A Merciful and Faithful High Priest – Pt.2

What this episode covers

I’m sure you have heard of this quote from George Bernard Shaw, “Those who can, do. Those who can’t, teach.” I have noticed that many times—Business teachers have experienced one or two failed business endeavors. Marriage and Family Therapists come from broken or troubled marriages. Church planting coaches tend to be men whose own church plant failed. So why would anyone want to learn from those who have not tasted the glory of success? How could our Savior live a life characterized by suffering? Doesn’t that prove he is incapable of achieving success? Is Jesus just another cautionary tale, someone who disciples others because he didn’t make it as a carpenter? What we will find in these verses is that Jesus’ suffering had a purpose—and Jesus accomplished that purpose perfectly. Jesus fully represents and personally sympathizes with sinful humans through his active and passive obedience. Read Hebrews 2:14-18. Delivered from the Wages of Sin (14-16) Jesus died in order to deliver us from the enslaving fear of death by destroying the one who had the power of death. Jesus destroyed the devil by his own death on the cross, but that’s only part of the problem. How can sinners reconcile to a holy God? Delivered from the Penalty of Sin (17) Jesus became like us in every respect in his incarnation. The addition of humanity does not take away from the Son’s deity. But, in Jesus’ humanity, he was subject to the same limitations that we experience. He took upon himself all of the physical infirmities associated with the human body. In his “flesh and blood” (v.14): • Jesus was limited in time and space; he was not omnipresent. • Jesus was limited in his knowledge; he had to grow in wisdom (Lk 2:52). • Jesus was subject to physical and emotional pain. It was necessary for Jesus to be like us, fully human, “so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest.” The high priests represented the people before God as they administered the sacrificial system. This will become the theme of a later section (Heb 4:14-5:10), but the author’s point in this verse is to show how Jesus fully represents humanity. Jesus’ likeness to his brothers enabled him to suffer for them. Philip Hughes comments: “The Son could not have represented men before God, offering, as their high priest, the sacrifice of himself on their behalf and in their place, had he not first become their fellow man. Representation requires identification.” The fact that Jesus was subject to physical and emotional pain is what the author of Hebrews emphasizes. He has already pointed us to Jesus’ death (Heb 2:14passive obedience), and he is about to point to the temptation he suffered throughout his life (Heb 2:18 active obedience). But before going there, we need to understand “propitiation”. How Did Jesus Make Propitiation for Sin? Jesus made “propitiation for the sins of the people.” There are two basic interpretations for ἱλάσκομαι here: 1. Jesus satisfied the wrath of God (propitiation). 2. Jesus removed the penalty of sin (expiation). No one rejects expiation, but the question is whether this word means to say more than that. For example, in Luke 18:13, the tax collector cries out in prayer, “God, be merciful to me, a sinner.” The same verb is used there. Is the tax collector asking for his sin to be taken away or is he asking for God to turn his wrath away? Examining the Biblical Evidence It is helpful to start with the Old Testament. When Jacob sent a gift to his brother Esau, he believed the gift would “appease” his brother’s anger (Gen 32:20). The same word is translated “make atonement” throughout Leviticus (ἱλάσκομαι is found 49 times in the LXX of Leviticus). After Moses witnessed the Israelites worshipping the golden calf, we read… Exodus 32:30 ESV The next day Moses said to the people, “You have sinned a great sin. And now I will go up to the Lord; perhaps I can make atonement for your sin.”

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