ALICE KIM | CONTRIBUTOR

Have you noticed how you are drawn to certain characters and stories in the Bible? The reason we resonate with one more than another is they often mirror our natural bents and proclivities. The nuances and themes of their story give us words to name our own. We experience comfort and reassurance in our shared struggles and vulnerability to temptations. We are not alone; there is another who understands.

In the letter to the Hebrews, the author addresses weary first century believers in danger of discouragement and disbelief. He helps them to see Jesus, the one who is intimate with humanity and their experiences of living in a broken, suffering, and fallen world. Though Jesus is divine, his humanness prepares him to be the great high priest who sympathizes and gives followers courage to persevere in their trials and suffering.

Jesus, the Son of God

It was essential to God’s redemptive plan that Jesus would have solidarity with those he would rescue and redeem. Therefore, Jesus “had to be” made like us “in every respect” (2:17). He was born in the ordinary way that infants come into the world. He crawled before he walked and cooed before he spoke intelligible sentences. He had his share of cuts and bruises, colds and flus. And he matured in understanding and wisdom: he “learned obedience” (5:8) and was “made perfect” (5:9). In essence, he took on flesh and became like us.

Jesus’ humanity makes him relevant and relatable to us — living in the tension of the already-and-not-yet. He knows first-hand the temptations and trials common to man, for he was well acquainted with heartache, loneliness, humiliation, and contempt. He “suffered when tempted,” (2:18) but one thing he did not do was succumb to the empty promises and lures of sin. He resisted temptations so that death and evil would not prevail, and in doing so,  he became our “merciful and faithful high priest” (2:17).

There were two blockbuster movies that received widespread publicity, box office success, and ignited long overdue conversations within communities of color: “Black Panther” (2018) and “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings” (2021). Along with the expected hype surrounding Marvel Cinematic Universe films, there were strong feelings of validation and relief.

That’s because the leading roles were people with black, brown, and medium skin tone and coarse dark hair. They were the heroes of the narrative, not just the villains or the supporting cast. It communicated positive representation and celebrated their talents, gifts, and skills of storytelling. In a similar way, we see in Jesus someone who relates to us because he became like us in our humanity. He endured life in a fallen world and all that comes with it. And it was only fitting he became like us so he would repair and restore the cosmic fracture between us and God. He endured unspeakable suffering, despised shame, and willingly offered his broken body and poured out blood on the cross. He did this for the sake of the joy that was set before him, so that we would look to him and be loved by him, the founder and perfecter of our faith (12:2), and our sympathetic high priest (4:15).

Jesus, the Great High Priest

Jesus is unlike any high priest that preceded him. He is not dependent on genealogy nor subject to sin and death. His priestly office is established solely by God and his sacrifice is permanent and final. Furthermore, he “passed through the heavens” (4:14) and “is seated at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in heaven” (8:1).

When Jesus exclaimed at his last breath, “It is finished” it was a declaration that his once and for all sacrifice “provides a basis for him to enter the heavenly sanctuary and there to do something, to be active – active not just for himself but on our behalf.”^[1] It is not just Christ’s death but his ascension that makes him our high priest.

Jesus now reigns in heaven on the throne of grace where he intercedes for us, because apart from him, we can do nothing of eternal good. He prays for us because he personally understands the dark, desolate, and desperate places to which we are prone to wander and in which we get stuck. For example, Jesus sustained Peter in his utter betrayal and public failure when he says, “I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail.”^[2] Likewise, Jesus sustains us in his ceaseless intercession. As a result, he invites us to follow him as he upholds us as our great high priest.

Jesus, the Sympathetic High Priest

Isn’t it a great wonder and mystery that Jesus wants to sympathize with us? The psalmist asks, “what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him?”^[3]

“For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses” (Heb. 4:15) but his sympathy is “truly experiential. Jesus does not just imagine how we feel—he feels it!”^[4] In the Garden of Gethsemane, he labored in prayer with “loud cries and tears” (5:7) for the cup of wrath to be taken from him. And his sweat became like great drops of blood, moistening his face and collecting in a puddle on the ground.^[5] He felt indescribable anguish and desperation.

During hard conversations with my kids involving a disciplinary matter, I say, “Look at my face.” It is less about wanting them to listen to me, and more about longing for them to experience that they are beloved through the love written across my face. How much greater, Jesus yearns for us to experience his sympathy. His sympathy is relational, and his deep desire is for a personal and intimate relationship with us.

You may be asking, “What difference does Jesus’ sympathy make when I am struggling? How is this good news fitting for me today?”

There is someone who knows, sees, and cares.

If you’re weighed down by an unrelenting reel of anxiety consuming your mind and body; haunted by the deafening silence of loneliness; crippled by fear of not doing enough or being enough; or exhausted from a prolonged season of compounding loss and heartache, you are on someone’s mind and prayers: Jesus, the Son of God, your sympathetic high priest. Therefore, we can “hold fast our confession” (Heb. 4:14) and “with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need” (4:16).

^[1] Richard B. Gaffin, Jr., “Christ, Our High Priest in Heaven,” Kerux: The Journal of Northwest Theological Seminary 1/3 (Dec 1986) https://www.kerux.com/doc/0103A2.asp.

^[2] Luke 22:32

^[3] Psalm 8:4

^[4] R. Kent Hughes, Hebrews: An Anchor for the Soul (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 2015).

^[5] Luke 22:44

Photo by Nathan Dumlao on Unsplash