All Wonders in One Sight

Read: Hebrews 4:14 - 5:10

The poet Richard Crashaw once wrote these words in his poem “In the Holy Nativity of Our Lord”:

Welcome, all wonders in one sight!  Eternity shut in a span;
Summer in winter; day in night;  Heaven in earth, and God in man.
Great little one, whose all-embracing birth lifts earth to heaven, stoops heav'n to earth.

Jesus came to stoop heaven to earth and lift earth to heaven.  In other words, Jesus came to accomplish God’s redemptive plan to reconcile fallen humanity to Himself.  In other words, Jesus came to be the Mediator.

 The author of Hebrews describes the High Priest as being

• Called by God. 
• Selected from among men
• Representative of men and women
• One who offered sacrifices for sins
• One who could sympathize and deal gently with those who struggled with weakness

Now, one of the main points in the book of Hebrews is that Jesus is our High Priest.  Jesus (according to Hebrews 2:17), “had to be made like his brothers in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people. Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.” 

• Jesus was called by God the Father.  We read in v. 5, “So Christ also did not take upon himself the glory of becoming a high priest. But God said to him, "You are my Son; today I have become your Father.”  Jesus was called to be the ultimate go-between, the Mediator between God and human beings.  He was not only a priest, but the Son of God. 
•  Jesus was selected from among human beings, in the sense that He was sent among us to be like us so as to represent us. 
•  Jesus represented men and women before God.  Not only did He do that on the cross, but we read in 5:7 that, “During the days of Jesus' life on earth, he offered up prayers and petitions with loud cries and tears to the one who could save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission.”  Jesus interceded for His people while on earth and He continues to do so at the right hand of the Father in heaven.
•  Jesus was Emmanuel “God With Us” and so He can sympathize with our weakness and deal gently with us because He understands us.  We are told that He was tempted in every way, just as we are, yet was without sin. 
• Jesus was the perfect sacrifice.  Whereas an earthly High Priest had to offer sacrifices for himself, Jesus did not.  He himself was the perfect sacrifice.  See: Hebrews 7:26-28. 
• Jesus is “the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him.”

And so, Jesus is our High Priest. He is our Mediator. “Therefore,” as we read at the beginning of our passage – v14, “since we have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are - yet was without sin. Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.”

Because Jesus is the source of eternal salvation; because He as our perfect Mediator, He reconciles us and re-connects us to God the Father; and because He stands at the Father’s right hand representing us, we can and must hold firmly to the faith we profess.  

To hold fast is to fix our thoughts on Jesus; to fix our eyes on Jesus.  It is hearing, believing and obeying His word.  It is being immovably grounded in the Gospel – knowing it, believing it, letting it permeate your life and affect your attitudes, actions and affections.

But, in our weakness, can we hold firmly to the faith we profess?   We can because, “we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are - yet was without sin.”  Jesus knows our weaknesses.  He knows us.  He knows the temptations we face.  He knows our insecurities and fears.  And so He can sympathize and deal gently with us.  But more than that – Jesus has conquered; He has overcome.  He is the source of eternal salvation who has gone through the heavens and sits now at the Father’s right hand.  And so, we can approach the throne of God and find it to be a throne of grace.  And we can approach that throne of grace with confidence and receive mercy and find grace to help us in time of need.

Priests provide access.  Because Jesus is our great High Priest, we have access to God the Father.  We can draw near to the throne of God, by way of Christ, and find not a God who is aloof or a God who relishes the thought of squashing us, but rather, a God of grace.  When we approach God through Christ, we find a loving Father who grants mercy and extends grace – a God who hears us and helps us in our weakness and in our need.

In Christ, we find the perfect Mediator, the perfect Savior, the perfect Friend.  He is, as Crashaw’s poem puts it, “All Wonders in One Sight. He is eternity who chose to be shut in a span (the size of an infant).  He is summer who entered our winter; Day that displaces our night. He is heaven who came to earth; God who dwelled with man. He is the One who stooped heaven to earth and raised earth (raised us) to heaven.

So hold firmly to Jesus.  Don’t let anything tear you away from Him.  Don’t allow anything to dilute or pollute the glorious hope and reality of the Gospel in your life.  Run to Jesus!  Cling to Him!  Hold fast to Him!  Approach the throne of grace with confidence, with assurance, because in Jesus you will receive mercy; you will find grace; you will be given strength in your weakness and attain help in every time of need.  He has stooped down to lift you up!