Bible Studies
LEAVE COMMENT ON ARTICLE As A Member OR Visitor
Message Writer
Hire Writer
Report Article
A FAITHFUL AND MERCIFUL HIGH PRIEST
For surely it is not angels He helps, but Abraham's descendants. For this reason He had to be made like them, fully human in every way, in order that He might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that He might make atonement for the sins of the people, Because He Himself suffered when He was tempted, He is able to help those who are being tempted. (Heb. 2: 16-18)
Those who deny the humanity of Jesus destroy everything He came to do as both high priest and sacrifice. Take for example the Roman Catholic doctrine of the immaculate conception of Mary. If Mary was conceived without sin, and Jesus was so-called born of a sinless mother, then He could not have been made like us, fully human in every way.
To be fully human is to carry the potential to sin, as Adam did. But He was without sin, not because He was born of a sinless mother, but because He suffered and overcame temptation so that He could be our faithful and merciful high priest.
Jesus was not conceived by a human father but by the Holy Spirit. He had the nature of God and was fully God, but He was born of a human mother, which gave Him the nature of man. She carried Him in her womb for nine months, and gave birth to Him as does every human mother. He was suckled at her breast and nourished with human food. He had to learn from infancy to be a human being as does every other child.
In the course of His growing up, He had to learn the power of temptation and suffering in order to qualify as our faithful and merciful high priest. How much more intense it must have been for Him, as the son of Mary and the Son of God, to withstand the subtleties of Satan's deception from a tiny child onwards! He could not give in to the temptation to follow the example of His peers and react as they did in the rough and tumble of life not even for a moment in His thoughts, attitudes and actions.
He did not just suffer (experience) temptation; He suffered when He was tempted. That made temptation far more intense to Him than for us because He had to resist to the end. Our temptation ends when we give in.
His temptations never ended because He did not give in. Listen to the testimony of His Father after thirty to years of growing up from infancy to manhood in a normal human family, through the 'terrible' twos', the teens and early adulthood, with awakening hormones coursing through His veins, and sinful people all around Him and pressing in on Him:
As soon as Jesus was baptised, He went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on Him.
And a voice from heaven said, 'This is my Son, whom I love; with Him I am well pleased.' (Matt. 3: 16, 17)
Jesus had no one to mentor Him, not even an earthly father and mother who were without sin. He was wholly dependent on His fellowship with His heavenly Father, of which He was aware from His earliest years, and the union He had with Him, to take Him through His growing-up years without faltering.
His own conscience bore witness to His perfect record. In the heat of debate with His ever-present opponents, the religious leaders, He challenged them:
Can any of you prove me guilty of sin? (John 8: 46)
Much to their frustration, no one could! No sin, Jesus? Not even a stray thought? Not an under-your-breath threat or insult? Never an attitude of hostility - never? Always, always, nothing but perfect love? Yes! With a perfectly pure conscience He could challenge them and be met with . . . silence! This must have angered them even more, because their own consciences screamed at them and refused to be silenced.
No need then, ever, to replace Jesus as our high priest. He does the job to perfection because He is one of us; He succeeded when every other high priest failed, and died; He qualified as both a sinless human and a perfect sacrifice. He fulfils the office of high priest perfectly and forever. He didn't just offer blood to atone for our sin; He offered His own blood, once and for all. No other sacrifice and no other high priest is needed.
And, what's more, because He is also God, He helps us - with the power of His own Holy Spirit, to overcome just like He did. He understands the inner strength of the temptations we face because He's been there. He knows how to 'succour' (King James Version) those who are tempted. The Free Dictionary defines 'succour' as 'giving help or assistance, especially in times of difficulty.'
That's it! That's what He is able to do because He was made just like us. . .
Scripture taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
PLEASE ENCOURAGE AUTHOR BELOW LEAVE COMMENT ON ARTICLE AS A MEMBER OR VISITOR
This article has been read 549 times < Previous | Next >
Free Reprints
Main Site Articles
Most Read Articles
Highly Acclaimed Challenge Articles.
New Release Christian Books for Free for a Simple Review.
NEW - Surprise Me With an Article - Click here for a random URL
God is Not Against You - He Came on an All Out Rescue Mission to Save You
...in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them... 2 Cor 5:19
Therefore, my friends, I want you to know that through Jesus the forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you. Acts 13:38
LEARN & TRUST JESUS HERE
FaithWriters offers Christian reading material for Christian readers. We offer Christian articles, Christian fiction, Christian non-fiction, Christian Bible studies, Christian poems, Christian articles for sale, free use Christian articles, Christian living articles, New Covenant Christian Bible Studies, Christian magazine articles and new Christian articles. We write for Jesus about God, the Bible, salvation, prayer and the word of God.