portions of the epistle,” Henderson. The Lord Jesus Christ who effected redemption on earth is now our Great High Priest in heaven (verse 14). Because He was tested in all points like as we are, He is able to sym pathise with us in, and to succour us from the sorrows and distresses that ever assail us as we journey to the heavenly land (verse 15). Let us therefore keep coming to the throne of grace that we may avail ourselves of the resources which are there at our disposal; resources which cover every need that can possibly arise (verse 16). In these verses we have a blessed assurance, a strong consola tion and a stirring appeal. “We have a great high Priest who is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God.” Dr. Westcott: “This word ‘have’ does not merely mean the statement of a fact, but that it also imp l i e s conscious possession. How comforting that consciousness must have been to these Hebrew Christians who had parted with their earthly all. ‘We have a great high Priest’—that tells us what He is. The sons of Aaron were priests; Aaron was a high priest; the Lord Jesus is a Great High Priest. ‘Who is passed into the heav ens’—that tells us where He is. Aaron passed beyond the veil once a year to that which was merely the shadow of heavenly things; Christ' passed into heaven itself, and ever abides in the audience chamber of God (9:24). ‘Jesus the Son of God’—tells us who He is. These are His human and His divine names, and they reveal the secret of how it is possible for us to come into actual possession of His compassion and power. Because He is human—‘Jesus’—He understands our need; because He is divine—‘the Son of God’—He can meet our needs. By virtue of His earthly experience He is able to sympathize; by virtue of His heavenly position He is able to succour.” In order, however, that He might be able to understand us, He had to gain a sympathy which not love itself, but only experience could give Him. “And yet, while He had to share man’s
Rev. Wilbur Nelson (left), a recent speaker to the Blola College student body, with Dr. Samuel H. Sutherland, Blola President. experience of temptation, it was neces sary that sympathy should not be purchased at the cost of sin. Only the sinless Conqueror of temptation could be the captain of salvation; only the morally spotless victim could be an acceptable sacrifice to God.” The words before us now assure us of these three things; He was tempt ed, sinless and compassionate. We must distinguish between the two senses of the word temptation: that of testing, and that of enticement to sin. Abraham, in the former sense, was tempted when he was called upon to offer up Isaac — “he was tried” (Heb. 11:17). In the latter sense “every man is tempted when he is drawn away of his own lust, and en ticed” (James 1:14). It was in the first of these senses of the word that the Lord Jesus was tempted. He hun gered, thirsted, knew the pain of weariness and loneliness, was a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief, and endured the contradiction of sin ners against Himself. “He is the be ginning and the end, the alpha and omega, all the letters between, and the whole literature that can be made from the entire alphabet of experi ence.” Although this brings our Saviour very near to us, we must never for get that there is one thing in which He is entirely separate from us. For while we are sinful, He is sinless. 29
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