Questions

1. Fill in the blanks below from Hebrews 4:15-16: 15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to ____________ with our _____________, but one who in every respect has been _________ as we are, yet without sin. 16 Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of ______, that we may receive ______ and find grace to help in time of need.
2. TRUE or FALSE: Jesus sympathizes with our weaknesses but does not truly understand temptation.
3. Where does God first reveal His divine name to Moses?
4. Mount Sinai
5. The tabernacle
6. The burning bush
7. The Red Sea
8. Hagar named God _________ _________, meaning “the God who sees.”
9. Jesus was tempted in every respect as we are, yet without ________.
10. The Greek word sympathéō most nearly means:
11. To forgive sins
12. To rule with authority
13. To feel the same suffering as another
14. To overlook weakness
15. TRUE or FALSE:  Because Jesus never sinned, He was unable to relate to human weakness.
16. Hebrews 4:16 teaches that we draw near to receive __________ and __________.
17. Through faith in Christ, believers are given the right to become __________ of God.

Discussion

1. To prepare to answer this series of questions you can review this section of the message in this link to the video: It’s striking that the first time (To timestamp 7:23)
2. What does the name El Roi (“the God who sees”) reveal about God’s character?
3. Discuss why is being “seen” such a deep human longing?
4. Why can believers now approach God’s throne with confidence instead of fear?
5. How does this truth shape the way we pray and seek God’s help?
6. Discuss the following questions in this link to the video: Jesus Sees You (Timestamp 7:24 to 21:19)
7. What does it mean that Jesus “sympathizes with our weaknesses”?
8. How does the Greek word sympathéō deepen our understanding of Christ’s compassion?How does sin defiling the sanctuary reshape our understanding of sin?
9. How does Christ’s sympathy free us to show compassion to others?
10. Following the lead of Pastor Winans and story of the teacher and the backpack, discuss this in your group: What is the heaviest thing you are carrying? If you were handed a blank card with no name attached, what would you write?
11. To prepare to answer this series of questions you can review this section of the message in this link: Jesus Helps You (Timestamp 21:20 to 26:22)
12. Does it matter that Jesus was tempted in every way as we are?
13. According to Hebrews 2:18, how does Jesus help those who are tempted?
14. What is the difference between avoiding temptation and resisting temptation?
15. What is your strategy to fight sin and temptation; what do your battle plans look like?
16. To prepare to answer this series of questions you can review this section of the message in this link: Jesus Saves You (Timestamp 26:23 to end)
17. Why is Jesus’ sinlessness essential to our salvation?
18. What does the “great exchange” described in 2 Corinthians 5:21 mean?
19. How does Jesus’ victory over sin and death give believers confidence today?
20. What does it mean to “cling to Jesus” in response to this message?
21. How should believers live differently knowing they have a High Priest who sees, helps, and saves them?

Sermon Outline

It’s striking that the first time (To timestamp 7:23) God reveals His name happens at the burning bush, as He commissions Moses to return to Egypt and bring redemption to His people under Pharaoh’s oppression. When Moses asks, “Who shall I say sent me?” God reveals His divine name: I AM that I AM. But that is not the only way God is named in Scripture. In some moments, God reveals His own name; in others, people speak a name over Him based on their encounter with Him. The very first time that happens is in Genesis, and it comes from an unlikely source—an Egyptian, a slave, a woman named Hagar. In Genesis 16, we find the first instance of a human naming God, and Hagar calls Him El Roi, meaning “the God who sees.” Alone and desperate in the wilderness, Hagar is met by a God who sees her affliction and responds with mercy, grace, and comfort.

Genesis 16:13 – ¹³So Hagar called the name of the Lord who spoke to her, “You are a God of seeing,” for she said, “Truly here I have seen him who looks after me.”

What a remarkable truth—that we have a God who sees us, fully and completely. To be known at that depth is a deep human longing. David Brooks, a journalist, captures this longing in a recent book when he writes…

Human beings need recognition as much as they need food or water. No crueler punishment can be devised than not to see someone, to render them unimportant or invisible... To do that is to say: You don't matter, you don’t exist. – David Brooks How to Know a Person

The amazing truth is that we have a God who sees us, a God who knows us, and a High Priest who loves us. From Him, we receive life and affirmation that nourish our souls as surely as food and water nourish our bodies. Today, we are returning to complete what we began in last week’s sermon. We were in Hebrews 4:14–16 and spent most of our time focusing on verses 14 and 16. We discussed how Jesus is our great High Priest who has passed through the heavens and entered the presence of God to make atonement with His own blood. Because of His finished work on the cross and His ascension into heaven, we no longer approach God’s throne with fear and trembling, but with confidence. We now come before the throne of grace to receive mercy and help in our time of need.

This week, however, our focus is on verse 15—one of the most significant verses describing who Jesus is. It shows us that Jesus is not only our High Priest, but also our friend. The question we want to consider is how we can have confidence that we have not only a Savior, but a friend who truly knows us.

We have an amazing High Priest—indeed, a greater High Priest. What we want to see this morning is that we have a High Priest who sees us, a High Priest who helps us, and a High Priest who saves us. As we walk through each phrase of this verse, we will consider what it means to have a God who sees you, a God who helps you, and a God who saves you. So, as we begin, what does it mean for us to have our great High Priest, Jesus, who truly sees us—who sees you?

Jesus Sees You (Timestamp 7:24 to 21:19)

When it feels like no one understands and you are completely alone, you are not. Your High Priest sees you.

Hebrews 4:15 – ¹⁵For 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.

What does it mean to say that Jesus sympathizes with us—especially in our weakness? To understand that, it helps to look at the word itself in the original language. In Greek, the word is sympathéō. It sounds familiar because our English word sympathy is directly derived from that Greek term.

συμπαθέω

To be affected with the same feeling as another

Suffering or feeling the like with another

Sympathetic: Understanding

Consider what this means for you and your relationship with Jesus: when you face trials and struggle, Jesus is not distant or unaffected. He is present with you in what you are going through, responding with sympathy, and understanding. One writer, reflecting on this, says…

What we need to realize is that we have an eternal well of sympathy and compassion in Christ. Once we realize this, we are freed to show deep compassion and sympathy to others. - Michael Kruger Hebrews for You

There is no moment when Jesus—our great High Priest—will ever look at you and say, “I’m done with you,” or “I’m tired of you,” or “This is too much—go talk to someone else.” He will never dismiss you, never turn you away, never grow weary of you. That will never be His response to you.

A while ago, I had lunch with a friend of mine—a retired pastor who had served in ministry for decades. He shared that the end of his time at his church was more painful than he expected. Although he had begun thinking about retirement, the church ultimately came to him and said it was time. They were kind, but he still felt pushed out, it deeply hurt him.

Because he had been their pastor and loved the people, he didn’t feel free to share that pain with others, so he carried it quietly. In that season, he went to the Lord, seeking his great High Priest who sympathizes with us.

He told me there was one morning when the presence of the Holy Spirit felt especially real. He sensed the Lord speaking clearly—not audibly, but unmistakably—and he took out his notebook and began to write. The Lord showed him what the next season of ministry would look like and reassured him that his kingdom work was not finished.

But the first thing the Lord impressed on him was not direction. It was this: “I know you wanted to stay longer.” Before telling him where to go or what to do, his great High Priest met him with sympathy and understanding. Christ was present in his pain—just as He is present in ours.

Jesus is not only a High Priest who sympathizes with us; His sympathy becomes a ministry toward us. As the author we just cited writes, there is an endless well of sympathy in Christ, and he goes on to say…

What we need to realize is that we have an eternal well of sympathy and compassion in Christ. Once we realize this, we are freed to show deep compassion and sympathy to others. - Michael Kruger Hebrews for You

We live in a world and a culture that is becoming increasingly isolated and divided. You can see it in the statistics, you hear it in conversation, and you sense it through simple observation. Our culture is sadder, more anxious, and quicker to anger than it once was. More people feel overwhelmed, discouraged, and unseen.

Recent studies show that 54% of Americans say no one knows them well, and the number of people who report having no close personal friends has quadrupled. We are more connected technologically than ever before, yet relationally more isolated. Many people carry a deep sense that no one truly sees them.

If there is truth to the idea that being known is as essential to our souls as food and water are to our bodies, then what a privilege it is to receive—and extend—the ministry we have in Christ. We have a great High Priest who perfectly sees us and fully knows us. And because Christ lives in us, we are invited to bring that same ministry to others: to see them in His name, to know them, and to minister to them so that they, too, might experience what it means to be truly known.

This week, I came across a story on social media that I wasn’t able to independently verify, but it describes a high school history teacher and an experience that rings true. One day, he walked into his classroom as usual, placed a chair in the center of the room, and put a green backpack on it.

High school, in many ways, is a microcosm of life. It’s a place where people are quickly labeled—jock, nerd, cheerleader, and so on. Labeling becomes a way of simplifying people, and often a way of dismissing them.

The teacher asked the students to clear everything off their desks. Then he placed a blank note card in front of each student and explained the three rules. First, do not write your name—this would be completely anonymous. Second, be honest. This was serious, and honesty mattered. Finally, he told them what to write: the heaviest thing they were carrying.

When they finished, he collected the cards and placed them into the green backpack. He then opened the bag, pulled out the cards, and began to read them aloud. And because it was anonymous, the words revealed were the kinds of things people rarely say aloud—but often carry quietly.

• My dad lost his job. He pretends to go to work so no one knows. I'm scared we'll lose our house.
• My parents scream about politics. They don't know I believe the opposite. I feel like a stranger in my own home.
• I look happy online. All my social media posts make it look perfect, but I cry in the shower, so others won't hear me.
• I don't want to go to college. I want to work with my hands, and I already feel like a failure.

As the students began to write, pouring out what they were truly carrying, the labels started to fall away. No longer were they simply jocks, nerds, or cheerleaders—they were people bearing real weight. And it raises a question for us: what is the heaviest thing you are carrying? If you were handed a blank card with no name attached, what would you write?

Every day, as we walk past countless faces in places like grocery stores or public spaces, we pass people we do not know. Yet every one of them is made in the image of God. Each one has immeasurable value—so much so that the Son of God would give His life for them. And every one of us is carrying something heavy. No one is exempt.

The good news is that Jesus sees it, He knows it and He understands it. He enters into that weight with us. And not only does He see us—by God’s grace, but He also helps us.

Jesus Helps You (Timestamp 21:20 to 26:22)

We don’t need a God who sees our pain and feels it, as meaningful as that is. We need a God who helps us—and Jesus does exactly that.

Hebrews 4:15 – ¹⁵For 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.

He was tempted in every respect, just as we are. This reminds us that Jesus was not God merely appearing to be human—He was fully human. He knew what it was to be hungry and tired, to experience weakness and temptation. At the same time, He was not a human merely aspiring to be God. He is fully God and fully man. And because He was tempted in every way as we are, He truly understands our struggle. This connects directly to what we read earlier in Hebrews, where it says…

Hebrews 2:18 – ¹⁸For because he himself has suffered when tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.

In our struggle with sin, we have a High Priest who sees us, who empathizes with us, and who has been tempted in every way just as we are. Because He suffered when He was tempted, He is able to help us in our time of need. For me, the picture that comes to mind when I think about His help is a tug of war, because that is what we experience daily within our own souls—a struggle between what Scripture calls the flesh and the Spirit.

Paul describes this tension in Romans 7:21–25: “For I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin… Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord.” This captures the daily battle of temptation that every believer knows.

Jesus has been tempted in every way, and He has suffered in that temptation. Because of that, He is not distant from our struggle—He helps us in it. And that raises an important question: What does it mean for Jesus to help us? As I reflected on this, my thoughts were drawn to the Lord’s Prayer, which gives us insight into how God helps us in temptation. We pray, “Lead us not into temptation…”

Matthew 6:13 – ¹³And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil.

Jesus is the power of God, but He is also the wisdom of God. And as children of God who are led by the Spirit, that wisdom shapes how we live. When we look to and rely on our great High Priest, He leads us in ways that help us avoid placing ourselves unnecessarily in situations of strong temptation—of which there are many.

I was thinking about this recently in relation to how easily accessible entertainment has become. The ability to stream anything at any time can function as a constant source of temptation. Our great High Priest does not only give us power to resist; He also gives us wisdom to avoid. There are things His children should not watch, things we should not listen to, and environments we should not intentionally enter because they become ongoing invitations to temptation. That is just one example of what it means to pray, “Lead us not into temptation.”

But Jesus does more than that—He also delivers us from evil. As Paul reminds us, no temptation has overtaken us that is not common to humanity. God is faithful, and when we are tempted, He provides a way of escape so that we can endure it. When temptation comes, we have a great High Priest who knows what it is like to be tempted and who suffered in that temptation. He comes alongside us to give strength, to show us a way out, and to enable us to say no—to choose faithfulness to God over the fleeting pleasure of sin.

We have a High Priest who knows us, who sympathizes with us, who helps us—and finally, who saves us.

Jesus Saves You (Timestamp 26:23 to end)

This is the heart of the verse: our High Priest sympathizes with us and helps us, yet He never sinned—tempted in every way, but without sin.

Hebrews 4:15 – ¹⁵For 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.

Whether or not it was possible for Jesus to sin is a debated question and not our focus here. What Scripture makes clear is this: He was tempted in every way, yet He never sinned. And because of that, He is not only sympathetic—He is our Savior. As the Apostle Paul says,

2 Corinthians 5:21 – ²¹For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

He never sinned. He was always faithful. He knows what it is to face temptation and overcome it every time, which is why He is able not only to sympathize with us in our weakness, but also to help us. Yet though He never sinned, He was made to be sin for us. On the cross, all our transgressions, iniquities, and sins were laid upon Him, and the judgment we deserved was poured out on Him instead.

Through faith in His perfect sacrifice, a great exchange takes place: our sin is credited to Him, and His righteousness is credited to us. We are clothed in His perfection and are able to stand before a holy God, not on the basis of our own merit, but on His. Though He was put to death, He did not remain in the grave. Three days later He rose, victorious over sin, death, and evil. He ascended into heaven, and by His own blood made atonement, so that we may now approach the throne of grace with confidence.

As we close, if anyone has never trusted in the Lord Jesus Christ but is aware of their sin and knows they could not stand before a holy God on their own, the invitation is simple: cling to Jesus. He never sinned, and He gave His life so that all who believe in Him might be made new. Scripture tells us that all who receive Him, who believe in His name, are given the right to become children of God—not by human effort or will, but by God Himself.

And for those who have already believed, let us be reminded of what we have in Christ. We have a great High Priest who knows what we are going through, who has been tempted in every way, and who helps us in our time of need. He has gone before us, laid down His life, and secured salvation for all who trust in Him. What a great High Priest we have.