…we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. (Hebrews 4:14-16, ESV)
Anyone familiar with golf history knows about Mark McCormack and IMG. In 1960, McCormack “inked” a management deal with Arnold Palmer. In truth, there was no ink involved; it was simply a handshake.
Looking back, most golf enthusiasts would agree that this handshake started what we now call “sports management.” It didn’t take long for McCormack to work his magic on Jack Nicklaus and Gary Player.
Shortly after that initial handshake, the world was introduced to the “Big Three.” IMG branded these three men and promoted them beyond the PGA Tour to a global audience. Their popularity skyrocketed, and golf’s popularity exploded with them!
This is all quite common now, but in 1960, Mr. Palmer’s golf prowess and McCormack’s business savvy redefined sports management and marketing—agents representing professional athletes.
We are typically familiar with this arrangement in the business world, but we often fail to recognize the significance of a mediated relationship at the core of Christianity.
In the business world, an agent acts on behalf of another to establish a financial relationship with a third party, a corporation.
In Christianity, we have the perfect “God-Man” acting on our behalf—flawed men and women who lack the necessary resources to bridge the gap between an offended deity and ourselves.
Once we understand that scripture teaches, “There is one mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus (1 Timothy 2:5), we realize that trying to earn favor with God through moral effort is pointless.
If we could earn favor and forgiveness from God just by being good, then, as Paul says, “Christ died needlessly” (Galatians 2:21).
Exploring the reality of Jesus as our Great High Priest is essential for understanding how anyone can approach the Almighty—the true and living God who lives in “unapproachable light” (1 Timothy 6:16).
When Paul describes God as “unapproachable light,” he is expressing God’s incomprehensible purity. Far brighter than the sun, God’s blazing holiness would incinerate anyone foolish enough to approach him without the mediation of heaven’s authorized high priest, Jesus Christ.
It would be easy to overlook the importance of all this during the early hours of the twenty-first century. Much of the West has been absorbing secularism’s mantras and is quickly lulled into thinking, “Who needs a priest?”
According to this worldview, the need for a priest to represent us before a holy God is an outdated idea from the medieval ages. We are ‘enlightened now,’ we believe.
We have been swimming in the water of secularism longer than we realize. Consequently, many assume that if there is a god (highly unlikely according to this way of thinking), he must love us unconditionally.
Contrary to this view, Christianity teaches that humanity faces cosmic judgment. Once this truth is understood, our need for an Advocate becomes deeply urgent.
Humanity desperately needs a high priest to offer an acceptable sacrifice to the Ancient of Days in order to atone for our sins! Wondrously, Jesus is both priest and sacrifice! He offered himself that we might be forgiven.
Additionally, we urgently need someone to repair the breach and restore our relationship with the Father, with whom we have broken the covenant—hence, the need for that ultimate priest who grants us access to the throne of grace.
God clearly considered our need to understand the significance of Jesus’ priesthood so important that he dedicated nearly an entire book to explaining it—the book of Hebrews.
As Augustine once wrote, “Take up and read, take up and read!”
Prayer: Jesus! Teach us the many ways that your role as the Great High Priest is relevant to our lives.