Hebrews 2 at the ninth verse. But we see Jesus. who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honor, that he, by the grace of God, might taste death for everyone. For it was fitting for him, for whom are all things and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings. For both he who sanctifies and those who are being sanctified are all of one, for which reason he is not ashamed to call them brethren, saying, I will declare your name to my brethren. In the midst of the assembly, I will sing praise to you. And again, I will put my trust in him. And again, here am I and the children whom God has given me. "'Inasmuch then as the children have partaken "'of flesh and blood, he himself likewise shared in the same, "'that through death he might destroy him "'who had the power of death, that is the devil, "'and release those who through fear of death "'were all their lifetime subject to bondage. "'For indeed he does not give aid to angels, "'but he does give aid to the seed of Abraham. 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. For in that he himself has suffered, being tempted, he is able to aid those who are tempted. We'll end the reading there at verse 18. And now let's come and seek the Lord's face in prayer. Let's ask him especially to open our hearts to the word and open the word to our hearts. So let's all seek him together. Oh, Father, tonight we need, or this morning, we need your grace desperately. Oh Lord, we need you to come. We need you to speak to us. We need you, oh gracious God, to make what Jesus Christ has accomplished real and powerful to our souls and to make him more powerful and real to our hearts than he's ever been before. Father, send your spirit, we pray. You have given us this gracious promise. Our Lord Jesus ascended on high and shed forth this, your word says, the spirit of God to be his presence and power in our midst. So today we pray, Lord, let your spirit be our teacher. Open the word to us, we pray. Show us, oh God, the power that is ours in the Lord Jesus Christ, the victory that we have in him. Show us, O God, the nature, the glory, the extent of His watch care over our souls. So, Lord, now we pray. Defeat every device of the wicked one against us. Drive distraction away, O Lord, and let us, with souls, Father, that must live somewhere forever, either heaven or hell, let us listen with all our hearts, we pray in Jesus' name, amen, amen. Well, we continue our studies in this book of Hebrews. It's a book written to Hebrews, to Jews in New Covenant times, who, because of discouragement, because they were under attack, because they were finding there was a price to be paid for our identifying with the cross of Jesus Christ, were ready to give up on Christianity and to go back to Judaism. But in this book, the Holy Spirit shows them how much they're missing. Shows them that Jesus is better. Shows them that all along, even from Old Testament times, God's message has always been that He was sending them a suffering Savior. A Messiah who would be to them a merciful and a faithful high priest. and who would know them intimately, represent them with full understanding, and be for them in every way, and bring them to God in the ultimate sense. So in this first section, which has encompassed chapters one and two, the emphasis has been that as a revealer of God's truth, this is going back to the outline we shared at the very beginning of the book, As a revealer of God's truth, Jesus Christ is greater than the prophets and especially greater than the angels. Again and again in these two chapters, comparisons with the angels. He is greater than the angels. So we have seen that, and what we've covered already has especially shown us that Jesus is the Son of God and is the promised Messiah, is both the messenger and the message. It is all about him because Jesus really is better than anything. That's been the message. But one thing worth noting, and especially if you're remembering that this is written to Jews, If you are remembering that in these two short chapters, and they're not that long, what do we have, 18 verses in chapter two and only 14 in chapter one. So you're talking 32 verses. In these 32 verses of scripture, there have been 11 different quotations from the Old Testament. And of these quotations, there have been seven from the Psalms, two from 2 Samuel, one from Deuteronomy, and one from Isaiah. So if you step back and look at that, I mean, that's very, very important. That's extremely significant to a Jewish audience. Not only because there have been so many, but because where they've come from these places, the law has been quoted, Deuteronomy, the history section, 2 Samuel, the writings, which is the poetical section that covers Job, Psalms, and the three books of Solomon, that's been quoted seven times, and then the prophets have been quoted in Isaiah. So in other words, Jesus is the message of every part of the Old Testament. So the fact that he's given all these quotations from the Old Testament where they would find their center, find their grounding, and the fact that he's quoted every section of it is huge to a Jewish audience. Well, today we're going to cover the conclusion of this section, and it really is a fitting and powerful conclusion because it stresses the purposes the purpose especially, and we'll show different facets of it, but the purpose of the coming of Jesus Christ. It shows us what he came to accomplish, what he actually did for his people, as well as what he continues to do. The fact that what he did is a foundation for what he continues to do. So it shows us, one, just how far above the angels he really is. But it also shows us what the idea is of Jesus tasting death for man. That was the last part of verse nine. Jesus tasting death for man. We'll see what that really means. So he shows us what he came to accomplish. What he actually did. What he's gonna continue to do, and it's gonna boil down really to this, and follow me here, because this is a jumble of words if you don't. God the Son, Jesus the Messiah, is made something forever, in order to be to us something forever, in order to do something for us forever. Now I think that'll become clear as we move along. But it leads us to consider three things today about the Lord Jesus Christ in this passage. His preparation, his position, and his performance. So using the words of verse 10, let's examine today the glorious captain of our salvation. And let's begin with this idea of preparation. So look at verse 10, Hebrews chapter two, verse 10. It says, for it was fitting for him, for whom are all things and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings. But then he's gonna realize if he suffered, and if he's God the son, as he's proved already in chapter one, if he suffered, he had to have a body. It's gotta have a human nature. If he's gonna suffer in our place, there has to be a way for him to suffer, a vehicle in which that suffering is to take place. So what does he say? Verse 11, for both he who sanctifies and those who are being sanctified, so Jesus and the people he redeems, are all of one. They're all made of the same thing. They share the same nature. Now, let's just back up and look at those two verses for just a second and see some important things here. For it was fitting for him, for whom are all things and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to make the captain of their salvation, Perfect through sufferings. Now that word can trip you up. Perfect, what does it mean? He was imperfect and then he became perfect. Is that what you're saying? No, he's Jesus Christ, he's God the Son, there was no imperfection in him. The word means complete. It has the idea of something that is fulfilled. So in this case, it is meaning this, that he is wholly, perfectly adapted and qualified to be the Savior God intended him to be. So this was done so that he could be a true representative of you and me. Now I'm just gonna leave that there for the second, but this idea of how and to what extent he represents you and me is powerful. And it's just going to grow, not only in what follows in this chapter, but in the chapters that are going to come after it. But something else. Notice also in verse 10 that this verse is explaining the suffering mentioned in verse 9. Because what does verse 9 say? We see Jesus who, and remember that it had quoted Psalm 8, and so now it's referring Psalm 8 to Jesus. It says He was made a little lower than the angels. He was given a human nature. He was born into this world. So verse 10 then says, it was fitting that that be so. It was the proper thing. It was the needed thing. in order for the Lord Jesus Christ to do for us what we could not do for ourselves. So he has made man to do what God called him to do. So the point of these two verses is this, the father purposed that Christ would suffer for us, but in purposing that he would suffer, it necessitated a body and a nature just like ours. So he's writing to Hebrews, he's just said this, but he's gonna back it up. Just like everything else in these first two chapters, he's gonna prove it by quoting the Old Testament. So what we have next are three Old Testament quotations. One from the Psalms, one from 2 Samuel, one from Isaiah. So there's three of these four sections that I mentioned earlier are gonna be represented right here. So let's begin with the introduction to those quotations in verse 11. For both he who sanctifies and those who are sanctified, those who are being sanctified are all of one. They're all made of the same thing. For which reason he's not ashamed to call them brethren. He calls us brethren. And so the first of these quotes, verse 12, saying from Psalm 22, 22, I will declare your name to my brethren. Those people that I'm a part of. I will declare your name to my brethren. In the midst of the assembly, I will sing praise to you. So I'm going to be with my brethren. And he did. He came and he walked upon the earth. He went and he read in the synagogues. He was there among the people of God. And so he is there in the midst of those he came to redeem. He's there, he belongs to us. He's not afraid to own that. Then we come to verse 13. And again, the apostle says, I will put my trust in him. Now, wait a second, what is this? It doesn't follow very plainly what exactly that adds to his point, but it means this. If the scriptures, Speaking of Jesus Christ, and as it were, using his voice, and here's the Holy Ghost saying this passage is about Jesus. And if he says, I will put my trust in God, then there he is standing shoulder to shoulder with the people of God. There he is standing next to you and me. There he is saying, just like I urge you to do, I do. I put my trust in God. And we have so much in the Old Testament, especially in the Isaiah 42, Isaiah 49, Isaiah 61, these various places where we see Jesus as the Messiah, and we see him talking about his dependence upon the Father. Why? Because he came as the God-man to fulfill everything that was required of us, and he needed the help of God to do it. That's what those passages show us. And so here he says, I will put my trust in him. I'm submitting myself to God the Father. And by the way, and we mentioned this on Wednesday night. When you look at the life and ministry of Jesus as it's portrayed in John's gospel, you will read this, that Jesus Christ says, I have no will of my own, I have no words of my own, and I have no works of my own. What? God the Son says that? Well, why did he say that? He says that because he is there as a representative of us. As we saw, the first Adam and the second Adam. He's the second Adam. He's fulfilling what God requires of us. So what does he come to do? He comes to do what he told John the Baptist. I am here to fulfill all righteousness. So I am not here to do my will. I'm not here to do my works. I'm not here to say my words. I'm here to do exactly what the Father has bidden me to do. I'm here to do it so that you will have a righteousness that will land you in heaven forever and ever. I'm here to fulfill righteousness and fulfill the covenant of works for you. And so Jesus Christ did all of that. But then there's another quotation here in verse 13. The third of these, from Isaiah 8, and he says, here am I and the children whom God has given me. So Jesus Christ says, I am here in the midst of my brethren. I'm not afraid to call them brethren. I am putting my trust in God and urging them and modeling for them the very same thing. And I am here with the children whom the Father has given me. And you come to John 17 and his great high priestly prayer where we actually hear what he ever lives to intercede for us right now. And he says, Lord, I have lost none of the ones that you gave me out of the world. These children you have given me. So The conclusion of these quotes is just like the children of God that are given to Jesus Christ. In order to redeem us, he has to be made like us. These children are in him and he is in these children. And so he had to be made like us. Verse 14, the conclusion of this, the summing up, in as much then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, you and me, He himself likewise shared in the same. He took flesh and blood. He, as it were, had to crawl into our skin or walk a mile in our shoes, as we say. In other words, he had to be of our nature in order to be our high priest, in order to represent us. But there's a little more here. Look at verse 16. For indeed, he does not give aid to angels, but he does give aid to the seed of Abraham. What he came to do, he came to do for those who were the spiritual seed of Abraham. Not angels, humans. Humans whom God would redeem to everlasting salvation. And then at the beginning of verse 17, notice this. Therefore, in all things, he had to be made like his brethren. He had to. In order for salvation to work, in order for him to represent us before God, in order for him to be able to represent God to us, he had to share in our nature. It was not optional. It was necessary in order to save us, necessary to be whom God wanted him to be, and the one whom we needed him to be. Now all that's preparation. That's his preparation. He took on him a human nature. But now that's gonna be driven home as we look at his position. So that he could be what? Because just as we just read here in verse 17, in all things he had to be made like his brethren. Next words, in order that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest. so that he could represent us, he could be our high priest. Now, what does a high priest do? Well, a high priest, And by the way, this is an idea that starts here and is gonna go all the way to the end of this book, all the way to chapter 13, again and again and again, it's gonna circle back to the idea of Jesus Christ being our great high priest. So what does he do? He represents man to God. So you see why all the emphasis on his humanity, it is just so he can be a merciful and a faithful high priest, so that he can really enter in. You see, he doesn't take the job, as it were, and collect a check. This is not the Lord Jesus Christ saying, okay, if this needs to be done, I'm going to do it. No, this is the Lord Jesus Christ saying, oh, these are the people that I give my life for because I love them, because they're my bride, they're my sheep, they're my people. And so he enters in, his heart is absolutely, completely, fully engaged. He loves us. And we see that coming through all through this information about his priesthood. And what it emphasizes the more is the fact that when a sacrifice was required, he volunteers. When you actually look at what it is he has to do, he has to come, live upon this earth, he has to fulfill all righteousness, he suffers in many ways while upon the earth, but then it is crowned with the ultimate suffering as God takes our hell and visits it on his head. And he suffers the ultimate for us. So he volunteers for that. And this is the thing, a high priest, And you may remember the picture of the high priest, and we're gonna see this in detail later in this book. But the great high priest, the priest did various things. They offered sacrifices all the time for various things. You have an old, whole Old Testament law that spells out what the sacrifices were for, the books of Exodus, Leviticus, somewhat numbers. You know, there are all these things that tell us about that. but there was the king of them all. And that is that only the high priest and only one day of the year, the day of atonement, was to sacrifice a lamb, was to take that blood, was to go into, and this place was only entered that one time a year, into the most holy place. That was where the ark was. That was where God's presence dwelt on the mercy seat in between the cherubims. What's the job of the cherubims? To guard the presence of God. And so there in the cherubim, there on the mercy seat, there where the blood was sprinkled, God says, there I will meet with you and only there. So you see now this picture that this high priest, if he is going to secure the forgiveness of our sins for another year, if he is going to secure our standing before God, the answer to all our prayers, his watch care over us, if he's going to secure that, he has got to bring that blood of a spotless lamb into the very presence of God. But what is Hebrew showing us? the great high priest that all those other human ones pictured, he has to offer a sacrifice in the very presence of the living God. And who's the sacrifice? Where's the lamb? He's the lamb. He is the lamb. It's his own blood he brings into the most holy place. the blood of Jesus Christ. And so again, if we were to doubt how invested he is as a high priest, you can throw that out as soon as you see that it's his own blood that he offers in our place. But we have another really sweet indication of how engaged his heart is in verse 11. And I mentioned that he, is called, you know, named with his brethren, but think of these words. He is not ashamed to call them brethren. He's not ashamed of you and me. I would be. I mean, it seems like a no brainer, doesn't it? You know? But he's not. He's not. He owns us in our most unlovely. While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. He owns us. He's not ashamed to be identified with us. because he's gonna take every unloving thing in us. He's first going to purge it of all its guilt and pay the blood price to the living God and vanquish his wrath and his judgment. But then he's gonna eradicate it. He's going to work grace in us in this life to bring us safe to glory. Then he's going to present us as a spotless bride without spot or wrinkle or anything like that. And then we are going to dwell in his presence minus sin for all eternity with no sin there. This is what he's going to do. And so, this is the work of this high priest, and so he's not ashamed to call us brethren, even though it's gonna cost him an awful lot to do so, more than we can begin to fathom. Not ashamed to identify with us in our sin. He suffers, he becomes the captain of our salvation, what an expression, the captain of our salvation, though it's going to mean a suffering and a death that we can't begin to fathom. Verse 16 also shows us something. Look where it says, for he indeed, he does not give aid to angels, but he does give aid to the seed of Abraham. If you look at, say, 20 translations, you're gonna see a lot of different ways that this verse actually says it's truth. And part of that is because the words that are in this version, New King James Version, are translated to give aid, have this idea to take hold of and specifically to help by taking the hand. And so he comes to give us this ultimate aid by, as it were, taking our hand, uniting himself with us and saying, whatever you're going to go through, I'm going to go through it with you. without exception. And this is, we've talked about it many times, the high priest bearing his people on his shoulders, bearing his people on his heart. Well, Isaiah, in all their afflictions, he is afflicted. Dealing with Saul on the road to Damascus. Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me? Why? Because he felt it. And so he takes the hand of each of us and says, what you're going through, I'm going through with you. I will be right there. I will never leave you nor forsake you. I will be with you always, even to the end of the world. Again, we read there in John 11, Jesus wept. What? What? He entered in, in a way that we cannot begin to understand. And so again, A tremendous indication of how invested he is, how much his heart is fully in being our high priest. But the greatest indication that his heart is fully engaged as our high priest is the fact that we are actually told what kind of high priest he is going to be. He is gonna be a merciful and a faithful high priest. Now that, let's just take them one at a time, all right? He's gonna be a merciful high priest. If he's gotta be merciful, that idea presupposes that there is sin and failure and weakness and brokenness. I mean, that's gotta be there. If he has to be merciful, then that's what he's dealing with. Now, if you don't mind, I'm gonna cheat just a little bit, and I'm gonna jump to something that is ahead. But look at just two chapters over, the end of chapter four. So Hebrews chapter four, and you'll see that he's still on this theme of Christ as our priest. So Hebrews four at verse 14. Seeing then that 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 cannot sympathize with our weaknesses. Remember the idea I said that he's just collecting his check? This says no. No, we don't have the kind of high priest who is not invested and who can't enter in, can't sympathize with what we're going through. We don't have that, that passage says. But was in all points tempted as we are yet without sin. Just a quick time out. The word tempted in the New Testament sometimes translated tested. And the reason for those two translations is the fact that the word has both meanings, you see. And so temptation is sometimes to the fore, testing, meaning trials, afflictions, difficulties, things that test us, sometimes that idea is to the fore. And here I think both ideas are included. And folks, how many times, is it not true very, very often for us, the trials, the difficulties that we are going through, the testing leads to falling to the tempting. How often is it just the fact that we're so disheartened and discouraged becomes the greatest spiritual trial to us and causes a whole lot more damage sometimes than just raw temptation. So these words are important as they are allied together. And so when you understand that Jesus is in all points tempted, tested, like as you are, You understand he has walked in your shoes. He did crawl in your sin. You understand the devil did throw everything he could possibly throw at him. And why did God allow that? That he might be a merciful and a faithful high priest who would know what you're going through, who would know how to give you this help, this aid, who would know how to take your hand and guide you safely through. That's why. That's what we see here. So that's huge. But let's go on. We're here in chapter four, verse 15. He was in all points tempted like as we are yet without sin. So verse 16, let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace that we may obtain mercy. What? Stop right there. You just said come boldly to the throne of grace. So you certainly can't say to obtain mercy. What? How can, if obtaining mercy presupposes the sin that I've talked about, presupposes the faults and the failures and the stumblings that I've just talked about, how in the world can you come boldly? Well, I'll tell you, seeing you have a great high priest who has passed into the heavens, you have a king who is ever living to intercede for you, a priest who enters in and is merciful and faithful to you. And so yes, you can come boldly, even though the first thing you have to acknowledge is, oh God, I need your mercy. I need you to remember the man at your right hand, his righteousness. I need a fresh cleansing of the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. And Father, I have to confess that the grace to help in time of need that I'm about to ask for, that much of it's my own doing, that I got myself in this mess. But you never told me that disqualifies me from your help. You never made me my savior. You are my savior. You are my Lord. You are my deliverer from start to finish. So that's the reality. We can come boldly. Yes, we have to obtain mercy. Yes, too, we can find grace to help in time of need. I don't know if you know this, the word there for find is a Greek word, and I'll just tell you a word that we have that we derive from that Greek word, eureka. Right? I found it! Eureka. The grace that we find in time of need is the eureka grace. It's the find of just exactly what we need when we need it. Because he knows better than ours than we do. His wisdom is guiding all that we go through. So what a glorious thing. We have the greatest of high priests. And so yes, he is merciful. And this verse 15 shows us how far that mercy goes. And by the way, the same thing is true in chapter two and verse 18, wherein that he himself has suffered being tempted slash tested, he is able to aid, help those who suffer, those who are tempted. But then also, Not just this word merciful, but also the word faithful. He is a merciful and he is a faithful high priest. Now faithfulness has the idea of there being a standard or an objective that is met, that is not failed in, you see. So in order for him to be a faithful high priest, then the work that God gave him to do for our souls, he cannot fail in that work. Psalm 55 backs this up with God saying he will never suffer his faithfulness to fail. So every purpose of this high priest for our everlasting welfare, our welfare in time and our welfare in eternity is going to be fulfilled without fail. Well that leads us to the last consideration and that is his performance. All right, so what have we learned? We learned that he became a man in order to be for us a merciful and faithful high priest. So now we ask these questions. What did he do? And what does he continue to do? So look at verse 14 here in chapter two. In as much then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, he himself likewise shared in the same, Now note these words, that through death, he might destroy him who had the power of death, that is the devil, and release those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage. So what did he do? Through that suffering of death, he conquered our greatest enemy. He conquered the wicked one. He conquered all our enemies. He conquered the devil. He conquered the world that is under his dominion. And look how we are described, by the way, in verse 15. He doesn't just say, and release us. He says, and release those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage. Now, I was thinking about that, and maybe you would say this, maybe you'd say, well, you know, in my case, it doesn't seem like to be the greatest of fears. I don't really fear death. But think about it, aren't all our fears in a sense subcategories of that or derivatives of that ultimate fear? Because all the other fears you see, we are fearing in some way for our own welfare, our own well-being. right now. Will we, as it were, be okay in this life? And the devil knows how to take this seed of fear and make an awful lot of ground out of it. Yes, the fear of death, but also the fear of a dead life, or the fear that you're going to be destitute because you're going to lose your job, or this or that's going to happen. The fear of being embarrassed, or the fear of being mocked, or the fear of being insignificant. or the fear of being rejected, or the fear of being sick with an incurable disease, or the fear of being laughed at, or the fear of being alone, and on and on you could go. All their lifetime subject to bondage. So you see there are a lot of derivative fears and they have a lot of power. And the devil wants to do everything he can to make our lives miserable and to put a huge question mark over whether God can be trusted by making use of fear. The devil is in the business of bondage. 2 Timothy 2.26, the apostle is talking there about ministering to people in their need, and he says this, he says, and that they may come to their senses, you're gonna minister God's truth and seek the power of the spirit to minister that, and that they may come to their senses and escape the snare of the devil. having been taken captive by him to do his will." The devil is in the bondage business. He is in the business in whatever way, shape, or form works best for you, in whatever way, shape, or form finds your greatest weakness, he is seeking to, as it were, keep you a captive, put you in bondage, make your thoughts miserable, and consumed with trouble rather than with victory. But what does verse 15 say to us? It says we are released, that Jesus came to destroy him who had the power of death, that is the devil, and release or deliver or set free those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage. We are liberated by the work of the Lord Jesus Christ. Because you see, the Lord Jesus, he broke the power of the devil's curse. He took the blow on himself. I was thinking of just the picture in C.S. Lewis's Chronicles of Narnia, that in the lion, the witch, and the wardrobe, that one of the children has done wrong, has sinned, and the white witch says, I've got a right to a kill. I have got a right as a result of that offense to take out justice. But what happens, you learn through the story, is that Aslan himself, the lion of the tribe of Judah, stands in his place and the blow falls on him. He takes the blow. A couple of weeks ago on Easter Sunday, we were talking about this man who had just lost his wife and was trying to explain to his children, you know, how, what all this means and what his mother has just gone through and where she is. And you remember that they are driving by a big tractor trailer truck and they're in the shadow of that truck. And he just, he asked his son, would you rather be hit by the truck or by the shadow? And he says, by the shadow. And he said, because Jesus was hit by the truck, we get only the shadow. Jesus broke the power of the devil's curse. He said of the devil, this is your hour and the power of darkness. And then he died on the cross and he vanquished that power and he set us free. He set us free. And so we get only the shadow, the devil is defeated. And so what does scripture then say to us? Christ was manifest to destroy the works of the devil. 1 John 3, greater is he who is in you than he that is in the world. Christ is the stronger than the strong man and he vanquishes his foe. He has won the liberty and the battle for us. So the devil is still prowling around. but his death warrant has been signed, his power vanquished by Jesus Christ and the truth of the gospel. But by the way, that power has to be used. That power has to be entered into, that truth applied, that armor of Ephesians 5 put on, or Ephesians 6, excuse me, that sword of the spirit wielded, that devil resisted. Scripture says, whom resists steadfast in the faith, believing what is true of who God is, of what Jesus has done, of who you are in Christ, and of the victory that Christ has won in your behalf, that you are liberated, that you are delivered. So whom resist steadfast in the faith, resist the devil and he will flee from you. We have that victory in the Lord Jesus Christ. So what else did he do and what else does he do? Verse 17. 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. So he's making propitiation for our sins. Now what's that mean? This was the most fascinating thing that I studied in preparing to minister this passage. If you, again, take those 20 different versions that I told you about, you would find the translation here, propitiation, reconciliation, atonement, expiation, take away sins, But do you know that this, the word in the original language here appears only twice in all the New Testament. Right here, where, you know, translators are having a hard time settling on something, okay? Right here, you know where the other place is? It's in Luke chapter 18, where the Lord Jesus tells a parable about two men who went up to the temple to pray. And those two men, you had a Pharisee who was pretty pleased with himself and was breaking his arm, patting himself on the back, you know. And Lord, I thank you that I'm not like this guy and let me name off all his sins while I'm at it. And then let me just impress you with how much that I have done. He's the guy who doesn't get it at all. And then there is a publican. Among the Jews, the worst of the worst. And Jesus Christ says he won't even look, lift his eyes to heaven. He smites upon his breast and all he can say is, God, be merciful to me, a sinner. And Jesus says that man goes to his house justified. Well, do you know what the word here? The word here is to make propitiation for us. You know where that is in that passage I just mentioned in Luke? It's in the words, be merciful. Be merciful. It has such a full range of meaning, whether it's propitiation, appeasing the wrath of God, expiation, washing away our sins, whether it's reconciliation, bringing us back together with God, whether it's atonement and paying the debt of sin, whichever picture there, what it really is, is because Jesus has done his work. God looks on you and me and says, the only response I have to you is mercy. is mercy, mercy for your eternity, mercy for your life, mercy for your every day. That's what this high priest is securing for us. Mercy, mercy at the hand of God every day and all day long. What a powerful reality of what Jesus has done for us as our high priest. Maybe the simplest thing this passage tells us that He does and is still doing is He helps us. He helps us. He helps us in anything, he helps us in everything that we need. Verse 16, he does not give aid to angels, he gives aid to the seed of Abraham, those who have believed as Abraham did. And then verse 18, for in that he himself has suffered being tempted or tested, he's able to aid or help those who are tempted. So what is he doing? He is helping us, he is aiding us. Verse 16, he has taken our hand and he's walking through everything with us and he will give us that well-timed help. Grace to give us well-timed help from Hebrews chapter four. This is what he's done. So what does this passage mean to us? What means to us that God, the Son, dwelling in the perfection of the eternal glory in the presence of Father and Holy Spirit, took on our human nature forever to suffer. to come and to be the high priest, to do the work, but to do it with his own blood, to also be the lamb of God so that he qualifies himself to be your merciful, your faithful high priest, to be to you your help in every single need. That's what he came to do. He came to be that. So this is why no matter what his Romans tells us, we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. We have a merciful and a faithful high priest who ever lives to intercede for us before God, who secures for us his mercy at all times and his grace to help in every need. There's just none like Jesus. He's the captain of our salvation and may we trust him every day and all day long. Let's bow in prayer, let's all pray. Oh Father, how we bless you today that you have given us your only begotten son. Lord, we think back when Abraham was asked to offer Isaac. And Isaac asked the question, Father, I see the, here's the wood, here's the fire, everything is here, but where's the lamb for the burnt offering? And Abraham by faith says, God will provide himself a lamb for the burnt offering. Father, how we thank you. We could have never asked for it, but you gave us your only begotten son. You gave us your son to be the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. So we thank you, we praise you, and oh God, I pray let us not be backward into entering into all the help, which is all the help we'll ever need, that Jesus is there to provide. Thank you, because there is no greater high priest. Let us trust him, let us walk with him, let us love him, let us worship him. Let us know his presence every day. We ask it in Jesus' name.