Hebrews 4:15, 16–For we have not a high priest that cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but one that hath been in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore draw near with boldness unto the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy, and may find grace to help us in time of need.
I was helping to move a friend yesterday and he made a statement that prompted this meditation. It is rare for me to have Saturdays off and in observance of my day off I took the time to help with the family’s relocation. He expressed his gratitude by saying, “Having been in retail management I know much you appreciate a day off.” Considering the couple’s background, the sentiment of gratitude was compounded by that statement. In the Book of Hebrews, chapters 2 and 4, Jesus is seen as one who has experienced life as the Son of Man and been tempted in all ways as we.
In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s “The Scarlet Letter,” Hester Prynne, who was found to be guilty of adultery, was forced by the townsfolk to wear a scarlet “A” across her breast, branding her as an adulteress. Nevertheless, she attracted an interesting following. Hawthorne writes:
“But, in the lapse of the toilsome, thoughtful, and self-devoted years that made up Hester’s life, the scarlet letter ceased to be a stigma which attracted the world’s scorn and bitterness, and became a type of something to be sorrowed over, and looked upon with awe, yet with reverence too. And, as Hester Prynne had no selfish ends, nor lived in any measure for her own profit and enjoyment, people brought all their sorrows and perplexities, and besought her counsel, as one who had herself gone through a mighty trouble. Women, more especially, – in the continually recurring trials of wounded, wasted, wronged, misplaced, or erring and sinful passion, – or with the dreary burden of a heart unyielded, because unvalued and unsought, – came to Hester’s cottage, demanding why they were so wretched, and what the remedy. Hester comforted and counseled them, as best she might.”
Because of her acquaintance with a particular sin, Hester Prynne became one who could sympathize with the plight of others. This attracted others who likewise were acquainted with sin for counsel.
In Jesus, we have someone who in a way stands in a similar place as Hester Prynne – able to sympathize with our human plight; however, he was without sin. Because he was without sin, he is able to sympathize in a greater way because His counsel is true. Thus we should find ourselves flocking to the counsel of Jesus, so to speak. And we should cling to him, because in Jesus we have a high priest who was appointed by God as one sympathetic with our human plight, a “merciful and faithful high priest.” Jesus was not a retail manager, nor construction worker, but He knows what it’s like to be in the company of those who would persuade Him to sin, and he did not. It could even be said that he was tempted in greater ways considering the faculties available to him as Deity. Therefore we should not use the excuses, “That’s just how we talk in the faculty lounge, or in the prison, or in the shop.” We cannot say, “That’s just what we do on the jobsite or in the company of this or that group.” No, there is never an acceptable environment for sin.