As we continue our studies in the book of Hebrews we come to one of the most important themes of this Letter.  It is the concept of Yeshua as our High Priest.

For us to appreciate the importance of this role by Yeshua the Messiah, we need to understand the significance of the High Priest from Torah.  

The assumption made by the writer of Hebrews was that his readers, who were Jewish Believers understood all that was involved in the work and ministry of the high priest.

But since we do not have a sacrificial system any longer, most are not as familiar with all that was involved in the Priesthood and especially the work of the High Priest.

The priests of Israel were appointed by God to be mediators between Himself and His people.  During the years of the first Temple, the High Priest was a direct descendent of Aaron.

Only the high priest could offer the highest sacrifice under the Mosaic Covenant, and that was done only once a year on the Day of Atonement, Yom Kippur.

Yom Kippur was the day that the multitude of sins that had not been atoned for in the daily sacrifices was taken care of.  All the sins of the nation were brought symbolically into the Holy of Holies.

It was here on the Ark of the Covenant that Blood was placed upon the mercy seat as a sacrifice to make atonement for the nation.  It was on this day that God renewed His covenant with Israel, which was made on Mt. Sinai.

The High Priest, as no other human, represented God before the people, and the people before God.  He was the only one who could enter the Holy of Holies.

As we learn from Lev. 16, before the High Priest could even enter the Holy of Holies, much less offer a sacrifice there, he had to make atonement for himself, since he, just as all those whom he represented, was a sinner.

Not only did he have to atone for his own sin, but his time in the Holy of Holies was limited.  He was allowed to stay in the presence of God only while He was offering the sacrifice.

To enter the Holy of Holies, the priest had to pass through three areas in the Temple.  He took the blood and went through the door into the outer court, through another door into the Holy place, then through the veil into the Holy of Holies.

He did not sit down or delay.  As soon as the sacrifice was made he left and did not return for another year.  Every year, year after year, another Yom Kippur was necessary.

Between these yearly sacrifices, every day, day after day, thousands of other sacrifices were made, by the Israelites to atone for their personal sins.

The process was never ending, never complete, because Israel was not perfect, the priests were imperfect, and the sacrifices were not perfect. They pointed to a need for a perfect sacrifice.

That is why Yeshua came.  He came to bring the New Covenant that the Prophets had foretold would come.  He is God’s perfect High Priest. He is the conclusion of a progression of sacrifices instituted by God.

The sin offering was given to Israel to make atonement for any individual who sought to reconciled to God.  The Passover sacrifice was God making provision for a family.

Yom Kippur was God’s provision for the Nation of Israel.  And the Messiah was God’s provision for all the Nations to experience atonement and reconciliation with God.

When Yeshua died on the cross, He made atonement possible for all who would apply by faith, His blood on the doorposts of their hearts.  It was a one time perfect sacrifice.

He, like the High priest of Israel passed through 3 areas.  When He passed through the Heavens, he went through the first heaven (the atmosphere), the second heaven (outer space), and into the third heaven, (God’s dwelling place).

Yeshua our High Priest went to God Himself, not just where the Glory of the Father dwelt on earth but into The Holiest of all Holies.  And Yeshua did not have to leave, because His sacrifice was made once for all time.

The sacrifice and the High Priest were perfect.  He made the perfect and complete atonement for sin, which is the reason He came to earth the first time.

I. In light of this we need to understand that we can call on God.

Hebrews 4 tells us “we have a High Priest and Great Rabbi, and we have a Place in the very presence of God to come with our burdens.”  Both are immediately accessible.  We can call on our priest and Rabbi and He will come to our help.

V. 14 tells us who our priest is it is Yeshua, God who appeared as a Man. 

VV. 15-16 tells us what He offers (Hebrews 4:15-16)  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. {16} 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.

1. True understanding. – 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.”

What this means, is that when we come to our high priest and Rabbi who is in the heavens, and call on Him for our needs, we have the assurance of knowing that he identifies with our hurts and needs.

In Yeshua our High priest we have one who knows our weaknesses, who has felt our pain, experienced our rejection and loneliness.  Has even tasted death, so he knows in total what we can and do suffer.

Secondly he offers us Grace – This is difficult for us to understand since this world really does not understand grace.  We have courtrooms of law, and judges of law.

But grace is something that even we in our congregation and those who are Believers in other churches fail to understand and appreciate about out God.

As some of you know I am now back in school working on advancing in my education that I hope I will be able to apply in our congregation.  I heard a story of student’s experience with grace:

I left work early so I could have some uninterrupted study time right before the final in my Youth Issues class. When I got to class, everybody was doing their last minute studying. The teacher came in and said he would review with us for just a little bit before the test. 

We went through the review, most of it right on the study guide, but there were some things he was reviewing that I had never heard of. When questioned about it, he said that they were in the book and we were responsible for everything in the book. We couldn’t really argue with that. 

Finally it was time to take the test. 

“Leave them face down on the desk until everyone has one and I’ll tell you to start,” our prof instructed.

When we turned them over, every answer on the test was filled in! The bottom of the last page said the following: 

“This is the end of the Final Exam. All the answers on your test are correct. You will receive an ’A’ on the final exam. The reason you passed the test is because the creator of the test took it for you. All the work you did in preparation for this test did not help you get the A. You have just experienced…grAce.” 

He then went around the room and asked each student individually, “What is your grade? Do you deserve the grade you are receiving? How much did all your studying for this exam help you achieve your final grade?” 

Now I am not a crier by any stretch of the imagination, but I had to fight back tears when answering those questions and thinking about how the Creator has passed the test for me. 

Discussion afterward went like this: “I have tried to teach you all semester that you are a recipient of grace. I’ve tried to communicate to you that you need to demonstrate this gift as you work with young people. Don’t hammer them; they are not the enemy. Help them, for they will carry on your ministry if it is full of GRACE!” 

Talking about how some of us had probably studied hours and some just a few minutes but had all received the same grade, he pointed to a story Jesus told in Matthew 20. The owner of a vineyard hired people to work in his field and agreed to pay them a certain amount. Several different times during the day, he hired more workers. When it was time to pay them, they all received the same amount. When the ones who had been hired first thing in the morning began complaining, the boss said, “Should you be angry because I am kind?” (Matthew 20:15). 

The teacher said he had never done this kind of final before and probably would never do it again, but because of the content of many of our class discussions, he felt like we needed to experience grace. 

That’s the Kind of Grace you and I are recipients of.  Our God became a man, and took the judgment we deserved on Himself, that we might show that kind of grace to others.

We have long fingers that point at us telling us that what we can and cannot do.   But in Yeshua we have the assurance of peace and grace extended to us.  We come to God dirty, guilty, and embarrassed, yet His arms are open wide and extended out to us.

You and I need grace that offers understanding and forgiveness, and in our Messiah and High priest, we find it. 

II.  Why does Yeshua qualify for this role of High priest?

1.  Because He is God. – This is a mystery that is difficult if not impossible to comprehend.  But the prophets of Israel stressed over and over in many different ways that only God could redeem our souls.

That only a perfect sacrifice would atone for our sins once and for all.  As we sang the words of Isaiah we were reminded of this truth: “Behold God is my salvation, I will trust and will not be afraid, for the Lord, My God is my strength and My song He also has become my salvation.

God Himself is our High Priest in the Person of Yeshua.

2. Because He is truly human. V.15 –  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. Make no mistake about it, one of the reasons that God became a man in Yeshua was to allow us to know that Avenu Malkenu understands us and our trials

3. He Qualifies as a High Priest because He was appointed by God to offer sacrifices for the sins of the people. 5:1-3

(Hebrews 5:1-3)  For every high priest taken from among men is appointed on behalf of men in things pertaining to God, in order to offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins; {2} he can deal gently with the ignorant and misguided, since he himself also is beset with weakness; {3} and because of it he is obligated to offer sacrifices for sins, as for the people, so also for himself.

Some have the mistaken idea that once Yeshua offered Himself as our sacrifice and arose from the dead, that His job was done. However, that’s not how Scripture describes Him.

As our High priest, he is permanently active.  He intercedes for us, He defends us when Satan rails his accusations against us.  He represents us to God our Father as we come in prayer with our needs.

He says to the Father, “This child is Mine and his groaning and his words mean such and such.

How Does He Provide this? (Hebrews 4:16)  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.

Our tendency as sinful people is to keep at a distance from Him because of His purity.  This is exactly what Adam and Eve attempted to do.  But our High priest:

1. Invites us to draw near to Him. “Come unto me all that are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”  In fact no minister can help unless he is made aware of your needs.

2. He promises us mercy and grace when we do draw near.  He will never reject us.  He is unlike us in that regard.  He accepts us just as we are. He will never come down on us or condemn us if we will come to Him.

So in concluding this study on the promised rest of God. A peace that the world cannot give us and a peace that the world cannot take away we can see at least 3 requirements.

1. Resting requires that we approach God.  We need a sacrifice to do that, a perfect sacrifice.  This is what Yeshua provided for us.

2. Approaching God means that we must be clean and forgiven.  This is accomplished as we approach Yeshua our High Priest who accepts us just as we are, and intercedes on our behalf.

3. Being cleansed requires drawing near and opening up our hearts and minds to Him.  We need to come to the throne of Grace and Mercy.  We need to open our hearts to our high priest.

As we continue our studies in the book of Hebrews we come to one of the most important themes of this Letter.  It is the concept of Yeshua as our High Priest.

For us to appreciate the importance of this role by Yeshua the Messiah, we need to understand the significance of the High Priest from Torah.  

The assumption made by the writer of Hebrews was that his readers, who were Jewish Believers understood all that was involved in the work and ministry of the high priest.

But since we do not have a sacrificial system any longer, most are not as familiar with all that was involved in the Priesthood and especially the work of the High Priest.

The priests of Israel were appointed by God to be mediators between Himself and His people.  During the years of the first Temple, the High Priest was a direct descendent of Aaron.

Only the high priest could offer the highest sacrifice under the Mosaic Covenant, and that was done only once a year on the Day of Atonement, Yom Kippur.

Yom Kippur was the day that the multitude of sins that had not been atoned for in the daily sacrifices was taken care of.  All the sins of the nation were brought symbolically into the Holy of Holies.

It was here on the Ark of the Covenant that Blood was placed upon the mercy seat as a sacrifice to make atonement for the nation.  It was on this day that God renewed His covenant with Israel, which was made on Mt. Sinai.

The High Priest, as no other human, represented God before the people, and the people before God.  He was the only one who could enter the Holy of Holies.

As we learn from Lev. 16, before the High Priest could even enter the Holy of Holies, much less offer a sacrifice there, he had to make atonement for himself, since he, just as all those whom he represented, was a sinner.

Not only did he have to atone for his own sin, but his time in the Holy of Holies was limited.  He was allowed to stay in the presence of God only while He was offering the sacrifice.

To enter the Holy of Holies, the priest had to pass through three areas in the Temple.  He took the blood and went through the door into the outer court, through another door into the Holy place, then through the veil into the Holy of Holies.

He did not sit down or delay.  As soon as the sacrifice was made he left and did not return for another year.  Every year, year after year, another Yom Kippur was necessary.

Between these yearly sacrifices, every day, day after day, thousands of other sacrifices were made, by the Israelites to atone for their personal sins.

The process was never ending, never complete, because Israel was not perfect, the priests were imperfect, and the sacrifices were not perfect. They pointed to a need for a perfect sacrifice.

That is why Yeshua came.  He came to bring the New Covenant that the Prophets had foretold would come.  He is God’s perfect High Priest. He is the conclusion of a progression of sacrifices instituted by God.

The sin offering was given to Israel to make atonement for any individual who sought to reconciled to God.  The Passover sacrifice was God making provision for a family.

Yom Kippur was God’s provision for the Nation of Israel.  And the Messiah was God’s provision for all the Nations to experience atonement and reconciliation with God.

When Yeshua died on the cross, He made atonement possible for all who would apply by faith, His blood on the doorposts of their hearts.  It was a one time perfect sacrifice.

He, like the High priest of Israel passed through 3 areas.  When He passed through the Heavens, he went through the first heaven (the atmosphere), the second heaven (outer space), and into the third heaven, (God’s dwelling place).

Yeshua our High Priest went to God Himself, not just where the Glory of the Father dwelt on earth but into The Holiest of all Holies.  And Yeshua did not have to leave, because His sacrifice was made once for all time.

The sacrifice and the High Priest were perfect.  He made the perfect and complete atonement for sin, which is the reason He came to earth the first time.

I. In light of this we need to understand that we can call on God.

Hebrews 4 tells us “we have a High Priest and Great Rabbi, and we have a Place in the very presence of God to come with our burdens.”  Both are immediately accessible.  We can call on our priest and Rabbi and He will come to our help.

V. 14 tells us who our priest is it is Yeshua, God who appeared as a Man. 

VV. 15-16 tells us what He offers (Hebrews 4:15-16)  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. {16} 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.

1. True understanding. – 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.”

What this means, is that when we come to our high priest and Rabbi who is in the heavens, and call on Him for our needs, we have the assurance of knowing that he identifies with our hurts and needs.

In Yeshua our High priest we have one who knows our weaknesses, who has felt our pain, experienced our rejection and loneliness.  Has even tasted death, so he knows in total what we can and do suffer.

Secondly he offers us Grace – This is difficult for us to understand since this world really does not understand grace.  We have courtrooms of law, and judges of law.

But grace is something that even we in our congregation and those who are Believers in other churches fail to understand and appreciate about out God.

As some of you know I am now back in school working on advancing in my education that I hope I will be able to apply in our congregation.  I heard a story of student’s experience with grace:

I left work early so I could have some uninterrupted study time right before the final in my Youth Issues class. When I got to class, everybody was doing their last minute studying. The teacher came in and said he would review with us for just a little bit before the test. 

We went through the review, most of it right on the study guide, but there were some things he was reviewing that I had never heard of. When questioned about it, he said that they were in the book and we were responsible for everything in the book. We couldn’t really argue with that. 

Finally it was time to take the test. 

“Leave them face down on the desk until everyone has one and I’ll tell you to start,” our prof instructed.

When we turned them over, every answer on the test was filled in! The bottom of the last page said the following: 

“This is the end of the Final Exam. All the answers on your test are correct. You will receive an ’A’ on the final exam. The reason you passed the test is because the creator of the test took it for you. All the work you did in preparation for this test did not help you get the A. You have just experienced…grAce.” 

He then went around the room and asked each student individually, “What is your grade? Do you deserve the grade you are receiving? How much did all your studying for this exam help you achieve your final grade?” 

Now I am not a crier by any stretch of the imagination, but I had to fight back tears when answering those questions and thinking about how the Creator has passed the test for me. 

Discussion afterward went like this: “I have tried to teach you all semester that you are a recipient of grace. I’ve tried to communicate to you that you need to demonstrate this gift as you work with young people. Don’t hammer them; they are not the enemy. Help them, for they will carry on your ministry if it is full of GRACE!” 

Talking about how some of us had probably studied hours and some just a few minutes but had all received the same grade, he pointed to a story Jesus told in Matthew 20. The owner of a vineyard hired people to work in his field and agreed to pay them a certain amount. Several different times during the day, he hired more workers. When it was time to pay them, they all received the same amount. When the ones who had been hired first thing in the morning began complaining, the boss said, “Should you be angry because I am kind?” (Matthew 20:15). 

The teacher said he had never done this kind of final before and probably would never do it again, but because of the content of many of our class discussions, he felt like we needed to experience grace. 

That’s the Kind of Grace you and I are recipients of.  Our God became a man, and took the judgment we deserved on Himself, that we might show that kind of grace to others.

We have long fingers that point at us telling us that what we can and cannot do.   But in Yeshua we have the assurance of peace and grace extended to us.  We come to God dirty, guilty, and embarrassed, yet His arms are open wide and extended out to us.

You and I need grace that offers understanding and forgiveness, and in our Messiah and High priest, we find it. 

II.  Why does Yeshua qualify for this role of High priest?

1.  Because He is God. – This is a mystery that is difficult if not impossible to comprehend.  But the prophets of Israel stressed over and over in many different ways that only God could redeem our souls.

That only a perfect sacrifice would atone for our sins once and for all.  As we sang the words of Isaiah we were reminded of this truth: “Behold God is my salvation, I will trust and will not be afraid, for the Lord, My God is my strength and My song He also has become my salvation.

God Himself is our High Priest in the Person of Yeshua.

2. Because He is truly human. V.15 –  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. Make no mistake about it, one of the reasons that God became a man in Yeshua was to allow us to know that Avenu Malkenu understands us and our trials

3. He Qualifies as a High Priest because He was appointed by God to offer sacrifices for the sins of the people. 5:1-3

(Hebrews 5:1-3)  For every high priest taken from among men is appointed on behalf of men in things pertaining to God, in order to offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins; {2} he can deal gently with the ignorant and misguided, since he himself also is beset with weakness; {3} and because of it he is obligated to offer sacrifices for sins, as for the people, so also for himself.

Some have the mistaken idea that once Yeshua offered Himself as our sacrifice and arose from the dead, that His job was done. However, that’s not how Scripture describes Him.

As our High priest, he is permanently active.  He intercedes for us, He defends us when Satan rails his accusations against us.  He represents us to God our Father as we come in prayer with our needs.

He says to the Father, “This child is Mine and his groaning and his words mean such and such.

How Does He Provide this? (Hebrews 4:16)  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.

Our tendency as sinful people is to keep at a distance from Him because of His purity.  This is exactly what Adam and Eve attempted to do.  But our High priest:

1. Invites us to draw near to Him. “Come unto me all that are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”  In fact no minister can help unless he is made aware of your needs.

2. He promises us mercy and grace when we do draw near.  He will never reject us.  He is unlike us in that regard.  He accepts us just as we are. He will never come down on us or condemn us if we will come to Him.

So in concluding this study on the promised rest of God. A peace that the world cannot give us and a peace that the world cannot take away we can see at least 3 requirements.

1. Resting requires that we approach God.  We need a sacrifice to do that, a perfect sacrifice.  This is what Yeshua provided for us.

2. Approaching God means that we must be clean and forgiven.  This is accomplished as we approach Yeshua our High Priest who accepts us just as we are, and intercedes on our behalf.

3. Being cleansed requires drawing near and opening up our hearts and minds to Him.  We need to come to the throne of Grace and Mercy.  We need to open our hearts to our high priest.