# Synodical Conference Convention Proceedings_St. Louis Missouri_1928_S11
# AI translation — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration)

of the Ev. Luth. Synodical Conference of North America. 1928. 11

been given and that formerly was held to be a high title of honor; but what
good are to us the titles with which Jesus has been adorned? So speak those who
reject Scripture. But for us, who hold fast to God's Word, this designation of
Jesus is truly no matter of indifference. We do not regard this designation
as a titulus sine re, a name without meaning. Rather we know that Jesus
really is what God calls him. If he designates him as High Priest, then he is
one. And that this office and this service in turn have great significance for
us, we shall with God's help try to recognize in the next points.

II.

It goes without saying that he who is to be and wants to be our High Priest
must also have the qualities necessary for this office, if his work in office
is to be of full benefit to us. Holy Scripture therefore proves at length that
Jesus is qualified for this high service. Many high priests had existed under
the Old Covenant. What a great series of mighty men of God who held this
office meets us as we read sacred history: Aaron, Eleazar, Phinehas,
Abiathar, Zadok, to name the best known. But however gifted and famous they
were: when they laid their heads down to their last rest, the work of
deliverance from the guilt of sin, for which the children of God longed, had
progressed no further than at their birth. In spite of all their
advantages and their great activity they had not been able to redeem Israel
and the world. They lacked the abilities needed for it. With regard to
Jesus, God now has us say in Holy Scripture that he does indeed possess
precisely the qualities that our right, true High Priest must have. The Epistle
to the Hebrews devotes special exposition to this subject. It would lead too
far were we to go into everything that is said to us about it. The main points
are these: 1. Jesus is God's Son, true God; therefore he has infinite power and
can offer a sufficient sacrifice for us. 2. With his deity his sinlessness is
also given. He therefore does not need, like the Old Testament high priests, to
make atonement for sins of his own. He is perfectly holy, and his work can
benefit us sinners fully and wholly. On these two points compare especially
Heb. 7:26-28. 3. Jesus is true man. As such he can suffer and die and so
accomplish the work of redemption. Cf. Heb. 2:14 ff. 4. As man he knows our
weakness, our temptations, our sufferings, and can therefore have compassion on
us and be a merciful High Priest. Cf. Heb. 4:15, 16. 5. The people for whom he
is High Priest are not strangers to him; they are his own flesh and blood,
they are his brothers, he belongs to their race. Cf. Heb. 2:10-18. Now, if he
belongs to them, he will not forsake them in their need but as their High
Priest will take them up. These are the main thoughts of the Epistle to the
Hebrews, in which it is set forth that Jesus was qualified for his great work
as High Priest. And so, after all, the apostles generally have preached. When
Paul begins in the Epistle to the Romans to set out his Gospel, he says of
Jesus (chap. 1:3, 4) that he is the Son of God, "who was born of the seed of
David according to the flesh and powerfully proved to be a Son of God
according to the Spirit that sanctifies." We see, he stresses both, the human
birth of Jesus from the house of David (and with it his human nature) and then
his true deity.