Jesus is the Perfect High Priest
A sermon based on Hebrews 5:7-10
Sunday, March 29, 2009 – Lent 6B
"I have the perfect model for you!" the salesman said, before we'd spoken a word. Apparently husband and wife climbing out the car with two little boys screamed, "We need a minivan!" That the salesman was right in assuming what we were looking for, it didn't help his sales pitch. It only made him seem arrogant, to assume that he knew enough about us at a glance to know what was perfect for us. It was if he didn't care what we had to say.
Now, I don't intend to sound like that salesman this morning, but the truth is, I know exactly what you need. And I have the perfect one for you. What you need more than peace at home is peace with God. What you need more than forgiveness from that person you hurt is forgiveness from God. And what you need more than job security is eternal security. What you need is someone who can come between you and God. You need a high priest.
And I have the perfect one for you. His name is Jesus. He's the perfect high priest. He's perfect because he became submissive for you that he might become a source for you – the source of eternal salvation. Listen to the word recorded for us in Hebrews 5:7-10 that describe our perfect High Priest…
7During the days of Jesus' life on earth, he offered up prayers and petitions with loud cries and tears to the one who could save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission. 8Although he was a son, he learned obedience from what he suffered 9and, once made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him 10and was designated by God to be high priest in the order of Melchizedek.
I. He Became Submissive for Us
What do you think of when you hear the word "submit"? Do you think of roles of men and women? In Ephesians 5 God instructs wives to "submit to their husbands," but that's easier said than done. Wives, how do you do? Do you even try? Or do you think submission equals inferiority and weakness, that submission in a marriage is an antiquated, unworkable idea in the modern world.
Or maybe you think of Romans 13 where God instructs citizens to "submit to the governing authorities…" So how well have you submitted there? Have you always honored God's representatives? Even the guy you didn't vote for? Do you always submit to the laws that our governing authority has established? Do you always drive the speed limit?
Or maybe, when you hear the word submit you think of God. Certainly Muslims do, since the word Islam means submission and a Muslim is one who submits. In Hebrews 12 God instructs Christians to submit to him like a son submits to his father (vs.7-9), but how many kids want to listen to their parents? And how well do we submit to God and his will?
The truth is we don't submit as we should. We too often behave like disobedient children. We are selfish. We are self-centered. And we tell God what he should do and what he could do better. That's not submission. That's the opposite.
And for such attitudes, let alone the sins that result from those attitudes, you and I deserve to suffer. We deserve hell! And that's exactly why Jesus' reverent submission was so necessary. Because even if we spent the rest of eternity on our knees begging for forgiveness, it wouldn't help. We could shout out in anguish to God and cry buckets of tears and it wouldn't help one bit. Without Jesus God wouldn't even hear our prayers since our sin would continue to separate us from God.
What we desperately need is someone to intercede. We need a priest. What we need is someone to make a sacrifice for us to remove our guilt. We need a high priest. And God has the perfect one for you...
Meet Jesus. He is the perfect high priest for you because of who he is and because of what he's done. Jesus is true man, in every way. He had to be to die for our sins. And if there's any doubt that Jesus was true man, look at him agonize in the Garden of Gethsemane. "During the days of Jesus' life on earth, he offered up prayers and petitions with loud cries and tears to the one who could save him from death…"
That first Maundy Thursday he told his disciples that his soul was "overwhelmed to the point of death" (Mark 14:33-34). Knowing that he would not only be tortured to death, but endure the hell of separation from the Father he prayed so hard that his sweat was "like drops of blood" (Luke 22:44).
Jesus was very human with human emotions, human fear, and a very human temptation to turn away from the cross. In that agonizing prayer in the garden he cried out to God, "My father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me" (Matthew 26:39).
And yet, as human as he was, he was also very much divine God. He was without sin and submitted to God's will perfectly even when God's will meant excruciating and unimaginable suffering. He prayed, "Yet not as I will, but as you will." (Mark 26:39) And he went to the cross. And there,"Although he was a son," in fact, the very Son of God, the perfect Son of God, "he learned obedience from what he suffered…"
Now wait a second… How could Jesus "learn obedience"? Wasn't he always obedient? Well, yes. He was. That phrase doesn't mean thatJesus was ever disobedient. There was never a time when he defied his heavenly Father's will and he always submitted perfectly. But when God asked Jesus to go the cross, he was asking him to obey to an extent he had never obeyed before. When God asked his one and only Son to bear the burden of a world full of sin, he was asking him to do something that had never been done before.
Everybody knows that the King's son doesn't suffer. He's royalty. He doesn't receive punishment; he gives it out. The King's son doesn't have toobey the rules; he makes the rules. But Jesus left his throne to live in human flesh as one of the King's subjects. He willingly submitted to his own laws and commandments and kept them perfectly. He always loved his Father and always submitted to his will. A perfect son of the King does not deserve punishment, suffering and death.
And yet, our perfect High Priest, became submissive for us, that he might make a sacrifice for us, that he might become the sacrifice for us, so he might become a source for us, the source, the only source of eternal life…
II. He Became the Source for Us
Every day, day in and day out, the high priest had a bloody job to do. He was more like a modern butcher than a modern pastor as he slaughtered animal after animal and sacrificed it on the altar. But the blood of a cow could never pay for the sins of a man. Those sacrifices only pointed ahead to Jesus' sacrifice. And Jesus made the perfect sacrifice when he offered himself.
"…And, once made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation…" Jesus needed to be made perfect in much the same way he needed to learn obedience. You see, he was never a work in progress, but his mission was. He himself was always perfect, but his work on earth needed to be brought to completion. And so the submission of Maundy Thursday gave way to the suffering of Good Friday.
And by that sacrifice, our perfect High Priest has made atonement for every one of our sins. We're forgiven for every time we've been selfish or self-centered, for every time we've been angry that God has asked us to suffer, for every time we've failed to submit to God's will.
How do we know for sure? Because of Easter. "He offered up prayers… to the one who could save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission." God did hear Jesus' prayers in the Garden of Gethsemane. And God did deliver him from death. Not immediately, since Jesus did die on the cross, but three days later, he rose from the dead and God delivered him from death as his seal of approval on Jesus perfect mission. Jesus became the only source of eternal life.
But who is this eternal life for? The author to the Hebrews writes, "He became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him." But what does it mean to obey him? Does it mean to do enough good works in order to earn this eternal life or to prove you're really a Christian? No. 1 John 3:22-23 helps us understand this obedience. John writes, "We obey his commands and do what pleases him. And this is his command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ." We don't do anything for eternal life! We simply believe! We trust Jesus and what he has done for us! We trust him because our perfect High Priest made the perfect sacrifice and became the source of our eternal salvation.
He saved us, not from suffering we might face in this life, but from an eternity in hell. And that salvation is eternal. It's in heaven! Forever! And it can't ever be revoked. And now we get the blessings of our High Priest who's in the order of Melchizedek. The name Melchizedek means "King of Righteousness." Through our perfect High Priest, Jesus, we have righteousness given to us by God that makes us perfect and holy in his sight. Melchizedek was the King of Salem (or Shalom) which means "Peace." And through the righteousness that Jesus gives, we have perfect peace with God.
So, what does this mean for every day of your life from now until he takes you to heaven and gives you the eternal salvation he won? It means you live your life in thanks to Jesus for what he's done and learn from his example. Submit to the Father, just as he did. Suffer gladly if God asks you to, just as he did.
A few months ago I read a book by Tony Dungy, the former head coach of the Indianapolis Colts. Coach Dungy and his wife have adopted several children to give them a good home and especially to share the Savior with these kids. But one of those children had a rare disease where he could feel no pain. Dungy described how challenging that was as a parent when his son would take a cookie right out of the oven and eat it with a smile on his face while his hands, lips, and tongue would burn and blister.
Dungy went on to explain that, as difficult as it was, it helped him to understand how God using suffering and pain in our lives. Pain tells us when to stop. Pain is the signal that keeps us from doing permanent damage to ourselves. We can gladly submit to God, even in pain, since we know he only works that pain for our eternal good.
The first century Hebrews were shopping around for a new religion because they didn't like pain and persecution Christianity brought. And from time to time we may be tempted to do the same—because sometimes, following Jesus does bring suffering. But when you're tempted to shop around or buy into something else, remember who Jesus is, and remember what he has done for you, becoming submissive for you, to suffer for you, to become the source of eternal life for you. Looking for a Savior from sin? Then I have the perfect one for you. I have the only one for you! Jesus, the perfect High Priest, who did it all for you! Amen.
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THE DEATH OF GOD
"Then the Jews, as was the preparation of the Passover, so that the bodies were not on the cross on the sabbath (for that Sabbath day was very solemn) asked Pilate to break them legs, and were removed from there.
They came as soldiers, and broke the legs of the first, and also the other who was crucified with him.
But when they came to Jesus, as he was already dead, did not break his legs "(John 19,31-33)
As Albert Einstein once said: "The only true problem of all time is in the heart and the thoughts of men. This is not a physical problem but a moral issue. It is easier to change the plutonium compocision that the evil spirit of an individual. It is not the explosive power of an atomic bomb, but what frightens us the power of evil in the human heart, its explosive power for evil. "
No doubt that what the scientist says is one of the harsh realities that describe the human being, that there is an evil inclination in man.
Many of the unhealthy actions of man originated in the laboratory of the evil mind of man, a mind that each day feeds on a terrifying idea, the darkest, most hideous that the man was able to conceive this idea is the desire to "kill God."
Every human being has an area which makes it responsive to think of God, and this sensitive area is in Consciousness. But when the human heart is inclined to build their own roads, to set their own standards, creating an ethical and moral own or her own lifestyle, not subject to anything but the ego itself, the man faces an obstacle: the idea of God in his conscience.
So the man decided that this idea should be removed from his mind.
The apostle John writes about this desire of man, when focusing on the murder and martyrdom of the Lord Jesus Christ, this being done the most despicable act committed to the human race.
In reading John 19,31-34 are 2 groups conspired together and with the intent to remove and eliminate the idea of God reflected in the person of Jesus. These groups are the Jews and Romans.
But here also notice two things:
1. Religiosity, as represented by the Jews, and that today may well be exemplified by all the religious leaders of all denominations living under Christian rites and ceremonies, traditions or under human schemes, under systems that are not biblical, without guide the Spirit of God. This kills the religious idea of God in man.
2. Spiritual insensitivity, as represented by the Roman soldiers, and exemplified by all those who are disrespectful or irreverent to the sacred, the profane to the church of Christ without fear of seeing God in their hearts, breaking the rules of God, as if break the legs of Christ.
These two things darkened conscience of man.
However, as the apostle John writes the death of Jesus, also writes gloriously the event of his Resurrection.
"Ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God" (John 20.17),
with these words spoken by the Lord Jesus Christ after his resurrection, he left it that the idea of God is so great and sublime that can never disappear from the consciousness of man. So for those of evil heart this idea remains a torment to their lives, but for people whose hearts repented the idea of God is an idea of hope, joy, strength, which encourages them to await the Second Coming of Christ .
Note: take it as a blessing and not invasions to your blog
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