Church members gathered for Wednesday service on October 5, continuing in the study of the book of Hebrews. In verse 14 the author returns to the topic of Christ after the digression to warn against unbelief. We learned why it’s so important that we hold firmly onto our faith till the end – it is only through faith that we can enter God’s rest but many fail. We were given God’s word that is sharper than any sword cutting deep and dividing good and bad in us, so the unbelief can be cut out. But the more we try to live according to God’s will and the more the Word exposes our sins and weaknesses, the harder it becomes to go on unless we draw near God’s grace. So the following passage tells us how we can find strength to keep fighting disbelief and hold onto our inheritance in Christ till the end. Hebrews 4:14-5:3 teach us that we have a great High priest in heaven.

As the first three verses in chapter 5 explain to us, a high priest was in charge of mediating God’s grace and forgiveness onto the people. Because our sin makes us an enemy to God, gifts and sacrifice must be given for reconciliation so we can gain access to grace. Chapter 4 verse 14 tells us that we have such a great high priest who did not only bring the sacrifice but also became the lamb that was sacrificed himself. The Son gave himself for our sins so that we could be reconciled with Father and so in Christ we have the confidence to approach God’s throne and receive his help in our weaknesses. Our high priest is not like a rich man who can never understand what it is like to be poor, Christ became one of us and was tempted in every way as we are. Sweating blood in Gethsemane he faced his weakness but did not avoid the horrible suffering; hanging on the cross, carrying all sin of the world he cried when forsaken by Father but he faced the death entrusting his soul to God. In Christ we have High priest who is able to sympathize with our weaknesses because he faced them himself. Let us then draw near to God’s grace to receive the strength to overcome because we have a God who understands and is ready to help.