The Pulpit Commentary — Hebrews — Section 204

him. 1. The nature of this approach. It is not merely intellectual-the apprehension of tho truth concerning him. It is a sympathetic and vital approach to him. It i3 coming to him in humble penitence for our sin that we may obtain for"ivcness • in grateful affection to him for his great love towards us ; and in earnest d;sire to ~bey and serve him. 2. The medium of this approach. "Through him," i.e. Jesns Christ; because (l) he removes the obstacles which prevented our approach to God. Onr guilty fears, and our unworthy suspicions concerning the Father, he banishes. (2) He presents attractions which cnconrage our approach to God. He reveals the willin<7ne 118 of the heavenly Father to receive and welcome and bless us. "JesL1s saith, I am" the Way,and the Truth, and the Life: no one cometh unto the Father, but by Me." Thus our subject supplies strong encouragement (1) to the Christian believer to "press on unto perfection;" and (2) to the awakened sinner to draw near unto God throu"h Christ in assured hope of complete ealvation.-W. J. " Vers. 26-28.-The High Priest in whom man's need i, met. "For such a High Priest became us, holy, harmless," etc. By way of introduction let us glance at three truths which are either expressed or implied in the text. 1. That man needs a high priest. (1) As the offerer of sacrifices on his behalf. The awakened conscience, sensible of its guilt, feeling that sin merits suffering, cries out for sacrifice for its sin. (2) As his representative with God. The sinner who is alive to his own character and condition feels that he needs some one to represent him with the holy God. 2. That the high priest who wcndd satisfactorily meet man's need should possess certain qualities. Any priest will not do. There should be a fitness between the bolder of the office and the duties of the office-between the priesthood and the human needs to which it would minister. 3. That these qualities are found in Jesus Christ. His priesthood answel"ll to man's needs. "Such a High Priest became us," i.e. was suitable to us, was appro- priate to our condition and need. Let us now look at the qualities which render our Saviour the appropriate High Priest for man, as they are here specified. It is important to remember that some essential attributes of our great High Priest have already been mentioned in this Epistle (eh. iv.15). I. HE IS PERFECT IN ms CHARACTER. "For such a High Priest became us, holy, harmless, undefiled," etc. 1. Holy. Our Lord was truly and inw:udly holy. His holiness did not consist merely in his consecration to bis office, hut in the perfect sanctification of bis whole being. 'rhe Jewish high priest had " Holiness to the Lord" inscribed upon his mitre; but in Christ it was interwoven with every fibre of his being, and stamped upon every expression of his life. 2. Harmless. The Jewish high priest was sinless only in this way, that he offered sacrifice for his own sin before offering for the sins of the people, and that he cleansed himself ceremonially before appearing before God on behalf of others. But Jesus was perfectly free from sin. In all his relations with men he was guileless. And no wrong was ever done by him in any way to any one. 3. Undefiled. Sin is a polluting thing. Ceremonial purity was required in the Je,yish high priests. But our Lord was undefiled both legally and morally. In thought and feeling, in word and action, in inward heart and outward life, he was stainless. The Jewish high priests needed to offer sacrifices for their own sins; but our great High Priest had no personal guilt to expiate, or sins to confess, or impurities to purge. 4. Separate from sinners. The Jewish high priest was required scrupulously to refrain from association with any person who was ceremonially unclean (Lev. x.xi. 10-15 ). Our Lord was "separated from sinners." We do not regard this as meaning local separation. He did not shun association with sinners during his life upon earth. It was charged against him by the self-righteous religionists of his day, "This mau rcceiveth sinners, and eatetb with them." " '!'hey murmured, saying, He is gone in to lodge with a man that is a sinner." "A friend of publicans and sinners." His separa- tion from sinners was far higher and diviner than any merely local or physical isolation. "Christ in bis intercourse with sinners," as Ebrard says," remained, inwardly free from all participation in their sinfulness, inwardly untouched by its contagion ; notwith- standing that be minaled with men in all their varieties of character and situation, he yet never let drop, for~ moment, that inner veil of chaste holiness which ~eparated him from sinners. 1'his is what is meant by the expression, 'separate from smners.'" His moral health was so vigorous, his spil'itual purity so intense, that he could associate,  ms THE EPISTLE 'l'O 'l'IIE HEBREWS.