Take the Hand – Hebrews 4:12-16

A text – Hebrews 4:12-16

¹² Indeed, the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing until it divides soul from spirit, joints from marrow; it is able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart. ¹³ And before him no creature is hidden, but all are naked and laid bare to the eyes of the one to whom we must render an account.

¹⁴ Since, then, we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast to our confession. ¹⁵ For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who in every respect has been tested as we are, yet without sin. ¹⁶ Let us therefore approach the throne of grace with boldness, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

A reflection:

Have you ever read stories of Jesus and been surprised that he was willing to cut people down to size, even be rude to them? Or be willing to ignore someone? In this New Testament letter to a Jewish congregation, the author is reminding them that the word of God is living and active and sharp! Before him nothing is hidden, and he can cut through anything.

So if there are no secrets from God, if our thoughts and deeds are all exposed, then, given how awfully we behave sometimes, how can we hold our heads up? How can we earn our way to heaven? How can we be even as good as the rich young man in Monday’s story who claimed he’d followed all the commandments all his life?  The writer of this letter says nothing is hidden from God, to whom we must render an account. We cannot earn, by perfect (or even average) behavior, a pass into heaven.

But we have an advocate, someone in the court of God the Almighty who is God, but who also has been human and can sympathize with our lives and our behaviors. Prayer to this advocate will never go unheard or unacted upon. In fact, we are urged to be bold about it. This advocate actually likes us and will be delighted if we come to him. He actually gave his life so that we COULD come to him and be saved. For God, nothing is impossible. He would love our boldly coming to him for help. That’s why he did what he did.

God loves us, became human for us, so that we could actually claim a relationship, and deepen that relationship to bear fruit in our life and in the world God loves. Is God bigger and greater than we can imagine? Yes. Is God justified in saying we haven’t earned our way into anything? Yes. But is God holding out a hand to us so that we can be lifted into relationship into eternity? Yes.  Take the hand.

A prayer:

Lord God, Thank you for loving us. Thank you for loving humans enough to become one of us and be our advocate. You are big and we are small, yet you love us beyond what we could ever earn. Help us to be grateful and grab your hand whenever we need it.  Amen.