Have you ever been misunderstood, misinterpreted, or someone just didn’t get you? We all have. It’s painful and frustrating. We may seek to defend ourselves to try and bring understanding to no avail. We may even wrestle with it for a while wondering what we could have done to help them understand us better.

It’s disheartening when we open our hearts to others and they don’t SEE us accurately or our intentions. But Jesus does get us.

He gets us because He was us. God incarnate and fully human.

The High Priest in the Old Testament represented the people before God in matters of worship and all facets of life, spiritual or otherwise. On the Day of Atonement the high priest performed rituals to atone for the sins of Israel. These included offering a bull for his own sins and the sanctuary’s cleansing, as well as sacrificing one goat for the people’s sins.

He could represent them because he was one of them. He understood their battle with sin and upholding God’s laws. But something happened down through the centuries. The High Priest stopped being compassionate and saw himself as higher and better than the people and therefore cast condemnation and judgement for the sins of man, separating himself from that lowly, degrading position before God.

The High Priest was no longer sympathetic but a condemning, self-righteous, holier-than-thou pedestal riding braggart.

But when the fullness of time had come…..

⁴ “But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, ⁵ to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons.“

Galatians 4:4-5

“For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin.”

Hebrews 4: 15

Jesus, our High Priest, can sympathize with our temptations and weaknesses and gets it when we fail, because he was human like we are. Yet, He did not sin, like us. He not only understands and gets us, He is also sympathetic to our plight in this earth.

He doesn’t condemn or judge, but embraces us, brings understanding and lives forever to stand in the gap before God for us! He is for us, not against us! He ever lives to make intercession for us (Hebrews 7:25). That means He pleads with the Father on our behalf. Forever, defending us, not by our good works, but by His blood before God!

I don’t know about you, but this truth brings me great comfort to know that Jesus not only died for me to cleanse me from all sin, but He did it with deep love and sympathy for me. But doesn’t leave me in that state, but gives me His Precious Holy Spirit to work in me to will and to do that which pleases God (Philippians 2:13).

What a gift of love!

Today, as you go about life, remember that Jesus doesn’t look at you with disgust when you miss it, but He is sympathetic and understands. Therefore you can go to Him with great boldness to find help and mercy for you in your time of need. He has taken care of it all so we don’t have to live in condemnation and dread of judgement, but justified through faith in Christ!

“Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”

Hebrews 4:16

Let Christ be glorified in all!