Text: Hebrews 4: 15-16 Amplified
For we do not have a High Priest who is unable to sympathize and understand our weaknesses and temptations, but One who has been tempted [knowing exactly how it feels to be human] in every respect as we are, yet without [committing any] sin. 16Therefore let us [with privilege] approach the throne of grace [that is, the throne of God’s gracious favor] with confidence and without fear, so that we may receive mercy [for our failures] and find [His amazing] grace to help in time of need [an appropriate blessing, coming just at the right moment].
Intent of today’s message is this call for mercy can not only be a knee jerk reaction but a trye call for help from the one who really can.
Main Idea: The Lord has positioned himself to give mercy and we are uniquely positioned to receive mercy and to distribute it to others.
Matthew 20: 29-34 As Jesus and his disciples were leaving Jericho, a large crowd followed him. 30 Two blind men were sitting by the roadside, and when they heard that Jesus was going by, they shouted, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on us!”
31 The crowd rebuked them and told them to be quiet, but they shouted all the louder, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on us!” 32 Jesus stopped and called them. “What do you want me to do for you?” he asked. 33 “Lord,” they answered, “we want our sight.”
34 Jesus had compassion on them and touched their eyes. Immediately they received their sight and followed him.
• These 2 men were afflicted with physical blindness and they called out to Jesus to give them sight. Being blind in those days was not like being blind today with the availability of special schools, opportunities for literacy, special protections under the law. In those days, any physical ailment left you at the mercy of robbers, murderers, and an outcast of society. They cried out, Son of David!
Son of David was a Messianic title found several times in the book of Matthew. It was widely accepted by the Jews that the Messiah would come through David’s lineage.
• This promise was given to David and we can read it in 2 Samuel 7: 12-13 “When your days are over and you rest with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring to succeed you, who will come from your own body, and I will establish his kingdom. He is the one who will build a house for my Name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever” (2 Samuel 7:12-13).
Jesus’ messianic lineage is laid out in the gospel of Matthew. The genealogy of Jesus- Matt. 1: 1-17
• The genealogy of Jesus is very striking. There are many less than reputable characters there.
• Take David for example- My dear friend and preacher, Dr. Linda Gorham, pointed out these facts about David in a recent sermon.
1. David- lived 1,000 years before Christ.
2. Anointed to be king at age 20; became the second king of Israel at age 30
3. Reigned for 40 years
4. But also, David is the quintessential example of moral failure. While king he had sexual relations another man’s wife, getting her pregnant, plotted to cover up the infidelity by arranging for the murder of her husband then marrying her. (Solomon was the product of that union)
So when I read this passage, and the call out of Jesus’s lineage by these severely disabled men- my heart rejoiced. The blind man may have been saying- “ Jesus, I know you are the messiah.” Then again, he may have been saying, “you come from a family that is quite messed up, so I know you won’t look down on my blind condition.” In calling out that Jesus was the son of David- to me they were saying, “Jesus- you know what it’s like to be identified with weakness”. It was then that I realized my first point of interest.
A. Jesus positioned himself to be a dispenser of mercy, through His genealogy!
• He could have had any ancestral lineage He wanted.
• Jesus positioned himself- to be compassionate and to be able to show mercy as our text reads!
Therefore, Compassion and Mercy are in his DNA.
• Compassion is the feeling of sensitivity to the sufferings- Mercy is the action.
• Although compassion is close to mercy, compassion is deeper, finer, and richer than mercy. Mercy is somewhat outward, but compassion is inward. (website def.) (He can feel me)!
• If he can feel me then He can help me.
• Our legal defense system is built on this premise of compassion- A jury of our peers give the added benefit that every consideration will be given to the defendant. When we go in and face a jury of individuals who look like us- we feel we will get some consideration.
• We do not have someone who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses.
• We do not have someone who is not in touch.
• King James says “we do not have someone who cannot be touched with the feelings of our infirmities.
• Message Bible renders- We don’t have a priest who is out of touch with our reality. He’s been through weakness and testing, experienced it all – all but the sin.
• It’s not just about our weaknesses, but our vulnerabilities, our triggers, Jesus’s time of tempting in the wilderness was about bearing up and triumphing at his most vulnerable moment. He triumphed- so he knows how to come along side and help us to be victorious when tempted. He can dispense mercy.
• He was enticed (tempted) by his ability to use his power for his own ends (turn these stones into bread)
• He was enticed (tempted) to test the limits of the Father’s love (throw yourself down and let’s see if He will catch you)
• He was enticed (tempted) to forget the mission- live for today- live for everything this world can give. (showed all the kingdoms of the world- All this will I give you, if you will worship another)
• So- we do have someone who is able to deal gently.
Hebrews 5:2-He is able to deal gently with those who are ignorant and are going astray, since he himself is subject to weakness. (His family line-, the circumstances surrounding his birth- I mean really- no room in the Inn?) All of this was Jesus positioning himself to authentically be the one who can sympathize with our weaknesses.
• He can be our first resort- Our knee jerk response to call out to the one who knows and can help.
The song says’- Wonderful merciful savior, precious redeemer, and friend, who would have thought that a lamb could, rescue the souls of man Oh you rescued the souls of man.
Counselor, comforter, keeper, Spirit we long to embrace, you offer hope when our hearts have, hopelessly lost our way.
The Lord has indeed positioned himself to give mercy and we are uniquely positioned to receive mercy and to distribute it to others.
B. Our weaknesses enable us to extend mercy from an authentic place.
• Many times, we have disdain and are distressed by our weaknesses and by the things that not only tempt us, but also those times we succumb to temptation.
• Our weaknesses— well- Mostly we want them gone!
1. But our weaknesses enable us to feel compassion for others and to distribute mercy.
• In my own life, I am experiencing a changed heart, a more compassionate heart and the ability to show mercy in areas of struggle and hardship.
• Those areas in me that I consider weakness and lack, He shows me that they are many times exactly what is needed in the moment.
Example of work and accepting the Interim Director position.
2. The decision to acknowledge and even embrace our weaknesses enables us to receive grace and to distribute mercy.
3. Jesus’s perceived weakness was his family history- replete with murderers, evil leaders (Ahaz is noted to be worst king of Israel, prostitutes etc.
• Paul the apostle-
• Decided that boasting about his weaknesses was the way to go.
2 Cor 12: 7-9
Therefore, in order to keep me from becoming conceited, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. 8Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. 9But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore, I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.
• Weaknesses produce struggles yes, but hindrances – NO!
Today when I cry out, “Lord, have mercy!” Yes- he replies-You know, I not only get you, but I got you.
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