#DailyDevotion Jesus Is Our Judge & High Priest Of Mercy And Grace

Hebrew 4:12-16 ¹²God’s Word is living and active. It cuts better than any two-edged sword. It pierces until it divides soul and spirit, joints and marrow. And it can judge thoughts and purposes of the heart. ¹³No creature can hide from Him. Everything is uncovered and exposed before the eyes of Him to Whom we must give account.¹⁴Now that we have a great High Priest Who has gone through the heavens, Jesus, God’s Son, let us cling to what we confess. ¹⁵ We have a High Priest Who can sympathize with our weaknesses. He was tempted in every way just as we are, only without sin. ¹⁶So let us come boldly to God’s throne of grace to receive mercy and find grace to help us when we need it.

Now here we might think there are two things or rather persons, God’s Word and the One to whom we must give account but they are one and the same. For Jesus is God’s Word as we see from the Gospel of John and he is the one who comes to judge the living and the dead.

God’s Word is living and active. It is Jesus. We can see how he cuts better than any two-edged sword as he pierces through the Pharisees, the Scribes and the Priests who try to trick him and trip him up. But he can read their hearts and know what is on their minds. He indeed judges your thoughts and the purposes of your heart. He will expose and uncover everything of everyone on the Last Day. And what will we see of your life? What great shame and vice will be exposed on that day that you don’t want anyone to know? It won’t be pretty. How will you escape? How will you answer your Judge on that day with the life he has given you?

If you are like me, you want no part of that. I most certainly do no want my thoughts or my actions that maybe I only know about to be exposed on that day. How will I escape? How will you? We have a great High Priest who has gone through the heaven’s, Jesus, God’s Son. He is God’s Word. He is the Judge. He is also the High Priest. If we don’t want our sins paraded before the cosmos we better hold fast to what we confess. And what is that? Jesus, God’s Son, God’s Word, became flesh; took on our flesh. In his flesh he suffered what we are tempted. He overcame that temptation for us. In that flesh, he as High Priest offered up his body as the atoning sacrifice for our sins, for your sins.

Since he has done this he can sympathize with our weaknesses. He knows we are but flesh, and fallen flesh at that. He knows what great weakness we have when it comes to overcoming sin. Which is why we must come boldly to the throne of God’s grace to receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. Yes, when he have failed and fell, because of the great and mighty sacrifice of Jesus and God the Father’s great love for us, we boldly come to receive his mercy on account of Jesus and his sacrifice. With faith in what Jesus has done for us, he will not hold us accountable anymore for our trespasses, sins, iniquities, rebellion, guilt and shame. Through faith in him and his work, his blood covers all of it and we won’t be ashamed on that day.

Furthermore, as we live out our lives and when we are tempted to sin, we can appeal to Christ Jesus’ victory over temptation and sin and find grace to overcome it. We need the gospel when tempted. We need to know Jesus’ victory over the Tempter. His victory is our own in time of need. He gives us his grace to overcome.

Heavenly Father, grant us your grace to believe in the mercy of Christ so we won’t face the judgment and give us grace to overcome our temptations. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.