Jesus understands what we are going through. That’s one reason for the incarnation. It’s also a surprising lesson I’ve learned preaching through the book of Hebrews.
I decided to preach through Hebrews, in part, for its message to the church concerning apostacy. We live in an age of de-conversion and de-construction. That language may be new, but apostacy, as we used to call it, is an age-old problem. The author of Hebrews addresses this problem directly and severely.
The severe warnings of Hebrews have shocked me afresh, but they have not surprised me. There are some puzzles to work out with some of the terminology and imagery, sure. But once those issues are resolved, the warnings against falling away, however hard to hear, are to be expected. They are consistent with Jesus’ teaching and with the Apostles.
Here’s what I did not expect to find: an equally direct message concerning the sympathy of Jesus Christ. In fact, I am convinced that a primary way in which God keeps us from falling away is by communicating to us his profound and personal understanding of the very temptations and troubles that might otherwise lead us to leave him. The message of Hebrews, then, should not only properly scare us about falling away, but soften us to stay close to him, for he understands what we are going through.
I have it on good biblical grounds that you are suspicious of this claim, which I will explain later. My primary objective, though, is to overcome that suspicion so that you might stay faithful to the incarnate Son.
Priestly Sympathy is Greater Than Prophetic Warnings
It is true that the author returns five times to warn us against falling away (2:1–4; 3:7–4:13; 5:11–6:12; 10:19–39; 12:14–29). On a first reading, we might summarize the message of the book with the words, “Don’t fall away!” But that would not be enough to keep us from doing so. The strategy of the author of Hebrews is not to arrest our attention with warnings for their own sake. Rather, the author warns us so that he might gain a hearing for a message that will keep us from falling away. That message concerns Jesus’ priesthood, the subject of his argument which runs from 5:1–10:18.
While there is much to say about the priesthood of Jesus, two observations have convinced me that Christ’s sympathy for us is central to that message and therefore an essential help for our endurance.
First, the author frames his message with an emphasis on the sympathy of Christ.
On either side of his extended argument concerning Jesus’ priesthood, the author summarizes his overall message. Here’s the first and more concise of those two summaries:
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. 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. 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. (Heb. 4:14–16)
This is the first and only time in the New Testament that Jesus is called “a great high priest.” What makes Jesus’s high priesthood so great? He is a great high priest because of where he has gone for us, into heaven. But crucially, we must understand that Jesus is a great high priest because of where he has been for us. That’s what makes his heavenly ascent our earthly good. It would not be good for our sake if Jesus passed into heaven without having first passed through the temptations common to humanity.
Why do I say it is crucial to understand this? Notice the double-negative: “we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize . . .” (4:15). The author employs a double negative for emphasis because he knows our suspicious hearts. He is a good pastor. Without this bit of rhetoric, he knows—as does the Holy Spirit—that we will imagine that the ascended and reigning Jesus is far away, disinterested, and detached.
That is an incomplete and dangerous image.
What do we need when we are tempted to leave off suffering by leaving him? What is the facet of his work tailored to that temptation? It is the truth that he is a high priest who has been there.
Which leads me to my second observation and an image of Jesus Christ that will anchor our souls.
Second, the author begins his argument by proving that Christ had to be sympathetic.
Sympathy is essential to the job description of a high priest, as the author of Hebrews shows us when he describes the job description of a priest. In Hebrews 5:1–10 he commences his argument by measuring Christ’s characteristics against that description of Levitical priests. These verses form a movement:
I was ready for every feature of this description and its structural emphasis on Jesus’s appointment as high priest. But I was not ready for that line about Jesus crying loudly, no doubt a reference to his life of suffering but specifically to his suffering in Gethsemane. This is perhaps the most dramatic and intense expression we have in Scripture concerning Jesus’s humanity. And yet it appears in an argument for Jesus’s qualification for priesthood.
What is going on here? The reason that high priests could deal gently with the people was because they were sinners too. Their regular sacrifices kept them humble—or should have kept them humble—so that they could naturally relate with sinners who might otherwise exhaust or frustrate them (10:3). But Jesus doesn’t sin, as Hebrews 4:15 just indicated.
Why, therefore, is Jesus heard wailing on this page of Scripture? So that we might feel sorry for him? So that we might feel sorry for ourselves and what our sin has put him through? No and no. Here’s why: So that we might know that he is sympathetic with us. He is not detached, and he is not frustrated with us. He understands, for he knows what we are going through.
A Suspicious Question
Perhaps our suspicion of this truth will lead us to ask this question: when we consider Jesus’s horror at the prospect of experiencing God’s wrath for human sin on the cross, is it fully accurate to say that this is a way that we see how Jesus “knows what we are going through?” Maybe we should focus on Jesus’ suffering in general rather than his suffering in Gethsemane.
Surely, it is true that Jesus suffered for us. He understands our suffering precisely because he has experienced temptation beyond what any human has experienced. His loud cries and tears were on behalf of our sin that he would soon bear. Jesus understands our suffering and temptation better than we do ourselves. This was the reason for Gethsemane.
And yet we must say more; that in Gethsemane, Jesus suffered like us. No, we have not faced down the prospect of suffering God’s wrath for sinners, praise God. However, just like Jesus, we too are tempted to choose a path without suffering. Gethsemane was not only for our salvation through substitution, but for our perseverance through Christ’s sympathy. This is the reason we really must say that Jesus knows what we are going through. “For because he himself has suffered when tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted” (2:18). We need all the help we can get, including the sympathy of Christ. In light of this, I can’t help but hear a note of sympathy in so many references to Jesus’ suffering in the book of Hebrews (2:9; 5:8; 13:12).
Thus, Jesus is our qualified and compelling great high priest. The Son became human not only to identify with us and represent us, but to intercede for us as one who can personally relate with us. Gethsemane is not only a moment of consecration for Jesus but of connection with us. He understands. He sympathizes. He has been there.
Help for Holding Fast from The Humanity Jesus
John Calvin made an apt observation from common sense concerning the balance of severity and encouragement in Hebrews: “Doubtless whosoever wishes to do good by teaching, ought so to treat his disciples as ever to add encouragement to them rather than to diminish it, for there is nothing that can alienate us more from attending to the truth than to see that we are deemed to be past hope.”[1] Our Triune God understands this well and has encouraged me with this surprising truth from Hebrews, a book that both warns and woos.
So, this Christmas, there are many thoughts that might go through your mind as you ponder the incarnation. Don’t forget this one: Jesus understands.
