The Faithful High Priest

Father God, we thank you that the entrance of Your Word brings light, may You open the eyes of our understanding as the Word goes forth and may the heart be good soil for this Word to bear fruit in the lives of Your sons and daughters in the name of Jesus, Amen. Thank you LORD.

Jesus in Luke 10:25 is approached by a lawyer who asks Him, "Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?" Jesus asked for his understanding of the law. He responded, "You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself." (Luke 10:27 NKJV). Jesus responded, "You have answered rightly; do this and you will live." (Luke 10:28 NKJV). However, he asked, who is your neighbour and personally, I'm thankful this man asked the LORD this question.

To illustrate this point well, Jesus shared a parable found in Luke 10:30-37 (NKJV)

30. "A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, who stripped him of his clothing, wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead.

31. Now by chance a certain priest came down that road. And when he saw him, he passed by on the other side.

32. "Likewise a Levite, when he arrived at the place, came and looked, and passed by on the other side.

33. But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was. And when he saw him, he had compassion.

34. So he went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine; and he set him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him."

35. On the next day, when he had departed, he took out two denarii, gave them to the innkeeper, and said to him, "Take care of him; and whatever you spend, when I come again, I will repay you.'

36. So which of these three do you think was neighbor to him who fell among the thieves?"

37. And he said, "He who showed mercy on him." Then Jesus said to him, "Go and do likewise."

In previous posts, I have been sharing on the humility of Jesus. During Jesus' earthly ministry, He was the perfect balance as fully man and yet fully God. This made Him live and walk this earth just like any other human because only then would that make Him the compassionate and merciful High Priest. Hebrews 2:17 shares the same about Jesus and says, "Therefore, in all things he had to be made like His brethren, that He might be a merciful and faithful High Priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people." Jesus had to experience loss, pain, rejection, betrayal, disappointment, grief, because these human experiences put together make Him a compassionate High Priest towards every situation you may be experiencing and it did not make Him any less the Son of God. Hebrews 4:15 says, "For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin." - AMEN!

In order to inherit eternal life, the law says, You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself." (Luke 10:27).

When you look at the first aspect of this verse which is loving God, may I submit to you that one may not be able to fully love God with all of their spirit, heart, soul, mind and strength without becoming born again.

Jesus in John 4:24 says, that those who worship the Father must worship Him in spirit and in truth because the Father is Spirit. Jesus as the fulfilment of the law (Matthew 5:17) is a reminder that one maybe limited in their expression and love for God if they have not yet received God's salvation found in His Son, Christ. Furthermore, Romans 5:5 reminds us that the love of God has been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us when we received Jesus.

I believe the second part of the commandment speaks of a relational way of interaction with each other on a human level but with the lense of God's love that may not specifically apply to a particular person or place. From the above passage, our neighbour is not just limited to the person who lives across the street from you, it could literally be anyone including a stranger or someone you may know. God also instructs us to love our enemies (Matthew 5:44). Your enemy may also be your neighbour.

The first person who passed by the wounded man was a Priest. Maybe he was in a hurry to attend a service. The Levite also passed by the wounded man on the street. Maybe he had confessed all his sins that day and did not want to be made "impure" by this man. However, Jesus through a non-religious person shows us what mercy and compassion entail. I believe the Samaritan man showed up , took the time and money to do to this wounded man what he would want to be done to him if he were in the similar position. This too is an expression of love. Thankfully, the love of God has been shed abroad in the heart of every child of God (Romans 5:5) as seen above which means in Christ, you have the ability to fulfill both commandments by God's grace. This is because God cannot ask you to do something that He knows you are unable to do or that would work against you.

In addition, James 2:15-16 NKJV cautions us, "If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food, and one of you says to them, "Depart in peace, be warmed and filled," but you do not give them the things which are needed for the body, what does it profit?"

I believe the Priest and Levite were not necessarily bad people. They were probably rushing to do God's work or maybe catch up with other errands but forgot that God is in every detail of their lives. I have learned God is where you are going but He is also where you are at now. I believe Jesus is revealing to us that the spiritual is as important as the relational side of things when it comes to loving God and loving your neighbour as yourself. Jesus demonstrates this perfectly during His earthly ministry as seen above.

On the other hand, I'm amazed that Jesus relates showing compassion and mercy to the expression of love. It may be safe to conclude that every human, at the core, desires to be loved and shown compassion and mercy. Man maybe limited in His expression of mercy and compassion but thankfully God is not and Jesus Christ is the proof. When you receive Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour of your life, you receive all of God's compassion and mercy. 1 Peter 2:10 NKJV says, "who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but have now have obtained mercy." Now that you have received mercy from God, show mercy, compassion to others as well (Luke 10:37) and in this case, share the good news of the gospel.

I'll end with this Word found in Hebrews 3:1-2 (NKJV)

"1. Therefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our confession, Christ Jesus

2. who was faithful to Him who appointed Him, as Moses also was faithful in all His house."

Amen, thank you LORD.

Invitation to salvation: If you would like to know God in a personal and more intimate way as your loving Father, not simply God and receive His mercy and love through the Son. I invite you to believe with your heart and confess with your mouth the words below;

"I believe with my heart that Jesus Christ is the Son of God who came to die for my sins. Today, I receive Jesus as the Lord and Saviour of my life who has delivered me from every power of darkness into the Kingdom of God's love. I am now a new creation in Christ Jesus. I am free and whole. My past trespasses and all my sins are forgiven by my Father God. And every disease and iniquity is healed by Jesus' stripes. AMEN."

If you just said this prayer, glory to God you are redeemed. Please become a member of church community and get water baptized!