Today, we’re looking at Hebrews 4:14-5:14. We’re going to talk about the Big Ideas of priesthood and maturity. When we walk away from our time together today, I want you to know As followers of Jesus, the great High Priest, His people are called to maturity (and the priesthood).
Holy Father, I ask
in Jesus’ name that You would open our hearts and minds to the Scriptures
today. I pray that You would encourage
us and bring us to a new place of worship.
I ask that You would give us a higher view of You and conviction of our
sins and a hunger to confess those things so we may be cleansed. Transform us today. Amen.
Attempting to study this set of verses using homiletics was
really challenging for me. My Subject
Sentence was interpretive rather than factual and objective: Jesus, the great High Priest calls His
followers to maturity. I also really
struggled with dividing these verses. I
wanted to keep it as one division, but the minimum for homiletics is 2. I spent much time in prayer over this and I
believe the Holy Spirit led me to two Divisions:
1.Jesus, our great High Priest (Hebrews 4:14-5:10)
2.Milk or solid food (Hebrews 5:11-14)
Let’s talk about Jesus, our Great High Priest. The timing of reading these verses is
incredible since we are currently wrapping up our study of the Gospel of
Matthew with BSF (Bible Study Fellowship) and this week we studied the
crucifixion and the tearing of the curtain in the Temple between the Holy Place
and the Holy of Holies in chapter 27.
The curtain in the temple was several inches thick, and the Scriptures
record that the curtain was torn from top to bottom. The curtain was believed to be at least 30
feet tall. Other sources say 60 feet based
on the size of Herod’s temple. Either
way, no man could tear even a 30 foot tall curtain several inches thick from
top to bottom! God is the one Who opened
the access to the Holy of Holies to every priest. Born again believers are the priests! Not everyone has access to God the
Father. Only those who have come to Him
through the torn curtain that is Jesus Christ!
I hope this little introduction helps you see these verses a bit
differently.
Read Hebrews
4:14-5:10.
So, we have a Great High Priest: Jesus. If you look at the role of the high priest, he
was the only one who could enter the Holy of Holies. And he could only do that once every year on
the Day of Atonement when he sprinkled the blood on the mercy seat for his sins
and the sins of the people. In other
words, the Old Testament high priest was a picture of the work that Jesus
Christ would do: be the link between God
and mankind. He is the way and the truth
and the life. No one comes to the Father
except through Him!
Verse 15 reminds us that our Great High Priest can
sympathize with our weaknesses because He was tempted in every way we are, yet
He did not sin! Remember Matthew 4 when
the devil came to Jesus in the desert after the Lord fasted for 40 days and
nights? He was hungry. On the cross, He said He was thirsty. In the Garden of Gethsemane, He prayed that
the cup of suffering would pass from Him.
But ultimately, He determined to do God’s will.
What does it mean to you to know that you have a Great
High Priest Who can empathize with your weaknesses? How does this enable you to approach God the
Father with absolute confidence? As born
again believers and disciples of Christ, when we approach the Father, He sees
His beloved Son! We can run straight to
Him and jump in His lap expecting to receive grace and mercy.
The high priest is appointed to offer gifts and
sacrifices for himself and the people.
He doesn’t appoint Himself. God
appoints him. In the same way, God
appointed Jesus to be the High Priest for all mankind in the order of
Melchizedek. Jesus is both our King and
our Priest. Like Melchizedek of the Old
Testament was both the king of Salem and priest of God Most High. See Genesis 14:18-20. The parallels between him and Jesus are very
interesting. The verses quoted here are
from Psalm 2:7, which is about a newly installed king, and Psalm 110:4, which
mentions Melchizedek, the king and priest.
Because Jesus is our High Priest Who opened the access
for born again believers to the Father by His sacrificial death on the cross,
we can approach God the Father with absolute confidence, knowing how precious
we are to Him in allowing His beloved Son to die for us.
Principle 1: Jesus enables His people to approach God’s
throne with confidence.
Application 1.In
what areas are you weak and grateful for Christ’s empathy, and how will you
approach the throne of God to grow in strength in those areas?
Now the author of Hebrews explains that there is more to
say on the topic, but he’s not going to share it. Let’s find out why.
Read Hebrews
5:11-14.
What are you extracting from the Scriptures? Milk or meat?
Are you a teacher? Or have you
been a Christian long enough that you should be a teacher, but you aren’t
because you’re not even feeding yourself from the Scriptures? Is the majority of what you get from the
Bible spoon fed to you by a pastor once a week?
Are you involved in Bible study where you get into the Scriptures on
your own with the Holy Spirit as your teacher and then come together with a
group to discuss your answers? Do you
prepare a Sunday school lesson? Or
facilitate that Bible study?
Do you apply what you learn from the Scriptures? Are you growing? Or do your thoughts remain the same as they
were months ago? Are you convicted when
you read and study the Bible? Do you
regularly confess your sins to God? Do
you repent of those sins? How have you
changed in the last year? Is that change
rooted in your heart? Are you willing
for God to gently transform you through conviction as you study the Bible? Do you approach your Bible study expecting
God to speak?
To be a follower of Jesus is to grow in maturity and
become more like Him. How could you
challenge yourself this week to pursue Christ at a higher level? What are you willing to try that is currently
outside your comfort zone? How will you
pray to be more obedient to God’s will for your spiritual growth?
Principle 2: Jesus’ people grow in maturity.
Application 2.Where
is your heart and mind craving milk rather than solid food, and how will you pray
for Jesus to mature you?
Heavenly Father,
thank You for this time in Your Word.
Thank You for opening our eyes and hearts to truth. I pray You will transform us in the name of
Jesus Christ so that we resemble Him and bring You honor and glory. Amen.
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