For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence, draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
– Hebrews 4:15–16
These are two of my favorite verses in the whole Bible. This picture of Jesus as a sympathetic High Priest. What does that mean?
Hebrews 4:15–16 teaches us about the empathy of Christ in our weaknesses.
Well, there’s an illustration I’ve used before that I think is helpful for bringing this text to life in many ways. So there’s a musical term that the Oxford Companion to Music calls sympathetic resonance. It’s a term that’s used to describe how if you have two pianos in the same room, you can play a note on one of them, like hit middle C on one piano and the strings in the other piano gently respond with that same note. It’s awesome. You play a note on one piano and there is a resonance on the other piano with that same note, with those same strings that correspond with the note you played. It’s sympathetic resonance.
And when I think about that musical dynamic, I can’t help but to think about the wonder of this spiritual dynamic. What Hebrews 4:15–16 is saying is that when you and I in our humanity face a temptation. Or walk through a trial, experience an emotion or a test, we are not alone. We have a Savior in heaven who is human just like us. Not just was human, but is human in heaven just like us. And when we experience this temptation… Or this sorrow or this sadness or trial or suffering, Jesus in heaven resonates with us. When you are hurting, you have a Savior in heaven who hurts with you.
Hebrews 4:15–16 teaches us the readiness of God to extend mercy.
When you are tempted, you have a Savior in heaven who was tempted just like you are. Yet he did not give into that temptation and he will give you everything you need to overcome that temptation. And as you walk through that trial, as you experience that emotion… You have a Savior in heaven who knows how you feel. He promises to help you as you walk through that. This is why verse 16 says, “Let’s then draw near to this throne of grace with confidence. Why? Because we know that the Savior who’s there will give us mercy and grace to help us in our time of need.”
Is that not awesome news? I don’t know what you’re going through in your life. Or what you’re tempted with. I don’t know what you’re struggling with. I don’t know what’s heavy on your heart. But I do want you to know that for all who trust in Jesus, you have a sympathetic High Priest in heaven who knows how you feel. He knows what you’re experiencing, and he promises to give you everything you need to help you in your time of need.
This verse reminds us of the humanity of our High Priest.
Oh Jesus, we praise you as our sympathetic High Priest. We praise you for your humanity, for you knowing how we feel. For your knowing what it’s like to be tempted. Your knowing what it’s like to experience trial and sorrow and sadness and endure suffering. Lord, we praise you that you are like us in this way, yet without sin. We praise you for your perfection. We praise you for your perfect endurance amidst every temptation, your perfect endurance through every trial. And so we pray for help in our times of need.
And things go on in my life, and things go on in each one of our lives. God, we need your grace and your mercy, and we praise you for your promise to give us the grace and mercy we need today, even the promise of new mercies every morning are available from your throne of grace. So we look to you now and we pray for all the things going on in our lives, the things we’re tempted by, the trials we’re walking through, God, we pray for grace and mercy. And we praise you for making it possible through Jesus, our sympathetic High Priest.
Prayer for the Daizhan People
God, we pray for people who don’t know Jesus in this way, have never even heard of Jesus in this way. Lord for the Daizhan people of China today, we pray for this small people, a group of 14,000 people in Yunnan province, no known followers of Jesus among them. God, we pray that the Daizhan people would be reached with the good news of grace and mercy. In Jesus, the sympathetic High Priest caused the gospel to go to them, we pray, and use our lives as your church toward that end. In Jesus’ name, we pray all this according to your Word, which we love, in Hebrews 4:15–16. Amen.
David Platt serves as a Lead Pastor for McLean Bible Church. He is also the Founder of Radical, an organization that makes Jesus known among the nations.
David received his B.A. from the University of Georgia and M.Div., Th.M., and Ph.D. from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. Some of his published works include Radical, Radical Together, Follow Me, Counter Culture, Something Needs to Change, Don’t Hold Back, and How to Read the Bible.
He lives in the Washington, D.C. metro area with his wife and children.
