Meditationen am Gnadenstuhl: Wednesday of Holy Week - Hebrews 4:1-16
Wednesday of Holy Week
Daily Lectionary Readings: Exodus 10:21-11:10; Hebrews 4:1-16; (Lamentations 3:1-66)
Hebrews 4:14–16 [14] Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. [15] For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. [16] Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
In Hebrews 4:14-16, we learn how we have, through our great high priest, Jesus Christ, access to heavenly grace for our life here on earth. As we have seen thus far in our study of Hebrews, the preacher exhorts the congregation to gather in the Divine Service, where we may briefly step outside of time and space as heaven comes to earth in Word and Sacrament, drawing near to the mercy seat, the throne of grace. This section marks an important transition in the book of Hebrews, ending the "prologue" and introducing the main body of the sermon in 5:1-10:18.
v.14 Having previously exhorted the congregation to fear anyone failing to enter God's place of rest and hasten to enter into it, the preacher now urges them to adhere to their confession of Christ as Jesus, the Son of God. He is our great high priest "who has passed" through the heavens: in Greek διεληλυθότα, dielelythota ”who has passed through” - a completed past action that results in a present state – in other words, the atonement on the cross.
v.15 The congregation’s commitment to its confession depends on the character of their priest and the help He alone can provide. Unlike in the Old Testament, Christ is not remote and without first-hand experience of their struggles. He suffers with them. In Greek, συμπαθ¨ησαι, sympathesai “to sympathize” – this word does not just mean our English definition of sympathize, but describes how Jesus acts and what He suffers, offering sympathetic help to those who suffer in the sense of how a piano string causes the nearby strings to vibrate "sympathetically." "With our weaknesses" – ταῖς ἀσθενείαις ἡμῶν, tais astheneiais hemon – not physical weakness, disability, or sickness as used elsewhere in the New Testament, but human vulnerability and weakness in the face of temptation that results in sin and from sin. Jesus experienced this in His fully human nature but without sin.
“One who has been tempted” – πεπειρασμένον, pepeirasmenon – perfect tense of the passive participle of πειράζω, peirazo indicated Jesus is still affected by what He underwent in his life on earth “according to our likeness” – as a human being. Tested by the worst abuse of sinners (12:2) and suffered all we can suffer (5:7-8) but without sin – "without evil, undefiled, separated from sinners (7:26). Sinless, Jesus can suffer with sinners in order to remove their sin (9:26, 28). The lowest low to win the highest height.
v.16 “Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace.” - τῷ θρόνῳ τῆς χάριτος, to throno tes charitos. Martin Luther translated the Greek “throne of grace” here as zu dem Gnadenstuhl in his translation of the New Testament into German, literally “to the mercy seat, (and where the name of this series of daily devotions comes from!)” that area between the Cherubim on the lid of the ark of the covenant, where the Glory Cloud, the Diving Presence of God settled to dwell with His people when the tabernacle was erected in the wilderness. This is royal and liturgical imagery. God makes Himself available with petitions for justice, aid, and any need (see 2 Samuel 14:1-22 for the royal imagery and Exodus 29:42-43 for the liturgical). The preacher does not yet explain the role of Christ as high priest. That will come in 8:1, 8:6, 9:15, 12:2, and 12:24. This part of the sermon summarizes the theology of worship in the book of Hebrews. The Presence of God, Word, and prayer.