Jesus, Our Priest King

0:00Good morning. Hey Rachel. Just took a second there to look up. How are y'all? Good to see you. It's been a little bit of a I I wrote difficult in my notes, but I'll say uh challenging uh week. We have had a large chunk of our of our people uh still displaced from uh regular life and living out of a hospital, uh watching their child, their grandchild, their nephew uh fight to recover. Uh we have uh we have people who are recovering from a fall, not long after struggling with their own extended uh fight for their kids. We have uh people who uh can't be here this morning, who are struggling with various illnesses, pains. We have people whose eyes are giving them problems, we have people whose personal lives are giving them problems, people who are struggling with the varied degrees of emotional issues, of anxieties and depressions, people who struggle with varied degrees of pain in their bodies, people who are sick, who were sick, who are fighting cancer, seemingly fighting everything. Naming myself, church, people who struggle with the pressures of ministry and life, the struggle to hold the anchor when varied storms try to toss us about. In short, church, we are exposed this morning and perhaps every morning as a struggling people. For someone to come into this place and to get the impression that this body has everything figured out would be for that person to be blind or perhaps in the wrong building. Church, I confess to you this morning, as our text says and as we will read, that I am one who is beset with weakness, standing amongst a people beset with weakness, praying through tears that we may see more clearly a Savior who himself offered up loud cries and tears in prayer and supplications to him who was able to save him from death, that we may see that it was his suffering through which he learned obedience, so that being made perfect, he could become the source of eternal salvation to all who obey him. Church, we need a priest this morning. One who knows our weakness and our sufferings, one who will intercede for us, one who will pray for us. But we also need a priest who has the authority to actually do something about and something through our weakness and our suffering. Praise be to God that we have such a priest and such an authority. Jesus Christ, the priest, King. We began last week to try to answer the question as to what uh is this confession that the word tells us in Hebrews to hold fast to. And this week, God willing, we will try to consider more fully the why. Why do we hold fast to this confession? Not just considering the benefits of holding fast to the confession, though those benefits are great, and they are, but peeling it back one more layer to see why our confession of Christ is so necessary. What makes Christ demand so different? Why Christ? Okay, and may it please the Lord to open our hearts this morning to receive that word. Please stand with me once more as we read Hebrews 5, starting in verse 1, and I'm going to go through verse 10. For every high priest chosen from among men is appointed to act on behalf of men in relation to God, to offer gifts and sacrifices for sins. He can deal gently with the ignorant and wayward, since he himself is beset with weakness. Because of this he is obligated to offer sacrifice for his own sins, just as he does for those of the people. And no one takes this honor for himself, but only when called by God, just as Aaron was. So also Christ did not exalt himself to be made a high priest, but was appointed by him who said to him, You are my son, today I have begotten you. And he also, in another place, says, in another place, you are a priest forever, after the order of Melchizedek. In the days of his flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications with loud cries and tears to him who was able to save him from death. And he was heard because of his reverence. Although he was a son, he learned obedience through what he suffered. And being made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey him, being designated by God a high priest after the order of Melchizedek. This is the word of the Lord. Lord, we thank you again, and as always for your word. Amen. We must begin with a bit of exegesis as we consider this calling of the office of the high priest prior to Christ. So we're going to consider first this office of the high priest prior to Christ. Our text begins by saying in verse 1 of chapter 5, for every high priest chosen from among men, every high priest was chosen from among men. Such a statement on the surface seems obvious enough, right? But this bears more careful consideration. The ones whom God the Father chose to mediate for the people, that is, to offer gifts and sacrifices on behalf of the people, were themselves the same people whom they were mediating for. God did not choose angels, for instance, to mediate on behalf of men. Heavenly beings who, being in the presence of God, continually could perhaps have communicated more clearly, more directly to God. And maybe we have even been tempted in our minds to desire some angelic mediation. As strange as it may sound, there are many who do pray for angelic visitations, that they may be comforted or encouraged, or even to relay some message, perhaps, to someone on the other side. And this has been a focus for much of the letter thus far is to communicate the supremacy of God's specific design and his specific will of mediation and his specific source of salvation. It will become clear in a moment, I hope, but the point of God's design in providing mediation through man and not some other source is so that his mediators can deal gently with the ignorant and the wayward, since they themselves are beset with the very same weaknesses that they are pleading with God about? How could an angel or any other heavenly being relate to man in a way sufficient to plead with the Father on our behalf? How could any but a man himself, who has experienced ignorance, felt the pull of waywardness be able to offer the gentle care and the relatable intercession that God requires. And because this chosen high priest is a man, beset with all the weaknesses of man, he must offer sacrifices for himself as well as the people. And in that we see a great humility given to this office of high priest. Right. There is perhaps something more for us here in this text, and I'm not going to venture too deep into it this morning, but this word demands that we see the priests of God as equal to man in every way but their office. Far too often, the papacy notwithstanding, the priest is elevated to an almost infallible position, or perhaps an infallible position, that he is considered to have achieved some greater degree of Christian experience. And doing so robs God of this beautiful illustration that we see this morning. The priest, in his humanity, is not successful in his mediation because he is better than you, or because he is more holy than you, even if he is. The priest is successful in his mediation because he is like you in every way. As such, his offerings and his prayers come from one who knows experientially what he is interceding for. Perhaps you are beginning to see then where we are going with this. The other point to note from our text is that such a calling, this high priestly office, is an honor given by God and can never be taken for one's self. This priestly office was never and can never be a self-call. It must be by divine appointment only. As with the previous point, there is, even in that, a greater reason for this, and that's what we will dive into next. So that really takes us all the way down to verse 5. And in verse 5 we see, as we have just discussed, that Christ himself did not claim his priestly office, not for his own or by his own authority, but rather it was appointed to this honor, or Christ was appointed to this honor by God the Father. And this, of course, displays the humility of Christ. That even though he was God himself, in his human nature, he did not exalt himself to that honor. Rather, the priesthood of Christ was appointed to him by the Father. We're going to talk a little more about that, about what that means, but I want to zoom in for just a second into these Old Testament texts that are quoted for us in our passage this morning to clearly define the full nature of Christ's priesthood. And this is where we will somewhat finish the conversation that we began last week with respect to the Levitical priesthood versus a priesthood after the order of Melchizedek. So to do that, turn back with me, if you would, to Psalm 2. And I do want you to turn, because I do want you to see it. Psalm 2. I'm going to read verses 4 to 8 of Psalm 2. He who sits in the heavens laughs. The Lord holds them in derision. Then he will speak to them in his wrath and terrify them in his fury, saying, As for me, I have set my king on Zion, my holy hill. I will tell of the decree. The Lord said to me, You are my son, today I have begotten you. Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage, and the ends of the earth your possession. This priesthood that Christ is called to is far more than simple mediation or offering sacrifices for sin. By referencing Psalm 2, the author of Hebrews is showing us that this priesthood that Christ is called to includes a kingdom with him as king. This one who is making intercession for us as our priest is also the one whom all the nations are his heritage. The one whom all the earth is his possession. This is a priest and a king. Flip a few pages, more than a few pages to the right to Psalm 110. Psalm 110. You can see in verse 2, Psalm 110, verse 2, the Lord sends forth from Zion your mighty scepter, rule in the midst of your enemies. Further, in verse 5, we see that the Lord is at your right hand. Verse 5, the Lord is at your right hand. He will shatter kings on the day of his wrath. I don't need to mention again where Christ is presently sitting in relation to the Father. Do I? The right hand. And this is what we read in verse 5 of Psalm 110. This priestly office of Christ has many similarities to the Levitical high priest, but these passages also demonstrate that his priesthood is of a much different kind. It is not after the Levitical order, but rather after the Melchizedekian order, which is one of both a priest and a king. Even more, it is a priesthood that has no end. Christ's priesthood is eternal, and as a result, offers to us eternal mediation and an eternal path of salvation. A salvation that is once for all and forever. You can turn back now to Hebrews 5 if you haven't already. Now we come to what is perhaps one of the more commentated passages in Hebrews, possibly even one of the more commentated passages in the New Testament, and this will be starting in verse 7 of our text this morning. In relation to Christ as priest king, how are we to understand the idea that Christ learned obedience? And that he was made perfect. These are interesting comments, right? That he learned obedience and that he was made perfect. And I've read and listened to varied comments on this passage over this past week. And I do think what I am going to say, Lord willing, is as faithful an explanation as I can give you. And in that respect, I will say this. I am guilty of this too, church, so don't feel like I'm condemning anyone here. But far too often when we consider Christ in our minds, we tend to focus on his divine nature or emphasize his divine nature at the expense of his human nature. We think of Christ as God in flesh, right? We talk about that a lot, but we gloss over the reality that he was truly flesh, that is, man, human. And this is what our verse 7 says in our text, at the beginning of verse 7, in the days of his flesh. Our confession of Christ then as both fully God and fully man means that we must confess necessarily that Christ was fully man. He was human. And I think the best way to think about that is to consider the season that we just came out of, right, which was the Christmas season. And in that season, we remember the reality that Christ began his life as an infant child. He did not come down from heaven knowing the fullness of God's word already in his brain, like it was downloaded to him prior to his conception. Christ couldn't even talk at first. Imagine that. The incarnate word of God didn't even know how to speak when he entered the world. The word, that is Christ. The word had to learn just like us how to speak. He came to earth in that sense, weak and dependent. He had to learn just like us through suffering. We're not God. We're not doing God or ourselves any favors when we neglect the fact that the incarnate Christ was truly man, a human, just like us. This is most evident in the reference made in verse 7, the second half of verse 7, which is almost certainly a direct reference to the Garden of Gethsemane. This is when he says Jesus offered up prayers and supplications with loud cries and tears to him who was able to save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverence. I'm going to ask you to turn back one more time. I know I've asked you to turn a lot today, but turn to Matthew chapter 26. Matthew chapter 26. I'm going to start in verse 36. Is that right? Oh, sorry. Matthew chapter 26, verse 36. Sorry. I'll start in verse 36. Then Jesus went with them to a place called Gethsemane. And he said to his disciples, Sit here while I go over there and pray. And taking with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, he began to be sorrowful and troubled. Then he said to them, My soul is very sorrowful even to death. Remain here and watch with me. And going a little further, he fell on his face and prayed, saying, My father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me, nevertheless, not as I will, but as I will. As you will. And he came to his disciples and found them sleeping, and he said to Peter, So you could not watch with me one hour? Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak. Again for the second time he went away and prayed, My father, if this cannot pass, unless I drink it, your will be done. And again he came and found them sleeping, for their eyes were heavy. So leaving them again, he went away and prayed for a third time, saying the words again. Then he came to his disciples and said to them, Sleep and take your rest later on. See the hour is at hand, and the Son of Man is betrayed, and to the hands of sinners rise. Let us be going. See, my betrayer is at hand. Some of you may not have to imagine this because you've experienced it. But imagine being so sorrowful, that is, being so overwhelmed with grief, that it feels as though that sorrow will surely kill you. Imagine being so troubled and so burdened that you literally feel like you are going to die because of it. That was the experience of our Lord. So real was his humanity that three times, as we read in the garden, sweating profusely, we see from another gospel, as though he was bleeding through his pores, he fell on his face and he pleaded with God to spare him the cup that he was to drink. Consider what it was that this man, Jesus, was to endure. The painful torture surely would have been enough to cause any of us to despair. The betrayal, the mocking, the slander, the ridicule, surely that would have been enough to break any of us in sorrow. But none of those things even compare to the real source of sorrow, and that was him drinking the cup, the full measure of the wrath of God. Christ our priest did not impute the sins of the people unto a goat and send it off into the wilderness. No, he took upon himself every sin that had ever been or will ever have been committed by those whom the Father had given him. And on that day, the man who was the pinnacle of humanity, the pure and perfect man, the spotless and blameless one, became the most vile person that has ever walked the earth. The sorrow of my own sin is enough to cripple me. I cannot fathom the weight of all the sin. And to have the fullness of the fury of God's wrath laid upon you. We must grasp then that it was Christ, the man, who did this. Yes, he was God. Praise and amen. And because he was God, such a sacrifice was effective for us. And such a sacrifice was eternal in its nature. But he was, and still is, I might add, a man. Just like us. It was he, Christ, who endured this. Hebrews 2, verse 17. Therefore he had to be made like his brothers in every respect, so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. Back in Hebrews, then it says, because of his piety, or my translation says reverence, but if you have maybe a King James and the New King James, it probably says he was heard because of his piety. So because of his reverence, the prayer of Christ in the garden was heard. And him who was able to save him from death indeed did save him from death. His prayer was heard and answered by a faithful father, in that the grave did not hold him for very long. But his humanity must have first been perfected through his sacrificial death. The perfect high priest who took with him all of our sins to the grave not only perfected his humanity, but through that suffering and death became the source of our eternal salvation. That is, all who trust in him and his perfect mediation that he offers as the great high priest will find that on the other side of the veil of death is a resurrected, perfected humanity. We often find every way possible to avoid suffering, don't we? And I can't blame anyone for that. I don't want to suffer, and when I do suffer, I wish to get out of it as quickly as I can. But the perspective that our text gives us is that the model of Christ is to not be perpetual comfort seekers or maintain this constant state of suffering avoidance, as though such things and the emotions that they bring with them are signs of disobedience in some way. But rather through those things and through life, and certainly through sufferings, we learn obedience to the will of God. So when we read then that Christ learned obedience, or had to learn obedience, it isn't as if Christ was a disobedient person and he needed to suffer so that he would learn to obey. Rather, in his humanity, and I will stress that again, in his humanity, it was through what he suffered that his obedience to and dependence upon the will of God was honed to perfection, or rather confirmed as perfect. And because through that suffering he proved himself to be perfectly obedient, he then became the source of our salvation. Jesus, the man, suffered in order to perfect humanity so that he could offer such a perfected humanity to you by and through faith. And to that we can certainly say amen. Providentially today is the church liturgical day of candlemas. And it just so happens to fall then on a Sunday where our theme this morning is the priestly mediation of the incarnate Christ. And candlemas is a remembrance of the consecration of Christ to God as the firstborn son or a firstborn son. We won't turn back there, but Exodus 13 and Leviticus 12. Exodus 13 and Leviticus 12 are the references to the law that we read about in Luke's gospel that I'm going to mention. Essentially, firstborn males were brought before the priest, and a sacrifice was made on their behalf, which also included purification of the mother. And this sacrifice was to include a lamb and a pigeon or a turtle dove. In the event that the parrots could not afford a lamb for the offering, a provision was made by God in Leviticus to use two turtle doves or two pigeons instead. We read in Luke chapter 2, you don't have to turn there, but it is implied that the sacrifice that was offered on behalf of Christ, it was a pair of turtle doves, two turtle doves or two young pigeons, which would indicate that Mary and Joseph could not afford a lamb for the offering. A bit poetic on God's part, that the lamb of God could not afford a lamb for his own consecration and for the purification of his mother. As though, even here in Luke 2, we see a foreshadowing of the reality that Christ himself would be the sacrificial lamb, which consecrated his people and purified them from their uncleanliness. So, providentially again on a day in which we read about and give thanks to Christ for suffering on our behalf and being obedient unto death and being made perfect so that we might receive his perfected salvation, we have the opportunity then to light a candle to remember his sacrifice for us. To light a candle and give thanks that we, that though we suffer, and we do, we have a priest, king who has also suffered with us, one who became like us, who entered into our flesh, who died our death, that we may, through our suffering, learn to trust in him and to cling to the faith that he has given to us from him who became the source of our eternal salvation. So we have a small candle, and I'll take them next door and I'll give them out to each of you for each family to take home today. And I would encourage you to light the candle this evening as a family gathered around the light that it provides and offer up a prayer to. And remember your brother, your friend, your prophet, your priest, and your king. Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God, the priest king. I'll close then with the words of Simeon when he beheld our Lord on that day of purification, Luke 2, verse 28 to 32. He took him up in his arms, he, meaning Simeon, took Christ in his arms and blessed God and said, Lord, now you are letting your servant depart in peace, according to your word. For my eyes have seen your salvation, that you have prepared in the presence of all the peoples. A light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to your people Israel. May the light of his revelation and salvation shine on us today. Amen. Let's pray. Lord, we thank you again for our priest king. Lord, who took upon all of our sins, who absorbed all of our sorrows, all of our pain, all of our wickedness upon himself, Lord, took it to the grave, and was risen again. We thank you for the mediation of Christ on our behalf, that he prays for us. Lord, we do not deserve that. But I thank you that he suffered for us so that in our sufferings and our bad weeks, Lord, we can know that we have a Savior and a high priest who is like us in every way. We thank you for Christ. We pray now this evening, Lord, as we do remember the consecration of Him, and the purification that he offers, Lord. May we lift up prayers today, especially, Lord, and thanksgiving that he was consecrated for us, Lord, and he did and truly has purified us from all sins. We thank you. Ask all these things in the name of Jesus. Amen.