We Have A High Priest

"For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin (Heb. 4:15 NKJV)."

This is one of my favorite verses in the Bible. It offers the promise to believers that God understand our worries, fears, pain, and sorrow. The significance of this verse lies in the three words, "in all points". This means our he has faced every trial we have, or will face.

The man Jesus Christ was flesh and bone. He felt the burning of a raging fever and experienced the agony of sickness. He dealt with the frustration of physical disability. He felt the pain of physical injury. The compassion showed by Jesus for the multitudes is a clear testament to his knowledge of human suffering.

Jesus Christ felt the pain of rejection at its highest point. It was much more than the rejection experienced between boy and girl, man and woman. The King of glory came to his people and they rejected him. Humanity still rejects him.

Jesus lived through the worry and fear of having to face another tomorrow. He understood the need of and the worry for food, shelter, and clothing. It led him to say, "Therefore do not worry , saying, What shall we eat? or What shall we drink? or What shall we wear?... For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things (Mt. 6:31-32 NKJV)."

Jesus Christ tasted firsthand the sting and sorrow of death. He was so moved by the death of his friend that he stood at his graveside and wept. More importantly, Jesus faced his own death alone at Calvary. Do we comprehend that the Spirit of God could not remain in Christ as he experienced human death for himself?

Christ became sin for all humanity. He became the sacrificial Lamb as sin was nailed to the cross. The Spirit of God cannot dwell in the presence of sin. At the point of his death, the man Jesus Christ experienced exchanging flesh for an eternity apart from God. Think about it, he died as sin, separated from God.

Jesus Christ is qualified to be the ultimate High Priest for all humanity. He experienced sickness, fear, sorrow, and pain. He experienced the ultimate death of facing eternity apart from God. God now sees humanity through the sacrificed Lamb, Jesus Christ. God experiences the deepest of pain when each man, woman, or child reject him and pass on into eternity apart from him.

Lord God, don't only give us the Spirit of Christ. Allow us to see humanity through the eyes of Christ. Plant within us the heart of Christ. Help us to understand the grief you experience when another of your creation slips into eternity apart from you. Help us to translate our experiences of suffering into ultimate glory to your holy name. God bless...