Hebrews 4:14-16

New Living Translation

Christ Is Our High Priest

¹⁴ So then, since we have a great High Priest who has entered heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to what we believe. ¹⁵ This High Priest of ours understands our weaknesses, for he faced all of the same testings we do, yet he did not sin. ¹⁶ So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most.

My Thoughts and Observations

We have a great High Priest, Jesus himself.

Jesus Christ is now in heaven.

Jesus is the Son of God.

We need to hold firmly to our beliefs.

Our High Priest understands us.

Even though Christ faced all the same testing he did not sin.

We can approach boldly the throne of our gracious God.

We will receive mercy when we come to our High Priest.

We will find grace when we need it most.

Teaching Points from https://studyhebrews.com/hebrews4-11-16.html

1. Christ our high priest – As we see in the later chapters of Hebrews, one of the major themes of the book is Christ as our high priest. Our high priest is the very Son of God, Jesus. This verse shows His human nature with the name Jesus and His divine nature through the title “Son of God.” His example, power, and sacrifice should motivate us to “hold fast.” Once again we see this exhortation to stand firm. The first several chapters of Hebrews contain many exhortations such as this one, and are an important reminder of the responsibility we have as believers to follow God faithfully and never give up our faith in Him.

2. Verse 15-16 are also both popular verses to memorize. Have you memorized them before? Why did you choose these verses? What can you learn from them? The concept is fairly simple. Christ has experienced the same temptations that we do; only He didn’t sin. His response to temptation should motivate us do what is right. Sometimes in the heat of the temptation we might have the idea that “God just doesn’t understand what I am facing” or “no one could bear up under this temptation” or “it’s easy for God to tell us not to do it when He is not a human and hasn’t been tempted like we are.” This verse destroys all of these arguments. Christ was a human. He does understand what we are facing. He knows how hard it is to live in victory in this world. These verses do not mean it is acceptable to sin because He understands. In fact, it shows us that Christ had victory over the temptations. His example should in turn motivate us to not give in to temptation. His example also gives us a model about how to respond to temptation.

3. What else does verse 15 mean for us? See verse 16. It means that we should turn to Christ for help when we face temptations. He knows how difficult it easy. He wants to help us. He wants to give us grace so that we can get through the temptation in victory. Many times the way out promised in 1 Corinthians 10:13 starts with turning to God in prayer. If we don’t do that, we will miss the way out that He has prepared for us. He also extends mercy to us. When we sin, He does forgive and restore us if we confess. Next time you are tempted remember to approach the throne of grace to receive help from the only one who ever got through this life unscathed by sin.

4. We also thank God that we can approach His throne. In this world, it is not possible for common people to approach the throne of emperors or kings. Guards and soldiers block the way. But Jesus gives us free access. You have a free lifetime pass into His presence to offer your requests (remember that even the Queen Esther was in danger of losing her life for entering the throne room of the king). Don’t waste it!

Application: What do you think God would have you to do in the coming week based on what we have learned today?

My question to God:  What can I learn from this?

God’s response: My Son has your back.  He has pleaded, is pleading, and will continue to plead your case.  He doesn’t lose, ever.