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"For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin."
(Hebrews 4:15)
In the Old Testament, the high priest was a very important figure in the life of the Hebrew people, the first of which is Aaron, the older brother of Moses. The high priest served as the mediator between God and man, offering sacrifices and prayers daily for the people on their behalf. One day a year, the high priest would enter into the Holy of Holies to offer sacrifices for the people in order for their sin to be atoned for. However, this was an imperfect system for many reasons. Firstly, the priests were not perfect men. They too had sin that needed to be atoned for, and they couldn't offer sacrifices for the people while they themselves were guilty of sin. Therefore, the priest would have to offer sacrifices for himself first, and only then could he offer sacrifices for the people. If this was done improperly, it could have dire consequences for the high priest and for the people.
Jesus, however, is our perfect High Priest. He is our mediator between us and the Father. The old high priests would enter the Holy of Holies: an earthly place where God would dwell with His people. Our great High Priest entered heaven itself to appear before the Father and mediate for us, and He does not have to atone for His own sin before he can advocate for us; Jesus is sinless! Furthermore, through Jesus as our High Priest, we have access to the Father at all times, not just one day a year when the priest would enter the Holy of Holies. Hebrews 7 addresses this beautifully:
"For it was indeed fitting that we should have such a high priest, holy, innocent, unstained, separated from sinners, and exalted above the heavens. He has no need, like those high priests, to offer sacrifices daily, first for his own sins and then for those of the people, since he did this once for all when he offered up himself. For the law appoints men in their weakness as high priests, but the word of the oath, which came later than the law, appoints a Son who has been made perfect forever."
(Hebrews 7:26-28)
Jesus is also uniquely able to serve as our mediator between us and the Father and intercede for us because He understands our struggles of temptation. Our perfect God humbled Himself when Jesus took on human flesh and subjected Himself to the struggles of the human condition. Our main verse for the day, seen at the top of this devo, tells us that He was tempted in every way, yet He remained holy and did not sin. Jesus is a perfectly holy High Priest, yet He is also sympathetic. He too has faced temptation and can sympathize with us in our weakness. Yet He is our perfect mediator Who did not sin amidst all the temptation He faced, so we can look to Him for strength to endure in holiness and fight temptations. And when we do fail, He atones for our sins.
As a result, let us do just as the Scriptures tell us to do following today's main verse. I will leave you with that verse once more and the powerful verse that follows it:
"For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need."
(Hebrews 4:15-16)
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