“Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.“
Imagine being invited to meet someone incredibly important.
You arrive at the door, but suddenly you start wondering whether you really belong there. Thoughts and fears start running through your mind: Maybe there has been a mistake. Are you dressed appropriately? Should you have prepared something? The closer you get, the more aware you become that you don’t quite measure up.
Sometimes we can approach God that way.
We know He invites us to pray, but we’re painfully aware of who we’re approaching. This is the holy God who created heaven and earth. He knows everything we have done…everything. He knows the sins no one else knows, the thoughts we would never say aloud, and the promises to do better that we have broken again and again.
Why should sinners like us have any confidence approaching Him?
The writer of Hebrews gives us one answer: Jesus.
Hebrews calls Him our
“great high priest.”
In the Old Testament, the high priest represented God’s people before Him and God before His people. Once a year, on the Day of Atonement, he entered the Most Holy Place with sacrificial blood to make atonement for the sins of the people.
Jesus is the greater High Priest.
He did not enter God’s presence carrying the blood of another sacrifice of an animal. He offered Himself. He poured out His own blood. Having made atonement for our sins through His own death, He rose again and…
“passed through the heavens.”
Our High Priest now stands before the Father on our behalf.
So, you aren’t standing at the door of the important person by yourself. You’re standing there with Jesus. You know there’s no mistake because the Son of God is bringing you. But there is something else Hebrews wants us to know about Him.
Jesus understands.
He is not a distant High Priest who has no idea what human life is like. The Son of God truly became one of us. He experienced hunger, exhaustion, rejection, grief, suffering, and temptation. Hebrews says
He was tempted “as we are, yet without sin.”
Both parts matter. Jesus doesn’t understand temptation because He gave in to it. He understands because He endured its full force and remained faithful.
So what should we do when we are weak? When temptation is strong? When guilt troubles us? When we are frightened, confused, or simply don’t know what to do? Or even just when we want to pray but know we are sinners?
“Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace.”
Think about those words.
The throne of the holy God is, for you, a throne of grace.
It’s not that your sin is insignificant or because God has lowered His standards. It is a throne of grace because Jesus has already dealt with your sin at the cross.
So you don’t have to clean yourself up before coming to God. Jesus already cleaned you up. You don’t have to wait until your faith feels stronger or your prayers sound better. You come because Christ has opened the way.
And what do you find when you arrive? Mercy and grace
“to help in time of need.”
God already knows your need. He already knows your weakness. Yet He invites you to come anyway, not timidly wondering whether you will be welcomed, but confidently trusting the High Priest who has gone before you.
The door is open.
Christ opened it.
So draw near.
Let’s pray…
Heavenly Father,
I have no right to approach You because of anything I have done, yet Your Son has opened the way into Your presence for me.
Thank You for giving me a High Priest who knows my weakness, has borne my sin, and now intercedes for me. When guilt makes me want to hide or trouble makes me afraid, remind me that Your throne is a throne of grace.
Give me confidence to come to You in every need, trusting that because of Jesus I will find mercy, grace, and a Father who hears and loves me.
Through Jesus Christ, my great High Priest.
Amen.
As part of your devotion time, I encourage you to also pray for at least some of the following:
After praying for these people, you may want to finish your devotion time with the Lord’s Prayer…
Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. They will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil. For Thine is the kingdom and the power, and the glory, forever and every. Amen.
In Christ’s Service,
Pastor Kurt
