Merciful And Faithful High Priest

From the Pastor: Dr. M. J. Seymour, Sr.

“For verily he took not on him the nature of angels; but he took on him the seed of Abraham. Wherefore in all things it behoved him to be made like unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people. For in that he himself hath suffered being tempted, he is able to succor them that are tempted.” (Heb. 2:16-18)

The sad reality of life is that we live in a sinful world in a sinful body of flesh. If by God’s wonderful grace we have a new creature born of His nature within us, then this new creature within us is imprisoned in this wretched body until it is freed at the death of the flesh. The spirit is then released to dwell in the eternal glorified body fashioned by the Father. This fact of life leaves us for the moment housed in a body that craves the corruption of sin. Thus, by fleshly nature we are prone to constantly suffer the pangs of hunger for the sin of this world. It would be nice if I could say at this point that because of the new creature we would in our flesh never sin again, but this is not the case. The flesh will not be denied; sin will come even at the best of our resistance. We shall not sin as much as we could, for we seek tenaciously through pray not to sin; but we are not the Lord, and sin demands its day with the flesh. Apostle John wrote: “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.” (I Jn. 1:8) It is not our desire, but it is so.

This reality is why Jesus became our High Priest. Jesus knew that in this life we would need help. The word “succor” means to give some form of relief or aid to someone in a time of need or to one who is facing a difficult situation. Jesus took on the form of man so He could experience first handedly the temptations mankind endures in the flesh, which continuously brings them at odds with their Creator. Having suffered the temptations, Jesus is able to understand our suffering of temptations toward sin. Through this understanding He is able to be merciful toward us and is ever faithful to plea our case before the Father with full knowledge of our desperations. By this Jesus as our High Priest brings us into a secure reconciliation with the Father. Notice, His High priestly office is used only in the things pertaining to God, but nothing of this world.