Brennan Manning tells of five computer salesmen from
Milwaukee who go to Chicago for a regional sales meeting. All are married and
each assures his wife that he’ll be home for dinner. But the meeting runs late
and the five arrive at the train station with only a few minutes to spare. The
train whistle is blowing signaling the imminent departure. So each salesman
races through the terminal on his way to the platform when one of them
inadvertently kicks over a small table on which a basket of apples rests. The
basket is owned by a 10-year-old boy who is selling apples to raise money to
buy books and clothes for school.
With a sigh of relief each of the
five salesmen make it aboard with seconds to spare. Yet, one man has a deep
sense of regret for what happened to that basket of apples and that 10-year-old
boy. When the twinge of compassion reaches its apex, the salesman says to his
partners, “Could one of you text my wife and tell her I’ll be a few hours
later?” When they nod he turns, jumps off the train, and down to the platform.
From there he heads off to find that 10-year-old. He would later say how happy
he was when he found him, because the boy was blind. Seeing the apples strewn
across the floor he began gathering them up. In doing so he could see that some
of the apples were bruised or split. So he reached into his pocket and said to
the boy, “Here’s $20 for the apples we damaged. I hope we didn’t spoil your
day. God bless you.” And as the salesman turns to leave away the blind boy calls
after him asking, “Hey Mister, are you Jesus?”
When you come to the fourth chapter of the Book of Hebrews
you find one of the most famous, most comforting texts in this entire sermon.
“For
we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weakness, but
one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.”
It’s a profound comfort for any believer who’s locked in
waves of doubt and shame. But the entire passage is more than a comfort. It is
a complete profile of another beautiful facet of Jesus. He is the Counselor we
desperately need.
Last week we noted that the word “consider,” used by the
preacher at the beginning of chapter 3, means much more than “think about”. It
means to “fix your entire gaze.” It means to block out all distractions. And
that’s exactly what we sought to do as we considered Jesus as our Builder. This
week we will consider Him as our Counselor.
The word “counselor” is not found in Sunday’s text – Hebrews
3:12-13; 4:14-5:10, but it is implied in chapter 3:13 where the preacher says,
“Exhort one another daily.” When you examine the meaning of this word, “parakaleo” you find that it’s much
richer than the word “exhort” or “encourage”. It literally means to counsel.
And in the balance of our text we will hear the preacher explain how we all
need daily counseling and how Jesus is our perfect Counselor.
In preparation for Sunday you may wish to consider the
following:
- Check the definition of parakaleo.
- What does the preacher mean in verse 13 of chapter 13 when he says, “But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called ‘today’…?”
- How does sin harden us by its deceit? What’s the effect?
- Why does the preacher cite the children of Israel’s rebellion at the end of chapter 3? What relevance does this have to these suffering Christians?
- If the preacher is trying to encourage these Jewish Christians in the midst of their pain and suffering, why does he mix in so many references to judgment?
- Read John’s account of Martha and Mary in the aftermath of their brother Lazarus’ death (John 11). Why does Jesus respond so differently to each of these women?
- What qualifies Jesus to be our perfect Counselor? (See 4:15)
- How does His experience of temptation and sinlessness help Him counsel us?
- Where does the preacher say this counseling of Jesus best occurs? (See 3:12 & 13)
- How does Jesus’ relationship to Melchizedek help us understand Him as our unique and perfect Counselor?
See you Sunday!
