To Encourage You

Hebrews 5:1-2 “For every high priest chosen from among men is appointed to act on behalf of men in relation to God, to offer gifts and sacrifices for sins. He can deal gently with the ignorant and wayward, since he himself is beset with weakness.”

One of the most important attributes of the high priests that God had appointed to offer sacrifices in the Old Testament was that they could deal gently with the people they served. They could deal gently with people because they were people too. They had the very same weaknesses and were subject to the very same trials and temptations of life as those to whom they ministered.  God’s love for sinful men was thus demonstrated by the fact that though man’s sins were a great barrier between them and God, though that sin had to be dealt with by such a severe remedy as the sacrificial death of an innocent animal, the priests who offered these sacrifices were to be gentle in their dealings.  They had a sensitivity to people because they could put themselves in the place of those who were not high priests.  In a sense, they could be sympathetic to sinful people because although it was their job to offer sacrifices to atone for those sinners’ sins, they had to also offer sacrifices for their own sins, since they were sinners too. 

There should be a lesson here for any Christian, for we are of the same nature as those around us to whom we minister and share the message of God’s sacrifice for sin, for that sacrifice was just as necessary for us as it is for them.  We are, all of us, sinners saved by grace, and as such, we are to be gentle with any person to whom we minister. We aren’t to have a “holier than thou” attitude, for the truth be told, we are no more holy in and of ourselves, and in many cases, we were worse than most. 

But beyond this, we have the example of our great high priest, the Lord Jesus Christ.  It is an incredible truth that here is One Who had no sin, and by virtue of that perfection had every opportunity to harshly condemn those who were disobedient to God. Yet He appeals to us with gentleness. He has the right to do otherwise. He is infinitely better than any of us. In fact, He is more righteous than all of us put together.  Yet, He chose to subject Himself to the same weaknesses that we have.  The eternal Son of God chose to humble Himself to become a man and experience all that we do.  And though He never sinned as He faced the same temptations we do, He bore the brunt of those sins to the extent that He suffered our penalty for them. 

As we look at this One who bore all the pain that sinful men could throw at Him, we see One who identifies with our pain, and rather than seek to condemn us for it, wants to save us from it.  It is an incredible thing that “God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through Him” (John 3:17). 

What a great High Priest this is, One Who went to the extent of dying on a cross to bear the consequences of our sin as a sacrifice for that sin and in so doing can sympathize with those who are suffering because of their sin.  Here is One Who chose to be condemned with us Who, because of our sin, are by nature living in a state of condemnation (John 3:18).  But as we put our faith in Him, that condemnation is taken away, for “there is . . . no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1). 

May God move on the heart of anyone who doesn’t know Him to take their sins to the One Who, incredibly and wonderfully, is ready and willing to deal gently with them. And may God give us that do know Him an attitude of gentleness toward those who don’t yet know the Great and gentle High Priest who condescended to us and bore all the condemnation for our sin.