God's representatives

Every high priest is a man chosen to represent other people in their dealings with God. He presents their gifts to God and offers sacrifices for their sins. And he is able to deal gently with ignorant and wayward people because he himself is subject to the same weaknesses. That is why he must offer sacrifices for his own sins as well as theirs. And no one can become a high priest simply because he wants such an honor. He must be called by God for this work, just as Aaron was. Hebrews 5:1-4 NLT

From the text, the writer of Hebrews is describing what the high priest does. The high priest is responsible to represent the people before God. The high priest acts as go-between between God and man in matters related to spirituality. The position of a high priest is endowed by God. He should show compassion to sinners for after all, it is the sinners they will be representing before God by offering sacrifices on their behalf. To have someone stand to serve as man’s representative before God shows how alienated we are before God. This is what our Lord Jesus Christ fulfilled: bridging the gap that separates man from God. Jesus did this when He came in this world; He suffered, died, and raised from the dead. He is the final one who fulfilled His priestly role who offered both sacrifice and mediation between man and God. Those who received God’s grace and forgiveness and surrendered their lives to Jesus as Lord and Savior now shares with Jesus His priestly role. “You are coming to Christ, who is the living cornerstone of God’s temple. He was rejected by people, but he was chosen by God for great honor. And you are living stones that God is building into his spiritual temple. What’s more, you are his holy priests. Through the mediation of Jesus Christ, you offer spiritual sacrifices that please God” (1 Peter 2:4-5). Because of our standing before God, we must realize our roles. In order for us to be effective in the task that God gave us, we must regularly commune with God. We need to be connected with others for in this way, we identify with the needs and concerns of others. Life is not smooth sailing and to be isolated and detached from others will only intensify the feelings of loneliness and hopelessness. Our life experiences, challenges, failures, and victories provide us realities that convey to us that we are not that different from others for they too go through with what we go through in life. When we are in tune with our inner self and on how God is transforming us daily, we are able to deal with others gently. Our salvation experience should not deceive us into thinking that we are better than others. “Don’t think you are better than you really are. Be honest in your evaluation of yourselves, measuring yourselves by the faith God has given us” (Romans 12:3).

Blessings,