Our Great High Priest
When we're tempted to sin, we should
take comfort in the fact that the
Lord Jesus Christ is our great high priest
who can identify with every temptation we face.
Here's Dr. Gene Getz:
Now this comes, as I said, from Jesus's experience
in the wilderness where Jesus had
an encounter with Satan.
And notice what we read in Mark in verse 12.
"Immediately." Now, when we see the
word "immediately." By the way,
the word "immediately" is used in the
book of Mark many, many times.
Immediately. Immediately. That was characteristic of Mark
as he moved from section to section.
And so he says:
"Immediately the Spirit drove him into the wilderness. ..."
Now this was probably after his baptism.
"...He [Jesus] was in the wilderness [for]
forty days, being tempted by Satan.
He was with the wild animals,
and the angels were serving him."
That's a significant statement.
"The angels were serving him."
You'll see why.
I've underscored that in just a moment.
Now remember, he hadn't eaten for forty days.
So Satan takes advantage of this.
And the first temptation,
in essence--and I'm going to now go back
to Matthew because we have more detail.
And the first temptation in Matthew
where Matthew records--Satan comes. Says:
"If you are the Son of God,
just tells these stones to become bread" [Mt 4:3].
Took advantage of his hunger.
And so, we have Jesus's response in Matthew 4:4.
Notice. "Jesus answered,"
"It is written..."
Now, you're going to see Jesus used that
phrase three times with every temptation.
Referring to the Word of God.
"It is written: Man must not live on
bread alone but on every word that
comes from the mouth of God."
Now, Satan does something a bit tricky here.
He says--the second temptation--
"If you are the Son of God, [just] throw yourself down"
from the pinnacle of the temple.
And then Satan quotes Scripture.
"It is written:" angels are there to save you.
And notice, he's referring to the fact that
Mark says, the angels were ministering.
Satan knew that. And so he refers to angels.
And he quotes Scripture.
"[And] then Jesus told him,"
"It is also written..."
He comes write back at Satan with Scripture.
"...It is also written: Do not test the Lord your God."
Then there's the third temptation.
He says: Look, I'll give you-- Satan, imagine the arrogance.
I will give you all the kingdoms of the world if you worship me [Mt 4:9].
And of course, Jesus responded to that
in a masterful way in Matthew 4:10:
"Then Jesus told him,"
"Go away, Satan! For it is written:
Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him."
Now the interesting thing is that if you go back to Matthew.
There is a principle. And here is that principle in Matthew,
"The Power of Scripture."
That's where the blue line would
take you back to Matthew.
And here's that principle:
When we're tempted to violate God's will,
we are to follow Jesus' example and
use Scripture to thwart Satan's efforts.
That's very, very clear.
And Paul certainly affirmed that in Ephesians
when he listed the armor of God. And
in Ephesians 6:17 he said--Paul wrote:
"Take the helmet of salvation
and the [what?] sword of the Spirit--
which is the word of God."
And Jesus himself was using the
word of God to address Satan.
Now, what I've done is I've expanded
on what Mark said from the book of Matthew.
Now, I want to dwell on the second principle that comes from that experience.
And that's what we have here in Mark.
As I shared earlier. Our Great High Priest.
This is a second principle
that we underscore.
Not repeating the one in Matthew.
But looking at this new fresh principle.
When we're tempted to sin,
we should take comfort in the fact
that the Lord Jesus Christ is our
great high priest who can identify
with every temptation we face.
You see, Jesus was God.
But he was also man.
A mystery we can't explain.
Fully God. Fully man.
And because he was fully man,
he could become our great high priest.
And here, he was experiencing what it means
to be a man who's hungry.
And who was being tempted with pride.
And arrogance. Satan is coming at him.
And Jesus was victorious.
And because he was victorious,
he can be our great high priest.
And here I quote Hebrews,
chapter 4:15 and 16, Our Great High Priest.
"For we do not have a high priest who
is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses,
but one who has been tempted in every way
as we are, [and] yet without sin.
Now, I can't explain that.
But it says he was tempted in every way
every human being is tempted.
That means sexually. Even beyond gender.
It says it. He was tempted in every way we are as human beings.
Hunger, pride, arrogance, whatever it is.
Yet, he was without sin.
He didn't yield to that sin.
And here in Mark, because he was
truly man as well as truly God,
he now can become our great high priest.
And that's a wonderful, wonderful truth.
And so I raise this question.
Reflection and Response:
How should this Principle to Live By
affect the way we face temptation?
And I just listed several things that
grows out of this story,
but also out of the book of Hebrews.
And it's simply this.
Number 1: Jesus understands because
he was tempted in every way as we are tempted.
That's comforting isn't it?
To know that we have a great high priest.
Jesus himself who can identify.
And he did not sin because
he was the perfect high priest.
He was the perfect Son of God.
That's the only way
that he could be the perfect sacrifice.
The Lamb of God that takes away
the sin of the world [Jn 1:29].
But as the resurrected the Savior,
he is at the right hand of the Father--we're told--
interceding for every one of us [Rm 8:34].
And for all of our weaknesses. And
we can enter God's presence.
Even though we fail God. And we all fail.
And he's representing us to the Holy God.
Jesus Christ our Savior.
Our great high priest. Our mediator.
And he will be merciful.
Notice what we just read in Hebrews.
We can "approach the throne of grace
with boldness, so that we may receive mercy."
We're not going to be condemned for that sin.
Because he paid for it if we're believers.
But we can "find grace to help us in our time of need."
So here's a beautiful principle.
A wonderful principle that
comes from Jesus's temptation.
Though briefly listed from the book of Mark.
And here it is. Let me just re-read it.
When we're tempted to sin,
we should take comfort in the fact that
the Lord Jesus Christ is our
great high priest who can identify
with every temptation we face.