Sunday Morning Service 8:30AM - Jesus Our Great High Priest - Hebrews 5:1-10 - Pastor Ryan Nichols

I know. Maybe you have to do both. I know, maybe.

I still love the world, so both of them work. Oh, well then, the relations might go for that one. Yeah, I think, I say let's do that.

Okay. It's just the logistics of doing it. That's why we have two guitars.

Good morning! How are we all doing this week after Daylight Savings? A little more awake, still just as tired. I'm just as tired, but it's fine. Let's all stand and worship this morning.

First, I'm going to read just a little bit out of Galatians. Christ redeemed us from being from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us, for it is written, Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree, in order that in Christ the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we would receive the promise of the Spirit through faith. Drink of the mercy, come to the table, he will satisfy, taste of his goodness, find what you're looking for. God so loved to save us, we'll lay them down at Jesus' waiting there.

With those of us who ever believe, praise him, I've been held. This life, this life of Colossians, verse 13. Chapter 1, verse 13, under the title of the incomparable Christ. It states, For he rescued us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. Restoration. Forgive to you, Father.

Thank you so much for giving us life and breath this morning. God, to allow us to come to your house, Lord, in fellowship with other believers, Lord, with family. Lord, to hear from your word, to hear from you, Father, I pray that you just fill each and every one of us with your Holy Spirit this morning, God. Speak to us so clearly, God, and go before us today and the rest of this week.

In Jesus' name, amen. Go ahead and greet one another. Good morning. If you could begin to locate your seat. Grab a bulletin. We'll get ready to go over some announcements. Welcome to Calvary Chapel. I'm glad that you have joined us this morning. A handful of things to take note of. Actually, a big handful of things to take note of. Over on the left-hand side, obviously,

are the things that go on throughout the week, so take note of that. Get plugged in. Middle section of your bulletin. Let's work our way through here, shall we? First of all, maybe you've been thinking to yourself, I wonder what I did with that sweatshirt of mine. I wonder where that jacket of mine went. Why haven't I been able to find my Bible? Where's my stocking cap?

It very well may be here, because we have what I call a plethora of things on the lost and found table back there. It's been there for a really long time. So if you would like to go shopping at the lost and found table, I would encourage you to do so. You say, but Ryan, what if it's not mine? I don't care if it's yours. If you want it, take it. Okay? Because it's been in a box for way too long now.

And all of the ladies are like, when are you going to get rid of that? I'm like, I don't know. I assume someone's coming back for their coat someday on those chilly days, which it will be when you leave here. So if you go back in the Agape room back there, there's a table. It's a big one. Lots of things on it. Go shopping. Whatever is left at the end of today, we'll go visit Angels in the Attic.

So the next thing. Our March Madness event is coming up this Saturday. We would love for you to join us. And there's something about cash only. Let's see. What did it say? It said, March Madness is a cash only event, and I sure hope people bring cash to see it. We would love to support our budding artists and the mission's work. Did I say that correctly? Yes.

Thank you, Apple Watch, for being available. So that's coming up this Saturday. All the info is right there. It's 5 to 8 at the Arc City Rec Center in the South Gym. Do we have all the chili and everything that we need? If you're bringing chili, make sure that you grab a sheet to tell you when to have it at the Rec Center. If you have questions, go talk to those two people back there.

Also, if you are interested in participating in the mission trip to Guatemala this summer, there are still some spaces available. Please see aforementioned people. Also, it is time to start mowing the lawn. I actually mowed mine yesterday. It was all purple flowers, but that's neither here nor there. It's time to start getting that going. So starting in about mid-April is when our mowing ministry here gets started.

So we have a lot of area that needs to be mowed, although less area now that we've put a building on part of it. But we staff that internally. So we get a group of volunteers that come together and mow every week. Last year we had 12 teams. This year he's shooting for 15 teams of two. There's a 30-week mowing season. So quick math tells me that means you would have to mow twice in the season.

We have a weed eater. We have a lawn mower, a big riding lawn mower. So you don't even need to have any equipment. So if you are interested in getting signed up for that, the sign-up sheet is in the back on that side over there, as Jeff Bryan is showing me. And if you have any questions, you can talk to Kurt Solomon afterwards. A reminder that we also mow that house over there on the corner.

But all of that information is out there. So go see him if you have questions. Otherwise, get signed up, and he'll be getting ahold of you really soon on all of those things. So I believe that those are the things that are going on. If I missed anything, that's on me. Other than that, if you would make sure that your mobile device is silenced. And for our what's going to be a unison reading this morning,

because my buddy's gone, we are going to be in Psalm 42. Psalm 42. Looking at the New American Standard so that hopefully we all sound the same. And as you are turning to Psalm 42, if you are able, please stand in the honor of the reading of God's Word. And if you will simply read along with me. For the choir director, a mascal of the Sons of Korah, Psalm 42.

As the deer pants for the water brooks, so my soul pants for you, O God. My soul thirsts for the living God. When shall I come and appear before God? My tears have been my food day and night. While they say to me all day long, Where is your God? These things I remember, and I pour out my soul within me. For I used to go along with the throng and lead them in procession to the house of God,

with the voice of joy and thanksgiving, a multitude keeping festival. Why are you in despair, O my soul? And why have you become disturbed within me? Hope in God, for I shall again praise him for the help of his presence. O my God, my soul is in despair within me. Therefore I remember you from the land of the Jordan and from the peaks of Hermon, from Mount Mazar.

Deep calls to deep at the sound of your waterfalls. All your breakers and your waves have rolled over me. The Lord will command his lovingkindness in the daytime, and his song will be with me in the night, a prayer to the God of my life. I will say to God, my rock, Why have you forgotten me? Why do I go mourning because of the oppression of the enemy? As a shattering of my bones my adversaries revile me,

while they say to me all day long, Where is your God? Why are you in despair, O my soul? And why have you become disturbed within me? Hope in God, for I shall yet praise him, the help of my countenance and my God. And so, Father, we do praise you that you are the God who helps. Lord, the God who brings hope even when things feel hopeless. And so, Father, I pray that as we get into your word this morning

and as we look at you as our great high priest, I pray that you would fill our hearts with hope, that we would know your hope and your joy as we believe in the truth of who you are. And so, Father, minister to our hearts, we pray, in Jesus' name. Amen. You may be seated. And if you would open up in your Bibles to the book of Hebrews, chapter 5. Hebrews, chapter 5.

Well, at the end of chapter 4, he introduced a theme to us, the writer to the Hebrews did, the theme of the high priest. As he said, Therefore we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens. Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast to our confession. And he went on to explain that that high priest was not like earthly high priest because he has been tempted in every way as we are and yet without sin.

And so that prompts him to believe. To begin a discussion on the high priest. And so that's what we want to look at this morning. Just a little bit of a background on the high priesthood. If you were to go back into the book of Exodus, which you don't need to, but in the margin of your Bible you might write Exodus 28, is where you see the installing of Aaron and his sons as the high priestly tribe.

Aaron was a part of the tribe of Levi along with Moses. And, of course, the Levites were chosen as the priestly tribe there at Mount Sinai. But Aaron would be the one who would be the spokesperson for the people to God. He would be the one who would be the high priest. And Exodus chapter 28 describes not only the role of the high priest, but in particular the garments of the high priest that he is clothed with.

All of those garments speaking of the nature of Jesus. So it's interesting reading, after we're done with this, to go back and read Exodus 28 and see what it has to say about the high priest. And so picking up in verse 1, it says this, It says this, For every high priest taken from among men is appointed on behalf of men in things pertaining to God, in order to offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins. He can deal gently with the ignorant and the misguided, since he himself also is beset with weaknesses.

And because of it he is obligated to offer sacrifices for sins, as for the people, so also for himself. And no one takes him away from God. He takes the honor to himself, but receives it when he is called by God, even as Aaron was. So also Christ did not glorify himself so as to become a high priest, but he who said to him, You are my son, today I have begotten you.

Just as he says also in another passage, You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek. In the days of his flesh he offered up both prayers and supplications, with loud crying and tears, to the one able to save him from death. And he was heard because of his piety. Although he was a son, he learned obedience from the things which he suffered.

And having been made perfect, he became to all those who obey him the source of eternal salvation, being designated by God as a high priest according to the order of Melchizedek. So from that section, there's two things I want us to see. I want us to see the high priest, and then I want us to see Jesus the high priest. Of course the title of the message this morning is, Jesus Our Great High Priest, but he first of all builds the case for who the high priest is, and how Jesus fulfills that in an even better way.

And so from those first four verses, there are four things that I pulled out about who the high priest was and what his office was, that the Jewish believers, the Hebrew believers that he was writing to would have known very clearly, but we might need a little bit more, a little bit more explanation on. And so let's look at those four things. The first thing that we are told about the high priest is that he is appointed on behalf of man. Notice what it says in verse one.

For every high priest taken from among men is appointed on behalf of men in things pertaining to God in order to offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins. He starts off by saying that he is taken from among men. In other words, he has a similar nature as the people that he is serving. That creates a certain solidarity between the high priest and the people that he is serving, which was going to be very important for the role that he was going to fulfill.

Because there needed to be that solidarity, and as we'll get to in a moment, there needed to be that understanding. This needed to be someone that the people could relate to, and someone who could relate to the people. It needed to be someone who understood what it was like to live on this earth, who understood what it was like to face the issues and the difficulties that they were facing so that there was solidarity and an approachability with this high priest. There was a certain understanding that this man would have, and so he was, first of all, taken from among men.

And of course, also underneath of that, he is appointed on behalf of man. That means that this high priest would be a representative. And that representative would do two things. The first thing that that representative would do is that that representative would represent God to man. Because he would bring the edicts and the ordinances of God to man. He would be the one who is the ultimate teacher,

the ultimate instructor, and the ultimate arbitrator between God and man. So he would be that representative. So while he is taken from among men, it was also important that this man be godly and understand the truth for himself, because he would represent God to man. So it would be a heavy calling that he would have on his life. But not only was he a representative on that behalf,

he was also a representative that represented man to God. Because he would be the one who would take the sacrifices to God. He was the intermediary between God and man in this sense. He would be the one who would offer the sacrifices for sins. He would be the one who would offer the atoning sacrifice, the Passover sacrifice, the fellowship offerings, the consecration offerings, all of those different things

he would be there for. So he would be that representative of God to man. But there's also something very interesting that if you were to go back and to read Exodus 28 that you would learn about the high priest. And it has to do with his garments. There are two very specific things on the garments of the high priest that were important as far as him being appointed on behalf of man.

He wore a metal breastplate, and then he wore two amulets on his shoulders. Two stones, if you will, on his shoulders. The two stones on his shoulders, each of which had six of the tribes of Israel on one side and six of the tribes of Israel on the other side. And then the breastplate that he wore had 12 stones on it. And each of those stones had engraved on them

one of the names of the children of Israel. And there was a specific purpose for this. Because he again was the representative of God to the nation of Israel. And he was the representative of the nation of Israel to God. So in order to do that he had to have identity with the people. But even more than that, the idea is that he bore the people on his shoulders,

but he also held them close to his heart. So it was really important. So when he went before the Lord, when he took this role on that God gave to him, this role was very important because this role was first of all one of great strength as he bore the weight of the people before God. But it was also one of great tenderness as he held the nation of Israel close to his heart.

And so this is who he was as he was appointed on behalf of man. But not only was he appointed on behalf of man, but he was appointed for a purpose. And that was to be for in things pertaining to God. There was a specific purpose to his position. It was not just a title that he held. It was a job or a life that he lived as he taught the people, as he instructed the people in things pertaining to God.

But even more than that, he was the one who made the sacrifices for the people. He was the one who was the intermediary in things pertaining to God. He was a godly representative to the people. So the first thing that we learn about the high priest is that he is appointed on behalf of man. The second thing that we learn about the high priest is that he was gentle with the people.

He was gentle with the people. Notice what it says in verse 2. He can deal gently with the ignorant and the misguided, since he himself is also beset with weakness. I'm going to take those kind of in reverse order. One thing that was true of the earthly high priest is that he dealt with all of the same weaknesses that the people did. This was just a man who was of like nature of the people,

who had a sin nature just like the people did, which is what somewhat made his high priesthood inferior to that of Jesus, but also made it very similar to Jesus because he understood the world that the people lived in. He understood what it was like to have areas of struggle. He understood what it was like to have areas of sin that sometimes he would have to deal with between he and the Lord. He understood because he also dealt with sin in his own life.

And listen, that made him gentle with the ignorant and the misguided. In other words, it made him gentle with everybody else. Or at least it should have made him gentle. And so as a high priest, he could be not only a shepherd for the people, but he could be a very understanding shepherd of the people. Because when they brought their issues to him, he could say,

I understand because I deal with those same things too. I understand because I have to make sacrifices for my own sins too. And so he was able to be gentle with the people. And if I may draw just a little bit of personal application here for us, this is the way we should be as Christians. Is that we should understand that we are beset with weaknesses. Therefore, we should be gentle with people,

with the ignorant and the misguided. And listen, sometimes the people that know better and do it anyway, we should be gentle with those people. I'm not really sure what happens to Christians, but when you first get saved, you're just so amazed that God would love you and that God would save you and that God would gift you and that God would give you his grace. But then something begins to happen to us.

We begin to become a little bit arrogant in the grace that God has given to us. And we become a little bit knowledgeable about what God has done in our life and what his word has to say. And after all, we're past all of those things that we used to be. We're past being the way that we were before we got saved. And then pretty soon, we begin to become superior in our attitude

and we begin to look down on each other. And we begin to look down on the world. And we begin to look down on people. And pretty soon, we start saying, I can't believe you would struggle with that sin. I can't believe you would stumble in this way. That world is so disgusting. I don't want anything to do with them. And pretty soon, we become these arrogant,

unapproachable people. The world then calls us hypocrites. And they say, I don't want anything to do with church because that's just a bunch of hypocrites. And unfortunately, they're right. And sometimes as the church, we have to realize this. That we should never be people who say, look at what God's done in me. I sure wish he'd do that in you. It should be,

look at what God's done in me. Let me show you what he can do for you. There's a different attitude there. But the problem is, too many of us get lifted up with pride. Too many of us get lifted up with this idea that I had something to do with my salvation. Or worse, I have something to do with my sanctification. Forgetting that it all is the work of Jesus Christ in our lives.

The greatest compliment that we can receive as a church is that they love me no matter what. They loved me no matter what. It didn't matter what my weaknesses were. It didn't matter what my failures were. They just continued to love me. That's not to say we can't hold people accountable. You should absolutely hold people accountable. But we do so with love and grace.

Not with a prideful attitude. Because I'm here to tell you right now, the world is right about one thing. The church is full of a bunch of hypocrites. But we're all recovering hypocrites. I've always made this joke. We should actually not call ourselves Christians in a church. We should call ourselves Hypocrites Anonymous. We'll just call it HA for short. Because that's really what we are.

We're all just recovering. The world is full of hypocrites too. And that's what I like to tell people of the world. They're like, I don't go to church because it's full of hypocrites. And I say, I don't go to concerts because it's a bunch of hypocrites. I'm putting a face on, right? Being a believer in Jesus Christ is learning to take the mask off and be transparent about who we are.

Being a believer in Jesus Christ is learning to take the mask off by God's grace and being honest about what we really struggle with in life. It's something God told me I had to do a really long time ago and I hate it. But it's what I have to do. I have to take the mask off and be really genuine with you guys. And so he says, he can be gentle with the people

because he understands the weakness because he has the same weaknesses. So number one, the high priest was appointed on behalf of man. Number two, the high priest was to be gentle with the people. But then number three, we get down to the business. The high priest had to offer the sacrifices. Notice what it says here. And because of it, in other words, the weaknesses both of himself and the people,

he is obligated to offer sacrifices for sins as for the people but also for himself. Listen, the high priest had one main job and it was to offer the sacrifices for the people. But first he had to offer a sacrifice for himself. I'm reminded of the day of atonement which I think is in Leviticus chapter 16. Fascinating chapter about the day of atonement because the first thing that the high priest had to do

before he could ever take part in the holiest day of the year, the high priest had to go and he had to offer a sacrifice for himself. He had to take the blood of an ox and he had to put it on the horns of the altar to make atonement for his own sins. Which again is why he could now be understanding for the people but it also is what allowed him to be holy enough to be the one who would offer the sacrifices for the people. So first of all he had to make a sacrifice for his own sins.

He had to deal with his own business. He had to cleanse his own heart and then he had to go and start doing the gospel work if you will for the people. He then met with the people and he began to deal with the sins that the people had. That day of atonement was fascinating. I always wondered how long that whole process took. Like how long it took for him to

lay his hands on the head of the goat, that scapegoat, and confess all of the sins of the nation for that year. Right? Like I'm thinking if I have to do this in 2026 this is going to be more than one day. Right? This is going to take a lot of time. This is a serious thing that he did but listen it's the most important thing that he did. Because the greatest issue

man deals with is sin. One of the questions I love asking people is what do you think the biggest problem in the world is right now? And they'll start to give you a list of answers and I don't disagree with any of the answers that they give but it always misses the point. They can say well I think there's politicians with too much power. I think that there's too much war.

I think that there's too much violence. I think that there's too much judgmentalism. I think there's too much hate. I think there's too much anger. I think there's too much division. Those are all answers people have given me when I've said what do you think the biggest problem in the world is? Too much materialism? Too much money? Too much about money? Too much pride?

Like all of those things are correct but they still all miss the point. Because the biggest issue that we deal with in the world is sin. The greatest job that the high priest had was sacrifice. Because the sacrifice is what made covering for sin. That day of atonement was the most important day of the year because on the day of atonement was when God atoned for the sins

of the nation for one more year. He covered them for another year so that they can continue to live in His good graces for another year. Again, jumping ahead of myself a little bit this is why Jesus is a superior high priest. So He had to offer these sacrifices for sins. It started with His own and then for the people. But it wasn't just one day that He did this.

This was a consistent thing that the high priest had to do. Matter of fact if you read through the book of Leviticus which we did not long ago in our daily Bible reading of course I'm at the end of numbers I think I'm just behind just a little bit I think we should be in Deuteronomy by now but it goes back through all the sacrifices again and some of the ones that they had to make and when you really start adding up all of the sacrifices that the high priest made, dude that guy was busy. First of all, can we all just agree that dude was jacked. Because if you are handling that many large animals and cutting them up the way that he did this guy could not be weak.

He had to be a man to do the things that he did. And that's what he was. He did hard work. But he always knew there was a point to the work that he was doing. And the point to the work that he was doing was the sacrifice of sins for the people. Making intercession for people before the Lord. And that was his role. That was his job. But then there's one last thing, one fourth thing

that we learn about this high priest he was called by God. Notice what it says in verse 4 And no one takes the honor to himself but he receives it when he is called by God, even as Aaron was. The role of the high priest was not a role that could be taken lightly. Nor was it a role that one could take upon themselves. And even the Roman government tried to be the ones

who would appoint the high priest. But the people always knew who the real high priest was because he was of the line of Aaron. That's why it's often referred to as the Aaronic priesthood because it was of the line of Aaron. And no one takes it on himself because that calling is recognized by God. And if I maybe could draw a little bit of a again a parallel here. This is the

difference between what the world calls pastors today and what God calls pastors today. You see right now the world likes to say hey I can give you a title because you have the right degree and you went to the right school and you passed the right test therefore I call you a pastor. The only problem is God doesn't call him a pastor and you can tell by the way that they handle themselves in church. Because they don't give out the word of God. They don't

point people to Jesus. They are not dealing with sin. They are a puppet who stands in front of people and gives a great story hoping that people will show up the next week. That's not a pastor. That's not somebody called by God. And then you've got guys who have no degree who can give out God's word better than any of the guys who have been to the seminaries because you go that guy

is called by God. And that's a calling that you can't deny. And within Calvary Chapel that's how we view things. We're less concerned about the degree you have not that there's anything wrong with it. We're more concerned about whether or not God has called you. Because if God has called you he will equip you. I got to sit down and have lunch with a young man that's going to be sharing

his testimony for me here in a couple of weeks and he said somebody gave me a piece of advice one time and it's given me a lot of comfort. God doesn't call the equipped. He equips the called. And I love that. It's not new to him. It's not even new to the person that gave it to him but I love that he is holding on to that. He said because I don't always feel equipped to do what I do.

I don't always feel equipped to lead a Bible study on my college campus which is exactly what this young man does. But he said I know that God has called me and I can tell you in my few conversations with him God has. And it's fascinating to see and I love it. I love what God can do because when it's a calling of God there's so much authority and power behind it.

That you can't manufacture. That nobody can bestow upon you. It's a calling of God. And that's who this high priest was. He was called by God. And so we're given this description of this high priest and of course in the Old Testament the high priesthood was first given to Aaron and it started off with his four sons. Of course we lost two of those in a sinful accident

that took place in the book of Leviticus. And so his other two sons continued on the line of the high priesthood and that line of Aaron continued all the way through but all of a sudden now we're not sure where things are anymore. And now these Hebrew believers are like so who's our high priest now if it's not the Aaronic line? Who do we follow? Who's the high priesthood?

Because they were being tempted to go back. Because they could see and they could touch this high priest and now they don't know what to do anymore. And so he begins to describe Jesus as the high priest. Verse 5 So also Christ did not glorify himself so as to become a high priest but he who said to him you are my son today I have begotten you just as he also says in another passage you are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.

The first thing that we notice about Jesus is that he was appointed by God. He was appointed by God. Christ did not glorify himself. As a matter of fact that's one of the things Jesus even said. He said I don't bring glory to myself I'm going to let the Father do that. I'm going to let him testify of who I am. And if you remember the day that Jesus was baptized

the day that Jesus was baptized when he identified himself with man a voice came from heaven he said this is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased. It was God's seal of approval on the high priesthood of Jesus Christ. That's what that was in that moment. And so this wasn't something that Jesus took on himself it was something that God gave to him in his humanity.

And he tells us so by using two verses in the Old Testament one out of Psalm chapter 2 verse 7 that we've seen several times where it says you are my son today I have begotten you and I will remind you again that the idea of begotten here has nothing to do with birth it has everything to do with authority and that authority was verified in Jesus when he was raised from the dead. As we're told in the book of Romans he was declared to be the son of God with power when God raised him from the dead. And so this title of authority he didn't take on himself this title of authority was bestowed upon him by the Father but then we're introduced to something here and this is out of Psalm 110 it says this just as he also says in another passage you are a priest

forever according to the order of Melchizedek. First of all it's a great name second of all nobody ever knows anything about Melchizedek. This is a fascinating character in scripture I don't want to go too much into this guy because in chapter 7 he goes into depth about who Melchizedek is but I do want to give you a brief introduction so that you're not sitting there going I don't know what that means a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek. Melchizedek was first introduced to us in the book of Genesis I believe it was chapter 16 in Genesis chapter 16 the children of Israel and it was only Abraham actually at this point in time Abraham's family had gone to war against some tribes that had come against them and Abraham won the victory

and after he won the victory this character shows up his name is Melchizedek and he's described to us as the king of Salem and a priest of the Lord so he is both a king and a priest which is a pretty unusual thing because even in secular world they never allowed the king to also be the religious leader at least up until the Roman times they didn't allow the king to be the religious leader because that was too much power for one person to have and so this Melchizedek was a fascinating guy because he was both a king and he was a priest and then Abraham ultimately offers to him tithes while Melchizedek shows up with two things he shows up with bread and wine and so if you will they sit and take communion together with Abraham and the king of peace an

eternal king who is also a priest that Abraham then gives tithes to that's who is referred to in the book of Psalms as a king or a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek again we'll get into this in a couple of chapters so the blank stares you're giving me right now I'll try to explain them just a little bit better here's the point I want you to hold on to about what he says about this priesthood of Jesus because this priesthood that was bestowed upon Jesus was not a temporary priesthood it was an eternal priesthood that's what he's intending to communicate in this moment again he'll explain it further in a little bit but it was an eternal priesthood something that would last forever and he would be a king and a priest so the first

thing that we take note of about Jesus as the high priest is that number one he was appointed by God number two he was gentle with humanity it says in verse seven the days of his flesh he offered up both prayers and supplication with loud crying and tears to the one able to save him from death and he was heard because of his piety although he was a son he learned obedience from the things which he suffered this idea of Jesus being gentle with humanity is really important to us to pay attention to because he tells us two things about Jesus's humanity he tells us about his prayer life and he also tells us about his obedience through suffering so let's first of all look at Jesus's prayer life he says that he offered up

in the days of his flesh in other words when Jesus in his humanity lived on earth he offered up prayers and supplications with loud crying to the one who was able to save him from death and he was heard because of his piety before we get into the specific part that he's talking about there I feel like we should make a general reference to the prayer life of Jesus when you get to the gospel accounts I think one of the great things to do is to reference every time the prayer life of Jesus is brought up because it's brought up a significant number of times throughout the gospel accounts now I'll remind you that Jesus was 100% God but he was also 100% man and in his humanity he was completely dependent upon the Father and he expressed that

dependence upon the Father through his prayer life Jesus did not make big decisions without praying as a matter of fact before Jesus chose the 12 disciples he spent all night praying about that decision because he wanted to choose correctly he wanted to make sure that in his humanity he wasn't allowing anything to change his decision making process he wanted to make sure that the Father was in complete control of how he handled that which is fascinating because when you look at the guys that Jesus chose most of us would not have chosen the men that he chose right we're like Jesus maybe you should have prayed a little longer because did you take note of who you chose there right he chose two guys with an anger problem he chose a guy who didn't

believe anything a pessimist he chose a guy who was wishy washy about his flaky as you can possibly be he chose a guy he knew was going to betray him and these were the guys he chose after he spent all night praying which is probably why he had to spend all night praying because he was like you sure you sure about this one I don't know man this doesn't seem right to me none of them had any qualifications one was a thief and a betrayer of his country he chose another guy who was a zealot for his country who would have hated the other guy Simon I was wondering what this conversation between Simon the zealot and Matthew the tax collector were like right like you know that took two years just for them to talk to each other Jesus

was finally like boys you got to work this out okay you're both on the same team same team here okay he's not a tax collector anymore you're not a patriot anymore still a patriot you're not a extreme patriot anymore okay you guys can talk to each other that would be like putting Joe Biden and Donald Trump on the same team everybody's like that's not going to work this is a terrible idea but Jesus prayed all night and that's who God told him to choose he was completely dependent upon the Lord for decision making processes do you know that Jesus was also completely dependent upon the Lord for the strength that he needed to perform the ministry that he was doing one morning his disciples got up and of course Jesus kept a schedule that

I don't think any of us could have kept Jesus kept this intense schedule right and one morning his disciples get up because it's time for them to move on they can't find Jesus anywhere they'll think great we lost the son of God we lost Jesus where did he go and finally Jesus comes cruising in right after dawn and they're like Jesus where were you we got places to go we got people to see he said I was in prayer because he knew that if he was going to keep the schedule that he was going to keep if he was going to do what he needed to do he needed to be in prayer before the Lord as a matter of fact when Jesus' disciples after Jesus fed the five thousand which by the way before Jesus fed the five thousand he tried to get away with his disciples

to spend some time with them and in some prayer with the Lord because he had found out that his cousin had been killed he was dealing with grief in the moment and as he was dealing with grief in the moment to try to process that grief not only with his disciples but in his time with the Lord five thousand people well five thousand men plus women and children show up and Jesus has to try to minister to them and he does so in an amazing sort of way but when everybody disperses he says boys get in a boat I got to go spend some time with God I got to go spend some time with the Father because he knew if he was going to process the difficult things that he was going through he had to process it through prayer and of course the greatest prayer

that he gives which is exactly what's referred to here is his prayer in the garden of Gethsemane he had great tears great loud crying involved in his prayer because in that prayer is when he went into the garden and he ultimately won the battle of the cross when he prayed Lord if you have a plan B I'm open for options Lord if there's any other way then let this cup pass from me nevertheless not my will but your will be done you see in his flesh in his humanity he cried out to the one who was able to save him from death which is why I believe that's the specific prayer that he's talking about here he cried out to the one who would be able to save him from death and he was heard because of his piety and yet there was still surrender in his prayer

you see Jesus can be gentle with us because he knows what it's like to face the greatest pressures in the world he knows what it's like to have to make hard decisions and have to really seek God for how to make the right decision he knows what it's like to maintain a schedule that's hard to keep up with and to need to be dependent completely on the Father to keep up with all of the demands of his life he knew what it was like to deal with the hard hurtful things of life and to find that the only way he could process those was through prayer so he could be gentle with you when you come to him and you say I don't know how to process this I don't know how to process the grief I don't know how to process the struggle

I don't know how to process the difficulty you can bring it to Jesus because he goes I get it and this is the exact same way I did it so let me walk you through it and he knows what it's like to have every fiber of your being to say not today I'm just going to give up I'm just going to walk away I'm going to find plan B and then to say but not my will your will be done which by the way is the way you overcome every temptation of your life is to ultimately surrender your will to God but the surrendering of your will to God takes place in prayer and Jesus is gentle with you in those moments we discount how much in his humanity he went through how difficult his life was and we use the dumb excuse that Jesus didn't have the technology that we have today

really come on don't be that guy don't be that girl and he can be gentle with us but not only can he be gentle because we saw what his prayer life looked like in his humanity but he can be gentle with us because he knows what obedience looks like although he was a son verse 8 he learned obedience from the things which he suffered although he was a son and as it says in the Amplified Bible although he was a son who was never disobedient and it's important that we understand that there was never one time disobedience in the life of Jesus because there was no sin nature in the life of Jesus therefore he started off with a clean slate and he lived with a clean slate but he learned obedience in his humanity which he suffered

in other words as he went through the hardships of life he continued to learn what it looked like to be obedient in his humanity because though he did not have the sin nature that we have he has the same weakness that we have he had that same weakness that we have for temptation which is why he went through the temptation that he went through and again sometimes I think we discount all of the temptations that Jesus would have gone through we read about the one where he went through with Satan and he was called up to day three of no food I'd be on the blog and be like day three I don't think I'll make it tell my family I love them goodbye right I mean after day 39 I would be like there's just nothing left to say at that point in time

and then he gets tempted by Satan himself at his absolute physically weakest point but we forget all of the other suffering that he went through we forget the fact that everybody hated him do you ever think about that? like listen people get mad at me and I hate that like I'm a people pleaser by nature but I have a job that sometimes makes me not please people and people get mad at me and I do not handle that very well I am sad a lot because of those things Jesus had everybody hate him right like they tried to kill him multiple times there was literally plots against Jesus listen if you think you're the villain in someone's story Jesus was the villain in everyone's story they're like ever since Jesus showed up

don't nobody show up to our bible studies no more don't nobody show up to our torah class anymore everybody wants to go see Jesus and they hated that guy he tore down their system and the things that he faced were just intense you ever thought about the fact that his mom was called incredibly bad names all the time like his mom was called the worst names and he was probably called the worst names because of his background because he could not prove who his father actually was matter of fact the Pharisees even referred to him as the son of a whore they're like we know where we're from and he dealt with all of that and he continued to do so with such grace and with such patience but listen he learned obedience

I believe that in all of that he had to continually have the prayer life that said Lord I need your strength right now Father I need your strength right now because what I want to do is call them angels down what I want to do is call down the legions of angels and just wipe them all out and be like who's your daddy now right like that's what I would do in that situation can I say that second service I feel like I can I feel like that's okay he learned obedience through the things that he suffered listen up to the last point in his life when he learned obedience through the prayer time that he suffered because of that he can be gentle with humanity because of that he is gentle with us again stepping ahead of myself in the book of Hebrews

we find that he always lives to make intercession for us he's always advocating for you as a believer in Jesus Christ before the Father he's always advocating for you and saying no but he belongs to me no but she belongs to me and we can trust in him for that not only was he appointed by God not only was he gentle with humanity but he is the source of eternal salvation verse 9 he became to all those who obey him the source of eternal salvation being designated by God as a high priest according to the order of Melchizedek this is what makes Jesus even more superior not only can he be gentle with humanity because he understands us yet without sin not only was he appointed by God as an eternal king and high priest but he makes

for us the sacrifice for eternal salvation you see here's the problem again getting ahead of myself just a little bit in the book of Hebrews but you'll forget by then the problem with the priesthood at that point in time the problem with the sacrificial system was that man kept messing up and so the blood of bulls and goats the blood of lambs could only cover for another year it could only satisfy the righteous anger of God for another year so that he could pass over the sins of the people it could not eternally make someone saved it could not eternally deal with the price problem of sin it could only oh shoot I just lost the word it could only satisfy the anger of God for so long but then came Jesus because when Jesus came and he fulfilled

every single one of the things that the sacrifices pointed to he became the eternal salvation for sin which is why the very last thing that Jesus said from the cross was it is finished in the Greek tetelestai paid in full which is why what happened when Jesus declared that from the cross was that the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom indicating direct access now to God because now God could have fellowship with sinful man because our sin the greatest problem we have had been dealt with through Jesus and that eternal salvation is what we have listen when we obey him there it is Ryan it's the system of works no it's not what is obedience to God obedience to God we are told in John chapter 6 is to believe on Jesus Christ

Jesus said to them this is the work that you must do to believe on him whom he has sent that is obedience obedience is absolute faith absolute trust in the finished work of Jesus Christ on the cross listen that will ultimately produce works in our lives it will ultimately produce everything that God intends for it to in our lives because now it is a work of grace not a work of man now it is a work of the cross not a work of man now it's the Holy Spirit at work inside of you and not something that you're trying to do in yourself and now you operate like we said before from a place of confidence not a place of fear because it is an eternal sacrifice that had been made for us and I always like to ask people are you resting

in that eternal sacrifice I'm going to keep asking you these questions because I feel like in the church today there is so much false gospel going on it's either a gospel of works or it's a gospel of cheap grace a gospel of license and both are just as dangerous there is eternal salvation in Jesus and you can rest in that eternal salvation why because he's a high priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek well I don't want to finish the chapter because there's too much in that last section so I want to close with this so what do we do with all of this information about the high priest and Jesus as our high priest well I want to give you one phrase that I want to expound on for just a few minutes here so hold on to Jesus I want to remind you

of who he's writing to in this moment he is writing to a group of Hebrew believers who are facing intense persecution and that intense persecution is creating a pressure in their life to depart from the truth to fall away to drift away from the truth of Jesus and to drift either into a system of works i.e. back to the high priesthood or to simply drift away from God and just completely give up and so he tells them who the high priest is because he wants them to hold on to Jesus you see he wants them to understand that they should not go back to a temporary high priest that can only give them temporary relief from sin he wants them to hold on to an eternal high priest who is eternally there for them who is going to give them eternal life because

ultimately that's what's going to be best so he says hold on to Jesus because he is your eternal high priest he is the one who is ultimately going to make intercession for you and can continue to make intercession for you directly to the father you don't need someone else you don't need to go back to a priest who you confess your sins to and then absolves you of your sins I don't know who needed to hear that this morning you don't need to go back to a priest to do that you have the eternal high priest of Jesus who you confess your sins to who is not only able to absolve you from sin but to completely cleanse you from sin so there is an eternal high priest he says hold on to Jesus because he is a gentle high priest who understands

he is a gentle high priest who is patient with you in your weakness who knows your flesh that you are but dust he knows your frame that you are but dust he is able to make intercession for you even though you still bear these weaknesses in these bodies that we carry and we hold on to Jesus because in Jesus we have eternal salvation through this high priest and so brothers and sisters he says hold on to Jesus so I don't know where everybody sits in here this morning with what is going on in your lives but boy it sure seems like the pressure is great I feel like every day I get an new call about somebody that has got cancer I feel like I get a new call every day about some tragedy that has happened in someone's life and the world is heavy

that we live in right now I was talking to a doctor friend of mine yesterday I said is this just me because of my job and he said no no there is just a greater intensity in what we are seeing in the health world today there is just a lot going on and I know that the pressure is heavy on a lot of people and we all sense what is going on in the world right now when we feel the pressure of what is going on in the world right now and we see what happens in culture right now and we feel the pressure of what is going on in culture right now and sometimes sometimes we can find ourselves saying what is the point why am I still doing this I did a Q&A with some kids the other night and they submitted their questions ahead of time and one of the questions was

what is the point of my life if it is filled with so much pain and I thought man that hurts but I think that there is more people that would ask that question in today's world than we realize because we do sense the pressure we sense the heaviness and that is kind of why he wrote the book of Hebrews it is because people were going what is the point if it is just so hard what is the point if there is just so much pain so he tells them hold on to Jesus because he is your great high priest he understands where you are he understands what you are going through he hears the cries of your heart and hears the cries that you can't articulate and he knows I am going to close with this the words of one of my favorite psalms

and I am going to explain one thing about it it will take me 2 minutes and 25 seconds Psalm chapter 40 verses 1 through 3 says I waited patiently for the Lord and he inclined to me and he heard my cry brought me up out of the pit out of the miry clay placed my feet upon a rock put a new song in my mouth praise unto our God I am going to sing words in that and it has to do with what we do in our cry to the Lord because as we cry out to the Lord it says God does 2 things it says he does more than that why don't you pay attention to 2 things number 1 it says he inclines to us that word incline means to stoop down to listen imagine if you will a small child comes to you which wouldn't be hard to do here a small child comes to you to ask you a question

but they are a little bit nervous so they talk with the quietest voice humanly possible and so you are trying to hear what they say and suddenly they are nervous and they are super low down to the ground and so you stoop down and listen so that you can hear what they are saying that is the idea of the word incline even though you are nervous and you don't really know what to say he stoops down to listen to you but the second word that is used there is that he hears our cry and that word in the Hebrew is a very vivid word because it carries with it the idea that he not only hears what we do say but he hears what we don't say in other words he not only hears the words that come out of our mouth

but he hears the intent of the words that come out of our mouth have you ever not really known what to say like you are like you know and you try to describe something to someone and you can't and it is like you just had to see it well when we do that with Jesus he goes I get it because he can see it not only because he is God but listen because he understands and so as you feel the pressure of this world I would tell you hold on to Jesus because he is always stooping down to hear you and he hears what you say and he hears what you don't say amen let's all stand and if you would bow with me Father we come before you and Lord I thank you for this message about the high priest this morning and I thank you for being our great high priest

Lord I thank you that you have given us one who was tempted in every way as we are and yet without sin Lord I thank you that that you have blessed us with someone who understands us and Lord I thank you that we don't have to worry about making another sacrifice or a perpetual sacrifice or going to some priest Lord we just have to come to Jesus so Father I pray that as we face the pressures of this world as we face the pressures of this life that we would hold on tight to you and that we would not be swayed by the things that go on around us but Lord that we would find our strength in the God who created us in the God who saves us in the God who sustains us and the one who loved us enough to come down and dwell among us

Lord may we find our comfort and our hope in that and so Lord move in our hearts we pray move as you see fit and Lord I lift up every person here this morning that carried a burden in that carried something that was heavy and Lord they've been trying to let it go but it's just hard and so Lord for this short time may they be able to lay it at your feet they may pick it up again but Lord may they know and understand that they can rest in you Father we thank you and we praise you for who you are in Jesus name amen be blessed yes Lord you are holy we just thank you again for who you are Lord thank you that we could meet with you this morning Lord freely God I pray that going forward that we just continue to seek you and to honor you as our priest

God as our eternal high priest as our eternal salvation God and that we only look to you we only operate in our weakness God that's all we can do and lean on your spirit God lean on your strength to get through this crazy crazy world and crazy life we live in Lord so we thank you we love you and we praise you in Jesus name amen