A Word about the Greatest Sacrifice

Today we will continue in a series of sermons from the Book of Hebrews that I am calling the Greatest of All Time. In this episode, we will see that Jesus is the Greatest Sacrifice.

Not long before I wrote this message, the Winter Olympics were conducted in Italy. Along with the coverage of the sporting events, the news media also highlighted the long years of effort and sacrifice that the athletes had experienced to make it to the world-wide stage of the Olympic Games. Usually, this required them to devote their entire lives to this cause, which is a wholesome one, of course. Ultimately, however, it was a self-centered cause, focused as it was on individual achievement and reward.

Training for the Olympics was a sacrifice, but not an altruistic one. Contrast this with the sacrifice during the Second World War of a man named Jorge Vargas.

In the Philippines, before the war, Jorge Vargas had been President Manuel Quezon’s indispensable right hand. This continued after the Japanese invaded the Philippines in January 1942. When the Japanese closed in on Manila, the president and the rest of the civilian government fled to exile in Australia. That was when Vargas learned what kind of sacrifice he was about to make of himself for the people of his country.

President Quezon gave Vargas an order that struck him like a blow: “You must stay.” When all the other government officials evacuated, Vargas was required to remain in the doomed capital, the lone thread of legitimacy left behind. He had to face the invaders with nothing more than an assignment from his president, and a trembling sense of duty. 

The Japanese seized control and elevated him as head of the Philippine Executive Commission. Vargas accepted this position with the knowledge that refusal meant imprisonment or death. Yet he also knew that he probably would be seen as a traitor, despite being directed to stay behind for this very purpose. 

Vargas used his position to try to blunt the sharpest edges of occupation, and to shield civilians where he could, but he feared that his own people would see only the surface, the meetings, the handshakes, the forced cooperation, and call him a traitor. And when liberation finally came, that fear became reality: he was detained and interrogated, and his loyalty was dissected by a nation still bleeding. 

As great a sacrifice as Vargas made for his people, the writer of Hebrews tells us in Chapter 10 that Jesus made the Greatest Sacrifice.  Let’s begin our study by reading Hebrews 10:1-4,

Since the law has only a shadow of the good things to come, and not the actual form of those realities, it can never perfect the worshipers by the same sacrifices they continually offer year after year. Otherwise, wouldn’t they have stopped being offered, since the worshipers, once purified, would no longer have any consciousness of sins? But in the sacrifices there is a reminder of sins every year. For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.

The Shadow of the Greatest Sacrifice:

Often, people see things, but they don’t understand them. This happened to Jesus regularly. For example, when Jesus came to Bethany after Lazarus had died, this is what happened in John 11:33-37,

When Jesus saw her crying, and the Jews who had come with her crying, He was angry in His spirit and deeply moved. “Where have you put him?” He asked. “Lord,” they told Him, “come and see.” Jesus wept. So the Jews said, “See how He loved him!” But some of them said, “Couldn’t He who opened the blind man’s eyes also have kept this man from dying?” 

At other times, Jesus was accused of casting out demons by the power of Satan. On another occasion He was accused of violating the Jewish law. In Nazareth, Jesus could do no miracles because He was seen as simply the son of Joseph the carpenter. People thought they saw Jesus, but they only saw a shadow of Him.

Paul, who was Saul before he came to truly see Christ, also thought he saw the real Jesus. He was a conspirator in the stoning of Stephan, and then he saw the need to eliminate the followers of Jesus, who he saw as a false prophet. On the road to Damascus, however, he saw the real Jesus, and the vision blinded him. Later, God assigned Ananias to lay hands on him, and when Saul was filled with the Holy Spirit, this is what happened in Acts 9:17-18,

So Ananias left and entered the house. Then he placed his hands on him and said, “Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on the road you were traveling, has sent me so that you can regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.” At once something like scales fell from his eyes, and he regained his sight. Then he got up and was baptized.

So, Paul knew from his own experience what he wrote in 1 Corinthians 13:9-12,

For we know in part, and we prophesy in part. But when the perfect comes, the partial will come to an end. When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put aside childish things. For now we see indistinctly, as in a mirror, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I will know fully, as I am fully known.

The thing we must see about the Mosaic Law is that it was good, but it was only a pale reflection of the Greatest Sacrifice. Likewise, the thing we must see about our own efforts to please God is that they are good, but they, too, are only a pale reflection of the Greatest Sacrifice. They are like the difference between a black and white image versus a four-color image versus a photo image. The lesser versions of an image resemble it, but they are not nearly as good.

Our efforts to please God are not bad, but God’s grace, the grace that comes to us through the Greatest Sacrifice, is perfect.  

Now, let’s read Hebrews 10:5-9,

Therefore, as He was coming into the world, He said: You did not want sacrifice and offering, but You prepared a body for Me. You did not delight in whole burnt offerings and sin offerings. Then I said, “See—it is written about Me in the volume of the scroll—I have come to do Your will, God!” After He says above, You did not want or delight in sacrifices and offerings, whole burnt offerings and sin offerings (which are offered according to the law), He then says, See, I have come to do Your will. He takes away the first to establish the second.

The Desire for the Greatest Sacrifice:

One of my favorite memories of my mother from when I was a child involved meals. My mom would cook us wonderful meals with a variety of tasty foods, but she would just sit at the table and pick at her food. Then she’d say, “I am just not satisfied,” and she would go to the refrigerator and get out a slice of bologna. She’d put that on a piece of white bread, and splash Tabasco sauce on the meat. After she folded the bread in half, she’d return to the table and eat her bologna and Tabasco sandwich with a pleased look on her face.

In these verses, the writer of Hebrews was quoting Psalm 40:6-8. In this passage, Jesus was saying, “I see all the elaborate sacrifices you are giving God, but it just doesn’t satisfy Him.”

The issue wasn’t the sacrifices themselves, because God had established them. No, this issue was with the hearts of the people who were presenting them. This problem has existed as far back as Cain and Abel. Genesis 4:1-7 tells us,

Adam was intimate with his wife Eve, and she conceived and gave birth to Cain. She said, “I have had a male child with the Lord’s help.” Then she also gave birth to his brother Abel. Now Abel became a shepherd of flocks, but Cain worked the ground. In the course of time Cain presented some of the land’s produce as an offering to the Lord. And Abel also presented an offering—some of the firstborn of his flock and their fat portions. The Lord had regard for Abel and his offering, but He did not have regard for Cain and his offering. Cain was furious, and he looked despondent.  Then the Lord said to Cain, “Why are you furious? And why do you look despondent? If you do what is right, won’t you be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is for you, but you must rule over it.”

Remember also, that God told King Saul that, “To obey is better than sacrifice,” and Jesus told us, “If you love me, keep my commandments.” This is because obedience comes from a heart of love towards God. Jorge Vargas obeyed his president because he loved his nation and because he loved her people. 

Jesus told us that we must come to God like a little child. God desires us to gaze up on Him with loving and trusting eyes. He wants us to be like children who see their parent or grandparent and then run up to them and hug them with as tight a grip as they can muster. He wants us to love Him with the wild abandonment that children do the ones whom they love.

What God want’s is our hearts, but someone had to remake them for us. The only one who can do that is Jesus. God gave Him a body so that He could live among us and become the perfect sacrifice, the one and only one that truly satisfies God.

Our hearts cannot please God, but God’s grace, the grace that comes to us through the Greatest Sacrifice, can remake our hearts to be pleasing to Him! 

Now, let’s read Hebrews 10:10-14,

By this will of God, we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once and for all. Every priest stands day after day ministering and offering the same sacrifices time after time, which can never take away sins.  But this man, after offering one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of God.  He is now waiting until His enemies are made His footstool. For by one offering He has perfected forever those who are sanctified.

The Fruit of the Greatest Sacrifice:

Jesus told us not to judge people, in the way that Jorge Vargas was afraid that he would be judged for what he did. At the same time, however, He did tell us to observe the fruit of their lives carefully. In Matthew 7:15-20, Jesus said,

Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles? Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Therefore by their fruits you will know them.

What was the fruit, then, of the Greatest Sacrifice? First, the Greatest Sacrifice made salvation possible.  Acts 4:14 tells us,

There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to people, and we must be saved by it.

Isaiah 53:5 also says to us,

But He was pierced because of our transgressions, crushed because of our iniquities; punishment for our peace was on Him, and we are healed by His wounds.

When the woman with an issue of blood met Jesus, she was in a desperate situation. She was sick and she had spent all her money on physicians who could not heal her. She had nowhere else to turn. She trusted that Jesus could heal her, however, and He did. He was the only one who could heal her body, and He is the only one who can heal our souls.

Next, the Greatest Sacrifice made salvation permanent. In His High Priestly Prayer, Jesus told God the Father that He had kept all the souls who had been committed to Him. When He had washed the feet of His disciples, Peter asked Him to wash him completely, but Jesus already had, spiritually. What is clean and presentable to God does not need to be cleaned again. 

If we consider the sacrifice made by Jorge Vargas, it only lasted for about three and a half years. Jesus made His sacrifice and then He said, “It is finished.” He then went and rested at the right hand of God because there were no more sacrifices to make. He also sent the Holy Spirit to seal us for the day when we see Jesus face-to-face! The Greatest Sacrifice is a permanent sacrifice!

We also see that the Greatest Sacrifice made salvation perfect. God cannot abide sin, but when God looks at His people who are covered in the blood of the Greatest Sacrifice, He no longer sees their sin, but instead He sees the perfect life of Jesus.

A great story that explains how that works involves a man and his son who stood inside a shop, watching British soldiers marching by. The son asked, “Father, who are these soldiers?” The man replied, “British soldiers, my son. See the red coats?” The son replied, “Father, that is why I asked. All I see are white coats.” His father looked down and realized his son was looking through a red-colored border of the window. The red window filtered the red from the coats and made them appear white.  The blood of Jesus does the same for our sins. That’s why in Isaiah 1:18 we read, 

“Come, let us discuss this,” says the Lord. “Though your sins are like scarlet, they will be as white as snow; though they are as red as crimson, they will be like wool.”

Lastly also we can see that the Greatest Sacrifice made salvation personal. Jorge Vargas made his sacrifice for his nation and for the people of his nation. Luke, however, brought to us the Parable of the Lost Sheep, the Parable of the Lost Coin, and the Parable of the Lost Son. In each parable something or someone was lost, but the shepherd, the woman, and the father in those stories all had other sheep, coins, and sons but they did not rest until what had been lost was found again. The same is true for us today. If only one soul had needed saving, Jesus would have still come to be the Greatest Sacrifice.

The next time you are in a crowd, look in front of you. Jesus came to be the Greatest Sacrifice for that person. Look to your left and to your right. Look behind yourself, also. He came for those people as well. Finally, look at yourself. Yes, He came for you also!

When Jesus came as the Greatest Sacrifice, the fruit of His life made salvation possible. It was not only possible, but permanent, and perfect, and personal, as well.

Finally, let’s read Hebrews 10:15-18,

The Holy Spirit also testifies to us about this. For after He says:  This is the covenant I will make with them after those days, says the Lord: I will put My laws on their hearts and write them on their minds, He adds: I will never again remember their sins and their lawless acts. Now where there is forgiveness of these, there is no longer an offering for sin.

The Covenant of the Greatest Sacrifice:

During the Cold War between the Western powers and the Soviet Union, most people in the United States were afraid that a nuclear war would breakout and destroy our nation. That was a threat, no doubt, but a greater threat came from inside our nation.

Soviet Premier Nikita Khruschev believed that western capitalism would fail because the seeds of its collapse were built into it. In essence Khruschev believed that our nation would fall from the inside out and when that happened, he said, “We will bury you.” Thus, the biggest threat was not external, but internal; it was from within.

When his president asked Jorge Vargas to stay behind, he did so to put a seed of patriotism inside the Japanese-dominated government. Vargas agreed to work from the inside to help the Filipino people, while Douglas MacArthur worked to free them from the outside. Vargas was just one man, but he did everything that he could.

When Jesus became our Greatest Sacrifice, He made an agreement with us to work from the inside of our lives. He promised to inhabit our lives, and to be with us always. He promised to teach us His ways and God’s will and pledge to never remember our sin again. He also promised to accept our worship and praise as our sacrifice of faith in Him.

When Jesus came as the Greatest Sacrifice, He promised to build us up from the inside of our lives.

Conclusion:

So, what happened to Jorge Vargas? In short, the truth about his assignment came out. Vargas was arrested and questioned, but he had people who were advocates for him, including American officials who testified that Vargas had acted under duress to protect his helpless fellow citizens from their oppressors. He was never charged, never condemned, yet he carried the weight of those years for the rest of his life—marked not by betrayal, but by the impossible burden of being the man who stayed when everyone else escaped.

What about us? Are we carrying a burden today? If so, John 2:1-2 tells us, 

My little children, I am writing you these things so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father—Jesus Christ the Righteous One. He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not only for ours, but also for those of the whole world.

Every blessing,

Dr. Otis Corbitt

A Word about the Greatest Mediator

 

Today we will continue in a series of sermons from the Book of Hebrews that I am calling the Greatest of All Time. In this episode, we will see that Jesus is the Greatest Mediator.

In a previous episode we saw that the writer of Hebrews recognized Jesus as the Greatest Agent. Mediators are like agents, in that they both stand between two parties and help them to deal with an issue. The difference is that a mediator deals with trouble, whereas an agent deals with more routine issues. We might consider a mediator a type of agent who is a trouble-shooter.

Mediators are especially useful when a conflict has arisen between two parties. They bring skills and talents, and a professional distance, that can help these two parties in conflict resolve their issues. In our modern world, mediators are often lawyers, and even lawyers, when they get into difficulty, will engage another attorney to be their mediator. The power of mediation is such that a famous legal saying is, “A lawyer who represents himself has a fool for a client.”

What the writer of Hebrews tells us in Chapter 9 is that, as we have seen before, Jesus is the Greatest Mediator. Let’s begin our study by reading Hebrews 9:1-7:

Now the first covenant also had regulations for ministry and an earthly sanctuary. For a tabernacle was set up, and in the first room, which is called the holy place, were the lampstand, the table, and the presentation loaves. Behind the second curtain, the tabernacle was called the most holy place. It contained the gold altar of incense and the ark of the covenant, covered with gold on all sides, in which there was a gold jar containing the manna, Aaron’s staff that budded, and the tablets of the covenant. The cherubim of glory were above it overshadowing the mercy seat. It is not possible to speak about these things in detail right now. With these things set up this way, the priests enter the first room repeatedly, performing their ministry. But the high priest alone enters the second room, and he does that only once a year, and never without blood, which he offers for himself and for the sins of the people committed in ignorance. 

Imperfect Mediators:

The role of a priest, as we have noted before, is to stand between God and His people, and to act as a mediator. This is why priests were separated from the rest of the Children of Israel. They had their own lineage, their own regulations, their own cities to live in, and even their own clothing to wear while serving in the Tabernacle and later in the Temple. They were of the people and they served God’s people.

When I was on Active Duty in the US Army, I was in the Military Police Corps. MPs are set apart to enforce regulations and laws on the behalf of their commander. They have a motto: “Of the Troops and for the Troops.” By and large, civilian police don’t patrol Army installations, and law and order are usually enforced by the Military Police. The motto reminds everyone that a MP is a soldier first, and their purpose is to protect soldiers from themselves as well as from others.

The problem, of course, is that MPs are soldiers too, and so they make mistakes also. For example, we had one MP that wrote many, many tickets, but he never registered them properly. They were only discovered in his locker during a health and welfare inspection of his room. Another MP backed a patrol car into a civilian vehicle in front of Building 3004 on Scholfield Barracks, Hawaii, which at that time was the MP barracks. A third MP showed positive on a test for illegal drugs, and a fourth fell asleep while guarding a dumpster, which was a crime scene of a murder. He only woke up when the dumpster was being emptied by the trash truck. A fifth MP had a grudge against his platoon sergeant, and he destroyed the sergeant’s shot record in an effort to make him take them all again. The wise old platoon sergeant had a duplicate copy, and the MP spent several weeks in a corrective custody facility for his efforts. All of this happened in a single year! 

Lest you think that the legal profession is exempt, I also know of a unit legal clerk that had to prepare her own charge sheets for her commander to punish her for her misdeeds.

Yes, many of the priests were good, and some were great. Other priests however were not good, and some were even false priests. Even the best priests were not perfect priests, and so they could not be perfect mediators.

The fact that the priests of the Temple had to make multiples sacrifices for the people and for their own sins indicates that human mediators are imperfect. How would that affect the needs of the people? 

Let’s read Hebrews 9:8-12:

The Holy Spirit was making it clear that the way into the most holy place had not yet been disclosed while the first tabernacle was still standing. This is a symbol for the present time, during which gifts and sacrifices are offered that cannot perfect the worshiper’s conscience. They are physical regulations and only deal with food, drink, and various washings imposed until the time of restoration.

Imperfect Salvation:

Another saying that people have is this: “If all you have is a hammer, then all the world is a nail.” A similar saying is, “You go with what you know.” This same was true of these imperfect mediators, the priests of Israel.

Because these priests were human and physical, all that they had available to them were physical means. They asked people to give sacrifices and offerings, and they asked people to obey certain regulations about foods, and they asked people to observe certain practices and certain holidays. This was all that they had, and it was good enough, temporarily.

These physical acts reminded God’s people of their need to seek His forgiveness and to walk closely with Him. Sadly, they, like us, were imperfect people. They, like us, strayed from following God, just as the old hymn says,

Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it, prone to leave the God I love;

Here’s my heart; O take and seal it; seal it for thy courts above.

The problem that people have in relationship to God is a spiritual problem. Physical items or physical actions point to that problem, but they cannot solve it. This reminds me of many counseling classes I took during my years in seminary. These classes were great at describing the issues people face, but they were much less useful at prescribing solutions for those problems. This is exactly the issue with the Mosaic Law and the ministry of the priests. They point us toward our failings, but they fail to provide us a permanent solution for them. For that, we need a Perfect Mediator.

Let’s read Hebrews 9:11-14,

But the Messiah has appeared, high priest of the good things that have come. In the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands (that is, not of this creation), He entered the most holy place once for all, not by the blood of goats and calves, but by His own blood, having obtained eternal redemption. For if the blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a young cow, sprinkling those who are defiled, sanctify for the purification of the flesh, how much more will the blood of the Messiah, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without blemish to God, cleanse our consciences from dead works to serve the living God?

A Perfect Mediator:

Like the priests in the Temple, Jesus is a mediator. He stands between us and God, and He deals with the issues that God has with us. He is like them, but He is different, and He is different in all the good ways.

First, Jesus’ work is done for us in the real Temple that is in Heaven. The Temple on the earth was a reflection of the real thing, but Jesus does His ministry for us in the real thing. Substitute items often work, but they are not as good as the genuine article, and that is what Jesus Is, and that is where He works on our behalf.

Next, Jesus finished the job. The human priests made sacrifice after sacrifice, because what they did was not sufficient to permanently solve the problem. These priests were like a car my aunt loaned to us when we came back from the mission field.

The car that she loaned us was a Lincoln Continental that had been driven by my uncle, who had been a businessman. He was deceased, and it was too much car for her, and she was glad to loan it to us. We were grateful, but I had to be careful when I drove it to visit church members. The motor’s rear main seal was leaking oil, and I didn’t want to leave oil stains on the driveways of our members. I could keep the oil topped up, but that did not solve the essential problem. My aunt was not interested in spending the money to repair it, and so for as long as I drove it, I parked it on the street, and I kept a case of oil in the trunk!

Finally, as we will see next week, Jesus was the perfect sacrifice. As both God and human, as a perfect person who had never sinned, Jesus was the Greatest Sacrifice of all. His sacrifice exceeded all the other offerings that had ever been sacrificed to God, because His righteousness exceeded every other person’s righteousness who ever lived.

So, if you are O.J. Simpson, and you are on trial for murder, who do you want as your advocate? Would you choose the Los Angeles County Office of the Public Defender, or would you choose Johnny Cochrane and his “Dream Team” of lawyers? As one wag said, “If I am brought before a judge, I don’t want an attorney, I want a lawyer!” Yet, even Johnny Cochrane and his “Dream Team” could not protect O.J. Simpson from later being found liable in a civil lawsuit.

In all of history only one perfect person has ever walked the earth. We should be grateful that He also is our Perfect Mediator!

Finally, let’s read Hebrews 9:15 and 27-28

Therefore, He is the mediator of a new covenant, so that those who are called might receive the promise of the eternal inheritance, because a death has taken place for redemption from the transgressions committed under the first covenant . . . And just as it is appointed for people to die once—and after this, judgment— so also the Messiah, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for Him.

Perfect Salvation:

If anyone ever asks me, “I have good news and bad news, which do you want to hear first?” I always want to get the bad news out of the way as soon as I can, and finish with the good news. That’s what we will do now.

The bad news is that we have all sinned and fallen short of God’s glory. Because God is perfect, He cannot abide sin, and therefore He punishes it. The Bible tells us that the wages of sin is spiritual death, and no power here on earth can change that in our lives. Without an external spiritual intervention, we are all dead people walking. That is bad news!

We know this fact instinctively, and as much as we try to ignore that dark stain on our soul, what’s in our hearts will ooze out. Maybe that is the reason for the popularity of the zombie and post-apocalyptic genre of books, motion pictures, and television shows. The darkness of our hearts cannot be ignored.

There is good news, however! This is what the angels, God’s messengers told the lowly shepherds about the birth of Jesus:

In the same region, shepherds were staying out in the fields and keeping watch at night over their flock. Then an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, “Don’t be afraid, for look, I proclaim to you good news of great joy that will be for all the people: Today a Savior, who is Messiah the Lord, was born for you in the city of David. This will be the sign for you: You will find a baby wrapped snugly in cloth and lying in a feeding trough.” Suddenly there was a multitude of the heavenly host with the angel, praising God and saying: Glory to God in the highest heaven and peace on earth to people He favors! Luke 2:8-14

Jesus, because He is the Perfect Mediator, offers us the perfect solution for our sins.  He offered up a perfect sacrifice for our sins. As Isaiah 53:6 says, 

We all went astray like sheep; we all have turned to our own way; and the Lord has punished Him for the iniquity of us all.

Jesus has done for us what we could not do for ourselves. Jesus has done for us what our parents could not do for us. Jesus has done for us what our friends could not do for us.  Jesus has done for us what our priests and pastors could not do for us. 

Jesus, the Perfect Mediator, offers us the perfect salvation we need, and that’s Good News indeed!

Conclusion:

Everyone who has ever been in trouble and has had a mediator intervene on their behalf will know just how wonderful an experience that is . . .  until they get into trouble again. Jesus, however, is the Greatest Mediator, who promises us a permanent and perfect solution to our sin problem. Won’t you let Him help you today?

Every blessing,

Dr. Otis Corbitt

A Word about the Greatest Negotiator

Today we will continue in a series of messages from the Book of Hebrews that I am calling the Greatest of All Time. In this episode, we will see that Jesus is the Greatest Negotiator.

One advantage of a life in ministry is that you can experience different cultures in different places. I think that’s why when I visit a new place that I enjoy going into the grocery stores there. To me, when I experience a new place or culture, the more mundane facets of life are often more interesting than tourist attractions or other, more esoteric offerings. When I go into a marketplace, I can find interesting differences between our way of life in the United States, and the new culture that I have the opportunity to explore.

For example, in Europe, any tax on an item in a shop is already figured in before a price tag is placed on that item. Shoppers have no need to multiply a price for an object by a percentage to know their final bill. What you see on the price tag is what you pay. Simple.

On the other hand, markets in Africa or other developing regions of the world are just the opposite. Nothing has a price tag on it, and haggling over what something costs is a way of life. No one ever pays the first price that the sellers offer, and the buyers are expected to make a counteroffer. This process continues until the sellers cannot go any lower or they will lose money, and the buyers must decide to pay-up or walk away. While I was never good at this process; my wife excelled at it. Frankly, I like the European method best, because it is less complicated and I am a simple person.

When missionaries return from overseas after learning to negotiate prices in that way, some confusion can result. A missionary kid (MK), who was home from Africa on furlough, once went to a big box store in the USA. This MK filled a shopping basket with items that could not be found in the country where the MK’s family served. At the check-out, the teller said, “That will be $165.99,” and the MK countered with, “I will give you $90.00.” The teller insisted that the MK pay the full amount, only to hear the child protest, “But, these are American dollars I have here!”

That missionary kid learned early in life how to be a negotiator, although that effort failed at the big box store. What the writer of Hebrews tells us in Chapter 8 is that, as we have seen before, Jesus is the Greatest Negotiator.

Let’s begin our study by reading Hebrews 8:1-6:

Now the main point of what is being said is this: We have this kind of high priest, who sat down at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens, a minister of the sanctuary and the true tabernacle that was set up by the Lord and not man  For every high priest is appointed to offer gifts and sacrifices; therefore it was necessary for this priest also to have something to offer. Now if He were on earth, He wouldn’t be a priest, since there are those offering the gifts prescribed by the law. These serve as a copy and shadow of the heavenly things, as Moses was warned when he was about to complete the tabernacle. For God said, Be careful that you make everything according to the pattern that was shown to you on the mountain. But Jesus has now obtained a superior ministry, and to that degree He is the mediator of a better covenant, which has been legally enacted on better promises.

The Point of the Deal:

I think it is safe to say that, from the beginning of human commerce, imitation items have been marketed and sold, disappointing naive consumers of every generation.  Ever since the first husband got a “great deal” on a “gold” ring for his wife that turned her finger green, people have been scammed by sellers who traffic in imitation goods. Remember, if a deal is too good to be true, it isn’t! When people settle for imitations, they are most often disappointed.

People often settle for imitations in other parts of their lives as well. We let the world sell us transactional relationships in place of true, heart-felt friendships. We let the world sell us on the acquisition of power, influence, and possessions as the way to find happiness. We let the world sell us fame and fortune instead of being a faithful friend of God. We let the world sell us addictive behavior as the best way to deal with stress and fear and disappointment. The first spoon from a bowl of vanilla ice cream, the greatest food known to mankind, may be heavenly, but no comfort food can provide us real comfort, and no addiction can give us true peace. 

The point of the deal, as stated by the author of Hebrews, is that Jesus is the Real Deal. The life we have on this Earth, the relationships we have on this Earth, even the structures we have on this Earth, these are all reflections of the reality of Heaven. They are good, and often even great, but they are not perfect, and they will not last.

In many ways, what we have here on Earth reminds me of the holodeck in the Star Trek television programs. The holodeck made its first appearance in Star Trek: The Next Generation, and it was a room that could become any place a person could imagine. This made it a great device for the series writers to be able to place the program’s characters in all kinds of various places, times, and situations, which made for interesting viewing. The experiences that the characters had in the holodeck were not real, however, and they were short-lived. 

Because Jesus is the Real Deal, He offers us a real relationship with God. Because Jesus is the Real Deal, He offers us the chance to live with God daily, and also eternally.  Because Jesus is the Real Deal, we can enjoy and rest in His promises which are real and eternal and perfect.

Anyone who has ever been disappointed by an imitation item knows the feeling of sadness and betrayal that buying into falsehoods and false promises gives you. Since Jesus is the Real Deal, and He is the Point of the Deal, we will never feel like we have gotten a bad deal when we buy-in to what He offers us.

Now, let’s read Hebrews 8:7-9:

For if that first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no occasion for a second one. But finding fault with His people, He says: Look, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah—not like the covenant that I made with their ancestors on the day I took them by their hands to lead them out of the land of Egypt. I disregarded them, says the Lord, because they did not continue in My covenant.

The Old Deal:

God has dealt with humanity since He created Adam and Eve and put them in the Garden of Eden. If any people ever had a deal that was too good to be true, but actually was true, it was them. They had the entire world at their disposal. All they had to do was restrain themselves from eating from one tree, but they couldn’t keep their end of the deal. 

God also dealt with Abraham. He promised to bless him and make him a great nation. All Abraham had to do was to trust God and to be a blessing to the world by sharing God’s love. That deal didn’t work out either. God held up His end of the bargain, but the Children of Israel didn’t. They were glad to enjoy the prosperity given to them by God, but they forgot their part of the covenant. Instead of being a blessing to the Egyptians, they caused their host nation to become suspicious of them. In the end, that turned out badly for the Egyptians, but if the Children of Israel had shared God’s love like He intended them to do, maybe all that unpleasantness could have been avoided.

Later, God dealt with Moses and the Children of Israel as they were about to enter the promised land. In this case, He tried something different. Until then, God gave His people a clear goal and expected them to get on with achieving it. This was how General Norman Schwartzkopf dealt with the commander and staff of the 101st Airborne Division after they had briefed him on their plans for Operation Desert Storm. His last words to them were, “You’re about to make air assault history; don’t mess it up!” One old master sergeant commented at the time, “Now, that’s guidance I can understand.”

Sadly, God’s people may have understood their part in the covenant that they had made with God, but they could not uphold it. So, God made some changes in the deal. Let’s read Exodus 19:1-8,

In the third month, on the same day of the month that the Israelites had left the land of Egypt, they entered the Wilderness of Sinai. After they departed from Rephidim, they entered the Wilderness of Sinai and camped in the wilderness, and Israel camped there in front of the mountain. Moses went up the mountain to God, and the Lord called to him from the mountain: “This is what you must say to the house of Jacob, and explain to the Israelites: ‘You have seen what I did to the Egyptians and how I carried you on eagles’ wings and brought you to Me. Now if you will listen to Me and carefully keep My covenant, you will be My own possession out of all the peoples, although all the earth is Mine, and you will be My kingdom of priests and My holy nation.’ These are the words that you are to say to the Israelites.” After Moses came back, he summoned the elders of the people and set before them all these words that the Lord had commanded him.  Then all the people responded together, “We will do all that the Lord has spoken.” So Moses brought the people’s words back to the Lord.

The reaction of the Children of Israel at this juncture reminds me of when we buy a new computer or download a new game or piece of software. Invariably we will be presented with a contract on screen, which in modern parlance is called a EULA or an End User License Agreement. As consenting adults, we are supposed to read, understand, and agree, to this insufferably long and binding agreement, something than none of us ever do. We simply click on the button that affirms that we read and agreed to the EULA, and away we go, having agreed to who knows what!

In this case the Lord said, “Whoa, there! Let’s talk about what this agreement is all about.” Then, for the next three chapters in Exodus, He outlined the responsibilities of His people, beginning with the Ten Commandments, and then continuing to deal with issues like worship, how to treat servants, how to deal with accidents and other injuries inflicted on one person by another, how to punish theft, sorcery, and sexual misconduct, how to treat vulnerable people, and how to honor the sabbath. Of course, God also listed His promises that He made to His people, and He warned them to avoid sin.

God gave His people some seriously complete guidance about how to live for Him. In fact, the entire Book of Leviticus was dedicated to teaching God’s people the right things to do to carry out their part of their deal with God. In the pew Bibles of the church I pastor, the Book of Leviticus spans twenty-six double column pages. God gave His people all the information that they needed to have so they would not mess up, and He explained it to them carefully. We can see their response in Exodus 24:3-8,

Moses came and told the people all the commands of the Lord and all the ordinances. Then all the people responded with a single voice, “We will do everything that the Lord has commanded.” And Moses wrote down all the words of the Lord. He rose early the next morning and set up an altar and 12 pillars for the 12 tribes of Israel at the base of the mountain. Then he sent out young Israelite men, and they offered burnt offerings and sacrificed bulls as fellowship offerings to the Lord. Moses took half the blood and set it in basins; the other half of the blood he sprinkled on the altar. He then took the covenant scroll and read it aloud to the people. They responded, “We will do and obey everything that the Lord has commanded.” Moses took the blood, sprinkled it on the people, and said, “This is the blood of the covenant that the Lord has made with you concerning all these words.”

Don’t you appreciate it when a sales agent takes the time to carefully explain to you the parameters of the deal to which you are about to agree? God did that and more, and then He asked the people if they were ready to “sign on the dotted line.” They were, and they did. They said, “Yes,” and they meant “yes,” but they failed to do, “yes.”

Jesus said that we must let our “yes” be “yes,” and our “no,” be “no.” So, unlike us, God kept His part of the deal. Even more than that, God went much farther than the extra mile to make His covenant with His people work.

He dealt with them through judges, and prophets and priests and kings. He dealt with them as a single nation, and also later when they split into two nations. He dealt with them in the Promised Land, and then when they were in captivity, and also when they were restored to Canaan. Despite His stubborn love for His people, they could not keep their end of the deal.

We all know the saying, “If you want something done right, you have to do it yourself.” Since the Old Deal was not working because of the failure of God’s people, God acted to create a New Deal, a deal which was guaranteed to work, because God, Himself, was going to be the guarantee.

Now, let’s read Hebrews 8:10-12. In this case, the writer of Hebrews is quoting the prophet Jeremiah, who said,

But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put My laws into their minds and write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be My people. And each person will not teach his fellow citizen, and each his brother, saying, “Know the Lord,” because they will all know Me, from the least to the greatest of them. For I will be merciful to their wrongdoing, and I will never again remember their sins.

The New Deal:

We all know the saying that “you don’t get something for nothing,” but that is not always true. One of my predecessors as director of missions in an association of Baptist churches discovered that many of the pastors there did not have any life insurance. One pastor had died, and his family did not have the money for the funeral.  So, the director of missions decided that was a problem that had to be solved.

He contracted with an insurance company to offer small life insurance policies to the pastors of the association which were sufficient to cover the costs of a funeral. These policies earned cash value from the company investing the premiums. The association would pay the premiums until the dividends grew to pay for the value of the insurance provided, and when a death claim was settled, any cash value left over would go back to the association. The pastors paid nothing out of pocket. All they had to do was to sign on the dotted line. When I retired from denominational service over three decades after these policies were written, about a dozen former pastors still held one of those insurance policies, for which they had paid nothing.

I think this is a great illustration of the New Covenant which was written in the blood of Jesus. God knew we had a debt to Him which we could not pay. He decided to pay that debt for us, without charging us anything. All we had to do is sign on the dotted line, and salvation would be ours.

I will admit to some limitations in using those insurance policies as an illustration of the New Deal offered to us in Christ, but these exceptions prove the rule:

First, those insurance policies were only offered to the pastors of churches in that one association in south Alabama. They were not available to their wives, or their families, or any of their church members. They weren’t offered to pastors of other denominations or to Baptist pastors in other counties. God, however, offers His forgiveness to all who will accept His Son as their Savior.

Also, those insurance policies were never very big, and they could not grow cash value because the cash value was absorbed by the cost of the premiums. While they were sufficient to bury someone when they were written decades ago, their value would only pay a portion of the costs of a funeral today. In the case of Jesus however, we know what the old hymn says, 

Jesus paid it all,

All to Him I owe;

Sin had left a crimson stain,

He washed it white as snow.

Finally, only one person is left alive in that county that knows how the system works or even how to find the files on those policies. At the time of writing, that fellow is 86 years old! He’s going strong, but he won’t live forever! Conversely, the instructions about loving God are written down for all to see, and in fact, the Holy Spirit writes God’s Truth on the hearts of all His people.

The New Deal offered by President Roosevelt to the generation of the Depression era was funded by borrowing money from the succeeding generations. God, however, is a debtor to no one, because His riches in grace are far greater than anyone can imagine, and, through His New Deal, He places those at our disposal.

Finally, let’s read Hebrews 8:12 and 13,

For I will be merciful to their wrongdoing, and I will never again remember their sins. By saying, a new covenant, He has declared that the first is old. And what is old and aging is about to disappear.

The Deadline of the Deal:

We often see deals offered to us that state that they are “for a limited time only.” Also, we will see products offered to us that have a “limited production run.” These statements appeal to our human Fear Of Missing Out (or FOMO). The impact of these marketing statements subconsciously urges us to, “Get them before they are gone!” 

One commentator pointed out that every deal is available for a limited time only, and every product has a limited production run. For example, the association of Baptist churches in south Alabama no longer offers those insurance policies to the pastors of member churches. Also, automobiles that burn leaded gas and that don’t have catalytic converters are no longer manufactured.  The lesson we take away from these facts is to “strike while the iron is hot.” If you need something and you can afford it, you should buy it while you have the opportunity. The next time you look for it, it might be gone forever.

The writer of Hebrews told us that the Old Deal was no longer on offer. Now, to relate to God, to gain His help and assistance, to access forgiveness of sins and life eternal, we must deal with Jesus. There is no other option available to us. 

How long will the offer of salvation by Christ be available? The short answer is that we don’t know. We do know, however, that someday a trumpet will blow, and Jesus will come for His people. Until then, as long as we have breath, we can choose to buy-in to Christ’s offer to us. As Paul wrote in Romans 10:9-13,

If you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. One believes with the heart, resulting in righteousness, and one confesses with the mouth, resulting in salvation. Now the Scripture says, Everyone who believes on Him will not be put to shame, for there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, since the same Lord of all is rich to all who call on Him. For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.

Conclusion:

I know a fellow who, as a young man, joined his parents in buying into a limited time offer on a time-share vacation home. Decades later, his parents are deceased and he is unwell himself and he cannot travel anymore. Yet he is unable to dispose of his time-share. It seems that time-share contracts are almost eternal!

The only other deal I know that is eternal is the one offered to us by Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord. Unlike a vacation home time-share, however, no one has ever regretted taking Christ’s offer of salvation by grace through faith.

What about us? Have we dealt with Christ’s offer to us? There is no better day to do so than today.

Every blessing,

Dr. Otis Corbitt

A Word about the Greatest Man

Today we will continue in a series of sermons from the Book of Hebrews that I am calling the Greatest of All Time. In this episode, we will see that Jesus is the Greatest Man.

When I was preparing this episode, I was reminded of an incident from my childhood. My family and I were visiting my aunt, at whose house our son made his first steps decades later, and for some reason we needed to drive out to a back pasture to see something; it may have been a fish pond, but I am not sure. In any case, my cousin, who was an older boy than me and who was also heavy for his age, was going to guide us. He hiked himself up on one front fender of our car, and away we went. 

I was quite impressed by this display of maturity, and I said to my mom, “Wow, he’s big!” My mother quickly shushed me and said, “Be quiet! Don’t say that!” She thought I was commenting on his weight, which is something a person of my size would never do, while I was just admiring him for being far more mature than I was. To me he was a ‘big deal.” 

I think it is a fact of history that the big man always has exerted an outsized impact on society. Whether that person has a big physique like Saul and Goliath, or whether they have a big personality like David and Peter, or whether they have a big intellect like Paul and the writer of Hebrews, the great man has drawn to him the allegiance of people. 

Let’s begin our study by reading Hebrews 7:1-6:

For this Melchizedek—King of Salem, priest of the Most High God, who met Abraham and blessed him as he returned from defeating the kings, and Abraham gave him a tenth of everything; first, his name means king of righteousness, then also, king of Salem, meaning king of peace; without father, mother, or genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but resembling the Son of God— remains a priest forever.  Now consider how great this man was—even Abraham the patriarch gave a tenth of the plunder to him! The sons of Levi who receive the priestly office have a command according to the law to collect a tenth from the people that is, from their brothers—though they have also descended from Abraham. But one without this lineage collected tenths from Abraham and blessed the one who had the promises.

Jesus is the Greatest Man Because of His Origin:

In the 21st Century, our culture has made a disparaging meme out of the question, “Who’s your daddy?” but the question can be quite valid in certain circumstances.

For example, in our last episode we considered the concept of the coaching tree, which is a metaphor for the process of a successful head coach mentoring assistant coaches before they go on to be successes themselves. A coaching tree is like a family tree except that it shows the relationships of coaches instead of family members. Jesus has a coaching tree which began with himself and spread out through the Apostles, and the early church leaders who are our spiritual ancestors.

In practical terms, a fellow I knew who came from a small south Alabama county told me that, as a young man, it was important to ask someone whom you wanted to date who their grandparents were. The population of that county was so small and so stable, he noted, that “It was easy to wind up dating a cousin if you weren’t careful.” With that unsettling thought behind us, we must note that in Biblical times, God and His people were interested in genealogy. Who your parents were was important, even vital, to determine your role in Jewish Society. 

Consider this fact: we can know the parentage of all the major figures in the Jewish nation. We know about Abraham’s parents, and from whom Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph descended. We know about the parents of Moses, both natural and adopted, and we know about his father-in-law, Jethro. We know about the parentage of all the kings of Israel and Judah, and on it goes.

We know that a person’s parentage was so important that, in Nehemiah’s day, some priests of the Temple in Jerusalem were excluded from service because they could not prove who their parents were. If you were without father, mother, or genealogy, you were suspect, and you were denigrated, and you were excluded. Except for one man. Melchizedek.

Melchizedek was without father, mother, or genealogy, yet he was given honor because he was from God. The same is true of Jesus. 

One might say, “We know who the father of Jesus was.” But if that is Joseph, that is wrong. Jesus did have human DNA from His mother, but His spiritual DNA was directly from God. Jesus is the Greatest Man because He is from God and God alone. Now, let’s read verses 7:6-10:

But one without this lineage collected tenths from Abraham and blessed the one who had the promises. Without a doubt, the inferior is blessed by the superior. In the one case, men who will die receive tenths, but in the other case, Scripture testifies that he lives. And in a sense Levi himself, who receives tenths, has paid tenths through Abraham, for he was still within his ancestor when Melchizedek met him.

Jesus is the Greatest Man Because of His Honor:

When I was speaking about my cousin, I was expressing my admiration for him. He impressed me, because he wasn’t that much older than I was, yet he was guiding us around his family property. Also, he was riding on the fender of our car and not falling off! I was giving him the honor I thought he was due.

We will notice here two ways that Melchizedek received honor. First, it was recognized that he had the power and authority to bless Abraham.  Generally speaking, when a stranger shows up someplace, and no one knows him, and no one knows where he came from, that stranger is not given any respect or credence. Not so here. 

Abraham did not look at Melchizedek and say, “You ain’t from around here, are you, boy?” Instead, Abraham recognized his superiority and Abraham allowed Melchizedek to give him a blessing. Abraham probably kneeled before him when he received Melchizedek’s blessing because this was the normal pose for such an event. 

This reminds me of the centurion whose servant was sick and about to die. This man was not only a Roman, he was not only a soldier, he was not only an officer, but he was a member of the Roman establishment, respected and powerful. Yet he, too, recognized Jesus had the power and authority to bless his servant, even though Jesus was an itinerant rabbi, with no place of his own to lay his head. In fact, the centurion, in Luke 7:6b-8 told Jesus, 

“Lord, don’t trouble Yourself, since I am not worthy to have You come under my roof. That is why I didn’t even consider myself worthy to come to You. But say the word, and my servant will be cured. For I too am a man placed under authority, having soldiers under my command. I say to this one, ‘Go!’ and he goes; and to another, ‘Come!’ and he comes; and to my slave, ‘Do this!’ and he does it.”

In Luke 7:9, we see how Jesus responded to this demonstration of faith, saying,

Jesus heard this and was amazed at him, and turning to the crowd following Him, He said, “I tell you, I have not found so great a faith even in Israel!”

Not only did Abraham allow Melchizedek to bless him, but he also actually gave Melchizedek a tithe. As we mentioned before, the only person to whom people give a tithe offering is God. And not only did Abraham give a tithe, in essence, but also all of Abraham’s offspring did as well, including the Levitical line of priests under the Mosaic Law.

Jesus is the Greatest Man because He was honored as God. Now, let’s read Hebrews 7:11-25:

If then, perfection came through the Levitical priesthood (for under it the people received the law), what further need was there for another priest to appear, said to be in the order of Melchizedek and not in the order of Aaron? For when there is a change of the priesthood, there must be a change of law as well. For the One these things are spoken about belonged to a different tribe. No one from it has served at the altar. Now it is evident that our Lord came from Judah, and Moses said nothing about that tribe concerning priests.  And this becomes clearer if another priest like Melchizedek appears, who did not become a priest based on a legal command concerning physical descent but based on the power of an indestructible life. For it has been testified: You are a priest forever in the order of Melchizedek. So the previous command is annulled because it was weak and unprofitable (for the law perfected nothing), but a better hope is introduced, through which we draw near to God. None of this happened without an oath. For others became priests without an oath, but He became a priest with an oath made by the One who said to Him: The Lord has sworn, and He will not change His mind, You are a priest forever. So Jesus has also become the guarantee of a better covenant.  Now many have become Levitical priests, since they are prevented by death from remaining in office. But because He remains forever, He holds His priesthood permanently. Therefore, He is always able to save those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to intercede for them.

Jesus is the Greatest Man Because of His Endurance:

It is discouraging when your phone battery runs out before your day does. It is more disheartening when your money runs out before your month does. How bad would it be if God’s love for you ran out before your life did?

Baseball great Yogi Berra said, “It’s not over until it’s over,” yet we know many examples of people giving up before the end was complete. In sports, we are scandalized when a player spikes the football before crossing the goal line, or when a baseball player doesn’t run out a ground ball. Giving up before a play is over is a sign of an arrogance that does not foster teamwork.

We also know of many Biblical examples of people who quit before the mission was complete: 

• Noah, instead of allowing God to rebuild the world through him, got drunk. 
• Abraham and Sarah gave up on God’s promises about having a child of their own. 
• The ten Jewish spies told Moses that the Children of Israel couldn’t subdue the tribes of the Promised Land. 
• Saul couldn’t wait for Samuel, and he illegally offered a sacrifice to God. 
• The Temple priests gave up on caring for the souls of the people and became a political force aligned with Rome.
• The disciples could not stay awake and pray with Jesus.
• John Mark gave up on the first missionary journey and He went home.
• Many of Paul’s epistles were written to churches and/or the pastors of churches, encouraging them not to give up, but to persevere for the sake of the Gospel.

Even Jesus was tempted to quit before His task was completed. His disciples warned Him against going to Jerusalem. Peter even told Him to His face that He was wrong. On the night He was betrayed He asked God to spare Him from the Cross. Jesus was different, however. He had the endurance of God that caused Him to see that His mission was completed. That’s why on the Cross He could say, “It is finished!”

God loves us in many ways, and one of those ways is through His chesed love. This is His enduring, stubborn love, a love that will never run out, in this life or the next. This comes from His indestructible, eternal nature, and that means we can rely on the fact that God never rests until His mission is completed. He won’t leave us or forsake us, but He will love us until the end!

Jesus is the Greatest Man because He is eternal, and His love is eternal. Now, let’s read Hebrews 7:26-28,

For this is the kind of high priest we need: holy, innocent, undefiled, separated from sinners, and exalted above the heavens. He doesn’t need to offer sacrifices every day, as high priests do—first for their own sins, then for those of the people. He did this once for all when He offered Himself.  For the law appoints as high priests men who are weak, but the promise of the oath, which came after the law, appoints a Son, who has been perfected forever.

Jesus is the Greatest Man Because of His Purity:

The most significant failing of every great person is that they all are people! No one is perfect, and we all have feet of clay. We all make mistakes, and we all fail, even someone so great and so revered as George Washington.

When the Continental Congress appointed George Washington as the commander of the Continental Army, they offered him a generous salary. He declined the salary, asking only that his expenses be reimbursed. Congress agreed to this, but they probably should not have.

You see, by the end of the War of Independence, George Washington’s expense account had cost the new country ten times what his salary would have been. It is also telling that, although the Continental Army was well run administratively, and although it maintained extensive records of its operations and organization, Washington’s own expense accounting was incomplete and not well documented. Was Washington corrupt? Probably not. But he was a spendthrift in a time when his new country was struggling to pay for the war.

An even more serious failing was that Washington, like Jefferson and other renowned leaders of the Revolution, were slave owners.

The pastor that performed the wedding ceremony for my wife and I was very popular with our church members, but he often gave us a warning. He would regularly say, “Don’t put your trust in me, because I am human, and I will fail you. Put your trust in God, who will never fail you!”  

Again, the Bible is full of accounts of God’s people who failed:

• Cain killed his brother.
• Ham embarrassed his father, Noah, after he had gotten drunk. 
• Abraham sinned against God by forcing Hagar to bear his son.
• David sinned against Bathsheba and conspired to have Uriah killed.
• Solomon yielded to his passions and to extravagance.
• Judas betrayed Jesus and sent his Master to His death.
• The disciples all ran away when Jesus was arrested
• Peter denied Jesus three times.
• Ananias and Saphira lied, and then they died!
• Paul had to confront Peter about shunning Gentile Christians when the representatives of the Jerusalem church came to visit.
• Apollos eloquently preached an incorrect Gospel message.

Instead of weak humanity, look at the description of Jesus our High Priest forever:

• He is holy, innocent, and undefiled
• He is separated from sinners
• He is exalted above the heavens
• He is perfect forever.

This is what Paul said about the purity of Christ in Philippians 4:7-8:

But everything that was a gain to me, I have considered to be a loss because of Christ. More than that, I also consider everything to be a loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. Because of Him I have suffered the loss of all things and consider them filth, so that I may gain Christ.

Conclusion:

Jesus is the greatest person of all time because of His origin: He came from the Father above.

Jesus is the greatest person of all time because of His honor: He clearly deserves the praise and worship we give Him.

Jesus is the greatest person of all time because of His endurance: He finished His work on our behalf and is even now at God’s right hand, interceding for us.

Jesus is the greatest person of all time because of His purity: He is perfectly holy, just, and righteous, and He imparts his purity to us, even when we don’t deserve it.

There can be no question that Jesus is the greatest person of all time. The only question that remains is this: who is Jesus to us today?

Every Blessing,

Dr. Otis Corbitt

A Word about the Greatest Mentor

Today I want to share a word about Jesus as the Greatest Mentor as I comment on Hebrews Chapther 5 and 6.

From time to time, someone will be described as an overnight success. In other words, like we saw in our last episode with Melchizedek, a character will suddenly appear in the spotlight, seemingly from out of nowhere and make a huge splash. One example was basketball player Michael Jordan.

Michael Jordan burst on the scene when he hit the game‑winning shot in the 1982 NCAA championship as a freshman at University of North Carolina. Suddenly, commentators began talking about his seemingly natural abilities, his maturity, and his poise during clutch moments. It was as if he appeared from nowhere as a fully formed basketball star. Most people viewed him as a phenom, with unnatural talents and skills.

What many people didn’t know was that Jordan had been cut from his high school’s varsity basketball team by his Coach, Clifton “Pop” Herring. But instead of tossing Jordan to the side, Herring became his mentor.  Herring played him on the junior varsity team and demanded that Jordan become a disciplined player who focused on the fundamentals, not flashy and risky movements and actions. Jordan later said that Herring’s insistence on complying with his standards were the first time someone treated Jordan like a player who could be great, and not just a kid who liked basketball.

Like Mike, mature Christians do not appear from nowhere. Like Jordan, we are blessed to have a mentor who will coach us into maturity. In our Scripture for this episode, we will see that Jesus is the Greatest Mentor. Let’s begin with Hebrews 5:11-14:

We have a great deal to say about this, and it’s difficult to explain, since you have become too lazy to understand. Although by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the basic principles of God’s revelation again. You need milk, not solid food. Now everyone who lives on milk is inexperienced with the message about righteousness, because he is an infant. But solid food is for the mature—for those whose senses have been trained to distinguish between good and evil.

We Need Milk:

One thing that we can overlook in this passage of Scripture, is that we all start our life in Christ as babies, as spiritual newborns. Of course, it follows then, that newborns need milk.

A baby cannot thrive if it is not fed the milk that it needs, because nothing else will do. Babies don’t have teeth, so they cannot eat solid food. Also, babies can’t digest solid food, so even if they could eat it, it would not help them grow, and they’d probably become ill. In fact, if honey is fed to newborns, it can make them grievously ill with a disease called infant botulism. So, babies need milk.

Not only do babies need milk, but they also need the right kind of milk. Immediately after birth, mother’s milk contains colostrum, which helps to reinforce a baby’s immune system. Besides that, some babies need special formula mixtures to thrive or overcome colic. Both of my children needed to be shifted to a soy-based formula enhanced with a dollop of Cairo syrup before their stomachs settled down and before their mother and I could get any sleep! So, what is the proper milk for a newborn Christian?  It is nothing more than the Gospel of Jesus Christ!

• The newborn in Christ must know from John 3:16 that God loves everyone in the world.
• The newborn in Christ must know from Romans that all of us have sinned and that we have fallen short of God’s perfection.
• The newborn in Christ must know from Ephesians that the wages of sin is spiritual death, but that the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
• The newborn in Christ must know from John 3:16 that God loved everyone in the world so much that He gave His Only Begotten Son as a sacrifice for our sin.
• The newborn in Christ must know from Romans 10 that if they trust in what Christ did for us, and confess that openly, that they will be saved.
• The newborn in Christ must know, that like the thief on the cross, we can be with God in heaven only because, “The man on the middle cross said I could come!”

So, today, before we go any further, let’s ask each of us: have we got milk? Have we drunk the milk of the Gospel? We must do this before we can move on to anything else!

Now, let’s read verses 6:1-8:

Therefore, leaving the elementary message about the Messiah, let us go on to maturity, not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, faith in God, teaching about ritual washings, laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment. And we will do this if God permits. For it is impossible to renew to repentance those who were once enlightened, who tasted the heavenly gift, became companions with the Holy Spirit, tasted God’s good word and the powers of the coming age,  and who have fallen away, because, to their own harm, they are recrucifying the Son of God and holding Him up to contempt. For ground that has drunk the rain that has often fallen on it and that produces vegetation useful to those it is cultivated for receives a blessing from God. But if it produces thorns and thistles, it is worthless and about to be cursed and will be burned at the end.

We Need Meat:

When we see the Scriptures saying that as Christians we must eat meat, God is not excluding vegans or vegetarians. The writer here is simply pointing out that for children to grow and thrive, they must eventually transition to solid food. Milk is required for a healthy start, but solid food is required to grow a healthy body.

When my wife and I were appointed as missionaries with the International Mission Board, we, and our children also, had to attend an orientation at the Missionary Learning Center in Rockville, VA. This was a full-service campus, including providing daycare or preschool for small children, as well as a school for older children and youth. The children ate separately for lunch, and we had been told to bring baby food for our daughter, who was just one year old at that time. So, we packed several cases of baby food and took it with us to Virginia.

Of course, you can guess what happened. Only days after we arrived, our daughter decided that she wanted to eat regular people food! We were told that as soon as the Missionary Learning Center staff tried to feed her the baby food, she turned up her nose at it! So, she moved on to solid food, and we donated all that baby food for use by future missionary families!

An observable fact in nature is that every healthy creature reproduces, and that every healthy baby grows and matures. For over a decade while my wife and I lived in rural Alabama, we kept a small flock of goats to reduce the amount of grass I had to cut. Over those years we saw several kids born, and invariably, their mothers weaned them from nursing. Sometimes, a nanny goat would just walk away from an older kid who tried to nurse from her. If they didn’t get the message, however, the mama goat would, more or less gently, butt the kid away who needed to be weaned. The point is that growth and maturity is a natural process and it is also a spiritual process as well.

James, the pastor of the Jerusalem church, wrote to his congregation this counsel in James 1:1-8,

Consider it a great joy, my brothers, whenever you experience various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. But endurance must do its complete work, so that you may be mature and complete, lacking nothing. Now if any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives to all generously and without criticizing, and it will be given to him. But let him ask in faith without doubting. For the doubter is like the surging sea, driven and tossed by the wind. That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. An indecisive man is unstable in all his ways.

Paul also urged the church at Rome to grow up in Christ. In Romans 13:11-14 he wrote,

Besides this, knowing the time, it is already the hour for you to wake up from sleep, for now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed. The night is nearly over, and the daylight is near, so let us discard the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light. Let us walk with decency, as in the daylight: not in carousing and drunkenness; not in sexual impurity and promiscuity; not in quarreling and jealousy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ and make no plans to satisfy the fleshly desires.

Like the way that milk builds healthy bones, the milk of the Gospel is our spiritual foundation. We must exercise our spiritual muscles, however, if we are to mature and grow closer to God every day and in every way!

Now, let’s read Hebrews 6:9-12.

Even though we are speaking this way, dear friends, in your case we are confident of the better things connected with salvation. For God is not unjust; He will not forget your work and the love you showed for His name when you served the saints—and you continue to serve them. Now we want each of you to demonstrate the same diligence for the final realization of your hope, so that you won’t become lazy but will be imitators of those who inherit the promises through faith and perseverance.

We Need Motivation:

I knew a fellow once who had many witty and pithy sayings. One that has always stood out to me was what he said about work. “Work fascinates me,” he would say wryly. “I can sit and look at it all day long.”

We must not be lazy in our spiritual growth and development. As I mentioned above, when Michael Jordan relied on his natural talent, he was a flop. After he had worked long and hard to develop his skills and to learn discipline, however, he became the best basketball star we will probably ever see.

Diligence is not a flashy word, but God does affirm it as an important quality for growth. In the Parable of the Talents, Jesus did not correct the man who only doubled the funds given to him by his master. Jesus did, however, commend him for his diligence.

Laziness is not the only factor that keeps us from growth in maturity. Fear can also keep us from moving forward.  I remember the first steps our son took. We were visiting with my aunt, and he was standing next to us, holding onto the couch where we were sitting. He saw my aunt across the room, whereupon he turned loose of the couch and staggered across the room to her chair. It scared him so badly that he did not walk again for two weeks!

The third man in the Parable of the Talents gave into his fear. He was so afraid of doing something wrong that he did nothing at all with what his master had given him. We must not bury our talents, but instead we must use them, and yes, we will fail when we use them. Again, Michael Jordan failed before he succeeded. As the saying goes about the turtle, he doesn’t get anywhere until he sticks his neck out. 

When we take risk for God, we are not walking a tightrope without a net. God will catch us when we fall, and then He puts us back on our feet, and pushes us out of the nest again. I know these are mixed metaphors, but they help explain that when we embrace growth and maturity in the Lord we have nothing to fear but fear itself (sorry . . . yet another cliché!).

So, sometimes we are lazy, and sometimes we are fearful, but sometimes we just tell God, “No.” That is a risky thing to do but we still do it. We need to develop the same understanding and wisdom that a high school friend had. He told me once that instead of praying, “Lord help me want to be more like Jesus,” he had to pray, “Lord, help me to want to want to be more like Jesus.” 

We must remember what the writer of Hebrews said in chapter 2:1ff:

We must, therefore, pay even more attention to what we have heard, so that we will not drift away. For if the message spoken through angels was legally binding and every transgression and disobedience received a just punishment, how will we escape if we neglect such a great salvation?

Blessedly, we have someone who can help us with all these failings. Let’s read Hebrews 6:3-20,

For when God made a promise to Abraham, since He had no one greater to swear by, He swore by Himself: I will indeed bless you, and I will greatly multiply you. And so, after waiting patiently, Abraham obtained the promise. For men swear by something greater than themselves, and for them a confirming oath ends every dispute. Because God wanted to show His unchangeable purpose even more clearly to the heirs of the promise, He guaranteed it with an oath, so that through two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to seize the hope set before us. We have this hope as an anchor for our lives, safe and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain. Jesus has entered there on our behalf as a forerunner, because He has become a high priest forever in the order of Melchizedek.

We Need a Mentor:

As we already observed, Michael Jordan did not blossom as a basketball player until he had the help of a coach and a mentor. The same is true of Christians. We cannot achieve maturity on our own, but we need help outside of ourselves. That help comes to us from Jesus, who is the Greatest Mentor.

Jesus, of course, was a rabbi, which means teacher. It actually means more than that, because He chose disciples who would live with Him, learn from Him, and become like Him.  We are to become His disciples too, and He can teach us in the same way that He taught those who followed Him on this Earth. We have records of His lessons, and how He applied those lessons in the lives of those who followed Him. When we read and meditate on the Gospels, we, too, can sit at the feet of Jesus. We can ask Him questions in prayer, and like James said above, He will give us wisdom.

If that is all we had, it would be enough, but in fact, Jesus multiplied Himself. He sent out his disciples to make more disciples and to teach these new disciples all that He had taught them. In modern sports, we would call this a coaching tree.

The coaching tree that I am most familiar with is that of Nick Saban, the retired head coach from the University of Alabama. At one point, over two dozen former assistant coaches who were mentored by Saban were head football coaches at the collegiate or professional levels. When the 2025 NCAA National Championship playoffs reached eight teams, five of them were coached by former Saban assistants. Of course, Nick Saban did not materialize out of the ether as a coach; he was mentored by Bill Belichick, when Belichick was head coach of the Cleveland Browns and Saban was one of his assistants. 

Jesus has a coaching tree also, as we see in Hebrews 4:11-13:

And He personally gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers, for the training of the saints in the work of ministry, to build up the body of Christ, until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of God’s Son, growing into a mature man with a stature measured by Christ’s fullness.

Paul was our model for how God’s coaching tree works.  As 2 Timothy 2:1-2 tells us,

You, therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. And what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, commit to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.

Finally, we need to remember that Jesus sent to us the Holy Spirit, to mentor us from inside our lives. The Spirit enlightens God’s Word, and He reassures us of God’s Presence. He also gives us spiritual gifts to do ministry that no coaching or practice will qualify us for. 

In all these ways, Jesus transforms weak babes in Christ into people of faith who Paul says are “more than conquerors in Christ Jesus our Lord!”

Conclusion:

The invitation to us is clear:

• Have you got milk?
• Have you begun eating solid spiritual food?
• Have you reignited your motivation?
• Have you committed yourself to coaching by the Greatest Mentor?

What will our response be?

Every blessing,

Dr. Otis Corbitt

A Word about the Greatest Priest

Today we will continue in a series of sermons I have entitled The Greatest of All Time as I share a word about the Greatest Priest and as I comment on Hebrews 4 and 5.
 

I don’t know if you have noticed, but whenever a religious leader is featured in some way in modern media, as in television shows or in cinema, that the character is most often a Catholic priest? When I see such a character appear in a television show or in a movie, I will say to my wife, “Just watch. That priest will either be a victim of a crime or the criminal.” Usually, regarding 21st Century media, I am right.

This lack of respect for priests is a post-modern phenomenon. Traditionally, our culture treated priests with respect, and Biblically, priests were honored and respected. I suspect that many reasons exist for this apparent fall from grace, but today we want to return to the Biblical perspective on priesthood.

We must obtain a Biblical view of the priesthood, because the writer of Hebrews has asserted that Jesus is the Greatest Priest in Hebrews 4:14-5:10.  Let’s begin with Hebrews 4:14-5:4:

Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens—Jesus the Son of God—let us hold fast to the confession. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tested in every way as we are, yet without sin. Therefore let us approach the throne of grace with boldness, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us at the proper time. For every high priest taken from men is appointed in service to God for the people, to offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins. He is able to deal gently with those who are ignorant and are going astray, since he is also subject to weakness. Because of this, he must make a sin offering for himself as well as for the people. No one takes this honor on himself; instead, a person is called by God, just as Aaron was.

The Ministry of the High Priest:

In our lives, we are familiar with the idea of an intermediary, or someone who stands in-between two parties in a transaction. A common example of that might be a real estate agent. When people sell a property, they engage a real estate agent to conduct the negotiations for that transaction. Their agent communicates with the buyer’s agent until an agreement on a purchase price and conditions is agreed upon that is acceptable to both parties.

I found it interesting that the last time we bought a home, my wife and I were scheduled to arrive at the attorney’s office at a different time than the sellers were scheduled to arrive. It was as if the real estate agents were afraid that we might get in a contention with the sellers over the deal they had brokered. I think they imagined one of us saying, “Hey, I’ll arm wrestle you for that extra $5,000.00 on the price.” I am not sure why it was necessary to keep us separated, but they did, and all the details were processed through their offices.

Another example of an intermediary, one with which a westerner would not be familiar, but which the people of Biblical times might be, is found in the Mandinka People of West Africa. My wife and I worked among the Mandinka People when we served with the International Mission Board, and we learned that in their culture, marriages were arranged between the parents of the bride and the groom. All these arrangements were negotiated by a man called a silañtonko, which word essentially means way maker. 

Again, one of the issues that a silañtonko, must carefully deal with is money, specifically the details of the bride’s dowery. As our local language coach told me, “No money goes from the hand of the father of the bride to the hand of the father of the groom without going through the hand of the silañtonko. Not even a penny!” The goal is to maintain harmony and avoiding direct confrontation between families.

As we see in the Scriptures in general, and in our specific passage for today, the role of a priest was also to be a go-between, or an intermediary. In the priest’s ministry, the stakes were much higher, however:

• Instead of standing between the buyer and seller of a property, and instead of standing between the family of a groom and the family of a bride, a priest stood in the gap between God and people. 
• Instead of dealing with human commerce or human culture, a priest dealt with human culpability, human sin. 
• Instead of concluding his work by presenting an acceptable cash settlement, a priest presented an acceptable sacrifice to God for the remission of human sin.
• Instead of negotiating the details of human society, a priest negotiated the salvation of the human soul.

Thus, the priest’s role was a serious one, and God’s law required that he was chosen for it, and that he had to meet certain criteria. That’s why Saul sinned by making an offering instead of waiting for Samuel. Also, Nehemiah records that, at the time of the return from exile, some men were acting as priests in the Temple who were not qualified, and so he excluded them until they could provide proper credentials. When you stand between God and people with their souls in the balance, no random person off the street will do!

If the priest’s role was a serious one, the role of the high priest was even more serious. While the priests would offer sacrifices for sin daily, they only did so in what was called the Holy Place in the Temple. Even they were banned from the inner-most court of the Temple which was called the Holy of Holies. This was where the Arc of the Covenant was kept, and this was also the place where the Jews believed that God resided with them.

Once a year, on the Day of Atonement, the high priest, and only the high priest, could enter the Holy of Holies. The only reason that the high priest could enter into the Holy of Holies was to present to God a sacrifice for all the sins of God’s people during that year. This was such a high-stress and tension-filled task that legend has it that some high priests were afraid that, instead of presenting the offering for sin, they, themselves, would be struck down by God for their own sin.

The priestly ministry, and particularly the ministry of the high priest, was all about making atonement for human sin, and acquiring God’s forgiveness and pardon for it.

The Model High Priest:

Now, let’s read verses 5:5-10:

In the same way, the Messiah did not exalt Himself to become a high priest, but the One who said to Him, You are My Son; today I have become Your Father, also said in another passage, You are a priest forever in the order of Melchizedek. During His earthly life, He offered prayers and appeals with loud cries and tears to the One who was able to save Him from death, and He was heard because of His reverence. Though He was God’s Son, He learned obedience through what He suffered. After He was perfected, He became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey Him, and He was declared by God a high priest in the order of Melchizedek.

We have seen the importance of the ministry of priests, but next we will see the importance of the character of priests. Not every line of priests is the same. 

To illustrate this point, let’s consider the law enforcement agencies in your community. It would be surprising to tally the number of agencies in your local area with the powers of arrest. In many ways they are the same, but at the same time they are different. The police of one town have a certain jurisdiction, while those in a different town have a different jurisdiction. Some sheriff’s deputies may patrol like city police officers do, while some may only support the courts and operate a jail. St. Louis County, MO is unique in not having an office of sheriff, with other agencies fulling that role. Thus, all law enforcement agencies are the same, but at the same time they are all different. The same is true for priests.

The Bible records at least three different lines of priests. One line of priests that are found in the Bible are pagan priests.  These, of course, served false gods and they led people astray. A modern example of these false priests and prophets would be the political commissars in the Soviet Army in the last century. Instead of chaplains, the Soviet Army had political commissars who were responsible to indoctrinate their troops with godless communism. Now, in the 21st Century, our society is still replete with people who lead others astray.

Another line of priests was established by the Mosaic Law, and these are the priests we most often think of in terms of the Jewish faith. Many of these priests were God-fearing men, but some were not. As I mentioned before, some men who were not qualified to be priests were serving in the Temple during Nehemiah’s time, and the rot became so bad that by the time of the New Testament, the high priest was appointed by the Romans, of all people. This priesthood no longer served God, or God’s people.

I know of a small town in Alabama whose police department turned rogue. The officers fraudulently wrote speeding ticket after speeding ticket to both the citizens they were sworn to protect, as well as other members of the public who were passing through on their way to other places. People who were minding their own business were stopped without cause and cited for violations that they did not commit. The town’s coffers swelled, as did the number of police officers. The police chief had become a minor warlord, and the police force was an occupying army.

Eventually, state authorities became aware of this situation. After a thorough investigation, the agency was judged to be unredeemable, and it was disbanded. Not long after this, the former police chief was arrested for impersonating a police officer by displaying his badge to try to avoid receiving his own speeding ticket in another part of the state!

Jesus was obviously superior to the pagan priests, and He was also superior to the Mosaic priesthood as well. In fact, He was a priest of a superior lineage, the line of Melchizedek. But who was Melchizedek?

Let’s read Genesis 14:17-20.

After Abram returned from defeating Chedorlaomer and the kings who were with him, the king of Sodom went out to meet him in the Valley of Shaveh (that is, the King’s Valley). Then Melchizedek, king of Salem, brought out bread and wine; he was a priest to God Most High. He blessed him and said: Abram is blessed by God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth, and I give praise to God Most High who has handed over your enemies to you. And Abram gave him a tenth of everything.

As you can see, we don’t know much about Melchizedek, but what we do know is impressive. First, he was a priest before the Mosaic law. His priesthood came first, and it never degenerated into the hot mess that the Mosaic priesthood became.

Next, his name meant king of righteousness. This meant he had authority, but that he would never abuse his authority. He would be upright, honest, and an honorable priest and king. Also, he was king of Salem, which means peace. Many scholars believe he was the king of the area where Jerusalem was founded years later. 

Another factor we can see here is that he blessed Abram, and he brought to him the elements of what became the Lord’s Supper. He is also the only person to whom Abram paid a tithe offering. In addition, we don’t know where he came from to bless Abram, and we don’t know where he went after this event. Melchizedek was certainly a unique priest from a unique line of priests. 

All the evidence we see adds up to Melchizedek being a pre-incarnate appearance of Jesus. This makes perfect sense when we remember that the ministry of Jesus was all about making atonement for human sin and providing God’s forgiveness and pardon for it.

The Matchless High Priest:

Because Jesus was a high priest from His own line, He was unequalled; He was matchless. First, He was just like us, only different. Hebrews 4:15 says:

For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tested in every way as we are, yet without sin.

Jesus has lived our lives. He has walked our path. He has experienced the joys and the frustrations of living with people. He knows what our lives are like, but unlike us, Jesus never sinned.

Jesus never got tired along the way and quit, nor did He leave the path. Jesus never became angry with someone over the way that they treated Him, and He never got depressed and defeated either. Jesus never gave into to the temptations which we all face, and that made him a perfect match to be our high priest, and that made Him the matchless high priest.

Next, let’s read Hebrews 5:2:

He is able to deal gently with those who are ignorant and are going astray, since he is also subject to weakness.

As I have said before, a major challenge in ministry is to balance conviction with compassion. Humanly, it is nearly impossible to keep those two elements of ministry in balance, but Jesus did. Many scriptures refer to His great compassion.

• In Matthew 10:29, Jesus said that a sparrow does not fall in the field without God’s knowledge and care.
• In Matthew 11:28, Jesus said that His yoke was light and His burden was easy.
• In Matthew 23:37, Jesus said that He longed to gather God’s children together, like a hen gathers her chicks.
• Jesus told the Parable of the Good Samaritan in Luke 10 and the Parable of the Lost Sheep and the Parable of the Prodigal Son in Luke 15. All of these focused on kindness to those who were lost and needed saving.
• Jesus even healed the ear of the high priest’s servant in John 18, and He healed the soul of the thief on the cross in Mark 15.

Jesus balanced compassion and conviction perfectly. He could be compassionate towards us, because He came to fulfill the law and He did fulfill the law. He did for us, what we could not do for ourselves and set the conditions so that He could be compassionate towards us.

Let’s also read Hebrews 5:7-9,

During His earthly life, He offered prayers and appeals with loud cries and tears to the One who was able to save Him from death, and He was heard because of His reverence. Though He was God’s Son, He learned obedience through what He suffered.  After He was perfected, He became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey Him.

Because of His righteousness, the compassion of Jesus was not temporary, but permanent. Priests made sacrifices daily, and every year the high priest had to make the offering in the Holy of Holies. Jesus came, lived a perfect life, and He permanently fulfilled God’s law.

If the law was fulfilled there is no more guilt as Paul said in Colossians 1:21-22,

Once you were alienated and hostile in your minds because of your evil actions. But now He has reconciled you by His physical body through His death, to present you holy, faultless, and blameless before Him — if indeed you remain grounded and steadfast in the faith and are not shifted away from the hope of the gospel that you heard. This gospel has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and I, Paul, have become a servant of it.

The matchless ministry of Jesus was all about making permanent His atonement for human sin and providing God’s forgiveness and pardon for it.

We Must Magnify our High Priest:

So, what does this mean for our daily lives? What difference does this make to us? What difference should it make? Let’s go back to Hebrews 4:14,

Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens—Jesus the Son of God—let us hold fast to the confession.

We have a great high priest who is our loving advocate with our Father in Heaven. We must hold fast to Him! This means that:

• Jesus must be more precious to us than the most precious things in our lives. 
• 
  
• Jesus must be more powerful to us than the most powerful things in our lives.
• 
  
• Jesus is more perceptive of our needs and wants than the most perceptive people in our lives. 
• 
  
• Jesus wants to be more personal to us than the most personal things in our lives.
• 
  
• Jesus can perform for us what no one else can perform in our lives.

Because ministry of Jesus was all about making atonement for our sin and providing God’s forgiveness and pardon for it we must make much of Jesus in our lives and in the lives of those whom we love.

Conclusion:

The invitation to us is clear,

Therefore let us approach the throne of grace with boldness, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us at the proper time.

What will our response be?

Every blessing,

Dr. Otis Corbitt