“He can deal gently with the ignorant and wayward, since he himself is beset with weakness.”

Those who sin out of ignorance or those who just wander off the chosen path need understanding and tenderness. The high priest, therefore, had to be of the same inclination as those he was representing. One who never sinned would have a hard time being understanding of those who do.  This principle of understanding the weakness of others by recognizing the same kind of weaknesses of their own gave the high priest the advantage of being gentle with the people around him.

The high priest offered sacrifices for others with the understanding that he was significantly no better or worse than the populous. High priest or not, all of humanity needs to remind itself that we are all disobedient to God’s will. We need a sacrifice for our sins, and we need a high priest to appear in God’s presence for us with that sacrifice. And we need it to become a permanent solution.

Task for Today: Accept Jesus as your high priest. Allow Him to represent you at the throne of God. He made a final offering for your sins by sacrificing Himself. He is a faithful high priest, and we must thank God for His generous offering of His Son for our sins.