Jesus, the High Priest- by Liju, Gurukul

Text: Hebrews 5:1-5

Only in the book of Hebrews the term "high priest" is applied to Jesus. The author may intend to convey that Jesus as superior to all other priests, Or he may be using the term because he sees Jesus' saving work as fulfilling all that is signified by the ceremonies of the Day of Atonement.

Within the religion of the Jews, the high priest hold an highly exalted position. And the most important task of the high priest took place on the Day of Atonement.

On this day, he would be arrayed in a white linen robe over which he wore a blue robe, a breastplate with 12 stones, and a golden frontlet. On this day, he would enter into the innermost part of the temple and make a sacrifice for the sins of the nation. On this day, he was the official representative of the people before their God.

The passage is very clear in stating the qualifications as a high priest.

The writer closed the chapter 4 with the statement that we have a high priest in the person of Jesus. The high priest has the quality of A Godly Calling. For every high priest taken from among men is appointed on behalf of men in things pertaining to God.

The main function of a priest was not to teach or preach. His main function was to act as a mediator between human beings and God.

Now, the fact that human need a mediator to approach God implies that there is not anything wrong with human. After all, human were originally created in the image of God. Jesus is also a mediating priest. He has crossed the gap between God and human. He has provided reconciliation between God and human.

Jesus is not only a mediating priest; He is also a GENTLE priest. The reason that He is gentle is because He knows what it is like to be vulnerable. The best kind of comforter is one who has gone through the pain and anguish and who can empathize with us. He understands because He has been there.

We have seen that Jesus is a mediating priest, a gentle priest and an appointed priest. He is also a SUFFERING priest. When we think of the suffering of Jesus, are drawn to the pain of His beatings during the trials, the crown of thorns and the scourging and later the torture of the crucifixion with the nails in His hands and feet.

But the suffering which is viewed in this verse is different. It is not the suffering upon the cross. It is the suffering that preceded the cross. It is the way of his life and ministry which voluntarily took suffering for the noble cause. Although He was a Son; He learned obedience from the things which He suffered.

We have seen that Jesus is a mediating, a gentle, an appointed and a suffering priest. He is also an OBEDIENT priest. A lot of people have a problem being under authority. Jesus has been characterized as a rebel and a revolutionary. But that misses the point that He was one who was obedient to authority. The only question was which authority.

As we all are being the ministers of this high priest in our different realms of life are we ready to mediate between the needy and the god can we became gentile enough to do so. Are we ready to take up the suffering for the cause of justice and peace in a way obedient and disobedient to the authority for the cause of vulnerable human beings. Amen.

[Liju Raju, the preacher of this sermon, is a final year BD student in Gurukul Lutheran Theological College and Research Institute, Chennai, India.]

"A call to motivate others"- Anandraj Paul Jacob, Gurukul

Scripture: Hebrews 2: 16-18

Once there lived a king who was generous in helping the people of his province and was available to needs of the people. One fine day suddenly he passed away and the whole province was mourning. One old lady was crying and saying “ It’s better to take my life and that the king may live again”. By the time the Yema Dharma Raja was passing through the street. He responded to the old lady saying “Granma I give respect to your feelings hence I will fulfill your request. I will take your life that the king may live”.
Immediately the old lady said “ No…No… I just said it for the sake of everyone. But I want to live more”.
Friends People always live with a fear of death. It is the one sure event that comes to us all. Apart from what the Bible has to say about it, no one knows what will come after death. Most people have no hope about the future, and they are afraid of what they do not know. In Jesus Christ there is the promise of a much better life. People who put their trust in Jesus need no longer to fear death.
The first readers were probably Christian Jews. The author did not write this letter for all Jews. He wrote to a group, whom he knew well and had become Christians. The book reveals that they were not strong in their belief. They were in a danger of going back to their old religion. The writer argues from the Old Testament to keep them trusting in Jesus. The purpose of the book is these Christian Jews had to make a choice. They could not continue in Judaism and be Christians. They must decide which way to go. It was either to go back and be as Jews or to continue to be as Christians. It seems that their nation had now turned against Christians. They could not now go to the temple as the Jews would not let them. The writer tries to show his readers that the right choice was to continue to trust in Jesus. That was much better than all the ceremonies of their former religion, which Jesus had replaced.

Verse 16 tells Jesus became a human being so that he could take us by the hand and lead us to God. He did not become an angel. He did not come to earth to help angels. He came to this world to save the children of Abraham.

Abraham was the father of the Jews and their nation came from him. He was also a man of real trust in God. The Bible also calls all who believe in the one true God the children of Abraham (Galatians 3:7-9). God rescues the men and women who trust in Jesus.

Jesus came to save men and women, not angels. Therefore he had to become like one of us and not like an angel. He had to be a human being so that he could stand before God as our chief priest. He takes the sacrifice for our sins to God. That sacrifice was his own blood, that is, his life that he gave for us on the cross. He asks God to forgive his brothers and sisters. God forgives all who put their trust in Jesus and in what he has done for them. Jesus loves us and we can trust him to be our priest towards God.

The suffering that Jesus had makes him able to help any who are in need. When the devil or the things of this life test us, we can look to Jesus. He will give us the strength to do what is right. If we fail to do what is right, he understands. When we turn to him and confess that we have failed, he is able to make us right with God again.

Through this identify Jesus Christ sympathizes with us he literally feels with us. It is almost impossible to understand another person’s sorrow and sufferings unless we have been through them. A person without a trace of nerves had no conception of the tortures of nervousness. A person who is perfectly physically fit had no conception of the weariness of the person who is easily tired or the suffering of the person who is never free from pain. A person who had never loved can never understand either the sudden glory or the aching loneliness in the lover’s heart. Before we can have sympathy, we must go through the same things that hr other person had gone through and that is precisely what Jesus did. Because he sympathizes Jesus can really help. He had met our sorrows he had faced our temptations. As a result he knows exactly what help we need and he can give it.
It is evident after only two chapters that the writer of Hebrews is a pastor writing a word of encouragement for example, Christ is presented to the readers as a pioneer the one who goes before them not only showing the way but also creating a path. Christ is also our champion, defeating the devil and setting us free from the fear of death in addition Christ is our high priest offering a sacrifice of atonement before God as our advocate, intercessor for all who are being put to the test. Common to the concepts of both of champion and high priest are the elements of representation and solidarity with a particular people. The presentation of Jesus exalted son continues to identify himself with the oppressed people of God exposed to humiliation and testing in the hostile world.
Dear friends As servants of God we are given the assignment of motivating the people through our witnessing life to the ones who lose their belief and increase their faith by leading them towards Christ.

[Anandraj Paul Jacob, the preacher of this sermon, is a final year BD student in Gurukul Lutheran Theological College and Research Institute.]

Faith: A road of challenges- by Vinod Easow

Text- Hebrews 11: 17-24

The book of Hebrew is often a debated book on its authorship and content. Ignorance in these matters, however, does not seriously affect the understanding of the epistle's message. The message remains timeless and relevant whatever the circumstances out of which it arose. The passage to which we listen today speaks of a meaningful faith as well as the meaning of Faith. Having introduced the description of faith in vv. 1-3 the writer draws on an elaborate canvas on how the faith is demonstrated.
We see the faith of ancestors in the passage we read as exoduses of faith. Those exoduses were characterized by their faith counting on a God rather than on the securities offered by the world. In other words those journeys were embarked from the comfort zones of the life. Abraham leaves his land and relatives and sets off to an unknown land. Moses leaves all his pomp and glory for the sake of this faith. They could win over each and every trial they had to face footing on this faith. They challenged the structural constructions of the society, and by becoming wanderers they negated institutionalized life style. This faith journey moulded an inclusive covenant community.
Today as we claim ourselves as a faith community it is required of us to ponder whether we are putting our faith on God or on power structures. Our ancestors in faith leaped in an unconditional faith without reckoning the end results of it. Today much of our faith is conditional. For much of us, church offers a steady, uninterrupted and unchallenged career and we are more or less comfortable with that. In contrary to the faith of our ancestors we are always mindful about the results. As a result of it the mission of the church loses its direction.
Dear friends when Moses put faith in God, the pain and pathos of his brothers and sisters are revealed to him. This emboldened him to set forth for their liberation. Jesus in his earthly ministry was not preaching an invisible God rather he was living with paining human lives and comforting them. The faith journey is not an exodus in search of an invisible God but it is the constructive response to the pain and pathos of fellow human beings.
Sabarimala is a famous Hindu pilgrimage site in southern India. People travel from miles away in pilgrimage staking their money and health. They could read as they reach the temple it is written “Tatwam asi” which means “it is you itself”. The devotees recognise that the God they went in search for resides in themselves, in their fellow brothers and sisters. The faith journey for which God calls everyone compels us to see the God in ourselves and the God in our brothers and sisters.
Daya Bai was a Roman Catholic nun who came out of the comforts of an institutionalized career to identify with the poor and the marginalized. She changed her name from Mercy Matthew and is living in Madhya Pradesh among adivasis as one of them. Daya Bai heard the call for a faith journey and responded affirmatively risking her life and career. Adv. Cyrus was a leading advocate in the High Court of Kerala. He risked his career, family life for the sake of his calling and went to the impoverished backward villages of Orissa. These life stories retell the faith journeys voyaged by the ancestors. Do these stories inspire us? Do these stories disturb us? Let us examine ourselves in the light of these life stories. Amen 

[Vinod Easow, the leader of this meditation, is a third year BD student in Gurukul Lutheran Theological College and Research Institute, Chennai, India]