Letter to the Hebrews Volume 41

 Jesus Christ our High Priest Forever Part 2

Hebrews 5:7 Who in the days of His flesh, when He had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto Him that was able to save Him from death, and was heard in that He feared; KJV

The writer of Hebrews now goes on to declare, detail, and describe how the sufferings (for our sins) of our Lord, Master, and Savior Jesus Christ were not out of His supposed weakness (as many a non-believer would acclaim), but instead it was His very own prescribed, prerequisite, or preparatory mission in order that He would be able to much more sympathize with our physical frailty and the weakness of our human flesh, as it is here written, "Who in the days of His flesh, when He had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto Him that was able to save Him from death, and was heard in that He feared;" (Hebrews 5:7) (KJV). It behooved Him that He would become just like His brethren you and I who have become a part of His Mystical Body (the Church) here and now upon the earth, for we have already read this same writers declaration of this fact earlier on in this same letter with these words, "Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, He also Himself likewise took part of the same; that through death He might destroy Him that had the power of death, that is, the devil; And deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage. For verily He took not on Him the nature of angels; but He took on Him the seed of Abraham. Wherefore in all things it behoved Him to be made like unto His brethren, that He might be a merciful and faithful High Priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people. For in that He Himself hath suffered being tempted, He is able to succour them that are tempted." (Hebrews 2:14-18) (KJV).

The whole purpose of our Lord Jesus Christ becoming a Man here on the earth, with the same flesh and blood as we have was twofold: (1) The dominion over the earth (which was given to the first man Adam by God) was lost by the first man Adam's disobedience to God (given over to Satan) and it had to be regained back by another Man (Jesus Christ) who was obedient to God the Father's will for man on the earth, even unto death on the Cross to pay man's sin debt to God, as it is written here by the Apostle Paul, "Therefore as by the offence of one (Adam) judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one (Jesus Christ) the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life. For as by one man's (Adam) disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one (Jesus Christ) shall many be made righteous." (Romans 5:18-19) (KJV). (2) In order for God to be more able to sympathize with the weakness and frailty of the human flesh, but at the same time suffer the physical frailty of the human flesh, then He (God the Son, Jesus Christ) would be a merciful and faithful High Priest unto us because of His passion in the Garden of GETHSEMANE. This is why our Lord Jesus Christ lived as Man on the earth vailing His Glory as God and living as any saved man would live by the Power of the Holy Spirit, for this is the way our Lord Jesus Christ defeated Satan in the wilderness (Luke 4:1-13) and this is why He was is prayer constantly throughout His time in the flesh to God the Father, including in the Garden of Gethsemane.

When the writer of Hebrews declares these words in verse 7, 'He had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto Him that was able to save Him from death', it is here the writer describes the trepidation, that is, the feeling of dread that came over our Lord Jesus Christ that the very hour of His receiving all of the sin of the world upon Him was at hand. The reality of having to come in contact with sin upon Him made Him feel 'very heavy' or 'on the verge of dispair' as the Apostle Matthew wrote. The Gospel writer John Mark gave the same words, but also added to them that He began to be 'sore amazed' or 'to be appalled' or 'He began to be out of Himself'. Then Luke writes that His prayers of strong crying and tears began to put Him in 'agony'. Finally, the very words of our Lord Himself were these, 'My soul is encompassed with sorrow almost up to the point of death'. The angst, anxiety, and agony was also do to the reality sinking in that for the very first and only time God the Father would be separated from God the Son because He (God the Son) had the worlds sin upon Him and we find our Lord Jesus crying out from the Cross with these words as written by the Apostle Matthew, "And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is to say, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" (Matthew 27:46) (KJV).

Here is what Matthew Henry had to say of verse 7, "He took to Him flesh, and for some days tabernacled therein; He became a mortal man, and reckoned His life by days, herein setting us an example how we should reckon ours. Were we to reckon our lives by days, it would be a means to quicken us to do the work of every day in its day. Christ, in the days of His flesh, subjected Himself to death; He hungered, He was a tempted, bleeding, dying Jesus! His Body is now in heaven, but it is a spiritual glorious body. God the Father was able to save Him from death. He could have prevented His dying, but He would not; for then the great design of His wisdom and grace must have been defeated. What would have become of us if God had saved Christ from dying? The Jews reproachfully said, Let Him deliver Him now, if He will have Him, Matthew 27:43. But it was in kindness to us that the Father would not suffer that bitter cup to pass away from Him; for then we must have drunk the dregs of it, and been miserable for ever. Christ, in the days of His flesh, offered up prayers and supplications to His Father, as an earnest of His intercession in heaven. A great many instances we have of Christ's praying. This refers to His prayer in His agony (Matthew 26:39, and Matthew 27:46), and to that before His agony (John 17) which He put up for His disciples, and all who should believe on His name. The prayers and supplications that Christ offered up were joined with strong cries and tears, herein setting us an example not only to pray, but to be fervent and importunate in prayer. How many dry prayers, how few wet ones, do we offer up to God! Christ was heard in that He feared. How? Why He was answered by present supports in and under His agonies, and in being carried well through death, and delivered from it by a glorious resurrection: He was heard in that He feared. He had an awful sense of the wrath of God, of the weight of sin. His human nature was ready to sink under the heavy load, and would have sunk, had He been quite forsaken in point of help and comfort from God; but He was heard in this, He was supported under the agonies of death. He was carried through death; and there is no real deliverance from death but to be carried well through it. We may have many recoveries from sickness, but we are never saved from death till we are carried well through it. And those that are thus saved from death will be fully delivered at last by a glorious resurrection, of which the resurrection of Christ was the earnest and first-fruits."
 
If you do not know the Lord Jesus Christ and His amazing healing power, pray this from your heart to the Lord Jesus Christ (you speaking directly to Him), Dear Lord Jesus, I confess to You that I am a sinner and I need Your forgiveness. I believe You shed Your Blood and died for my sins. I believe that You rose from the dead proving that You alone are God. I repent of my sins. I want to turn from my sins. I ask You Dear Lord Jesus to come into my heart and take control of my life. I want You to be my Lord, Savior, and my God. Amen...


Sincerely in Christ,


Clifford D. Tate, Sr.


Author of “Silent Assassins of the Soul - Are you Broken by Pornography and Masturbation? You can be Restored by the Lord Jesus Christ and brought into Deliverance, Freedom, and Victory! A Guide for Men and Women in the Enemy’s Crosshairs” e-book available now @ Amazon Kindle, @ Apple I Bookstore for IPod, Barnes and Noble for Nook, Reader Store for Sony Reade, Kobo, Copia, Gardners, Baker and Taylor, and eBookPie…