Let’s take our Bibles together and turn to the Book of Hebrews. We are continuing our series today, “Christ Supreme in All Things.” And today we come to a hinge passage in the book of Hebrews. This is a passage that is summing up the previous section, but also leading us into a new section, a new argument in this book. And the argument is essentially that Jesus is a true and better priest, truer and better than any priest that has ever served in Israel. This is a concept, Jesus’s high priesthood, that has been teased already twice in Hebrews (2:17; 3:1). But now the author expounds on it in great depth. 

In fact in our passage today, Hebrews 4:14-16, Jesus isn’t just described as our “high priest.” The language is more striking than that. Jesus is described as our “great high priest.” Previously the author of Hebrews called Jesus the ἀρχιερεύς which means “high priest” or “chief priest.” The word ἱερεύς means “priest.” And the word ἄρχων means “ruler.” So the ἀρχιερεύς is the “ruling priest” or the “chief priest” among the Jews. That was an important designation among the Israelites in the OT and also in NT times. 

But notice the language in Hebrews 4:14. The author doesn’t say ἀρχιερεύς. He doesn’t just call Jesus the “high priest” or “chief priest” like he’s usurping the chief priest that served at that time. He calls Jesus ἀρχιερεύς μέγας. He’s not just the “high priest.” He’s the “mega high priest.” He’s the “great-great priest” or the “greatest of the priests.” 

This is the author’s way of saying, Jesus is absolutely amazing, and nothing and nobody compares with him. And it’s not just that Jesus is more righteous and more holy and more wonderful than any priest who ever lived in the ancient or the modern world. That’s true. And if that was all Jesus was, that would be amazing. But the author makes clear that Jesus’s greatness isn’t just because of his transcendence. It’s also his immanence. It’s not just his superiority over every other human priest who ever lived. It’s also his familiarity with us and our struggles. Jesus knows what it’s like to struggle with temptation. Your savior knows what it means to be tempted and attacked in this world. And he stood up to the powers of this world and took every single thing they threw at him, and he stood his ground. And he gave his life as a sacrifice for us. That’s what makes him the ἀρχιερεύς μέγας. 

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So let’s talk about our “great high priest” this morning and see what makes him so “great.” Write this down as #1 in your notes. I’ll give you three statements today about Jesus, and here’s the first. 

1) Jesus is our Great High Priest, therefore cling to your confession (4:14)

Hebrews says in verse 14,

14 Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. 

Now remember the context of Hebrews 4. Last time we saw how the author of Hebrews was telling his readers to heed God’s Word. And don’t be like Israelites in the wilderness who ignored the λόγος, the word of the LORD. And the author said that God’s Word is sharper than a two-edged sword. It cuts us to the quick, judging those who reject its message and convicting and changing those who receive it.

And as part of that statement, he says in verse 13 that “no creature is hidden from [God’s] sight, but all are naked [γυμνός] and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account.” All of our actions and our thoughts are laid bare before the God of the Universe. There’s no deceiving him. There’s no misdirection. There’s no smoke and mirrors. He sees everything. And this is meant to terrify us. This is a warning text. You will stand naked and exposed before the LORD, and you will have to give an account. That’s terrifying. And that’s what makes our passage today so much of a comfort. 

Martin Luther said, “After terrifying us [in 4:13], the Apostle now comforts us [in 4:14-16].” Luther said that “after pouring wine into our wound, [the author of Hebrews] now pours in oil.” He warns us then he comforts us. Yes, we will have to stand before the LORD, but at the same time, we can approach the throne of grace with confidence because of what our Great High Priest, Jesus Christ, has done for us. 

And as part of that comfort, the author writes,

14 Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens,

That language “passed through” is high-priest talk. The high priest used to have to pass through the holy of holies in the tabernacle. Once a year, on Yom Kippur (“the Day of Atonement”) he would make a sacrifice for the whole nation. He would pass through the holy place and then the holy of holies and sprinkle blood on the ark of the covenant. And he entered through three portals, so to speak: 1) The outer court, 2) The holy place, and 3) The holy of holies. You could say it this way: “[T]he ancient high priest had a three-portaled entrance in coming before the thrice-holy God.” 

Well Jesus’s “pass through” was greater than the “pass through” of those ancient high priests. Jesus went through the three heavens: 1) the first heaven of the atmosphere, 2) the second heaven of outer space, and 3) finally into the third heaven of the presence of God—the most holy of all places. He didn’t just pass through the holy of holies. He passed through the heavens into the very throne room of God. 

If you remember the last thing the disciples saw was Jesus ascending into heaven. He was passing through the first heaven. And the author of Hebrews describes elsewhere, via Psalm 110, how Jesus entered into the holy throne room of God and sat down at his right hand to make intercession for us. Now you know why the author of Hebrews doesn’t just call Jesus a “high priest.” He’s a “great high priest” (ἀρχιερεύς μέγας). 

And who is this great high priest, just to be clear? Well the author says, 

14 Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, 

Remember I told you last time that Joshua and Jesus are the same name. Joshua is the OT version of NT Jesus. The author of Hebrews spoke about OT Joshua in 4:8. Well, just to be clear in verse 14, that he’s not talking about OT Joshua, he says, “Jesus, the Son of God.” That Jesus is this great high priest! 

And notice the juxtaposition here of the names for Christ. This is great. He is Jesus. Jesus is his human name. That’s the name that the angel gave to Mary to give to the second person of the Trinity who took on human flesh and lived among us (Luke 1:31). This was a common name. This was the name of the OT hero “Joshua.” Lots of little Jewish boys in Jesus’s day were named “Jesus.” And that lets us know that Jesus was fully human. And Luke tells us that he had natural growth and development as a human. He “increased in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and man” (Luke 2:52).

But Jesus wasn’t just the son of Mary; he was and is the Son of God. He was fully human, and he was fully God. He was and is fully human and fully God. Here’s how Charles Wesley said it,

Veiled in flesh, the Godhead see;

Hail, th'incarnate Deity:

Pleased, as man, with men to dwell,

Jesus, our Emmanuel!

What an amazing statement that juxtaposes Jesus’s deity and humanity. This is our great high priest! This is the one who passed through the heavens for us—Jesus, the Son of God. Fully God and fully man. And notice what the author of Hebrews uses all this theological richness to argue. We haven’t even finished verse 14 yet! Look what he says.

14 Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. 

That’s the applicational thrust of this passage. That’s the perlocutionary force of this writer’s argument. Since Jesus is awesome, hold fast to your confession! Don’t you quit on Jesus. Don’t you walk away from your faith. You cling to Christ. You cling to your confession. You κρατέω. You grab onto it. You seize it, and you hold fast to your confession. 

Let me just say two things about “our confession” here before we move on. Let me say first what our confession is and then how we hold onto it. 1) First, what is our confession? Our confession is that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, took on human flesh and he died a brutal death on the cross for our sins. And that’s not all. That’s not enough. Most of the world believes that Jesus died on a cross. There’s overwhelming historical evidence that that took place. Also, Jesus was raised from the dead. He conquered death, and our faith in his death as payment for sin, our faith in his resurrection as the firstfruits of our own resurrection saves us. That’s our confession. That’s the gospel that we believe and confess. 

And that leads to the second thing I want to say about this. 2) How do we hold onto this confession? Well, forgive me for being redundant, but we confess it. We talk about it! We proclaim it proudly. “I’m a blood-bought follower of Jesus Christ!” You say that. You believe that and you talk about it. 

“No, no. I’m one of those ‘silent Christians,’ Pastor Tony. I’m a ‘secret Christian.’” O you are, are you? Well then, I’m a Leprechaun. “There’s no such thing as Leprechauns, Pastor Tony.” Yeah, I know. And there’s no such thing as ‘secret Christians’ either. They are a figment of your imagination. You don’t secretively believe in Christ; you confess Christ. You have to talk. 

Tell me if you’ve heard this before: “[I]f you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved” (Rom 10:9). Paul says elsewhere in 2 Corinthians 4:13, “Since we have the same spirit of faith according to what has been written, “I believed, and so I spoke,” we also believe, and so we also speak.” Belief is demonstrated through confession. 

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Go ahead and write this down as #2. Here’s a second thing that makes Jesus “Great” as our Great High Priest. Jesus is our Great High Priest, therefore cling to your confession. Secondly, 

2) Jesus sympathizes with us, therefore don’t get discouraged (4:15)

Look at verse 15 with me. 

15 For we do not have a high priest [ἀρχιερεύς] who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, 

Wow, that’s interesting. You might have thought that the author of Hebrews would expand more on the deity of Christ and his supremacy over the other priests of this world. But he doesn’t do that. He actually talks instead about Christ’s humanity and his ability to relate to us as human beings. That’s remarkable. 

And to emphasize his point, the author uses a double negative here. Literally he says, “We don’t have no high priest!” That’s bad English for us, but it’s emphatic in Greek.  

15 For we do not have a high priest [ἀρχιερεύς] who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.

This is not my area of expertise, but from what I understand, there are places in the Qur’an and elsewhere where the prophet Muhammed asks God for forgiveness from his sins. Let me just state the obvious—Jesus never did that. 

And by the way, let me just make a clear distinction here from Hebrews 4:14. Temptation is not sin! Are you with me? I think sometime Satan gets us to feel guilty about temptation, thinking that somehow being tempted is the same as sinning. It’s not the same. Temptation is a call to fight, not to acquiesce to sin. If temptation were the same as sin, we wouldn’t be serving a sinless Savior. And if our Savior isn’t sinless, we don’t have salvation. 

The word “tempted” here is the Greek πειράζω which means “tempted” or “tested.” And it brings to mind the great temptations of Christ in the wilderness where for forty days the devil tried to persuade Jesus to sin. And Jesus resisted. Jesus quoted Deuteronomy to the devil (cf. Matt 4:1-11), and he withstood those temptations. 

But if you think that was the extent of Jesus’s temptation, you’re wrong. In fact, Luke tells us that Satan left Jesus in the wilderness in order to seek a more opportune time to tempt him (Luke 4:13). That’s an amazing statement. I guess Jesus was too powerful after fasting forty days in the wilderness. 

When would’ve been a more opportune time to tempt Jesus? I don’t know. Maybe when Jesus was on the cross, and he was tempted to climb down and obliterate all the people who were mocking him. Maybe when Jesus was in the Garden of Gethsemane saying, “take this cup from me” (Matt 26:39; Luke 22:42), and he was tempted in that moment of human weakness to reject what God the Father had asked him to do. Or maybe it was when Peter tried to convince Jesus to not let himself be arrested and killed by chief priests and scribes in Jerusalem. Remember what Jesus said to Peter? “Get behind me Satan!” (Matt 16:21-23).

Yeah, Jesus was tempted. In fact, I would argue that Jesus was tempted far more severely than you our I have ever experienced. Because after a certain amount of temptation, we give up and sin. And the fight is over. Jesus never stopped fighting, even as the pressure was ratcheted up higher and higher. 

Here’s how C.S. Lewis says it in Mere Christianity: “A silly idea is current that good people do not know what temptation means. This is an obvious lie. Only those who try to resist temptation know how strong it is. After all, you find out the strength of the German army by fighting against it, not by giving in. You find out the strength of a wind by trying to walk against it, not by lying down. A man who gives in to temptation after five minutes simply does not know what it would have been like an hour later… We never find out the strength of the evil impulse inside us until we try to fight it: and Christ, because He was the only man who never yielded to temptation, is also the only man who knows to the full what temptation means—the only complete realist.” 

I heard recently that if you have multiple pianos in the same room, when you play a note on one of those pianos, it will actually ring out without playing on the other pianos in the room. It’s called “sympathetic resonance.” It’s a real thing. And I love that image, because I think of all of us like pianos in a room. And Jesus is the Grand Piano in the room, a great big Steinway Grand that makes all of us look paltry in comparison. And yet when someone plays a note on our piano, it rings out on that Steinway Grand. In other words, he sympathizes with us. He knows what temptation is like. He’s been there. 

And yet, he is without sin. Right? Look at verse 15 again.

15 For we do not have a high priest [ἀρχιερεύς] who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, 

He’s been tempted just like you! Do you see that? It says, “in every respect,” he’s been tempted just as we are. He’s experienced everything that you have experienced. And to that you might say, “Impossible! Jesus hasn’t been tempted just like me! Jesus was never tempted to throw his computer out the window. And Jesus was never tempted to cheat on his spouse or yell at his kids. Jesus wasn’t married and he didn’t have kids.” No, that’s not what the author means here. He means that Jesus experienced the same kinds of temptations that we have: 1) The lust of the eyes, 2) the lust of the flesh, 3) The pride of life (1 John 2:16). He knows what it means to be tempted. He knows what you’ve been through, and he’s been through more than you’ve ever been through.  

But look at the end of verse 15.  

yet without sin.

Look, here’s the incredible thing about Jesus. He sympathizes with us. Isn’t that wonderful? He took on human flesh. He knows what it’s like to hunger and to thirst. He knows what it’s like to suffer and to grieve. When Lazarus died, Jesus wept (John 11:35). Aren’t you thankful that Jesus wept? He sympathizes with our weakness. Jesus is like us. 

Jesus is like us, and he sympathizes with us. And yet, at the same time, Jesus is not like us. And aren’t you thankful for that? He is “without sin.” He has been tempted in every respect, yet he is without sin. That’s the priest that I want interceding for me before God the Father. That’s the priest I want to represent me. I don’t want the priest down the road who receives my confession. That guy is a sinner. Why would I want him to go before God for me? I don’t want him. And I don’t want the priests of the OT either. They were sinful. They had to offer up a sacrifice for themselves before they offered up a sacrifice for the people. Those high priests were a shadow of the great high priest to come. Jesus is better than those Levitical priests. Jesus is better than a catholic priest. Jesus is better than anything that I can offer you here as your pastor. I’m not your priest. Don’t bring your confessions to me. Jesus died for my sins just like he died for your sins.  

“Pastor Tony, did you hear what that priest did the other day?” I’m not surprised. “Pastor Tony, did you hear what that pastor did over at First Christian Church over there.” Yes, those things grieve me. But my faith doesn’t hinge on the sinlessness or the sinfulness of human leaders. My faith is anchored to a great high priest who was tempted in every way like us and yet remained sinless. 

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Jesus sympathizes with us, church, therefore… don’t get discouraged. And finally, write this down as #3 in your notes. 

3) Jesus offers us help, therefore boldly approach his throne (4:16)

The author Annie Dillard tells this story about how when she was a little girl, she didn’t want to ever see Santa Clause. She was afraid of Santa Clause, because Santa knew all of her secrets. He had been keeping a list and checking it twice, she was told. And one day, one of her teachers came over to her house dressed up like Santa Clause, and her parents called her to come down and meet Santa. And she wouldn’t come down. She didn’t want to meet the person who knew how bad she had been.  

But look at verse 16 with me.

16 Let us then with confidence 

“Confidence” is this word in Greek παρρησία. It’s the word that is used often of the apostles in the book of Acts when they are preaching the gospel. They preached with confidence and boldness. They were courageous even as they told people about Christ. But this word is not used here to speak of evangelism. This word is used to describe how we can come to Christ. 

16 Let us then with confidence [παρρησία] draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy…

Isn’t that good? You don’t need a priest to drawn near to Christ. You don’t have to pray to a saint or to Mary or to someone else. You have direct access to the God of the Universe. You have direct access to Christ and his throne of grace! 

Can I just stop and say something here? I love the book of Hebrews! Can I say that? I love this book and how it moves so smoothly from theological heights of glory to in-your-face practical application for the Christian. I love that! And this is a great example of that. The author says, “Jesus is fully God and fully man, he’s the great high priest who offers up a better sacrifice than the other priests of this world” … Yes, yes, yes, that is so intellectually stimulating and satisfying! “Therefore,” says the author, “Do this!” “Don’t just get lost in theological abstractions.” “This should impact your life. This should impact your day-to-day following of Jesus Christ.”

And here’s the application. 

16 Let us then with confidence [with boldness] draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. 

In the OT world, the ark of the covenant was God’s throne. And nobody approached that space except the high priest on the day of atonement. That’s actually my favorite part of the first Indiana Jones movie, when they open up the ark of the covenant and it melts everyone’s faces off. But unlike God’s throne in the OT, Christ has given us full access to his throne of grace today. We have access to his throne. We have access to his grace. We can boldly approach him. We don’t have to cower before him like he is about to unleash his wrath on us. 

And according to this passage, he is ready and willing to help us. Do you see that at verse 16? “No, Jesus is too busy doing other stuff. He doesn’t have time for us!” That’s not true. He’s willing and ready to help us in our time of need. 

Some of you might say this morning, “Pastor Tony, Satan is coming after me. I am being tempted constantly. Satan is blitzkrieg-ing my spiritual life like the Nazis did France in World War 2!” Okay, well Jesus knows what that’s like. He gets it. He overcame that. And he is willing to help you in your time of need. Ask him for help. Cry out to him!

You see this great high priest isn’t there to condemn you. He’s not unapproachable, like some haughty professor at a major university that you have to schedule office hours with or go through his TA. He is accessible. He is as close as you need him to be. We can pray to him at any time. And he offers us grace. Anyone need grace on a regular basis? And he offers us mercy. Anyone need God’s mercy? And he offers us help in our time of need. 

What’s a time of need look like? Well it’s a time when you are tempted to sin. It’s a time when you are tempted to quit on your kids or quit on your marriage. It’s a time when you are tempted to walk away from your faith or walk away from the church. It’s a time when you are tempted to give into that addiction or that malice in your soul that you have been harboring against another person. Jesus has been there. And Jesus can help you with that. Jesus can help you fight that. 

And when you succumb to your temptations, when you lose the battle with your flesh, because you are not Jesus and you are not without sin, Jesus is there to offer you grace and cover over your sin. Tell me if you’ve heard this before, church. “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9).

“What’s the overarching message of this passage, Pastor Tony? Why did the author of Hebrews write this? And why did the Holy Spirit inspire it as Scripture to edify the church?” Here’s why. The original audience of this letter was tempted to abandon their faith and go back to Judaism. They wanted to go back to the high priest of old who was an inferior high priest and offered up an inferior sacrifice. They weren’t drawing near to the throne of grace; they were drawing back. 

And the author of this book is saying to them, “Don’t you do that. Don’t you know how much better Jesus is than that? Don’t you know what kind of future he’s preparing for you? Cling to your confession. Don’t get discouraged, Jesus has dealt with temptation too. And when you are tempted, when you are struggling, you can boldly approach his throne and he offers you grace and mercy and help.” That’s the message here, church. That’s the message of this passage. Do we need that message in our day?

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I’ll close with this. While I was reading commentaries this last week, I was reminded of the life and ministry of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, one of my heroes in the faith. I have two great German heroes: Martin Luther and Dietrich Bonhoeffer. And if you don’t know who that is, Bonhoeffer was a pastor and a theologian, and he led a group of churches that resisted the Nazis in WW2-era Germany. And Bonhoeffer was eventually arrested and sentenced to death as a German citizen because of his part in a plot to kill Hitler. 

Well at the end of the war, they kept moving Bonhoeffer from camp to camp. And he could hear the Allied guns bearing down on his captors. And for a while there was a glimmer of hope, that he might be rescued and survive the war. But that didn’t happen. On April 9, 1945, he gathered with a group of fellow prisoners and preached a gospel message that moved even a communist who was imprisoned with him. And then, his captors took him out to a field, had him strip naked, and they hanged him. 

I remember reading about this a few years back at my previous church, and I was weeping uncontrollably while I was reading about his death. And I was in this classroom in the church. And one of my elders came in to check on me. And he saw me crying, and he was really worried about me. But I told him, “I’m okay, I’m just reading a really inspiring book about Dietrich Bonhoeffer.” It is inspiring to me.

And what was so moving about that story was Bonhoeffer’s commitment to Christ all the way to the scaffold. Even unto death, Bonhoeffer confessed Christ. And I wonder sometimes what would have happened to Bonhoeffer if he would have survived that imprisonment. He was hanged on April 9, 1945. Germany surrendered just a few weeks later on May 7, 1945. What if he had survived? What if the Allied tanks rolled into that camp and rescued him? What if he went on to preach and lead the church and write for a few more decades? He was only 39 when he died. But that’s not what happened. That’s not what God had for him. And he went to the scaffold, naked, and clinging to the Christ of his salvation.

You might say, “This is Texas, Tony. Nobody’s hanging Christians around here.” Well, Satan has more than one way to skin a cat. Some Christians are tempted and persecuted by violence. Some Christians are tempted and persecuted by apathy and worldliness. And whatever comes your way, here’s what I’m stressing this morning along with the author of Hebrews. Hold fast to your confession! Cling to your confession! “Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession” (4:14).