Merciful And Faithful
Hebrews 2:17-18 CSB
17 Therefore, he had to be like his brothers and sisters in every way, so that he could become a merciful and faithful high priest in matters pertaining to God, to make atonement for the sins of the people. 18 For since he himself has suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are tempted.
The second chapter of Hebrews contains one of my favorite principles in the very first verse. We have to pay attention all the more to the things we have heard so we do not drift away from it. As a pastor, I have seen drifting away from too many people over the years, and it underscores a reason church is important and Bible reading is important. We must be intentional in order to stop the drift. The world has a current like an undertow that constantly pulls. But we can pay attention to what we have heard, and we can focus on Jesus, the object of our verses for today.
The second chapter begins to lay out what Jesus did for us. How He had to become like us, flesh and blood, in order to taste death for all of us. And He had to become like us so He could pay the price for our sins. God put together an amazing plan that Jesus carried out for us.
But there is another reason He needed to become like us. Jesus needed to experience life as a man so that He might become a faithful and merciful high priest in matters pertaining to God. Jesus, because He experienced the pull and pressures of life, is totally able to be merciful and faithful to us. When you go through a tough situation and come out on the other side unscathed, it makes you more merciful to those who go through the same thing. I find myself being merciful to people who have fallen away from God and come back. I went through the same experience, but unlike Jesus, I took a fall. Jesus extends His mercy to us, understanding what we experience, but never falling into the same sin. His understanding is a display of His mercy, and His never falling establishes His faithfulness. So we can look to Him to help us in tough situations because He knows how we feel, and He is able to keep us from falling.
This is another reason we can turn to Jesus when we are being tempted. The tendency when being tempted is to feel shame and want to avoid talking to the Lord about it. But Jesus suffered being tempted, but never falling, so He can help us when we are tempted. So when we turn to Him for help, He will be merciful and faithful to help us, not condemn us. One of Satan’s greatest weapons is condemnation, feeling as if we are horrible, unredeemable Christians. But that is a lie. Christ paid the price to redeem us from the authority of the enemy. When we are feeling condemned is the time to run to the Lord, not away from Him. The idea seems counterintuitive, running to the One who is perfect when we are not. But we are not running to an aloof and separated Lord, but One who understands and is there to help. The big problem with condemnation is that it causes believers to give up thinking that they can live this life. But we can do all things through Christ who gives us strength. And He is able and willing to strengthen us because He is a merciful and faithful leader and high priest before God.
PRAYER
Lord, I am so grateful that I can come to you even when I feel tempted. You understand and are merciful and consistent to help me in a time of need.