A message for those in the pulpits (and the pews!)
Over the next few chapters we will be reading beautiful things about Jesus our High Priest but before we get there we are reminded about what the qualifications are for priesthood. So whether we think of the high priest in Jewish history, or the church minister today or wherever you might be serving the Lord in whatever capacity that is, here are the instructions.
“Every high priest is selected from among the people and is appointed to represent the people in matters related to God, to offer gifts and sacrifices for sins. 2 He is able to deal gently with those who are ignorant and are going astray, since he himself is subject to weakness. 3 This is why he has to offer sacrifices for his own sins, as well as for the sins of the people. 4 And no one takes this honour on himself, but he receives it when called by God, just as Aaron was.” (Hebrews 5 v 1-4)
It may look like you have gone through a human selection and then appointment process but actually you are called by God, v1 and v4
Do you believe this?
Being appointed by man can be encouraging and even empowering. But that is nothing compared to knowing that the Lord has appointed you, that He has chosen you, that He knows you and wants you. In the same way even if man rejects you, even if they don’t see the potential in you, even if they say ‘NO!’ as the friends of Jesus did when he tried to share with them his appointment, it matters not. God appoints where man disappoints. It takes courage to hold on to this and to know you are appointed.
Deal gently with people, v2.
Into a context of being interrogated over who he is, where he is from and why he is here, Jesus tells a story. Was it going to be a story showing the power of who he was? A warrior leading the people into battle over the Roman Empire? No! He tells the story of a shepherd (John 10). The story is not of a powerful leader but of a caring and loving shepherd who deals gently. The Bible is full of a God who loves as a shepherd. We need more gentleness in our world.
Don’t let the sins of others become more important than your own sins, v3.
Maybe you wake to the hurt of yesterday. Every day there are wrongs done to people. You may be reading this carrying such a horrible weight of wrong that has been done against you. There are unbelievable tragedies today. There are many victims. Since the beginning of time God has seen what mankind can to each other. “The LORD said, “What have you done? Listen! Your brother’s blood cries out to me from the ground.” (Genesis 4:10). Today you may be the victim because someone made the wrong choice. When we are the sinner we cry for mercy. But the natural response when we are sinned against is to cry for justice. The blood of Abel in Genesis 4 cried for justice. It was a prayer of ‘Get him God.’ The blood of Jesus is not ‘Father get these murderers’ but “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” (Luke 23:34)
Receive this honour, don’t grab it, v4
Jesus had said he was going to suffer and the disciples wanted to talk about who is the greatest. The whole team were battling over their positions. They were full of ambition. Still today even leaders want to be a higher leader, members want to be pastors, Pastors want to be apostles, apostles want to be bishops, bishops want to be archbishops and archbishops want to be Popes. That’s in the church but it is everywhere. Naked, raw ambition, climb the ladder, get to the top, it is better up there. Ambition is a killer of the church. We need to stop looking in the mirror. We need to find another visual aid other than ourselves. In the incident I mention remember the visual aid Jesus chose? He brought a little child amongst them.
Missions Paul 