Hebrews 4:15–16 “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.”
At Christmas, we are thinking of the incarnation. The incarnation is the doctrine that God the Son took on a human nature. He has two natures. He has a divine nature, which he has had eternally. He is the eternal Son of God. He also has a human nature, which he took on himself and will keep forever.
In considering his humanity, it is important to remember that part of the reason that he took on a human nature is to identify with us. He became one of us to identify with us and represent us in his life and death.
In his life on earth, he knew temptation. He was tempted in all points as we are tempted. There is not a single type of temptation that we face that the Lord Jesus Christ did not face. He was tempted in every respect like us. He is a High Priest who understands our weakness.
One could get the idea that since Christ is God the Son he did not really feel the pull of temptation. One could think that it would be impossible for him to understand what we are going through when we are tempted. But the Lord Jesus can sympathize with our weakness. He knows about it. He has felt it. The temptations he faced were real temptations.
So, we may come to the throne of grace boldly. We may come to the throne of grace, God’s own throne, with all our weaknesses and failures and know that Christ knows what weakness is. He will not turn away any of his own who are struggling and weak. He took on our weakness. He understands. He knows what it is to be weak and need help. So, we can run to him for help with all confidence.
It is interesting that it says we are to come boldly to the throne of grace, but it says to do so in our weakness. I have often heard prayers that sound very much like the person offering them is strong, and it is said to be a prayer offered in boldness. But the context of the bold prayer in Hebrews 4:15-16 is a context of weakness. We need mercy. We need grace in our time of need. So, this boldness is not offered in a brazen and loud, “look-at-me” sort of way but is instead given in the quiet whispers of desperate need. It is confidence, not in personal strength, but in our faithful High Priest who was tempted like us. He came, as the song says, “Robed in frail humanity.”1
Notice the difference between us and our great High Priest. He is able to sympathize with weak sinners, because he came as a man and was tempted, but notice that he is different from us. He came in weakness but was not defeated. He came and was tempted in every respect as we are, yet he was without sin. He cannot sympathize with us as a fellow failure but as a fellow sufferer. He is different from us, because where we failed, he never did and never will. He never gave into temptation. He never sinned in his thoughts, in his words, in his actions, or in his inaction. He was tempted but did not sin. So, our confidence and boldness are found, once again, not in ourselves, and not only in a fellow sufferer, but in a victorious, sinless Lord.
He is not only a sympathetic High Priest, but he is a better man, a better human, a better priest of a better priesthood. We have a High Priest who never failed the Father and will never fail us. We have a High Priest who is not only sympathetic and gives us mercy, but he is strong enough to grant us all the grace that we need.
Are you weak, dear saint? Yes, you are.
Do you realize your weakness? Your High Priest, the Lord Jesus, knows weakness. He has been made weak in his coming as a man, he has been tempted and knows the difficulty of temptation, and he is sympathetic toward you. He has deep compassion for you. Your weakness does not turn him away or repulse him. Instead, he is ready, at the throne of grace, to grant you mercy. To grant you forgiveness when you need it.
In realizing your weakness, also consider the Lord’s words to the Apostle Paul in 2 Corinthians 12:9a, “But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’”
You have a sympathetic High Priest, but you also have a strong High Priest. The Lord Jesus Christ is able to help those who come to the throne of grace for help in time of need. Whatever the need, whatever the task, no matter the intensity, Christ is great and gracious enough to handle it. You know you are weak, so your confidence is not in yourself. It is confidence in the great High Priest, the Lord Jesus.
We can come with confidence because Christ is sympathetic and strong. In our weakness, we run to him, and that is perfect strength.
So, come with all your needs. Christ is tender and understanding. Come with your needs. He is strong enough to meet them all.
If you have never trusted in the Lord Jesus, this invitation is also for you. Come as a sinner. Come as one deserving the eternal fires of hell. Come as one trapped in darkness. Come in complete weakness and inability. Come to the One who has identified with sinners in his death at the cross in the place of sinners. Come to the One with enough grace and mercy to save you. Come to him and receive the forgiveness you need. Come to be delivered from your sins and the penalty you deserve. Come and find grace and mercy in him.
Notes:
- “Come Behold the Wondrous Mystery” lyrics © Love Your Enemies Publishing, Getty Music Publishing, Getty Music Hymns And Songs, Mckinney Music Inc. ↩︎
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