Jesus the Intercessor

And Another Thing . . . Jesus the Intercessor

I have a confession to make. I sometimes drive too fast, which is an occupational hazard for a sales rep. For more than 20 years I put nearly 50,000 miles a year on my company car. That is a lot of windshield time. Since the average driver goes about 12,000 miles annually, that’s the equivalent of four years worth of driving in just one year’s time.. When you are behind the wheel as much as I was, chances of going too fast and getting caught in the act are greatly increased.  Do I sound defensive? Well it is a sensitive subject.

On one occasion, I asked an attorney friend to represent me concerning one of my tickets. He went before the judge and told him what a nice guy I was and how I deserved to be shown mercy for my traffic transgressions. That “nice guy” argument never would have worked if I’d said those words to the court. But his description somehow made a difference and resulted in a reduction in the amount of my penalty. Even though I was sternly warned to not “transgress” again, I felt I had received mercy.  Sometimes we need someone to speak on our behalf. We need someone to plead our case.

The book of Hebrews in the New Testament describes Jesus’ role as our high priest and intercessor. Hebrews 5:1-2 says, “Every high priest is selected from among men and is appointed to represent them in matters related to God, to offer gifts and sacrifices for sins.  He is able to deal gently with those who are ignorant and are going astray, since he himself is subject to weakness.”

“Ignorant” and “going astray” are part of the human condition. No matter how much success we achieve, there are still areas where we find ourselves in the ignorant/astray category. This is especially true when it comes to spiritual matters. There is not a great deal of information available to us about the nature of nonphysical things. We all are mostly stumbling in the dark when it comes to God. This is why John says, “The people walking in darkness have seen a great light.” This light appeared and was resurrected, and, Hebrews 7:25 tells us that Jesus, our high priest, now “lives to intercede.”

God recognized that all of us ignorant-stumbling-astray people need help. He knows that even our best attempts are still a far cry from what his justice requires. This is why Jesus steps in and intercedes on our behalf. He does not argue that Sam is a nice guy. He doesn’t mention my mission trips or evangelistic exploits. He skips right over my extensive resume as a Bible teacher. Instead he tells the Father, “I’ve got him covered. He is with me.” Hebrews 9:28 says, “. . . Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him.” Jesus is the help I need. He represents me to God in a way that I could never represent myself.

Being nice is nowhere near enough to recommend us to God. Jesus’ sacrifice is more than enough, and through the mystery of our relationship to him, as described in Hebrews, we are not only granted access to God’s kingdom, but we are inspired toward “love and good deeds.” He gives us more than we can ask for . . . and then some.

And that’s all I have to say about that . . . for now.