25.09 | Gentleness & Grace
Hebrews 4:14-6:12
‘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.’
Hebrews 4:15-16
Whenever our kids are invited to a birthday party, it usually means a trip to Argos.
Argos stands alone as a shopping concept. An empty shop floor, except for the laminated magazines and screens for ordering. Rows of chairs to sit on while you wait for your order to be collected. Staff members operate as the connection point between warehouse—where all the good stuff is—and you as the shopper. It’s a great option for the disorganised parent in need of a child’s gift that you need to pick up a few hours before the party.
Hebrews today switches images. Yesterday we were talking about Moses and the Promised Land of Rest. Today he moves on to priests, sacrifices, and tabernacle.
To understand this, a bit of background is helpful.
The ancient world viewed a temple (or, for the Israelites in the wilderness, the tabernacle) in a very specific way. For the ancient Hebrews, they understood the earth to be separated from heaven. And yet heaven was the place of God’s presence. Heaven was the place of God’s truth. Heaven was the place of God’s life and blessing and fullness and abundance.
A temple, then, was viewed as the intersection point between these two realities. It was where heaven overlapped with earth. It was the place where the pains of the world could be brought to the wholeness of the heavens, seeking the life of that place to overflow into the brokenness of this one.
And the role of the priest was to be the interactive agent between the two.
Taking the pain, the requests, the offerings, the prayers, and the songs of this world to the presence of God Himself. And taking the life and truth and blessing and peace of that world and declaring it into a this one. They went from the needs of the shop floor to the storehouse of God Himself, bringing the blessings of His world into the needs of this one.
It was an Argos kind of arrangement.
And this going and returning, entering and leaving, offering and receiving ministry of the priests had gone on for well over a millennia when Jesus of Nazareth was nailed to a cross.
The author of Hebrews wants us to understand the ministry of Jesus, today, in this light.
He is the one who enters our pain and problems. He is the one who understands our trials and doubts. He is the one who weeps with us through grief and endures with us through the limitations of sickness. He is the one who feels the pain of rejection and neglect and abuse.
And because He is this one, immersed in the pain of our world, He can meet us in every single one of these places with something unique.
Gentleness.
Not critique and correction. Not cliché or command.
But the understanding, healing, nurturing quality of understanding, validation, and compassion.
Don’t rush from here. We often need to experience His gentleness before we receive the heavenly response.
And yet, the response also awaits. For this our High Priest rent the heavens open. This our High Priest tore the curtain that separated us from the eternal realm. This our High Priest crucified in Himself the corruption and shame of this age, that the life and stunning vitality of the age to come may pour out of the warehouse of God into our every present moment. He went there that the grace of the Father may invade here.
Gentleness and grace.
This is our Jesus. Our true High Priest.
Reflect:
What pain are you bringing today?
Soak in His gentleness.
Seek His grace.
Pray:
Lord Jesus,
I come to you,
And to no other,
For I only need one
High Priest.
I bring you this pain and disappointment,
My sickness and anxieties and needs.
And I find in you
Gentleness.
May this gentleness mend this heart.
And as I learn this your way,
Would you carry from the presence of heaven
The life of God Himself—
Declaring blessing and healing and liberty and life upon me,
In the shining face of God upon my life.
That I may know
Both the gentleness and grace
Of you,
My High Priest forever.
Lord Jesus,
In Your Name,
Amen
Old Testament:
For those also reading the Old Testament this year, your additional readings are here:
1 Chronicles 21-23 | Psalm 112