The Great High Priest Who Is Our Friend
(Jeremiah 31:31-34; Psalm 51:1-12; Hebrews 5:5-10; John 12:20-33)
In our Bible study, we recently finished watching and discussing a series of videos about the major figures of the Reformation, some of whom are John Wycliffe, Jan Hus, Martin Luther, Huldrych Zwingli, William Tyndale, John Calvin, Felix Manz, Conrad Grebel, and Michael Sattler.
One of the major issues of the Reformation was who had direct access to God. Catholicism, which was the only form of orthodox Christianity in the Western world before the Reformation, believed and taught a hierarchy of access to God. The hierarchy began with Jesus; then moved to Peter, on whom Jesus had stated he would build his church and to whom he gave the keys of the kingdom of heaven (Mt 16:18-19); then to the Pope; then to the bishops; then to the priests; then, finally, to the lay people. Lay people could not go directly to God themselves (except through the prayers given to them by the Church, such as the Lord’s Prayer and the Hail Mary, among others). Instead, they had to go to their priests, who were the intermediaries between the lay people and God.
The reformers, however, through their study of scripture, came to understand that lay people didn’t need an intermediary because they already had a priest in Jesus. Not only was Jesus their priest, he was designated by God to be the Great High Priest (Heb 5:10). Through the centuries of Christianity, orthodoxy and tradition had come to be the final authority, over and above scripture. The reformers reclaimed the Bible as the final authority over and above orthodoxy and tradition. The Bible claimed Jesus as Great High Priest. No other priest is necessary. All Christians have direct access to God through Jesus. What a gift! We can go directly to God through Jesus! He is our High Priest.
Now, what do you think of when you think of a great high priest? I think of someone in an elaborate “uniform” and with a serious demeanor. I think of someone who is an imposing authority figure. But Jesus isn’t that kind of priest. He is the Great High Priest who is, also, our friend. As the hymn states, “What a friend we have in Jesus.”[1] And, in John 15:15, Jesus says, “I have called you friends, for everything I learned from my Father I have made known to you.” We don’t have a great high priest who is an imposing authority figure with a serious demeanor and wearing an elaborate uniform; we have a great high priest who is our friend. Jesus loves us, and wants us to bring everything to him in prayer, for prayer is the way we can talk to our friend now that he is no longer with us in body. Prayer is the way we telephone, text, message, Snapchat, and email our friend, Jesus, who is, also, our Great High Priest.
In the Gospel According to John passage read today, Jesus tells Andrew and Phillip, “[U]nless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain; but if it dies, it bears much fruit” (12:24). Now, Jesus was referring to his upcoming crucifixion: He would have to die and be buried in order to be resurrected into new life, just as a grain of wheat must be buried before it can produce new wheat. But the image of something falling away to be buried in the earth so that it can produce new life applies to us, too. There are parts of us and our lives that are ready to be released and buried so that they may produce something new and fruitful. Really, that is what the Lenten Season is all about: recognizing those parts of us and our lives that are not fruitful, letting those parts go, and giving them to God so that God can take them, bury them, and allow new life to spring forth from them.
That is what we can do during this worship service as we engage in a time of healing prayer. Rose and I are here to listen to your prayer request, lay hands on you, and pray for you as you release the grains of wheat in yourselves and your lives that are ready to be given to God to be buried and produce new, fruitful life.
Jesus, our Great High Priest who is our friend, waits for us to bring to him our sins and griefs, our trials and temptations, our troubles and discouragements, so that they may be buried, like grains of wheat, only to, ultimately, produce new and fruitful life. “Jesus knows our every weakness. Take it to the Lord in prayer.”[2] Amen.
Sermon preached by Rev. Amy Johnson, Canton Community Baptist Church, Canton, CT, Sunday, March 18, 2018, the Fifth Sunday in Lent and a Healing Prayer Service.
[1] Hymn: “What a Friend We Have in Jesus.” https://www.hymnal.net/en/hymn/h/789
[2] Hymn: “What a Friend We Have in Jesus.” https://www.hymnal.net/en/hymn/h/789
(Jeremiah 31:31-34; Psalm 51:1-12; Hebrews 5:5-10; John 12:20-33)
In our Bible study, we recently finished watching and discussing a series of videos about the major figures of the Reformation, some of whom are John Wycliffe, Jan Hus, Martin Luther, Huldrych Zwingli, William Tyndale, John Calvin, Felix Manz, Conrad Grebel, and Michael Sattler.
One of the major issues of the Reformation was who had direct access to God. Catholicism, which was the only form of orthodox Christianity in the Western world before the Reformation, believed and taught a hierarchy of access to God. The hierarchy began with Jesus; then moved to Peter, on whom Jesus had stated he would build his church and to whom he gave the keys of the kingdom of heaven (Mt 16:18-19); then to the Pope; then to the bishops; then to the priests; then, finally, to the lay people. Lay people could not go directly to God themselves (except through the prayers given to them by the Church, such as the Lord’s Prayer and the Hail Mary, among others). Instead, they had to go to their priests, who were the intermediaries between the lay people and God.
The reformers, however, through their study of scripture, came to understand that lay people didn’t need an intermediary because they already had a priest in Jesus. Not only was Jesus their priest, he was designated by God to be the Great High Priest (Heb 5:10). Through the centuries of Christianity, orthodoxy and tradition had come to be the final authority, over and above scripture. The reformers reclaimed the Bible as the final authority over and above orthodoxy and tradition. The Bible claimed Jesus as Great High Priest. No other priest is necessary. All Christians have direct access to God through Jesus. What a gift! We can go directly to God through Jesus! He is our High Priest.
Now, what do you think of when you think of a great high priest? I think of someone in an elaborate “uniform” and with a serious demeanor. I think of someone who is an imposing authority figure. But Jesus isn’t that kind of priest. He is the Great High Priest who is, also, our friend. As the hymn states, “What a friend we have in Jesus.”[1] And, in John 15:15, Jesus says, “I have called you friends, for everything I learned from my Father I have made known to you.” We don’t have a great high priest who is an imposing authority figure with a serious demeanor and wearing an elaborate uniform; we have a great high priest who is our friend. Jesus loves us, and wants us to bring everything to him in prayer, for prayer is the way we can talk to our friend now that he is no longer with us in body. Prayer is the way we telephone, text, message, Snapchat, and email our friend, Jesus, who is, also, our Great High Priest.
In the Gospel According to John passage read today, Jesus tells Andrew and Phillip, “[U]nless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain; but if it dies, it bears much fruit” (12:24). Now, Jesus was referring to his upcoming crucifixion: He would have to die and be buried in order to be resurrected into new life, just as a grain of wheat must be buried before it can produce new wheat. But the image of something falling away to be buried in the earth so that it can produce new life applies to us, too. There are parts of us and our lives that are ready to be released and buried so that they may produce something new and fruitful. Really, that is what the Lenten Season is all about: recognizing those parts of us and our lives that are not fruitful, letting those parts go, and giving them to God so that God can take them, bury them, and allow new life to spring forth from them.
That is what we can do during this worship service as we engage in a time of healing prayer. Rose and I are here to listen to your prayer request, lay hands on you, and pray for you as you release the grains of wheat in yourselves and your lives that are ready to be given to God to be buried and produce new, fruitful life.
Jesus, our Great High Priest who is our friend, waits for us to bring to him our sins and griefs, our trials and temptations, our troubles and discouragements, so that they may be buried, like grains of wheat, only to, ultimately, produce new and fruitful life. “Jesus knows our every weakness. Take it to the Lord in prayer.”[2] Amen.
Sermon preached by Rev. Amy Johnson, Canton Community Baptist Church, Canton, CT, Sunday, March 18, 2018, the Fifth Sunday in Lent and a Healing Prayer Service.
[1] Hymn: “What a Friend We Have in Jesus.” https://www.hymnal.net/en/hymn/h/789
[2] Hymn: “What a Friend We Have in Jesus.” https://www.hymnal.net/en/hymn/h/789
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