My Favorite Verses - Vol III (Aug 16 to Nov 16)

Hebrews 4:15-16 … The highest Priest
(08/22/2016)
“For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our
weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are
– yet [ultimately] was without sin. Let us then approach the throne of grace with
confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of
need.” ~ unknown (Hebrews 4:15-16)
This verse has often been used by Christians to excuse – if not to openly justify –
their own selfishly sinful choices; to say that it matters not what they have done to
others, as long as they bow down to Jesus and beg his forgiveness for the same. Of
course, I do not read it in this way at all … To me, this passage reminds us that Jesus
was indeed a human being (Acts 2:22 & Mark 10:18 et al) – a man who suffered from
the same temptations as the rest of us, a man who even occasionally succumbed to
those temptations, and yet also a man who transcended those temptations in
magnificently resolute and highly noble fashions. He does not show us in the Bible a
state of perfection to which we cannot hope to arrive, but rather shows us a state of
perfect Love that each & every one of us can indeed attain ... Indeed, any true Master
is not “above” us at all, but rather has already experienced the Truths we ourselves
seek to know – and reminds us that we too can tread where he or she has already gone.
And indeed, in order to experience
transcendence to True Self, we must start from a
place of ego – we must start from a place of sin
(being selfish, succumbing to whim or temptation).
As such, the true Master cannot have true
Compassion for sinners unless he/she has already
experienced the pain of sinning – the torment
inherently felt by every sinner. The Master knows
that no one needs mercy administered from any
external source – not from others, not from that
Master, not even from God Itself. Only the Mercy
that we give ourselves can have any significant
impact on our journey -- only the Mercy that we
give ourselves when we reach out to Care for
others in our own times of intense fear or dire
need. For this is only sermon of the highest Priest
who resides within us, and this is the only Grace
that continually guides us from within – the only
Grace that leads us Home through all our times of
trial & all our times of trembling.
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