Book of Hebrews, Part 1

Well, good morning again, brethren, and welcome to our little kids! Glad to have you back with us. It does look a little bit sparse when you look out and you see the kids are gone, but glad to have them here with us today and certainly enjoy having them as a part of our services here in Fulton.

Well, I wanted to cover something today that I hope will be beneficial for us. I'd like for all of us to think of one particular book of the Bible. This is a book that I know that in some ways we may be very familiar with, and yet in other ways, if we've not read it recently, then maybe we ought to be reminded. And that is the book of Hebrews. The book of Hebrews is what I'm going to start focusing on today and then probably through the next two or three sermons that I intend to give. I'd like for you to think, what is it that stands out? What stands out to you about the book of Hebrews? You can tell me if you want, if you think of something. I know that there are some pretty significant things there. What stands out to you? And maybe you haven't read the book of Hebrews recently. That is certainly a good observation. Everything is focused on Christ.

Okay, that certainly is a good focus. What else would we think about when we think of the book of Hebrews? Hebrews 11. I think that's one of probably the list that we would have of Bible chapters that we probably are familiar with. Hebrews 11. The faith chapter. Hebrews 11. And Gregory correctly has mentioned the new covenant.

That's correct, because you also have the plan of God in the destiny of man. The glorifying of the sons and daughters of God is mentioned in Hebrews.

These are verses that when you think about them, and actually all of you have covered most everything that probably prominently stands out, so we really don't even need to have the rest of the sermon. We can go on to the meal.

Actually, when you look at the book of Hebrews, and I know often we probably read, you read, maybe one of the gospels, maybe all of the gospels as we prepare for the Holy Days, and that certainly is beneficial. I always love to do that, to read through one of the gospels at least, and usually tying in others because of the connection that you have throughout those. But reading the book of Hebrews can also be extremely beneficial.

In a sense, the book of Hebrews is a very unique book, because when you think about it, well, it's not a book that's written, or a letter that's written to a specific church like Ephesus or Philippi or Colossae. I mean, those are all written to direct congregations of the Church of God. And it's not a book that's written to a younger minister like Timothy or Titus.

Those are books that Paul wrote that were directed to an individual.

And it's not directed to the entirety of the Church, kind of like a general epistle like Peter or John's letters, the small letters of John at the end of the Bible. Those are all directed pretty much to a general audience, everybody in the Church.

But it is directed to whom? Well, it's directed to the Jewish individuals who had become believers, people who had become Christians, Jewish Christians. And certainly, there were those around Jerusalem that would fit that category, but then they were scattered in all of the areas around where you see the Gospel spreading in the Middle East.

And actually, when you read through the book of Hebrews, you have to realize that this book has been written to a group of people who are very familiar with the law.

I mean, this is every chapter has something to say about Old Testament information.

And so, it has to be... I mean, many people today would not know anything about many of the topics that are focused on in the book of Hebrews.

And in thinking about that, I mean, this was clearly written to those who were aware of the law.

And so, it would be written to those of us who are aware of the law today. And in essence, you could even say... And I know probably many of you, not all of you, but many of you are second or third generation Christians.

Some of you grew up in the Church of God. I feel like I grew up. I didn't. I started attending church when I was 18.

But since then, I've been growing up. Since then, in the Church of God. And yet, the book of Hebrews is written to me. Because I'm aware of at least some of the stuff that are written about there because of the familiarity and actually the benefit that all of us have of years and decades of observing the Holy Days.

Because you clearly see the origin of those back in the Old Testament. You see, whenever you study the book of...or not the book, but you study the Day of Atonement.

Well, it ties in with Leviticus 16. It ties in with what Aaron was to do. It ties in greatly with a lot of information about the tabernacle and about how it was that God dealt with Israel.

So we are maybe far more familiar with many of the things that we read about in the law than most people. And so you could clearly say that this book is written to us. It's written to those of us, maybe who are not directly Jewish, but who are familiar with the literature of the Old Testament. And that can have a great deal of significance. We had mentioned that the book of Hebrews features the New Covenant.

That's actually very correct, very accurate.

And does the New Covenant have anything to do with our observance of the Passover? Well, yes, very much so.

And like I said, I'll cover that in another sermon because, as I think about that, I started thinking, well, maybe I would give one or two sermons about Hebrews, but I think now it's three or four, because there's just so much information there, but it does talk about the New Covenant. It also states in chapter 7, verse 12, that there is a change in the law.

Now, a lot of people get spooked over that. They are claiming that that does away with everything.

Ten commandments, Old Testament, information about Israel, clearly not. But it does mention a change in the law, and so what's that talking about? And as we also mentioned, the plan of God is mentioned as far as the destiny of man, and how it is that we are going to be growing. We are definite individuals, as we had highlighted in the sermonette, individuals that God loves that He wants in His family. He wants every one of us, every son and every daughter, to be glorified in the divine family of God.

That's what He wants for you and for me. And that's truly wonderful. So as we prepare for the Passover, which as we know is five or six weeks from now, we should expand our understanding and our appreciation of the sacrifice that Jesus gave. Now, I know we often focus on maybe seeing ourselves or seeing how much we need forgiveness, and that's clearly a correct focus. But I think we also want to grow in the awareness that we have of the role that Jesus Christ is to have in our lives. And we see Him in numerous ways. We see Him as our Lord and Master, as our Savior, as our Redeemer.

We see Him as the Lamb of God. What we find here in the book of Hebrews is that we should see Him as a glorious High Priest. And that's what I'm going to focus on. Actually, that could be a title for, I guess, this sermon today. Such a High Priest, because that's what we read here in Hebrews chapter 8. I want to start here in Hebrews 8 because, in a sense, it highlights what it is that the whole book is talking about.

In Hebrews chapter 8 verse 1 and verse 2, it says in verse 1 of chapter 8, now the main point in what we are saying is this. And so the writer of the book of Hebrews says, this is what I'm talking about. This is it. We want to know what the book of Hebrews is about.

The main point of what we're saying is this. We have such a High Priest. See, that's what he was saying. He wanted those who would read the book, those who would identify with what the message of the book of Hebrews would be. He wanted them to understand that we have such a High Priest. One who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the majesty in the heavens, a minister in the sanctuary and the true tabernacle that the Lord and not any man has set up. And so here he focuses on how it is that the book of Hebrews is focused on the priesthood, but even more particularly the High Priesthood of Jesus Christ.

Now, if we don't know anything at all about the High Priest in the Old Testament, we don't know anything about Aaron. Aaron was the one designated to be the High Priest. Aaron was the brother of Moses. Aaron was, what can we say, what, great-great-grandson of Abraham. He was the son of Levi. His grandfather would have been Levi. And so if we don't know anything at all about that, which I know we do because we read at least a certain amount of information about the priesthood and about the High Priest in particular, especially in Leviticus 16 when we observe the day of atonement every year, we often go over that information.

We read what it was Aaron was asked to do. But it's important for us to focus on this High Priest that is described here in an emphatic way by the author of Hebrews. We can drop down to verse 6 because it says this Jesus has now obtained, and so here is what he's talking about, but Jesus has now obtained a more excellent ministry, and to that degree, he is a mediator of a better covenant, which has been enacted through better promises.

See, all that we read about, we can read about a covenant that God made with Israel. We can read about the tabernacle. We can read about the sacrifices. We can read about what it was that they were going to be given. All of that was very temporary. All of that was extremely limited and only really pointed to the real tabernacle, the real sacrifice, the real High Priest, and the real promises of eternal life. That's what we embrace when we embrace the new covenant.

But I want us to back up here in chapter 6. It says in verse 19, We have such a hope, or we have this hope, a sure and steadfast anchor to our soul, a hope that enters the inner shrine beyond the curtain where Jesus, Jesus, a forerunner on our behalf, has entered, having become a High Priest forever, according to the order of Melchizedek. Now, this story about Melchizedek that we'll read here in chapter 7 is recorded back in Genesis 14.

It's an account that we have studied, and I'm sure most of us are at least familiar with to a degree, whether we've read it recently or not. We know that Abraham interacted with Melchizedek, and this Melchizedek was somewhat of a mysterious character. It doesn't show everything about where he came from or what he did after that or anything.

But all of that was simply to point to what was going to be written here about the role and the office that Jesus has as our High Priest today, because he's not just our High Priest, he's your High Priest. He's my High Priest. We approach the throne of God. He's our mediator. He's the one who intercedes for us.

He's the one who enacts our ability to truly understand the Father and to understand the family, the Father and the Son, and ultimately our destiny to be sons and daughters glorified in the family of God. And so it's important for us to think about that as we even approach the Passover, as we approach a time that we celebrate, that we look forward to, that we're grateful for, that we are in a sense renewing our devotion to Jesus Christ.

But I want to focus on him as our High Priest today. Here in chapter 7 of Hebrews, verse 1, it says, This king Melchizedek of Salem, priest of the Most High God, met Abraham as he was returning from defeating the kings and blessed him. And so as Abraham was functioning in the role that he was in, as he had rescued Lot, as he had been able to be successful in his endeavors, he comes across and doesn't show anything about him before this at all, but he comes across someone that he greatly reveres, that he is in awe of.

Because as it says here in verse 1, as he returned from this victory of defeating the kings, it says Melchizedek blessed him. Melchizedek granted him mercy and blessing. He goes on to say, and to him, to Melchizedek Abraham apportioned one-tenth of everything. He's the one that Abraham ties to in this particular incident. And again, you can go back and read Genesis 14. It's one of the sections in Genesis 14. It's not a very long section, but it shows the type of respect that Abraham had.

It goes on here to say, going on in verse 2, his name in the first place means the king of righteousness, and next, his name is also the king of Salem, that is, the king of peace. And it describes Melchizedek as being without father and without mother, and without genealogy, and having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but resembling the Son of God. And he remains a priest forever. He was a priest, a high priest at the time of Abraham. He is a high priest again today. As the plan of God has been unfolding over several thousand years, and Jesus coming to the earth and offering himself as the Lamb of God, and being the perfect sacrifice, he then ascended to the heavens to be the perfect high priest, to be operating in the sanctuary of the heavens.

So it goes on to say in verse 4, see how great this high priest was. See how great Melchizedek was? Even Abraham, the patriarch, gave him a tenth of the spoils. And of course, to the Jewish world, Abraham is everything. He is the father of our nation. Even though they come from Isaac, and Jacob, Jacob particularly being Israel, Abraham was the forefather. He was the one God started to work with in Genesis 12.

He was the one that God worked out a plan with a physical nation through this man, Abraham. But he says here in verse 4, even Abraham, the patriarch, gave Melchizedek a tenth of the spoils.

And those descendants of Levi, who received the priestly office and who have a commandment in the law to collect tithes from the people, that is from their kindred, from their brethren, from others. Again, if you didn't know anything about Leviticus or Numbers, this would be a little confusing. And actually, whenever you read commentaries about this, there are people that say, man, Hebrews is so confusing! They actually compare it with, and I don't think it probably is that way for you, they compare it with Revelation. This is just mind-boggling!

Certainly, Revelation is a little more mysterious. It's mind-boggling because there's a lot of things that are symbolic and not as clearly written as what I see in Hebrews, but actually, you find many people, maybe who even study the Bible some, who have very low understanding of what Hebrews is talking about. But it's because they may not understand much about Isaac, or Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Levi, anything about the priesthood, anything about the authorization that God gave to the Levites, and particularly to Moses' brother, Aaron.

Because he started in Aaronic priesthood that in a high priesthood that was going to be passed down from descendant to descendant to descendant to descendant. And we know that! We're familiar with that information. But here it says in verse 5, the descendants of Levi who received a priestly office and who took tithes from the people. Though they were descended from Abraham, though these also were descended from Abraham, but this man, and again talking about Melchizedek, who does not belong to Levi.

He was talking about Jesus at this point, or about Melchizedek, but this man who does not belong to their ancestry collected tithes from Abraham and blessed him who had received the promises. And it's beyond dispute that the inferior is blessed by the superior.

See, the writer was making a point that, well, you can revere Abraham all you want, but Abraham revered Melchizedek. He revered the high priest who was greater and had that priestly order forever.

And he was revering the great God in Jesus Christ, the Lord of the Old Testament.

So it's beyond dispute that the inferior is blessed by the superior. In the one case, tithes were received by those who were mortal, and in the other by one of whom it is testified that he lives.

And one might even say that Levi himself who receives tithes paid tithes through Abraham.

And see again, you could read that and you'd wonder what in the world is that talking about, except when you understand, as I think we do, a certain amount about how it was set up in the Old Testament and how God authorized that Levi would receive tithes, that in essence he through Abraham paid tithes to Melchizedek.

That's why he's pointing out such a high priest. Such a high priest is Melchizedek and is Jesus.

Now in verse 11 he goes on to make a little different point.

If perfection had been attainable through the Levitical priesthood, or the people received the law under the priesthood, what further need would there have been to speak of another priest arising according to the order of Melchizedek rather than one according to the order of Aaron?

And so he's making a contrast between just the physical priesthood that was to be Aaron and his descendants and Levi and those who would have the service of the temple as a job.

I mean, that was their inheritance. They were given the tithes from Israel. They were to work in the temple or the tabernacle and later the temple. That was to be their role.

And yet what this book is revealing is that, well, all of that, as far as that priesthood and those activities and even the way that they were selected, will be superseded. It will be changed.

And so he goes on to say in verse 12, when there's a change in the priesthood, there's a necessity, a change in the law.

And again, you know, many people would read that and maybe in just a cursory way think, well, there's a change in the law.

And they often have been told that, well, that's a change. You know, the Ten Commandments have been done away and that the law does not even exist any longer.

Now, that's a very confusing statement, though, because they really are only meaning the Sabbath doesn't exist because they like to keep most of the other laws in whatever way they would at least see them as a part of our own system of government or rule.

But says, well, there's a change in the priesthood. There is a necessity, a change in the law as well.

Do you know what was the change? Was the change that the law was done away? Well, clearly not, because Jesus said that, you know, don't think that I came to destroy the law and the prophets. I came not to destroy, not to abolish, not to do away with the law or the prophets, but to fulfill them, even to explain them in a way that would be more applicable and that would be more of an implication of our heart.

Because then he went ahead to describe that, which we'll go through here probably next time.

He says he weren't doing away with the Ten Commandments, but what was the change? See, the change was in the law about the priesthood.

The change was in the law. The law said, and we can go back and read, that the priests were to receive the tithes. They were authorized by God to receive the tithes, but that they had to be of the tribe of Levi.

They had to be of Aaron and his descendants in order to be high priests and to pass that down from generation to generation.

And yet, of course, even as you read that, and as we're familiar with Leviticus 16, when Aaron went into the Holy of Holies in order to make atonement for the people, he first had to make atonement for himself.

He says, I'm just a man here. I've got my own problems. And yet, I've been given this authorization to serve as a high priest, in a sense, in a temporary priesthood, because that wasn't going to be the lasting priesthood that we see described here.

So in verse 12, where there's a change in the priesthood, there is a necessity, a change in the law as well. And then he describes that in verse 13.

Now the one of whom these things are spoken belongs to another tribe. To hear it is describing what kind of change in the rule or the law is taking place.

The one of whom these things are spoken belongs to another tribe from which no one has ever served at the altar, for it's evident that our Lord was descended from Judah.

Not Levi, but Judah. And in connection with that tribe, Moses said nothing about the priesthood. He said the priests don't arrive out of Judah. They come out of Levi. And so what kind of change was taking place? Well, what he was writing about was that there was a priesthood, a higher priesthood, that was being initiated with Christ coming to the earth and with Jesus then ascending to the heavens as the high priest who was after the order of Melchizedek and not after the order of Aaron, or after the order of the Levitical priesthood.

He goes on in verse 14, or I read verse 14 and verse 15. It is even more obvious when another priest arises resembling Melchizedek, one who has become a priest not through a legal requirement, not through just the law says you're going to be the priest, and you're the son of the priest, and you're the grandson of the priest, and so you're the priest.

What kind of qualification is that? Well, that's just the qualification of genealogy. It's not the qualification that has anything to do with what type of person that is. It's just that, well, you happen to be of the right line. So he says, one who becomes a priest not through a legal requirement, just through genealogy concerning physical descent, but through the power of an indestructible life, the power that Jesus Christ had as the Lord of the Old Testament and as the Son of God and as now the great high priest for any of us who embrace the new covenant.

In verse 17, he repeats, you know, you're a priest forever, according to the order of Melchizedek, the new order.

And there is on the one hand the abrogation of an earlier commandment because it was weak and ineffectual for the law made nothing perfect.

And there is on the other hand the introduction of a better hope through which we approach God.

See, what was imperfect about the setup with the Levitical priesthood, with this priesthood needing to be changed and altered?

Oh, they were good butchers. I mean, that was what they were.

That was, they ended up, you know, dealing with sacrifices that were, of course, read here later.

None of that had anything to do with being able to forgive sin.

None of that had anything to do with being able to bring perfection.

This was simply a type of what was being transcended. It was being superseded by a high priesthood, a priesthood that we want to very much appreciate.

So the change that's spoken of in verse 18 is not a doing away with the Ten Commandments, which existed long before.

They were ever a part of the contract with the Old Covenant and with the people of Israel because they had been in effect even before that time. But this is a change in the rules about who the priesthood is and who the real priesthood is who could offer hope because it says, on the other hand, the introduction of a new hope through which we approach God.

Down in verse 23, furthermore, the former priests were many in number because they were prevented by death from continuing in office. But he who holds his priesthood permanently because he continues forever.

Consequently, he is able for all time to save those who approach God through him since he always lives to make intercession for them.

Here he talks about not just the limitations of the Levitical and the Aaronic priesthood that was, in essence, being replaced by a new priesthood.

But he says this new priesthood is one that's eternal. He's able at all times to save those who approach God through him since he always lives to make intercession for them.

For it says in verse 26, it is fitting. It was fitting that we should have such a high priest.

A high priest who is holy, who is blameless, who is undefiled, who is separated from sinners and exalted above the heaven.

And whenever we pray to God, we're told to do that in the name of Jesus. We're told to pray through our intercessor, our high priest, the one who is at his right hand, and the one who enables us to understand the Father.

The one who helps us understand his plan, and the one who helps us realize that our sins can be forgiven because of him.

And certainly that's what we want to keep in mind as we think about the upcoming Passover and what it is.

And that's why, as you read this chapter 7, which is really almost entirely about Melchizedek and that new priesthood that Jesus was assuming as he ascended to the heavens, you see in chapter 8, verse 1 down through verse 6, just saying, this is who I'm talking about. I'm talking about Jesus Christ.

I'm talking about the one who came and gave himself as a sacrifice for sin and has become, as it says in verse 6, a mediator of a better covenant, a mediator of a covenant that is based on better promises.

And so we have a great deal to be thankful for as we renew that covenant each year, as we are reminded of that and we're reminded of our commitments to God.

Interestingly, as you read through the book of Hebrews, you find that the first section, there are actually three sections. I'll give a little bit of background information here today.

There are kind of three sections to the book of Hebrews, as I see it, and looking at it from an overview.

The first section is from chapter 1, the very beginning, to what we're reading here in chapter 8 down to verse 6, which is almost entirely talking about Jesus Christ.

It's talking about Him being the one through whom the Son of God that God is now speaking through, and the one who supersedes the prophets, who supersedes the angels, who supersedes Moses.

I'm not saying anything bad about what Moses did, because he did his job, but he was going to be superseded by the one who would follow him, the one who would come like Moses, the one who would give even greater hope and greater promises than Moses ever could, and the one who would supersede Aaron and the Aaronic priesthood. That's what you find in these first chapters, leading up to chapter 7, where he talks about Him being the priest forever after the Order of Melchizedek. And then, from verse 1 down through 6 in chapter 8, you have Him saying, this is what I'm talking about. I want you to understand this. I want you to benefit from truly understanding it. And then, from chapter 8, verse 7, pretty much through chapter 10. 10 through verse 18. Chapter 8, verse 7 through chapter 10, verse 18.

Now, these sections seem to be talking to me about the New Covenant, about the new relationship through which we are being transformed. And, of course, again, we will talk about that more so later. And then, the last section, chapter 10, verse 19, through the end of the book, chapter 13 and the end of it, what you find is an exhortation to believe in the high priest to be transformed by the New Covenant and to live by faith. You were familiar with chapter 11, and yet the context of that before and after are exhortations. And in specific, there are exhortations to those who are familiar with the law to look to Jesus Christ, to appreciate Him, to value His blessing in our lives. And so that's how it kind of breaks down as I see it in looking at it. What you also find here in the book of Hebrews, and this book was, as I said, written to Jewish Christians, and it's written to Christians aware of the law, which would be all of us. There are warning after warning after warning, and again, that's another sermon, that we will go through as far as the warnings that we're given so that we don't draw back, so that we don't neglect what it is that we have had offered through our great High Priest. You know, it's interesting when you read commentaries, they're not really sure who wrote the book of Hebrews, and you may have your own idea. I thought I knew until I started reading that it was unclear as to who exactly wrote the book of Hebrews. It's often thought to be a letter that Paul would have written, and there's surely plenty of evidence to try to verify that, but what you also find in almost, I guess, all of other Paul's other letters, he at least identifies himself, and he doesn't in this particular letter.

And so even though, and in reading a little bit about that, it appears that for 1,200 years it was thought that Paul wrote this, but here about 400 years ago, great dispute occurred in the Protestant world, the rising Protestant world, to where we're not really sure whether Paul wrote this or not. And actually, I thought that I would look in my Bible because it usually says, well, in the book right before Hebrews, it says the letter of Paul to Philemon, because, you know, it's pretty obvious, it starts off. Paul is writing this to Philemon. And I thought, well, it'll say the letter of Paul to the Hebrews, and yet here in my Bible it says the letter to the Hebrews. You know, they've redacted that information because they're not exactly sure. Although, whenever you examine what is written here, you could certainly see why it would be that with Paul's background and with the information that he not only was familiar with, being a Pharisee himself, and being an individual highly-schooled in the Jewish religion, that he would be able to write this kind of a treatise. He'd be able, even though he was an apostle to the Gentiles, he could be used by God to write this particular book. There are other thoughts about Barnabas possibly writing the book or Apollos, and there are some, I guess, somewhat credible information about why that might be the case. But since you don't have a direct statement about who's writing it, we do know that God put it in the Bible. We do know that it was included in the canon of the New Testament for the benefit of us today, so it has authoritative information for us to follow. And as I mentioned earlier, the writer of Hebrews, whoever that is, that's something that I'm sure we can talk about more so. It's written, and I think, again, even the date of when it is written is disputed from the best I could determine. It looked like mid-60s, 63 or 4, was probably more likely, because it doesn't appear to have been written after 70 AD to me. Because it would seem like it would mention something about the fall of Jerusalem and the destruction of the temple, and that it's almost written like these things are going on. The functioning of the priesthood is obvious to all of you who are living there and who are familiar with it throughout the whole Middle East. And yet, it's not mentioned that way. And so it seems like it's true that I read some thought it would be 80 or 90. I can't imagine that would be the case. It would seem like it would be earlier to me. And of course, written to Jewish Christians that are scattered and written in order to exhort and encourage Christians who have a Jewish background. And perhaps that could be written to us, because we probably are more familiar with Jewish things and we're more familiar with Israel-like things than most people are. Now, we don't want to neglect the exhortation. We don't want to neglect the warnings that are given, because there are warnings given. But the focus is what we've just talked about. The focus is on the high priesthood of Jesus Christ. He is the one that we look to whenever we are thinking about our own sins. Actually, when you read the first few verses of Hebrews, it's very clear how it is that the author, Paul, or whoever it was, how much they revere Jesus Christ. And certainly, if Paul were writing that, he could say a lot of very emphatic things, because he had direct dealings with Jesus Christ, not only at the time when he received a desire to be committed. That's what he had with being blind for several days. A desire to be committed to the one who will then rule my life.

And of course, you see him also being taught by Jesus later in his life. And after he had been called and drawn to be a part of the church, he was trained in, as he says, I guess it's in Galatians, that he talks about that. But it says, long ago in verse 1 of chapter 1, God spoke to our ancestors in many and various ways by the prophets.

But in these last days, he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he has created all the worlds.

He is a reflection of God's glory and the exact imprint of God's very being. He sustains all things by his powerful word. And when he had made purification for sin, he sat down at the right hand of the majesty on high, having become as much superior to angels as to the name he has inherited is more excellent than there. This clearly was an introduction saying, I'm going to be talking about the most supreme being that you are to revere and honor and through which you will serve and enter eternal life. You will do that through Jesus Christ, your high priest.

And so whenever he then goes on to talk about how much greater than the angels and Moses and Aaron, it's simply making the contrast that these others don't hold a candle to this high priest. And that's why, and this is what we'll conclude with today, that's why we read in chapter 4 that we are wonderfully blessed and privileged, perhaps beyond our understanding, to be able to approach a throne of grace at any time or any need and to know that we will be understood.

Does Jesus know what it's like to be human? Clearly. Does he know what it's like to suffer? Clearly. Does he know what it's like to learn? It says he learned through the things that he suffered. Does he know what it's like to be tempted? Yes, but he was without sin.

Here in verse 14 of chapter 4, since we have such a great high priest, since we have such a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession.

For we don't have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, so he's able to understand. He's able to sympathize. He's able to help us bear our burden because we have burdens that we need to share with him.

But he says we don't have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who is in every respect, has been tested as we are, yet without sin. And so verse 16 is one that we should be familiar with because it says, We can boldly come before his throne of grace, boldly come before our Father in heaven because of Jesus Christ and his forgiveness of our sins. Let us approach the throne of grace with boldness so that we may receive mercy and that we may find grace to help us in time of need.

That's a part of what I think we should think about as we look toward the Passover, as we look forward to a renewal of our relationship with God. That relationship has been begun and it is continued through a deeper understanding of Jesus Christ. And here in Hebrews, it talks about him as being our great high priest.

And so I hope that that focus can be a part of what we keep in mind as we prepare over the next coming weeks for the Spring Holy Day. We'll cover some other things about Hebrews here in the next time or two, but I appreciate being able to be here today. I look forward to talking to you all after services and being able to eat.