[Jesus] had to be made like his brothers in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people.
Thoughts on Today’s Verse…
There are very few things the Bible says Jesus “had” to do. Becoming like us is a key he had to do things! Jesus had to be one of us, one with us, and one like us. Notice that Jesus did this so he could be like us in every way. Why is that important? So he could be the perfect and faithful high priest who not only made atonement for our sins, but he could also be someone we could fully trust because we know he understands our struggle with our sinful world. And now that we know this, we can trust Jesus to intercede for us! We can have complete confidence that he knows our struggles with mortality — not just because he is God and knows all things but because he also has been through life in our mortal world with all of its challenges, pains, difficulties, temptations, and hardships and personally experienced them in human flesh (Hebrews 2:14-18, 4:14-16).
My Prayer…
Thank you, LORD Jesus, for your incredible sacrifice so I could be adopted into our Father’s family and become your younger sibling in your eternal family. Thank you for this grace motivated by your love for us and accomplished through your faithfulness to the Father. Through the authority of your name, LORD Jesus, I offer my praise and thanks to you and trust in you. Amen.
All scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION. © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House.