Hebrews 4: 13-16 NIV
Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account. Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has ascended into heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin. Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence (or BOLDNESS KJV), so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.
Nothing in all of creation is hidden from God. He sees it all. He sees our weakness. He sees our struggle. He sees our humanity. And one day, we will stand before God and give account for it all. But, we are blessed beyond measure to live in the day when the very Son of God, Jesus Christ, is alive and has ascended into Heaven and He is our great High Priest!!
The High Priest is the priest who goes before God on behalf of the people. But we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weakness. No, we have Jesus! Who, while on earth, was tempted in every way! Just as we are! Yet, He did not sin. Jesus gets it! When we come to Him in prayer – He empathizes with us! To empathize with someone is to experience empathy. According to Merriam-Webster*, empathy is:
the action of understanding, being aware of, being sensitive to, and vicariously experiencing the feelings, thoughts, and experience of another of either the past or present without having the feelings, thoughts, and experience fully communicated in an objectively explicit manner.
Jesus understands, he is aware of, and sensitive to our feelings, our thoughts, and our experiences!
How powerful to have a High Priest going to God on our behalf that understands our weakness! We are so used to thinking of Jesus as God, which of course He is, we sometimes forget that he lived 33 years on this Earth- He was tempted in every way- He understands us – He has empathy for us!
Amazing! With this knowledge and understanding, let us approach God’s throne with CONFIDENCE and great BOLDNESS! There is nothing we will bring before God that Jesus doesn’t understand! Nothing that He isn’t aware of! Nothing he isn’t sensitive to! Oh what a Savior! Isn’t He wonderful?! What a time to be alive! If we know Jesus will empathize with us, we can bring before Him any issue, any struggle, any concern, any desire and know it is okay to be honest with Him. It’s okay to pour it all out there. It’s okay to confidently and boldly share what we long for and are experiencing. And we do so trusting we will receive His mercy and find His grace to help us in our time of need!
Let us end this year by approaching God with great boldness! Because Jesus has prepared the way for us to do so! He is the great mediator (1Timothy 2:5)! He has torn the veil in two (Matthew 27: 50-51)! He has made a way!
Be encouraged today and seek God with great fervor, confidence, and boldness!
*https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/empathy
