by Lane Rogers

HEBREWS 2:18, 4:14, 5:10

What grew out of the suffering of Christ?

The ability of Christ to resist temptation is a formula for success. He suffered being tempted in every way that a man is tempted. All discipline requires a noble sacrifice. In Jesus we see a man in His fight to resist even when he must face death and give the very last drop of His blood. We, as Christians, are to arm ourselves with the same mind (Ist Pet. 4:1).

In Isa. 50:7, we find the statement that “He sat His face like flint.” In Hebrews 4:14, the help He gave us passed through the heavens as He returned to Deity.

The question then becomes, what is our relation to Christ now? He is still a man with one exception. Christ now has a glorified physical body. He is the Great High Priest who can relate to man, yet He did not sin. He is then able to remember what temptation was like for man as we struggle with sin.

He was tempted in all points as we (Ist Cor. 10:13), and endured every possible temptation known to man. Through the years there has been many discussions as to if Christ was protected or did He have an edge on man? Did He have resources to resist sin that we do not have? We can rest assured that God did not short change us in our ability to resist sin (II Pet. 2:9). God knows how to deliver the righteous. As we read in the Lords prayer, “lead us not into temptation,” but that also implies that we must look for a way to escape. Why does God allow this temptation (Jas. 1:12)? Because, blessed are you under temptation . Approval comes on the other side if we resist.

Resisting is our way to show our love to the Lord. In Hebrews 4:16, we are to approach the throne of Grace, but if one has a conscience, sometimes we approach the throne with sin in our lives. We must come before the throne with boldness. (Parresia), which is the right of free men to speak. Jesus freed us from our sins. We may now approach the throne room of God and receive mercy and grace. No longer do we need to feel humiliated when we approach God.

In Hebrews 5:1, God is installing us in a new priesthood. We have been justified by Christ. The writer list the qualifications of a Priest from the Old Testament.

Taken from men, Numbers 18:6.

Appointed, (Hebrews 1, Jesus is called the heir, Ist Kings 10 and Heb. 8:4 , He is called of God.

For Men----------

He will see after the things of God like a lawyer.

Verse 2, He sympathizes with the ignorant and the erring (That me).

He was the sacrifice for our imperfections. Aaron was called because Moses was slow of speech (Lev. 8:9). He is the sacrifice of worship. The sacrifice of Christ. The sacrifice was not for the glory of Jesus but for the glory of God (Heb. 13:5).

Psalms 2:6 is the decree of the appointment of Jesus. It is the same as in Psalms 110:4. God joins these two passages. They say that Christ is deity, He is King and He is sovereign. Jesus is also the branch of Jehovah (Zech.6:12), Jer. 23:5, Psalms 110:1, Jer. 33:15, Zech 6:12ff. King and Priest. He hold two offices at the same time.

II Cor. 5:18, tells us that deity went through human birth and death. Christ was human. He offered prays and supplications. Prays were a request for help and supplications were confessions of His needs.

Christ cried from agony. He had tears. God could have saved Christ from this. The writer sees Christ in the Garden like David saw a mental picture. He cried but heaven was silent. The sense of being forsaken is there. (Mk. 14:32). He prayed unto the father, “let this cup pass from me and received no response. Jesus was making a plea to the Father asking if it is possible to save mankind any other way but this? But in the end we see submission of the Lord in His words “thy will be done and not mine.” He knows that only God can deliver Him, but there is no answer. John 12:25 claims that unless the seed dies it produces no fruit. When no answer comes Christ will submit to the will of the Father and become our Priest. He will be offered up as the supreme sacrifice.

The first stage of the sacrifice was at Gethsemane. Christ won the battle. From that moment forward, there is dignity in His human nature. God now has turned all things over to His Son. It was because of the death of Jesus through sinless perfection that this was accomplished. Through His suffering and obedience He learned the price to be paid. When He didn't want to obey, He did anyway. Even to the point of death. We now are the fruit of His obedience. He paid for His integrity through suffering.

Does Christ have the right to demand obedience from us? He does and as the High Priest for us, He mediates with God on our behalf (Heb. 5:10).

by Lane Rogers