Captured by a phrase this morning. One of those truths that I can so easily blow by. One of those things I’ve known for decades but which, as I think about it, so rarely really grips my being. One of those declarations of Scripture that I’d do well, from time to time, to ask myself, “Self, do you really believe that?” A characteristic of the Savior that I’m probably prone to diminish because I’m prone to think of Him as being more fully God than being fully man. But an attribute of the Savior which uniquely and completely qualifies Him as our “great High Priest.” What’s gripping me this morning is that Jesus has “been there!”

Since then 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.    (Hebrews 4:14-15 ESV)

This morning I’m reminded that I have a High Priest who is able to sympathize with my weakness because He has, IN EVERY RESPECT, been tempted and tested as I have . . . He’s been there!

Really? Been there? In every respect? (ESV) . . . in every way? (NIV) . . . in all things? (NASB) . . . experienced it all? (MSG) . . . the same testings? (NLT)

That’s what God’s breathed-out revelation tells me this morning. That’s what the Spirit’s directed illumination is casting light on. That Jesus was all in when He entered His creation’s reality. That, while He never stopped being fully God, He was nothing less than fully man . . . yet without sin. And in that fullness of man He was in every respect and in every way tempted and tested as we are . . . yet without sin.

He knows firsthand the feelings . . . He experienced the struggles . . . He endured the oppression . . . He worked through the trials. There is not a temptation common to man that Jesus, in some manner, cannot relate to because of His personal experience. There is not a testing known to man that Jesus cannot, from firsthand knowledge, draw alongside and whisper, “I get it.” Really? Yeah . . . if I’m reading this correctly . . . then really! . . . yet without sin.

What set’s my Savior apart is not that He candy-coated His 33 years on this planet . . . not that He side-stepped the tough stuff of the human experience. But what sets Him apart is that He fully entered the fray, yet without sin. He alone has won every battle with the flesh . . . He alone endured every assault righteously without wavering . . . He went through it all, yet without sin. He won!

And because He’s been there, He is able to sympathize with those of us who are going through it now. Because He has firsthand experiential knowledge of the creation’s struggle, He is able to fully enter into and sympathize with our weakness. Because God became man, the Man, Christ Jesus, could become our great High Priest. Having already offered Himself as the once-for-all sacrifice, He now lives to make intercession for His people . . . with a depth of understanding, empathy, and sympathy that can only come out of direct experience . . . and to provide access to the same divine help and strength He drew upon when He was here.

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 4:16 ESV)

Tempted in every respect? Faced all the same testing we do? Been there? Really? Yeah . . . really!

O’ what a Savior!