on the cross. 
 
So as the High Priest for all people on earth, Jesus is much superior to all the high priests in the past.
 
First, the high priests in the Old Testament served in the earthly tabernacle set up by human hands, but Jesus serves in the true tabernacle in heaven. In fact, the earthly tabernacle was no more than a copy or a shadow of the true tabernacle in heaven where God sits at His glorious throne.
 
Second, the high priests in the Old Testament had to make the same sacrifice every year because atonement by goat’s blood was imperfect and thus its effect didn’t last long, but Jesus “Christ offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins… by his own blood, thus obtaining eternal redemption” (Heb 10:12, 9:12)
 
Third, unlike the high priests in the Old Testament, Jesus has an eternal and permanent priesthood because He lives forever. Even now, Jesus helps us in our times of need and intercedes for us. That’s the great High Priest we have.
 
Beyond the Curtain
However, even though there are a lot of differences between Jesus and all other high priests in their roles, the most important one is that Jesus not only entered the Most Holy Place with His own blood, but also allows us to enter with Him beyond the curtain.
 
Even though high priests in the Old Testament could enter the Most Holy Place, their access was very limited. They could enter just one day a year and never without blood. And they couldn’t bring others in with them.
 
But the new, eternal High Priest God sent us, Jesus, could bring us to the Most Holy Place where God’s presence is because He tore down the wall of sin, the curtain, by His death, and He cleansed us from all our sins by His blood.
 
I think that’s the greatest blessing we have through Jesus Christ, our High Priest.
 
Hebrews 9:11-12 says, “When Christ came as high priest… he went through the greater and more perfect tabernacle that is not made with human hands… He entered the Most Holy Place once for all by his own blood” (Heb 9:11-12)
 
And Hebrews 10:19-22 also says,
“Therefore, brothers and sisters, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near to God with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings…” (Heb 10:19-22)
 
These two passages testify to the great blessing we have in Christ. Now, we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place beyond the curtain where we can meet with God who sits at His throne of grace.
 
This confidence is certainly not based on who we are and what we’ve done. We were sinners who didn’t have any right to stand before God. We haven’t done anything righteous enough to enter the Most Holy Place. The wall of sin is not something that we are able to tear down on our own. We cannot cross the deep chasm of our sins on our own.
 
But the good news, the gospel of Jesus Christ, is that He came to tear down the wall of sin and make a bridge between us and God so that we could be reconciled with God through Him. Not only so, we can now call God ‘Abba, Father,’ because He has adopted us as His children through Jesus Christ. There is no greater blessing than having access to the God of the universe and to call Him Father.
 
So, we can enter the Most Holy Place and go to the Father in heaven beyond the curtain only through the merit of Christ. That’s why only faith matters in regard to our relationship with God and our righteous status before Him.
 
The gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke alike testify to the fact that the curtain in the temple was completely torn down from top to bottom when Jesus died on the cross.
 
Matthew 26:50-51 says, “When Jesus had cried out again in a loud voice, he gave up his spirit. At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom.” (Mt 27:50-51)
 
The fact that the curtain was torn in two signifies the removal of the barrier between us and God. The wall of sin was destroyed and the chasm of sin was filled. To make this happen, Jesus had to suffer, shed His blood, and die on the cross.
 
He is the new and living way through which we can have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place. He is the only way through which we can be drawn near to God with a sincere heart and full assurance.
 
Only Jesus Christ is the way, the truth, and the life through which we can go to the Father in heaven and be reconciled with Him. There’s no other name given to mankind except the name of Jesus Christ, God’s only Son, who came down to the world in human form and died in our place and by whom we must be saved.
 
“Christ suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring [us] to God.” (1Pt 3:18)
 
Jesus Christ is our living hope through which we can have all the great promises for the future such as eternal life, resurrection of the body, and praising God forever in His kingdom. As Hebrews 6:19-20 says,
 
“We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain, where our forerunner, Jesus, has entered on our behalf. He has become a high priest forever…” (Heb 6:19-20)
 
God’s Throne of Grace
Now, let’s read today’s passage one more time.
 
“Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has ascended into heaven, 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 empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are - yet he did not sin. Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.” (Heb 4:14-16)
 
What Jesus Christ mainly does as our High Priest is that He washes away our sins with His blood so that we can be reconciled with God and have a close relationship with Him again.
 
The author of Hebrews says that we can now approach God’s throne of grace with confidence where we receive His mercy and find His grace we need.
 
Then the questions we need to ask are what is God’s throne of grace, where is it, and how can we approach it?
 
God’s throne is simply where He sits. God is sitting at His throne in heaven and rules over the world from there. As Psalm 103:19 says,
 
“The Lord has established his throne in heaven, and his kingdom rules over all” (Ps 103:19)
 
However, even though God sits at His throne in heaven, He allowed the Israelites to make His earthly throne so that they could see His sovereignty over them. Then, what was the earthly version of the throne of grace? We already talked about it last Sunday when we discussed the ark of the covenant.
 
First, God said to Moses, 
“Make this tabernacle and all its furnishings exactly like the pattern I will show you… Have them make an ark of acacia wood - two and a half cubits long, a cubit and a half wide, and a cubit and a half high… Then put in the ark the tablets of the covenant law, which I will give you” (Ex 25:9-10, 16)
 
Here, God commanded Moses to make an ark and put the tablets of the covenant inside, which refer to the Ten Commandments that God Himself would write down and give to Moses.
 
After that, God continued,
“Make an atonement cover of pure gold… And make two cherubim out of hammered gold at the ends of the cover... The cherubim are to have their wings spread upward, overshadowing the cover with them. The cherubim are to face each other, looking toward the cover.” (Ex 25:17-20)
 
Here, the atonement cover refers to the cover made of gold that covers the ark containing the stone tablets of the covenant. This is where the high priest sprinkled the blood of a goat to make atonement for all the Israelites.
 
God ordered Moses to make two cherubim at the ends of the cover. The cherubim were to face each other with their wings spread upward.
 
And then, God continued, “There, above the cover between the two cherubim that are over the ark of the covenant law, I will meet with you and give you all my commands for the Israelites.” (Ex 25:22)
 
God said that He would meet with Moses and speak to the Israelites above the cover between the two cherubim. Now, let’s look at the possible shape of the ark of the covenant, while remembering the verses we’ve talked about.
 
This is the ark of the covenant. In the ark were the stone tables with the 10 Commandments. And we call this part that covers the ark ‘the atonement cover.’ At the end of it, two cherubim face each other overshadowing the cover with their wings spread upward.
 
And this part, above the wings of the cherubim, is called ‘the Mercy seat,’ because God said that He would speak to the Israelites there between the two cherubim.
 
This was the earthly version of God’s throne which reflected His throne in heaven. For this reason, King David called the Ark "the footstool of our God" in 1 Chronicles 28:2.
 
He said “Listen to me, my fellow Israelites, my people. I had it in my heart to build a house as a place of rest for the ark of the covenant of the Lord, for the footstool of our God” (1 Ch 28:2)
 
So, the most important place in the Old Testament was wherever the ark of the covenant was. The whole sanctuary was built for the sole purpose of housing the ark because it was the place where the Israelites could meet with God.
 
When they moved, the ark of the covenant was always with them, guiding their path. Numbers 10:33 says, “They set out from the mountain of the Lord and traveled for three days. The ark of the covenant of the Lord went before them during those three days to find them a place to rest” (Num 10:33)
 
And when they stopped marching, priests put the ark of the covenant in the Most Holy Place. It means that what really made the inner room in the tent the Most Holy Place was the ark of the covenant because that was what symbolized God’s presence. And what made the ark ‘the ark of the covenant’ was the two stone tablets on which God Himself carved the Ten Commandments.
 
To sum up, the stone tablets of the covenant were in the ark of the covenant and above the ark was the Mercy Seat, or the God’s throne of grace, and the ark was placed in the Most Holy Place.
 
Then, where’s the Most Holy Place now? Unfortunately, there’s no earthly throne of grace anymore because the ark of the covenant disappeared along with the two stone tablets. But it doesn’t mean that we’ve lost the way to go to God’s presence because now, everywhere we are is the Most Holy Place.
 
The New Covenant
That’s what we know from the new covenant. Let’s read Hebrews 10:16 together.
 
“This is the covenant I will make with them after that time, says the Lord. I will put my laws in their hearts, and I will write them on their minds” (Heb 10:16)
 
The author of Hebrews wrote this after explaining how Jesus made perfect atonement through His one sacrifice.
 
Here, the author of Hebrews is quoting from Jeremiah 31:31-33, which says,
 
“I will make a new covenant with the people of Israel and with the people of Judah. It will not be like the covenant I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt… This is the covenant I will make with the people of Israel after that time,” declares the Lord. “I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people.” (Jr 31:31-33)
 
Here, we find the key difference between the first covenant God made with the Israelites and the new covenant. The first covenant law was written on the stone tablets. But in the new covenant, God's word is written directly on our hearts, not on tablets of stone.
 
It means that our hearts become the tablet of the covenant. The same God who wrote the first covenant law on the two stone tablets is writing His law in our hearts now.
 
Then, if our hearts themselves are the tablets of the new covenant, it also means that we are the ark of the covenant because we have the new tablets in our hearts. And, if our hearts are the tablets where God’s new covenant law is written, and thus we’re the ark of the covenant, we also know that wherever we are is the Most Holy Place where His throne of grace is.
 
Wherever we go, that place becomes the Most Holy Place where we experience God’s presence. We no longer need to go somewhere to meet Him because God is always with us and has His throne in us.
 
In order to give us this great blessing, Jesus Christ came to the world as the perfect Mediator between God and us, and died on the cross, shedding His precious blood.
 
Before being arrested, Jesus had His last supper with His disciples. During the meal, Jesus took a cup and told the disciples, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you” (Lk 22:20).
 
The blood Jesus shed on the cross is the blood of the new covenant because through His blood we can have a direct relationship with God beyond the curtain.
 
That’s why the author of Hebrews calls Jesus “the mediator of a new covenant” because “he has died as a ransom to set them free from the sins committed under the first covenant” (Heb 9:15)
 
So, Jesus Christ is our eternal High Priest through whom God makes a new covenant with us by His blood. In the new covenant, God writes His laws directly in our hearts.
 
In the new covenant, our hearts become the new tablets of God’s word, we become the ark of the covenant where His throne of grace is, and wherever we are becomes the Most Holy Place where we feel and experience His presence. That’s what Jesus achieved as the mediator of the new covenant and our High Priest. Again, there’s no greater blessing than this.
 
So, here’s the Most Holy Place. Here’s God’s throne of grace. Here is His presence. And we can approach God’s throne of grace with confidence through our great high priest, Jesus Christ our Lord, who is able to empathize with our weaknesses.
 
He never condemns us, but embraces us with His open arms no matter who we are and regardless of our worst sins, failures, and mistakes. There’s no sin His blood can’t wash away and there’s no mistake His grace can’t embrace.
 
So, now let’s boldly approach God’s throne of grace, relying on the power of the blood of Jesus Christ. There, we receive God’s mercy and find His grace which are always with us and help us in our time of need.
 
Let’s pray.
 
[Prayer]
“Therefore, since we have a great high priest, Jesus the Son of God… Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.” (Heb 4:16)
 
Dear heavenly Father, we thank You for giving us this great opportunity to know more about who Jesus is, what He has done for us, and what great blessings He’s given us.
 
We thank You for everything that You’ve achieved for our salvation through Jesus Christ. Thank You for making a new way through which we can go to You beyond the curtain. Thank You for giving us this great blessing to enter the Most Holy Place and experience Your presence wherever we are. And thank You for allowing us to approach Your throne of grace where we find Your mercy and grace.
 
Oh Lord, we want to know more about You. We want to know who Jesus Christ is. We invite You into each of our hearts right now. Open our minds and hearts and let them be set on things above where Your Son is so that our eyes can be fixed on Him at all times and so that we may walk with You wherever we are.
 
We love You, Lord, and we pray all these things in the wonderful name of Jesus Christ, our eternal High Priest, Amen.
 
[Reflection Questions]
1. The greatest blessing we have in Jesus Christ is that we can have access to the Father in heaven and experience His presence in our daily lives wherever we are. Do you enjoy this blessing? Do you experience the presence of God in your life? What are some practical things you can do this week to remain in God’s presence?
 
2. We can now approach God’s throne of grace with confidence through Jesus Christ where we receive mercy and find God’s grace in our times of need. What worries you the most nowadays? What do you think will happen if you bring them to God’s throne of grace?