Jesus has saved us; He has delivered us from our sin; there is no condemnation for those who are in Him; He is the perfect high priest.
But we are not yet in heaven! We live on this earth and we face troubles and temptation. But our High Priest, Jesus, helps us. This is mentioned again in Hebrews 4:15-16 (which we will look at in a couple of days), but this verse has some precious things to encourage us.
He knows. “He Himself suffered being tempted.” Do you remember being told by a teacher or parent, “you should be doing better?” Jesus is not like that. God the Son faced temptation for us. He is therefore gracious and patient (a merciful and faithful high priest, v17). We can go to Him in our weakness and even our failures and He doesn’t not turn us away.
It is normal to find temptation hard . “He Himself suffered being tempted.” Jesus, God the Son, the Holy One, came to this earth and faced sin and the devil Himself. He suffered the pressure of temptation. He was even tempted on the cross: “come down and we will believe.” Temptation is hard, it is powerful, it tries to wear us down. Temptations come back that we thought we had overcome. We are not weak if we find it hard; it is normal to find it hard.
He is our helper in temptation. “He is able to help those who are being tempted.” He comes alongside us and supports us. When we sin, He forgives, He intercedes for us, His finished work on the cross covers our sin. And when we are tempted, He will give strength.
Brothers and sisters, temptation is real. But Jesus is our helper. Go to Him. You can pray “Lead us not into temptation” with confidence. Don’t face the struggles alone, bring all your temptations and fears to your great and merciful high priest, Jesus, and lean upon Him.
The best is yet to come 