Steadfastness.
I. THERE IS HERE ENCOURAGEMENT TO STEADFASTNESS FROM THE DIGNITY AND SPHERE OF OUR LORD'S MINISTRY. He is called the great High Priest, who stands in exalted contrast to Aaron and all his successors in the important duty of representing the people before God and representing God to the people. This greatness will appear in the arguments and discussions which follow, in which the holiness of his life, the value of his sacrifice, and the influence of his intercession will be explained and proved. He has passed into the heavens, and has left the material and earthly tabernacle behind him for the immediate and glorious presence of God, at whose right hand he sits and waits till all his enemies are made his footstool. If he persevered through trial and innumerable sorrows until he could cry, "It is finished," and reach the unrivalled exaltation of his heavenly priesthood, in the exercise of which he is not ashamed of his brethren, let us hold fast our profession of him in the world below. If the synagogue and Sanhedrim are against you, so might the thought be stated—Remember that the glory of your High Priest, and his love to you, claims and justifies your avowal of his cause and your attachment to his Name.
II. ENCOURAGEMENT FLOWS FROM THE SYMPATHY OF THE HIGH PRIEST. The inspired writer returns to the question which he had passingly noticed before, and alludes to the career of temptation through which the Redeemer fought his way to the glory which awaited him. He was tried by the loneliness of his spirit, for none could completely understand him. He was tempted by Pharisees and Sadducees. He was tempted by the ingratitude of men. He was specially tempted by Satan, who strove to turn him aside from his work, and stain the Lamb of God, who was to take away the sin of the world. Some of his temptations were beyond the reach of merely human experience, for his sorrows and burdens were such that it may be said, "of the people there was none with him;" "he trod the wine-press alone." He passed through all his trials without one act which was unworthy of his Divine character, and came out of the furnace of temptation without spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing. This qualifies him to sympathize with his afflicted followers. Angels and archangels can from their special experience offer no such help to struggling believers. Sympathy divides our sorrows and heightens our joys; and that which our Lord affords is quick in its movements and efficient in its influence. He showed this truth to Saul on the way to Damascus, and told him that in persecuting his disciples he was actually persecuting their glorified Master. If, therefore, the synagogue should despise and ill treat them, let them turn to him who in all their afflictions is afflicted, and whose grace can support them. Sympathy should inspire them with Divine confidence and hope.
"He knows what sore temptations mean,
For he has felt the same."
III. ENCOURAGEMENT FROM FREE ACCESS TO THE THRONE OF GRACE. There is a precious compass and variety of thought in this appeal to Christian experience. There is the throne, which is the image of power, where Jehovah sits in glory, and all angels, all creation, all providence with its wide range and marvelous machinery, all the agencies of the Church and the gift of the Divine Spirit, are under his guidance. It is the throne of grace, and stands in contrast to the awfulness of Sinai, and the solitary chamber of the holy of holies, into which the high priest entered once a year. The throne is radiant with the Divine light, and love; for "God is light, and in him is no darkness at all" and "God is love," and is exalted that he may be gracious unto us. The writer invites believers to come with boldness, and probably suggests a contrast to the ancient service of the high priest on the Day of Atonement, and the spirit of bondage in which many of the Jewish people were held. The Christian state is one of liberty and filial love. God sends forth "the Spirit of his Son, crying, Abba, Father." Since Christ is our High Priest, and the throne is one of grace, we may have access by one Spirit unto the Father, and speak to him with the reverential confidence, which he invites and will justify by affording spiritual help. This help we need in the form of mercy to pardon the faults and mistakes of our life, and to regain the waste of spiritual strength in the warfare and collisions of life. He will give grace in cheering proofs of his favor, and in maintaining our fidelity to his cause amid the strain of temptation and the examples of failure in those who once ran well and have been hindered. "He will give grace and glory, and no good thing will be withhold from them that walk uprightly."—B.