In Time of Need

"For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin. Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need."

Hebrews 4:15-16

When I am troubled and hurting, I want to talk to a friend who will listen and sympathize. Someone who understands. Jesus, our High Priest, is the perfect friend to run to for compassion. He won't reject us when we tell Him about our pain. His mercy caused Him to heal countless people that came to Him with ailments.  He won't criticize us for weeping in grief. He wept at the tomb of His friend Lazarus. Do you think you are under a great trial that Christ cannot relate to? When He left His heavenly home and came to dwell on earth as a man, He was tempted far beyond anything you or I will ever experience, yet He did not sin. Yes, Jesus sympathizes. But He does so much more than just listen with compassion. He has the divine power to help us in our time of need. "You cannot pour out your heart in the fullest confidence to a person you do not respect, but if you get with some one you entirely trust, how swiftly the words flow and how very easy it is to tell out the whole heart. Just so with this great word of the writer of this Epistle, descriptive of the temper and disposition with which men are to go to God — with confidence, full, cheerful, and unembarrassed, and which expresses itself in full trust." -- Alexander Maclaren. 

Our High Priest

"But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things to come, He entered through the greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this creation; and not through the blood of goats and calves, but through His own blood, He entered the holy place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption." Hebrews 9:11-12

Under the old covenant, the priest entered the tabernacle once a year to offer the blood sacrifice of an unblemished calf or goat as a sin atonement. First, he offered a sacrifice for his own sins, and then he offered a sacrifice for the sins of the people. The repeated sacrifices year after year by the priest were a constant reminder to the people of their sinfulness and separation from God. Then Jesus Christ, the pure, spotless lamb of God, gave His life blood and entered the heavenly tabernacle.  The perfect sacrifice for the sin of all people, for all time. Once for all. He was the sacrifice and the sacrificer. The new covenant was ushered in. Those who accept Christ as their personal Savior receive the forgiveness of sin, direct access to God and eternal life. Jesus Christ -- our High Priest.