Valley View Chapel September 7, 2014 God s Final Answer Part 10 Head-Scratchers Hebrews 5:1-10. Introduction

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1 1 Valley View Chapel September 7, 2014 God s Final Answer Part 10 Head-Scratchers Hebrews 5:1-10 Introduction The term head-scratcher was first used in 1971 and is now in the dictionary. It means puzzle or mystery. Sometimes a head-scratcher can be about something trivial, like trying to remember what I called you for in the first place. Other head-scratchers can be about the really big issues in life, like Where did I come from? Why am I here? Where am I going? Today s text Hebrews 5:1-10 contains its share of head-scratchers like: Who in the world is Melchizedek and why should I care? That will have to wait until we get to Hebrews 7. But here s a world-class head-scratcher, one that has puzzled philosophers, theologians, politicians, educators, sociologists, anthropologists, and psychologists: What is humanity s biggest problem? The answer is revealed in Hebrews 5:1, Every high priest is selected from among men and is appointed to represent them in matters related to God, to offer gifts and sacrifices for sins. Hebrews 5:1 tells us that: Humanity s biggest problem is SIN Hebrews 5:1 refers to The Day of Atonement. This was the one day in the year when the collective sin of Israel had to be dealt with. There would have been no need for a Hebrew Day of Atonement if the people hadn t sinned. William Barclay observed: Sin disturbs the relationship which should exist between men and women and God and puts up a barrier between them. The writer described humanity in Hebrews 5:2 as ignorant and going astray. He used those terms because people disobey the laws of God for one of two reasons: They either don t know God s laws or they know God s laws and make a conscious choice to willfully violate his laws. And we ve all sinned, either out of ignorance or willful rebellion. The prophet Isaiah declared: We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way. Isaiah 53:6 (NIV) Of course most people don t believe that their biggest problem is sin because such a thought if believed inevitably injures our self-image. In his commentary on Galatians Tim Keller noted: The

2 2 preaching of the gospel is terribly offensive to the human heart. People find it insulting to be told that they are too weak and sinful to do anything to contribute to their salvation.the gospel is offensive because the cross stands against all schemes of self-salvation. Our sinfulness is the most basic truth in the Word of God. Because we are sinners both by nature and by practice, we cannot save ourselves. And until we face that fact, we are disqualified from God s saving grace. There was an ancient Jewish prayer of confession that went like this: O God, I have committed iniquity and transgressed and sinned before thee.o God, forgive, I pray, the iniquities and transgressions and sins which I have committed and transgressed and sinned before thee. That s a prayer we all need to pray more often than we do. Here s the second head-scratcher : If humanity s biggest problem is sin, then how do we deal with it? Thankfully, we re given the answer in verses 1 and 4 Every high priest is selected from among men and is appointed to represent them in matters related to God, to offer gifts and sacrifices for sins. No one takes this honor upon himself; he must be called by God, just as Aaron was. Here we are clearly told that: Because of SIN, we need a PRIEST But here s our problem: We can t serve as our own priest, much as we d like to. Under the old covenant, there were strict standards regarding who qualified to be the high priest. There were twelve tribes in Israel but only men from the tribe of Levi were eligible for the priesthood. And only men from the line of Aaron were qualified to be Israel s high priest. Only the high priest could present the sacrifice on the Day of Atonement. The word priest means bridge-builder and that s exactly what the priests of the Old Testament were. They built a bridge between sinful people and the holy God. The bridge was an animal sacrificed as a substitute for the people. The people were forbidden from being their own priests. They had to come to God through the ministry of the chosen and approved bridge-builder from the line of Aaron. Those who tried to be their own priests were severely judged. 1 Samuel 13:8-14 tells of King Saul who usurped the role of priest. God said: But now your kingdom will not endure because you have not kept the Lord's command." 1 Samuel 13:14 (NIV)

3 3 Later, King Uzziah thought he could be his own priest and God judged him for it: Leprosy broke out on his forehead.king Uzziah had leprosy until the day he died. 2 Chronicles 26:19, 21 (NIV) Those who foolishly try to be their own priest may not be stricken with leprosy. But they will surely hear Jesus awful words on judgment day: I never knew you; depart from me. Matthew 7:23 (ESV) Here s a third head-scratcher : If we need a priest to deal with our sin, but we can t serve as our own priest, then who can? JESUS alone is qualified to serve as our priest Just as Aaron was selected to be the high priest of Israel under the old covenant, so GOD THE FATHER chose his Son Jesus to be the world s high priest under God s new covenant his new and better way of dealing with humanity s sin. Hebrews 5:5 is a quotation of Psalm 2:7 in which God the Father selected his Son to be our bridgebuilder: So Christ also did not take upon himself the glory of becoming a high priest. But God said to him, You are my Son; today I have become your Father. Hebrews 5:6 is a quotation from Psalm 110:4 in which God the Father declared his Son to be a priest superior to Aaron: And he says in another place, "You are a priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek." (NIV) Melchizedek s name is mentioned 8 times in the book of Hebrews. I will not take the time to discuss this mysterious character this morning. However, the important point to understand is that the priesthood of Melchizedek to which Christ belongs is forever. The Old Testament priesthood of Aaron ended when Jesus cried It is finished. It ended when the veil to the Holy of Holies in the Temple was torn in two from top to bottom. Never again would the high priest s sacrifice be necessary to deal with sin. But the priesthood of Jesus Christ is forever. Because Jesus alone is qualified to serve as our high priest, we re told in verse 9 that he became the source of eternal salvation. There is NO OTHER SOURCE of salvation. Anyone who claims that there is more than one way to acceptance with God denies the truth of the Bible and calls Jesus a liar because he said, I am the way, the truth, and the life. The final head-scratcher is: Why doesn t God answer my prayers? The answer is in Hebrews 5:7, During the days of Jesus' life on earth, he offered up prayers and petitions with loud cries and tears to the one who could save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission.

4 4 This puzzling verse declares that: God sometimes DISAPPOINTS us Let s look at verse 7 again and try to take in what the writer is trying to say: [Jesus] offered up prayers and petitions with loud cries and tears to the one who could save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission. What if you prayed passionately, tearfully, continually that your worst nightmare (whatever that is) wouldn t happen? But it happened anyway in spite of your prayers? That is exactly what happened to Jesus following his extended time of prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane. The New Testament scholar N.T. Wright wrote: He was praying to the one who was able to save him from death, but, though God could have saved him, he did not. The answer to his prayer for rescue was No. Some voices tell us that with enough faith, God will answer all our prayers according to our desire. Either Jesus didn t have enough faith or there is some other explanation. Jesus was neither the first nor the last man to be crucified. And though it was one of the cruelest forms of torture known to man, many men faced it bravely and didn t ask to be excused from it. Thus it seems strange that Jesus prayed to be rescued from crucifixion? It would be strange if we didn t know that Jesus was not asking to be excused from the pain of the cross. But he knew that on the cross he would suffer the full fury of his Father s wrath against the sins of every person ever born. That is what he dreaded: the shame and guilt of the world s sin and his subsequent abandonment by his Father. Ray Stedman stated: No sinner on earth has ever felt the stain and shame of sin as he did. Warren Wiersbe explained why Jesus wanted to be spared the agony of the cross: As He faced the cross, it was not the physical suffering that burdened Jesus, but the fact that He would be made sin and separated from His Father.No one else ever died the kind of death that Jesus died. He was made sin for us. Men have died because of their own sins, but only Jesus died for the sins of a whole world. He experienced the ultimate in suffering. Conclusion God the Father disappointed his own son when he didn t keep Jesus from bearing the sins of the world.

5 5 When we pray and don t get what we ask for, it can really rock our world and result in a whole host of spiritually negative consequences. We beat ourselves up for our lack of faith. We complain that God isn t fair. We wonder if it really pays to serve a God who disappoints us in our hour of greatest need. We wonder: If A friend in need is a friend indeed, the old gospel song What a Friend We Have in Jesus seems to mock our faith. In an article entitled Preparing for Storms, Mary Southerland confessed: I seem to do fairly well when the skies are clear and the seas are calm. However, when the waves hit, I can forget every promise I have ever known, doubt every truth I have ever learned, and quickly lose my sense of direction. My focus is altered, my perspective is distorted, and my purpose and direction unclear. So what do we do? We hang on for dear life to two unshakable truths: God loves me and God knows what he is doing. Whatever reasons our prayer isn t answered and we are disappointed, we know that it s not because God doesn t love us. He proved his love for us without a doubt when he sacrificed his one and only Son for our sake. When Jesus died, it didn t seem like God loved his son, loved the world, or knew what he was doing. But he did. So when God disappoints me; when his answers to my prayers are not the answers I would have given; I remind myself of Tim Keller s words which have brought deep comfort to my anxious and questioning heart: If right now you are in a situation where you are being asked to wait or you are in a situation where it seems like God is turning down your prayers, you are lacking some information. Jesus will always give you what you would have prayed for if you know everything that he knows. So, we don t have to scratch our heads over life s puzzles and problems. We have a high priest who loves us, who is for us, and ever lives to strengthen and sustain us through every storm of life.

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