Jesus, The Perfect High Priest
BRD REFLECTIONS:
Hebrews 4:14-16; 5 and Psalm 140 (NIV)
(Teo Kheng Hwa, SGM Assistant Zone Leader)
READ:
Hebrew 5:5, 8-10 (NLT)
5 That is why Christ did not honor himself by assuming he could become High Priest. No, he was chosen by God, who said to him,…
8 Even though Jesus was God’s Son, he learned obedience from the things he suffered. 9 In this way, God qualified him as a perfect High Priest, and he became the source of eternal salvation for all those who obey him. 10 And God designated him to be a High Priest in the order of Melchizedek.
OBSERVE:
As I read Hebrews 5, I realized my wrong assumption and perspective about Jesus as the High Priest.
I discovered that Jesus was chosen and qualified by God to be our perfect High Priest. Jesus was not a High Priest because of His status as the Son of God. It was His obedience from His sufferings and His deep reverence for God (v7) that qualified Him.
APPLY:
I feel the Lord is teaching me three discipleship lessons.
- Entitled Christian. Am I an entitled Christian? The Lord Jesus, though He was God, did not think of equality with God. He humbled Himself in obedience to God and died a criminal’s death on the Cross. (Philippians 2:6, 8)
- Obedience in my sufferings. Have I taken matters into my own hands instead of seeking the Lord in trials that come my way? Have I been obedient to the word of God in my sufferings? Or have I taken a compromised position?
- Meditate on His word. Am I rushing through my daily time with the Lord, especially in reading the Bible, so that I miss out on key lessons that the Holy Spirit is teaching me?
DO:
As the season of Christmas and the year end approaches, I must make an effort to deliberately slow down and reflect on the year that has passed by so quickly, to wait on the Lord for His plans for my life in year 2024, and to spend time meditating on the word daily so that I can live a more Christ-like life in obedience and deep reverence for God.
PRAY:
Lord Jesus, I thank You that You are the perfect High Priest, and the source of my eternal salvation. Your word has humbled me today as I learned how You became our perfect High Priest.
Father God, You know that learning obedience from things I suffer is a very difficult thing to do. Holy Spirit, teach and help me to be like Jesus who learned obedience from the things He suffered. Preserve my daily time with You so that I can meditate on Your word and dwell in Your presence before work begins. In Jesus Name, I pray, Amen.
