Each week, let’s reflect upon Sunday’s teaching through further exploration…
Midweek Reflection on Hebrews 9:15-10:18: Jesus Fulfills the Law (Hebrews Sermon Series)
When have you been given mercy? When have you received grace?
The definition of each that I heard years ago from Dr. David Jeremiah still sticks with me today. Mercy is withholding from us that which we deserve. Grace is gifting us that which we don’t deserve.
God’s mercy and grace are evident all throughout the Old and New Testaments. While the example we discussed Sunday was that of Joseph (whose story is in Genesis 37-50), there are numerous biblical accounts where we see these attributes of God displayed. Another example is the apostle Peter. Peter was impulsive and hot-headed. The first time Jesus predicted His death to the disciples (of whom Peter was one), Peter took Jesus aside and rebuked Him (Mark 8:33)… Peter rebuked the Lord! During the last supper that Jesus shared with His disciples, Peter exclaimed to Jesus, “I will never disown you” (Matthew 26:35). That same night, Peter did disown Jesus… three times (Luke 22:54-60). He also struck the high priest’s servant when the officials came to arrest Jesus, cutting off the man’s ear (John 18:10).
Peter didn’t deserve to be a follower of Jesus. What he deserved was Jesus disowning him, yet when Jesus appeared to His disciples after His resurrection, He didn’t ignore Peter. He didn’t rail at Peter. He didn’t tell Peter to take a hike. He gave him mercy.
Grace was present, too, and it was there before Peter even committed these wrongs! Jesus, being God, knew how Peter was going to deny Him. He predicted it at the Last Supper (John 13:38), yet Jesus still used Peter as an integral part of building the early church (Matthew 16:18 and Acts 1-12). The same impulsive and hot-headed Peter who had denied the Lord three times was now a new man, made new through the forgiveness and restoration that can only come through Jesus Christ. Read Acts 1-12 to discover how God used this sinner to establish the early church and serve the Kingdom.
The same mercy and grace that God worked through Joseph, Peter, and numerous others in the Bible is also available to us through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. A new covenant was established with Jesus as mediator, so that those who are called are set free from the old way of life – from their sins – to receive the promised eternal inheritance (Hebrews 9:15). The old system of sacrifice established through the Law was now obsolete because Jesus poured out His own blood as a sacrifice for sin, doing away with sin once for all (Hebrews 9:25-26).
In Christ, “the old has gone; the new is here” (2 Corinthians 5:17)!