I remember the first time I found out that the gas gauge in every car has a small arrow. It points either to the right or to the left and lets you know on which side of the car you will find the gas tank. Although I usually remember where it is on my own car, it can be annoying when you rent a car or borrow from a friend. You pull into the gas station, get out, and then realize you have to turn the car the other way. Learning to look at the gauge first was a change in thinking that affected my behavior.
It’s a silly example. But it illustrates how those who first heard the message of the Book of Hebrews might have reacted to this passage. They had no idea that this shocking truth was real. They had been told all of their lives that God was holy, and thus you were not allowed to be in God’s presence. You weren’t even permitted to speak or write God’s name. They spent their lives acknowledging God, yet they felt distant from Him. When the writer of Hebrews told them they could “approach God’s throne of grace with confidence,” it might have shocked them. Far more than simply learning how to find out where the gas tank on your car is located, this news changed their relationship with the God of the universe.
We have likely been told most of our lives that we can pray directly to God. We have been taught that God is personal and wants a relationship with us. But this news was life-changing, behavior-changing, and shocking to those who first heard it. No longer did they have to worry if God would listen to their prayers. No longer did they have to wonder if God would forgive their sins. This news may seem commonly accepted to us, but it was a stunning revelation for them to learn it.
The passage reminds us of three significant truths:
Jesus is our Great High Priest who empathizes with us.
Jesus grants us access directly into the presence of God.
In God’s presence we find mercy and grace and, therefore, forgiveness for our sins.
Just as finding an arrow that points to the location of the gas tank, may this passage point us to the deeper truth that in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus we are forgiven. We are made whole by the grace God freely gives to us.