The Book of Hebrews 5:1-10 "The Order of Melchizedek"

Good morning, and thank you for reading and I apologize for the surprising interruption there. We're going to continue our study in the book of Hebrews today in the passage that Courtney read for us, 5, 1 through 10. Hello? I've got it turned on here, so... You're not hearing it there? Hello? Jesus, I am testing, testing, Alright, well we will begin in this passage of Hebrews 5, 1-10 that Courtney read for us here. One of the things we mentioned previously is that Hebrews is like a fine tapestry.

You'll find themes that continue to run through it. And they surface at one point, and then surface again, and then come out sometime later. Varying durations for each of those themes. Some undertones as well. Things that are not necessarily a theme, but are nonetheless brought out.

Jesus is the Son, capital S. for most of chapters 1-10, the high priest for most of chapters 2-9, and today of course is one of those chapters. We're going to continue to see the theme come up and be built upon as we proceed through the study of the book.

Angels are only in the first two and the last two chapters, 1, 2, 12, and 13. And resting is only in chapters 3, so it's not like there's some across-the-board pattern. There is in fact a pattern of sections carrying on a theme for varying durations. Included in this fine tapestry is seeing Christ and looking at Jesus in chapters 2 and 12. I won't try to put up 12 fingers.

And then another thing, and this is more of a kind of an undertone, it's not so much a theme, but we mentioned before the book of Hebrews has a number of nautical, that is shipping, terms and athletic terms scattered throughout the book. Very interesting pattern.

One of the things we point out before is there's a pattern of five cycles of first explanation and then exhortation. That being the case, today in our passage Hebrews 5, 1-10, we're at the end of an explanation, which means the next part will be exhortation from Hebrews 5, 11-6, 12. So fairly lengthy by comparison. exhortation period coming up here. So we're finishing up explanation. You're going to see in today's passage, it's all explanation. It's all simply explaining something, not urging or calling people to do or not do something.

Now, we have a return to the high priest theme. It came up first in chapter 2. The audiences that this letter is directed to are leaning towards returning to their dependence on the temple sacrificial system. to going back to that in which the high priest, the Jewish high priest, represents the people before God. They are the people of Israel. So we started in Hebrews 12, 17 to see this high priest theme and continued on through chapters 3 and 4. Here in the first 10 verses, we see the high priest brought up by name or title in Hebrews 5, 1 through 10.

And then we'll continue to see it in the next chapter. Hebrews 620. The next chapter we will also see the order of Melchizedek, as Courtney read for us, come up again and be explained further. Chapter 8, chapter 9, and chapter 13, the last chapter, will also bring that up again.

So this high priest theme is a biggie and the reason for that is because the people were tempted to fall back to the Jewish temple system. They needed to have it clear Christ is our high priest. Therefore, we don't need to go back to the one that we had before. Now here we have on the bottom part of your first page of your handout the passage that Courtney just read for us. I have it here in this form for this reason.

Between verses 1 through 4 and then 5 through 10, there is a variation in theme and focus. And it goes like this, there is a general and focused upon Aaron theme in the first four verses. As a matter of fact, Aaron is mentioned by name. And by the way, when you talk about Aaron, that's not just the temple, that's talking about going out into the wilderness where the tabernacle was located. So he's actually going that far back in his direction. We have here from verses 5 through 10 then an emphasis on Christ as the high priest and why he fits as a high priest.

So we'll go through the passage with that breakdown. Now, as you go through this you may say, but wait! I object! It's okay if you object, we'll talk about it here. Jesus is from the tribe of Judah, and the High Priest has to be from the line of Aaron. Well, let's talk about that. So Jesus as the High Priest is a theme that's woven as a theme in this tapestry from chapter 2 to chapter 13. This passage begins to address, and it's not the end of it, it begins to address a question, this objection, but wait, Jesus is of the tribe of Judah. That doesn't work, okay?

And so as it does, we see clearly that Jesus is of the tribe of Judah. That is in the genealogies in Matthew and in Luke. Hebrews 7.14 even says it is evident It is evident, present tense by the way, it is evident that Jesus is of the tribe of Judah. You see the Jews could go, at the time this book was written, they could go into the temple and on the north side of the temple building was where they kept the genealogical records. And Jews could go in there and check the genealogical records and you could look it up, Jesus is of the tribe of Judah. That's why the author of Hebrews could say, it is evident, present tense.

Revelation 5.5 says that Jesus is the Lion of the tribe of Judah, right? So it is abundantly clear from the first book to the last book of the New Testament, He's of the tribe of Judah. No question about that. But the High Priest in the Jewish system has to be of the tribe of Levi and through the Lion of Aaron within that tribe. Has to be. There's no other way.

This is an artist rendering of Christ as he's described by the Apostle John in Revelation 1 9 through 20. We were looking at this same artist rendering a little bit ago in the Revelation Intensive. What you see is Jesus is presented in a priestly garb there and having various descriptions that also fit those things that are not just that of a priest. And he is referring in the seven stars and the seven lamps to the messengers of the seven churches and to the seven churches themselves. But it's clear here he is pictured as a high priest but not a high priest of the line of Judah because there are some particular marks that are missing.

Here is an artist's rendering of the Jewish high priest who was of the line of Aaron, and this is directly taken from taking the instructions in Exodus 28.1-29.9 that describe how the Jewish high priest must dress. And it begins to describe that high priest's role.

One of the things that you see right in the middle of it, and we'll make a focus on it, is this breastplate or breast piece that has a stone for each of the twelve tribes. Right there on the front of his torso. Here is a more close-up shot of what that might look like, and what you have is a distinctive stone named for each of the twelve tribes. and the names of each one of those tribes inscribed on the front of that stone. So that was the pattern, the breastplate or breast piece that he had. And so the high priest was to wear this when he stood in the role as a high priest, and he must have this on him. He represents the tribes of Israel. That's the purpose for having that on there.

Now, what you have starting in verse 1, is high priest principles. One of the things to remind you, a principle is either the way things work, or a fundamental truth, or both. It can be both together. In this case, I think what we're talking about is both. It's a fundamental truth that's being laid out, the way things work, and the way things are to work, because how the high priest works is something laid out in scripture, and those two are combined. So that's what we mean when we say principles. So the author of Hebrews is explaining some of these key principles regarding the person and the position.

The person and the position, those two had to go together, of the high priest. And both qualifications must be met. The high priest is appointed from among human males, only a human male. However, particularly among the Jews, it had also to be of the tribe of Levi and of the line of Aaron within that tribe. Aaron was Moses' brother.

It had to fit that requirement. The high priest was selected among human beings to represent human beings before God. So he would come before God for himself and for all those that he represented. He was the one who would come before God personally and directly. So, one of the other key things that comes out in this verse is you must be appointed. So the question is, do you have an appointment? Right? Have an appointment. You must have an appointment. Absolutely. Do you have an appointment? That is necessary. Now, why do we say that?

Hebrews 5.1 says that the high priest is appointed. That's point one. And that was certainly true for Aaron because God named him. Aaron your brother is to be the high priest. So the line of that particular high priestly role through Aaron was begun by specific and explicit appointment by God.

What the author of Hebrews makes clear here in Hebrews 5, 4, 6 is that the high priest is never one who is self-appointed. So, do you have an appointment? Yes, and it better not be by yourself. Never self-appointed. It does not happen that way. Self-appointed high priests were always, always a disaster.

It happened out in the tabernacle, out in the wilderness. Korah came in and tried to be high priest and those who were with him were swallowed up by the ground. The ground opened up and down they went. Got to study geology for a little bit. King Saul in 1 Samuel 13 8 through 14 also tried it and it was immediately and I don't mean a little bit later it was immediately after that that King Saul was told Saul you're done we've got another guy appointed to replace you okay yeah you're never going to do this ever again and you're going to be out as king as well okay so a disaster for Saul to have attempted to step into that role. He was king. Did he have authority? Yes. Did he have authority to do that? Absolutely not.

The next was Uzziah, who was king and he was actually of the line of Judah, like Jesus is, but he insisted on going in and he was actually opposed by the priests and the high priest. He came in, he insisted on going in, 2 Chronicles 26, 16-21 records this, and for him it was a different outcome than for Saul. He wasn't going to be replaced, but he got leprosy. And so the account there describes that.

So leprosy was the consequence. What's interesting is that though the consequence was different for Korah, for Saul, and for Uzziah, it was universally disastrous. Okay? Universally disastrous. Anyone who is to be high priest must be called by God to be the high priest. Okay?

Now, Hebrews 5.1 also makes reference to gifts and sacrifices. Let's look at the difference between those. It's going to be easiest to see by first defining sacrifices, even though that's out of order.

Sacrifices were the sacrifices of animals, all given according to the law of Moses. And there were five basic kinds of sacrifices there. which put upon the sacrifice the sins of the one for whom it was offered. In other words, this person's sin was then put upon this animal as a sacrifice, always pointing to Christ. However, you had to keep redoing the sacrifices and redoing the sacrifices and redoing them and doing them again, which is something else brought out later on as a theme in the book of Hebrews.

Gifts, however, was a summary word for all the other offerings that were given that were not the sacrifice of an animal, such as meal offerings, grain offerings, things of that sort. So there are other offerings, aside from the sacrifices, that falls under gifts. So gifts and sacrifices, one of those would be olive oil and frankincense was added to fine flour, no honey or leaven allowed, but a little bit of salt. And so they would have that as one of the meal offerings.

In verse 2, in Hebrews 5.2, there are two words used to describe the people that the high priest represented.

One was ignorant, and we'll call that lack of information. The people lacked information, and so the high priest had to deal with people who lacked information. They were not informed. The next was misguided, which is a different thing. It means wrong information. See the difference there? One is, I don't have the information. The other is, I've got information. It's the wrong information.

The high priest had to deal with those who might have both or one of them. The intention was that the high priest would be able to sympathize with others and therefore be compassionate and gentle about the many shortcomings of the people he represented. The high priest was supposed to be able to relate to people and their shortcomings and their failings and their flaws. And so that's how he was selected from among men to represent them to God. So there was that personal aspect, that aspect of character was required of the high priest. The next, the way in which the high priest would be inclined to sympathize with others was that he himself as a human being also understood his own weaknesses and vulnerabilities.

Now, not all high priests did. I'd say Caiaphas is a good example of not understanding his own weaknesses and vulnerabilities. Unfortunately, during New Testament times, the high priests were all of the group of the Sadducees. And the Sadducees, of course, didn't believe in a Messiah, didn't believe in a resurrection, they didn't believe very much, except that they had to be in charge.

Now, verse 3 talks about sacrifices for sins. The high priest offers, among his many duties, sacrifices for the sins of the many people he represents. Also for himself so when he's offering a sacrifice. He isn't just saying okay I'm offering a sacrifice as these sure are a bunch of sinful people out there Okay, but instead he's saying I'm offering the sacrifice for all these sinful people and this sinful person here Okay, that was supposed to be his perspective. He was offering the sacrifice for himself and for them before God While those sacrifices by the high priests are called for by God himself, I mean here the law actually says you must do this. So it was from God that the high priest was qualified and directed to do these things.

They have to be done year in and year out and all over again. Here is a picture of the Jewish calendar when you notice it's in a circle, and that's on purpose. It's this circular, cyclical pattern again and again and again and again. It's like you have this déjà vu experience. I've been here before, right? again and again, and Hebrews will shortly, will soon see, make that very point.

You have to keep making sacrifices again and again and again, and not as Christ did, it is finished. Once done, perpetually valid. None of the sacrifices for the high priest were ever final or once for all. Not only that, but the high priest, when he was done at the end of his career, What's going to happen? Another one will come and they keep doing it again and again and again. Because the sacrifices never get it done. Why? They point to Christ, only Christ will get it done. Right? Only Christ will get it done. Now, called by God.

No high priest, but simply volunteers for the position. We made this point before in verses 4, 5, and 6 emphasize that. No high priest appoints himself or simply volunteers for the position. We saw the examples of Korah, of King Saul, and of King Uzziah, and the mistakes they made. Boy, you don't volunteer for this position, especially if you're not qualified.

But, the high priest is qualified by who? By God. God is the one who says, this man is qualified. Called by God to that position, or at least that's the way it's supposed to be. Moses' brother, who was Aaron, he was the one that went in with Moses to the court of Pharaoh, then called out in the wilderness to be the high priest, as an example, is qualified and is called directly by God himself. He was the one where we have an instance of, you know, Moses, you're going to start this line of high priests with Aaron, and he's the one that I, God, appoint. So the appointment is by God himself, called by God into this. In the Jewish system, all high priests must be of the line of Aaron, no exceptions.

Now, interesting thing, this is a little side note, there are two more temples yet to come. Two more. How do the Jews know who's of the line of Aaron now? They don't. Problem. You know who's going to solve that problem? Jesus. He knows. He knows everyone. So in the millennium, where there will be the fourth temple, Jesus will appoint the high priest. Okay.

Here is a picture of a full-scale model tabernacle as it's described in the Old Testament out in the wilderness, which is actually in the very place that they had where they had the tabernacle set up and the high priest Aaron first carried out his duties by appointment. This would be a picture of the inside area of that tabernacle with the inscriptions in it. What is beyond the curtain there and you do not see is the Ark of the Covenant. That would be behind the curtain.

So now we have here in the passage Hebrews 5 1-10 we're transitioning into verse 5 which begins a description of here's how Christ fits the criteria but under a different order and we'll see that here. So verses 5 and 6 are the ones that make the point from scripture and one of them from the pen of David himself that Christ is qualified Not by self-appointment, but by God's appointment to be the High Priest. So let's take a look at verses 5 and 6 there. Alright? Take a look at those. Okay.

The Messiah did not glorify himself. The verses here, 5 and 6, tell us that Christ didn't take on the position as High Priest by self-appointment. That was always disastrous. And even with Uzziah, who was of the line of Judah, as Jesus was, that was a disaster. He ended up with leprosy for that. Christ did not take on his position as high priest by self-appointment or by volunteering to take it on himself.

It came from outside. Now, God the Father appointed him and so what we have to make that point is a quote from Psalm 2 verse 7 and Psalm 110 verse 4. One of the points we made yesterday in the Revelation intensive, and by the way, it's been going well. We've got one more class to go. I've described it to those at the intensive as clothes shopping in an F-16. So anyway, we're zooming quickly, but we pointed out that Psalm 2 is actually a psalm about Christ's first and second comings. And we'll take a look at that shortly here.

Psalm 114, however, is by David. It's written by David. It's about the time from after Christ's first coming, so now, until his second coming. So those two, they cover somewhat similar but not identical periods of time. Now here's the diagram. It's on the top of page 3 in your handout of belief. And it goes like this. Christ's first coming is shown there first on the left.

And we show symbolically Christ's death, burial, resurrection, and ascension. We have immediately following that the Church Age, which time we're in right now. The next sign or event in the Church Age will be the Rapture. During this Church Age, since Christ's first coming, since He ascended and was seated up in the heavenlies, that time up until now Christ serves as high priest.

And so this passage would point to that out of the Psalms. Next you have the rapture which is the taking up of the church if you ever hear someone tell you the word rapture is not in the Bible Yes, it is. It's the Greek word Harpazo rapture is the anglicized Latin form of the word Okay, Harpazo first Thessalonians 4 17. Okay, it is in the Bible. It's just under the Greek word.

That's all next a seven-year tribulation following which at the end of which Christ's second coming takes place and then the millennial kingdom we call it the millennial kingdom because that means millennium for a thousand years Christ will reign on the earth right so to get the picture then what we find is between the Psalm 27 and Psalm 110, four passages, we find from Christ's first coming to his second coming is covered as being the time when Christ would serve, appointed by God as the High Priest. So, in verse 7, it says, "...in the days of his flesh." In Christ's first coming, the days of his flesh, that's not Christ walking in the flesh. Now, don't worry about that, okay? That means on the body like this.

He came as fully God and fully man in his humanity. Christ is fully God and fully man. He didn't stop being God in order to be man. He's now fully God and fully man. That changes Christ's total makeup, being fully man. Christ was therefore as we vulnerable to the pains and limitations of mankind.

I'm hungry. I'm thirsty, I'm tired. He could weep. As a matter of fact, we'll see that. Jesus, upon seeing Jerusalem's dismal past and ghastly future, weeps. In the day that's classically called the triumphal entry, it may not be so triumphal. And one of the indications of that, here's Jesus coming over the Mount of Olives. He sees Jerusalem laid in front of him and he breaks into great sobs. Great Psalms. He is a vulnerable high priest. He is one who understands the things that we face. He doesn't stand off from afar and try to take on that role. He is, as one of us, fully man.

Jesus wept at the death of Lazarus. And what's very interesting, here Jesus is moments away from raising Lazarus. But yet he weeps. Why? because death had entered the world that he created without death. So Jesus wept there. He expressed vulnerability as a human being. And finally, he prayed fervently. There was not only fervent prayer, but evidence of it in sweating, blood-like drops.

And so that's from Luke 22-44. So you have multiple evidences that Christ was vulnerable as we are and well understands the things that we face. Can you imagine knowing full well what it's going to be like to have nails put in your hands have one nail put between your feet and just BOOM between the two of them, nail them into the cross and to take on the sins of the whole world. He anticipated that and increasingly as the time became close was greatly distressed and cried out to the Father and that's what we see here described in the book of Hebrews. He wept, he wept, he prayed fervently and by the way when he prayed John 17, He prayed for you and me. And I don't mean that just figuratively, I mean directly. He prayed for you and me.

One of the things we discovered that was really neat in the very first session of the Revelation Intensive, where it starts right off there in the first chapter, Christ who is constantly loving us. He doesn't just stand afar and say, oh, too bad for those folks. He is one who loves us with compassion. He loves us with compassion.

He was heard, verse 7 says, because of his piety. Having come before God the Father and having been heard out of his humanity there where he prayed fervently. He demonstrated he could approach God the Father and be heard. And this is necessary for a high priest. So Jesus is qualified by his history, yes, he can relate to the vulnerabilities of mankind and He is acceptable to God, to come before God on our behalf. It was his pious, that is, his holy character as he approached God the Father that caused him to be heard. Not anybody can just approach God the Father, but Christ could. Even as a high priest must approach God on behalf of others in order to be heard. Christ had already demonstrated himself capable of approaching God and capable of being heard.

And it says, although he was a son, and that's capital S-O-N, right? Jesus had privilege and glory and honor that he had shared with God the Father and with the Holy Spirit on into eternity past. Before he said, let there be light. He had that privilege and glory and honor, and by the way, love between the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.

All that was there. And he left it. Why? For you and for me. He left it all. He had to learn obedience. When we say learn, it's like, okay, he was ignorant and now all of a sudden he had to learn something. But he had to learn in terms of experiencing it. Actually going through it. This wasn't just hypothetical. This wasn't just a pop quiz. It was actual experience of obeying. And that's exactly what he did.

He said, I do what the Father tells me. I say what the Father tells me. I do the works of my Father. His position with the Father as the Son did not call for his obedience before. But now that he came to planet Earth and having set aside his privilege, he then was obedient to the Father voluntarily. Voluntarily. Which is the perfect example for us. Perfect example for us.

Although He is the Son, Christ lowered Himself upon His incarnation, when He became man, so as to be obedient to the Father in every single way, knowing no exceptions. Doing what the Father said to do, saying what the Father said to say, all the way to the point of death.

When they put the nails in Jesus' hands and His feet, He didn't say, oh no, you've made a terrible mistake! You can't do this, you've got the wrong guy! He didn't do that, did He? Instead, He laid out there and let them put the nails in, even so much so that the centurion said, we've never had anybody like this before. Truly, this was the Son of God. He voluntarily took the nails, let's do this, let's do this. He took them for you and me, obedient to the Father, doing what the Father said to do, saying what the Father said to say, to the point of death.

Now, having been made perfect, verse 9, very important clarification here. The set of words does not imply that Christ was imperfect. as if he had a flaw or two that needed to be corrected. A little touch-up job here, right? That's not what he's talking about. The idea is that Christ's person and work were taken to a place of final completion. That's what's meant. It is the idea of completion, not fixing flaws. See that? Final completion. They fulfilled God's plan. That is why Jesus, before he died, could say, it is finished. As a matter of fact, that was an accounting term. It's all paid. It's all paid. Why? Because he brought the work to completion. He did it in finality. He did what was planned to do. Not fixing flaws, but bringing the work to completion. That's what's meant here by having been made perfect.

Christ lowered himself upon his incarnation to be obedient to the Father in every way, doing what the Father said to do, and saying what the Father said to say, to the point of death, and that was the completion. That was the completion. So the source of eternal salvation, Christ's person and work were not incidental. A little side trip, a detour to the salvation we enjoy, but rather absolutely essential to our eternal salvation.

He didn't just kind of give himself. He didn't have an elective. People have elective surgeries. He didn't have an elective crucifixion, like we can do it or not do it. No, it was absolutely essential. It wasn't a preferred resurrection. It wasn't just, hey, that would be a nice option, a little finishing touch, you know, kind of the icing on the cake. No, it was absolutely essential that he goes through these things. Not God's plan B, not just a little added touch to it, absolutely essential.

No other way. Salvation is focused, excuse me, as a source of eternal salvation, He's the one for us to go to. He's the one for us to go to. We go straight to the source. Why would we go anywhere else? He's fully qualified. As the author of Hebrews has brought out, here is one whom God definitely appointed. He has demonstrated that he can go before God and that God accepts him. He is the source of salvation himself.

The high priests all had to take some other animal and do the sacrifice. Christ was himself the sacrifice. And unlike the high priest where they had to keep sacrificing and sacrificing and sacrificing, Christ could say, for real, it is finished. It's done. He could complete it. He could be the high priest who had already made this final sacrifice.

Salvation is focused upon Christ, whom Hebrews 2.10 is already called, and we'll see it later again in chapter 12, the author of our salvation, and as we see in this passage in verse 9, he is the source. He's the author and the source. That's the right place to go. He's the right one to do it. He's the right one for us to approach as our high priest.

Now verse 10 makes the point he's designated by God. Christ's appointment and designation as the high priest was done by God himself. Verses 5 and 6 have made that point. So, God says, that one. That one. That one. Just Him. That's the right one. Him. There was no self-appointment. You don't have a problem like you have with Korah, or King Saul, or King Uzziah.

As must be with the high priest, God was the one who did the appointing. That was brought out in verses 5 and 6. Because while the high priest must represent other human beings, the high priest must be acceptable to God in order to come before him. A high priest who is not acceptable to God is going to be a disaster. We already know that Jesus, our high priest, is indeed acceptable.

In the final point that's made here in Hebrews 5.10, and we're going to see it again in chapter 7, it's going to be expanded and expounded upon, Melchizedek was a priest who shows up in Genesis 14, 18-24.

We have a picture here by James Tissot, a Swiss artist. Melchizedek had no known ancestry, it's not given, and no lineage that followed him. And we're going to find an interesting characteristic. Christ both has lineage, that's what we see in the Bible, as well as there's another sense spiritually in which there is no lineage so it'll follow that as well we're gonna explore that more and we get into chapter 7 he served as priest for Abraham represented him to God Most High that's a set of words repeated in that passage the Melchizedek priesthood would replace that of Aaron replace that of Aaron since the priest by his lineage never got it done.

Sacrificing again and again and again and again. Nothing final. It never gets it done. But with Christ, it was finished. It was finished. One of the things I'll point out here, and you might have noticed I've got different pieces of artistry and a dramatic presentation that shows the High Priest. This is supposed to be Christ the High Priest in the heavenlies, serving. Okay, so far as it goes, but there are some points that we're going to want to take a look at. What's this? That's the breastplate with the tribes, right? Is Christ our high priest with the breastplate? Wrong answer, right? And I looked high and far to try to find one that didn't have something like this in it.

And the other thing is it's at the Ark of the Covenant here, right? The Ark of the Covenant has what inside? the stones of the law, the tablets. So this is very much under the Mosaic law system. It's not of the order of Aaron but the order of Melchizedek that Christ is under.

That's the point here made in verse 10 and we're going to see again in chapter 7. Christ is our High Priest now for us who are not under the law system, who are not Any of the tribes, unless I'm mistaken, any of the tribes of Israel are represented here. We in the body of Christ are not subject to the law, subject to the law that describes this is what the high priest must wear. Which is why you see in the first chapter of Revelation, the picture that we showed earlier, Jesus shows up in a high priestly garb, but not with his breastplate. For us, for you and I now, he represents us before God. before God the Father he represents us apart from the law according to the order of Melchizedek before the law was given not according to the line of error so we're going to see that some more and there's good purpose in demonstrating this order of the Melchizedek characteristic is as we'll see when we return to this theme and we will We return to this theme.

Christ is our High Priest now, having also been our sacrifice, who could say, in truth, it is finished. It's all done. He gets it done. He already did get it done. He stands before God without sacrifices to have to keep doing and doing and doing. But what he does is he constantly represents us before God.

Isn't that wonderful? this is tremendous truth and we'll see more as we go through the book of Hebrews let's pray Lord we thank you that you you love us having come to earth becoming fully God and fully man and as we look at this role that you have taken on from the time that you ascended you are our high priest representing us and what a marvelous and an awesome thing And beyond that, you did get it done. Right now, the sacrifice that you made some 2,000 years ago, that sacrifice that you made, you can present continuously and effectively before the Father even now. We thank you for that payment made. We thank you for the role that you've taken on because you love us and care for us always. We pray in Jesus name. Amen.