In Hebrews
4:15-16 we read:
Hebrews 4:15-16
"For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathise with
our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet
without sin. Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of
grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of
need."
Some are saying: "How can God understand me? Has He ever been
through what I have been through?" We have sometimes the picture of
an unapproachable, remote God, a God who is far from life and reality. A
God whom our difficulties and temptations cannot touch. Well, the Lord
Jesus Christ, the One in whom "dwells all the fullness of the
Godhead bodily" (Colossians 2:9) has been through all this. He has
been through all that you may be in right now, through all the
temptations that may try you and the storms that may hit you. Because He
has been through He can understand you. He can fully sympathise the
pain, the infirmities and the desires of the human soul. Jesus Christ
sympathises right now what may have hurt you. Jesus Christ sympathises
right now what may have afflicted you. Jesus Christ sympathises right
now all your infirmities, all your problems, every tear you may have
shed and every anxiety you may have. Two chapters earlier, in Hebrews
2:16-18 we read:
Hebrews 2:16-18
"For verily he took not on him the nature of angels; but he
took on him the seed of Abraham. Therefore, He had to be
made like His brethren in every respect, that He might be
a merciful and faithful High Priest in things pertaining to God,
to make propitiation for the sins of the people. For in that He
Himself has suffered, being tempted, He is able to aid those who are
tempted."
(NKJV-KJV)
Jesus Christ can help those who are tempted, because He also went
through the same temptations. He does not look at you from afar, without
knowing how you may feel. He knows it very well. He was made like
us in every respect we read. Some have the picture of a
Christ-robot that came, did the work and left. We need however the
picture of a Christ that was made like us in every respect. We need the
picture of the MAN Jesus Christ. In I Timothy 2:5 we read:
I Timothy 2:5
"For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the
man Christ Jesus,"
The mediator between God and man, our High Priest and great advocate is
One that was made like us IN EVERY RESPECT: THE MAN CHRIST
JESUS. See that the Word of God, speaking for our advocate, does not
choose to call Him as Son of God, or Lord or Saviour or with any other
of the titles He has and is. Instead it calls Him MAN – thus
stretching the fact that the one that mediates for men, in not a
stranger to them but one that was made like them in every respect. He
has suffered like men, He was tempted like men and therefore He can
sympathise men and mediate for them. "For verily he took not on him
the nature of angels; but he took on him the seed of
Abraham" we read. Have you wept? He wept too. Were you betrayed? He
was betrayed too. Were you hungry and thirsty? He was hungry and thirsty
too. Were you treated unjustly? He was treated unjustly too. Have you
suffered pain? He has suffered pain too. Have you been in agony? He has
been in agony too. Have you lost loved ones? He has lost loved ones too.
Were you rejected? He was rejected too. Jesus Christ, "THE MAN
Christ Jesus", can perfectly understands you for He was made like
you, not only in some points BUT IN EVERY RESPECT, the Scripture says.
Moving further on the same topic in Philippians 2:5-11 we read:
Philippians
2:5-11
"Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being
in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God,
but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and
coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a
man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of
death, even the death of the cross. Therefore God also has highly
exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at
the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of
those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every
tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of
God the Father."
Jesus Christ, though He existed in the form of God, He humbled Himself
and He came in the fashion of men. He took the form of a bondservant. He
was made like us - with the difference that He was born and stayed
without sin – and therefore He can understand us. You could meet Him
in the park. You could eat with Him. Then He was a carpenter. Today He
could work in the next office or you could see Him as a builder in a
construction. What and where is not significant. What is significant is
that whoever you may be and whatever your problem may be, JESUS CHRIST
CAN SYMPATHISE YOU AND UNDERSTAND YOU. Here is what Isaiah says, showing
also the magnitude of what He went through while on earth:
Isaiah 53:2-12
"For He shall grow up before Him as a tender plant, and as a root
out of dry ground. He has no form or comeliness; And when we see Him, there
is no beauty that we should desire Him. He is despised and rejected
by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we hid, as it
were, our faces from Him; He was despised, and we did not esteem
Him. Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; Yet we
esteemed Him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But He was
wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our
iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by
His stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; We have
turned, every one, to his own way; and the Lord has laid on Him the
iniquity of us all. He was oppressed and He was afflicted, yet He opened
not His mouth; He was led as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep
before its shearers is silent, so He opened not His mouth. He was taken
from prison and from judgement, and who will declare His generation? For
He was cut off from the land of the living; For the transgressions of My
people He was stricken. And they made His grave with the wicked - but
with the rich at His death, because He had done no violence, nor was
any deceit in His mouth. Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise Him; He
has put Him to grief. When You make His soul an offering for sin,
He shall see His seed, He shall prolong His days, and the
pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in His hand. He shall see the labour
of His soul, and be satisfied. By His knowledge My righteous
Servant shall justify many, for He shall bear their iniquities.
Therefore I will divide Him a portion with the great, and He shall
divide the spoil with the strong, because He poured out His soul unto
death, and He was numbered with the transgressors, and He bore the sin
of many, and made intercession for the transgressors."
-
He had
no beauty to desire Him.
-
He was
despised and rejected by men.
-
He was
a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief.
-
The
others hid their faces from Him.
-
The
others esteemed Him as stricken, smitten by God and afflicted.
-
He was
wounded for our transgressions and bruised for our iniquities.
-
He was
oppressed and afflicted and He didn’t open His mouth.
This is a portrait of Jesus Christ. Our Saviour and Mediator, our great
advocate can perfectly sympathise us. And such a saviour we needed. A
remote one wouldn’t fit. We needed one that would be made like men in
every respect – one that would go through what men go and therefore He
could mediate and support them. And this is the Saviour, the High
Priest, the Advocate we have.
"For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathise with
our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet
without sin. Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of
grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of
need."
Tassos
Kioulachoglou
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