Hebrews 4:14-16 KJV Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession. (15) For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. (16) Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.
OUR GREAT HIGH PRIEST (Commentary by Dr. J. Vernon McGee)
The Lord Jesus Christ himself is our Great High Priest. Paul was so concerned and enthusiastic about the priesthood of Christ that way back in chapter 3 he said, "Wherefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our profession, Christ Jesus" (Heb_3:1). He wanted to get the folk who were reading the epistle to immediately consider our High Priest. This is going to be the subject of much of the rest of the epistle, and, of course, there will be application of this great truth also.
Christ is our High Priest. The pagan notion of priesthood colors our thinking in reference to a priest. A pagan priest actually barred the approach to God, claiming possession of some mystical power essential to bringing an individual to God. A person had to go through this priest who claimed to have this particular access. That type of thing denies the finished work of Christ and the priesthood of all believers. The priesthood of all beievers was one of the great truths which John Calvin emphasized. All of us need a priest—we have a lack; we need help, and we all have our hang-ups. Job's heart-cry was, "Neither is there any days man betwixt us, that might lay his hand upon us both" (Job_9:33). Job longed for a mediator or priest who would stand between him and God, who would put one hand in Job's hand and his other hand in God's hand, and thus bring them together. Christ is that mediator, that priest, through whom every believer has personal access to God. "We have a high priest, that is passed into the heavens." Let me say right away that the Lord Jesus Christ was not a priest while here on the earth. The only mention in Scripture of His ever making any kind of sacrifice (He never needed to make a sacrifice for Himself, of course) was the time He told Simon Peter to catch a fish and take the gold piece out of its mouth that He might pay a necessary temple tax from which the priests were exempt. He did that, I think, to make it very clear that He was not a priest here on earth. To be a priest you had to be born in the line of Aaron, of the tribe of Levi. The Lord Jesus was a member of the tribe of Judah. He was not in the priestly line. He was in the kingly line. When He was here on earth He came as a prophet speaking for God. He went back to heaven a priest to represent us to God. He became a priest when He ascended into heaven. He died down here to save us, and He lives up there to keep us saved. It is true that when He was here He offered Himself upon the Cross, and that is the function of a priest, but to be a priest to represent you and me He had to wait until He returned to heaven.
Christ occupies a threefold office: (1) He was a prophet when He came over nineteen hundred years ago—that is the past; (2) He is a priest today—that is for the present; and (3) He is coming someday to rule as a king—that is for the future. He occupies all three of these offices, and He is the great subject of this Epistle to the Hebrews. "Let us hold fast our profession"—"profession" should be confession. Paul says, "Let us," to challenge us, to call us to do it, actually, to command us to do it. Let us hold fast our confession.
Notice that he does not say, "Let us hold fast our salvation." He is not talking about our salvation, but about our testimony, our witness down here. He is talking about our living for Christ. Christ died down here to save us, and He lives up yonder to keep us saved and to enable us to give a good witness. Some people say, "I can't live the Christian life." Well, I have news for you. It is true that you cannot live the Christian life, and God never asked you to live the Christian life. I have been thankful that He has not asked that of me because I have tried it, and it didn't work. We cannot do it in our own strength, but He asks that He might live it through us. He lives up yonder in order that you and I might hold fast to our confession, our testimony down here. When we come to chapter 11 we will find a regular roll call of the heroes of the faith which shows what faith has done in the lives of men and women in all ages. All of those listed there had a good witness, a good report. Theirs was a good witness through faith—they lived by faith.
Hebrews 4:15
You will notice in your Bible that the word yet is in italics, meaning that it has been added by the translators. Christ was tempted without sin—tested without sin. In the testing of Jesus in the wilderness, He could not have fallen because He is the God-man. However, the pressure of testing was actually greater upon Him than it would be upon us. He could say, "… the prince of this world cometh, and hath nothing in me" (Joh_14:30). Satan finds something in me and in you also, but he could find nothing in the Lord Jesus. Let me illustrate this for you: A boat standing in water can only tolerate so much pressure. If the pressure becomes too great, there will be a rip in the hull of the boat and water will come in, and thus the pressure is removed. That is the way you and I are—we give in to the pressure, we yield, and then the pressure is gone. Jesus never did yield, and therefore there was a building up of pressure that you and I never experience. In the same way, the cars of a freight train all have a weight limit which they can carry. If that limit is exceeded, you will have a swaybacked car, one that is bowed down in the middle. It gives in—it can only carry so heavy a load. That is true of all of us. We can carry just so much and not any more. May I say to you, the weight of temptation Jesus Christ could carry was infinite—He was tested without sin. But He was tested, and for that reason He knows how we feel. We have a High Priest who understands us. I have always felt that for the nation Israel the death of Aaron was in one sense of greater significance than the death of Moses. Aaron was their great high priest. Many Israelites had been brought up with Aaron, had played with him as a boy, and had gone through the wilderness with him. They could go to Aaron and say, "Look, Aaron, I did this, and I should not have done it. I have brought my sacrifice." And Aaron could sympathize with them. He knew exactly how they felt. But when Aaron died I imagine they wondered whether that new priest, the son of Aaron, would understand. Would he be able to sympathize and to help? We have a Great High Priest who is always available, and He does understand. He does not understand us theoretically, but down here He was tested, and He was "touched with the feeling of our infirmities." He knew what it was to hunger. He knew what it was to be touched with sorrow—Jesus wept! He was "touched with the feeling of our infirmities … yet without sin."
Hebrews 4:16
"Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace." I must confess that I have never really liked our translation of "boldly," but neither do I know how to change it. The word boldly has the thought of being brazen—there is sort of a flippancy suggested by it—or of being cocksure. That is really not the idea. It is a very interesting word in the Greek—parrhesia. It denotes the freedom of speech which the Athenians prized so highly. They were perhaps the first to feel that the average citizen should have freedom to speak.
"Let us therefore come [with great freedom] unto the throne of grace." We can speak freely to the Lord Jesus Christ. I can tell Him things that I cannot tell you. He understands me. He knows my weaknesses, and I might just as well tell Him. I have learned to be very frank with Him. I have not attempted to become buddy-buddy with Him—I despise that approach. He is God, and I come to Him in worship and with reverence. But I am free to speak, because He is also a man. He is God, but He is a man, and I can come to Him with great freedom. I can tell Him what is on my heart. I can open my heart to Him. I suspect, therefore, that all these very pious and flowery prayers we make are not impressive to Him—especially when we are attempting to cover up what is in our hearts and lives. I wonder if the Lord doesn't tune us out when we do not come to Him with freedom and open our hearts to Him. That is one of the reasons our prayer meetings are not more effective. We come to Him rather restrained, without being open and sincere.
"Unto the throne of grace." God's throne is a throne of grace. Formerly a throne of judgment, it is now a mercy seat, a throne of grace. "That we may obtain mercy." We need a lot of mercy. Mercy is something that is in one sense negative—it speaks of the past. We are redeemed by the mercy of God. "Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us …" (Tit_3:5). He has been merciful to me. "And find grace to help in time of need." Help is a very positive thing—it speaks of the future. We may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. David wrote, "The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want" (Psa_23:1). I have noticed that one of the newer translations reads, "The LORD is my shepherd; I have not wanted." How ridiculous! Of course, he had not wanted in the past, but the beauty of it is that David could say, "I shall not want." Why? Because the Lord is my Shepherd. I have a High Priest up yonder, and I can go to Him as my Shepherd.
By the way, have you been to Him yet today? What did you tell Him? Did you tell Him that you love Him? Did you confess your sins to Him? Well, why don't you? He already knows it, but why don't you tell Him? Don't put up a front to Him. He aleady knows that you can come to Him only on His merit. Go to Him with freedom and talk to Him—there is mercy and grace to help in time of need.
