Holy, Harmless and Undefiled
by Pastor Andrew Wolfenbarger
01/08/2023
Hebrews 7:26 "For such an high priest became us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens;"
Growing up in Preacher's home I was forced against my will to be subjected to hours of western movies. It was all that was ever on our living room television besides the occasional Walker Texas Ranger episode. I hated western movies, but some were especially bad. You see, there are actually different genres of western movies. You have your singing cowboys like Gene Autry and early John Wayne, your black and Whites like the Rifleman and Gunsmoke, and you have spaghetti westerns. The origin of the later genre is that these films were pretty much all made in Italy by Italian filmmakers, hence the name Spaghetti Western. They were atrocious to watch. Often, the lips were not correctly synced with the audio, the movies had corny distracting music, and they were chalk full of close ups that displayed the greasy faces of the actors. One particularly famous Western was called "the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly". If I can recall correctly those three adjectives were describing three different individuals. These labels serve their purpose in giving you an idea of their personality before you ever even meet the characters.
When we come to our verse today, Jesus is being presented as our great High Priest. This verse presents Him with three very vivid words: Holy, Harmless, and Undefiled. As High Priest, Jesus was a representative for the entire human race, but these descriptions reveal how He was different than every other Priest before Him. Holiness is one of the key attributes of God. "Harmless" is a word which means not evil or depraved. Undefiled means that in becoming a man, His divinity was not in any way corrupted or compromised. Sin had no effect on Jesus. He truly is a Great High Priest.
Did you realize that Jesus is even now representing you before the Father? He is interceding right now on your behalf. Also, believers are in Christ to such a degree that God beholds our Holy, Harmless, and Undefiled mediator in place of us who universally fall far short of such a glorious standard. This is what permits sinful men to draw near unto a Holy God. Our Holy, Harmless, and Undefiled High Priest.
1. Do you see the beauty of Christ's splendid nature?
2. Does His virtue make you want to strive to be like Him?
3. Are you thankful for such a wonderful High Priest?
01/08/2023
Hebrews 7:26 "For such an high priest became us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens;"
Growing up in Preacher's home I was forced against my will to be subjected to hours of western movies. It was all that was ever on our living room television besides the occasional Walker Texas Ranger episode. I hated western movies, but some were especially bad. You see, there are actually different genres of western movies. You have your singing cowboys like Gene Autry and early John Wayne, your black and Whites like the Rifleman and Gunsmoke, and you have spaghetti westerns. The origin of the later genre is that these films were pretty much all made in Italy by Italian filmmakers, hence the name Spaghetti Western. They were atrocious to watch. Often, the lips were not correctly synced with the audio, the movies had corny distracting music, and they were chalk full of close ups that displayed the greasy faces of the actors. One particularly famous Western was called "the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly". If I can recall correctly those three adjectives were describing three different individuals. These labels serve their purpose in giving you an idea of their personality before you ever even meet the characters.
When we come to our verse today, Jesus is being presented as our great High Priest. This verse presents Him with three very vivid words: Holy, Harmless, and Undefiled. As High Priest, Jesus was a representative for the entire human race, but these descriptions reveal how He was different than every other Priest before Him. Holiness is one of the key attributes of God. "Harmless" is a word which means not evil or depraved. Undefiled means that in becoming a man, His divinity was not in any way corrupted or compromised. Sin had no effect on Jesus. He truly is a Great High Priest.
Did you realize that Jesus is even now representing you before the Father? He is interceding right now on your behalf. Also, believers are in Christ to such a degree that God beholds our Holy, Harmless, and Undefiled mediator in place of us who universally fall far short of such a glorious standard. This is what permits sinful men to draw near unto a Holy God. Our Holy, Harmless, and Undefiled High Priest.
1. Do you see the beauty of Christ's splendid nature?
2. Does His virtue make you want to strive to be like Him?
3. Are you thankful for such a wonderful High Priest?
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