Who Would You Confide In?

Therefore, He is the mediator of a new covenant, so that those who are called might receive the promise of the eternal inheritance, because a death has taken place for redemption from the transgressions committed under the first covenant.  Hebrews 9:15

Though Jesus knew the hearts of all people, there was no way for Him to develop a relationship with everyone.  His circle of friends and acquaintances was similar to ours.  He started with His family and moved out concentrically.  As He grew older, He learned the hard lesson that even within your own family, levels of connectedness based on mutual respect and understanding will vary. He was not intimate with His brother James until after the resurrection.  And, it didn’t have the time to flourish until after Jesus came into his brother’s heart after Pentecost.

Jesus is my mediator in the New Covenant.  But what priests were truly available as mediators in the Old Covenant?  Some were righteous, some unrighteous, and even Hannah did not go to confide in Eli that her heart was in agony.  It wasn’t until He probed that she shared her agonizing story.

In our circle of acquaintances, there are only a few to whom we can disclose private things.  You and I learn how close to let people in to our innermost being.  Whether we want to reveal our dreams, or our struggles, the audience is crucial.  Friends can wound us deeply even after we share our excitement over a new venture!  The distress we feel isn’t always because they didn’t understand our pain or because they weren’t close enough to Jesus to have the wisdom we were seeking.

While David, Moses, Abraham, Hannah, and a host of other saints, poured out their complaints to God, their human Mediator was still a priest.  (And some bad ones, at that.)  But I’m celebrating this morning that Jesus came and, through His death, brought in a new covenant.  He did away with all human mediators, and He became our confidante.  He is One with whom I never have to weigh my words.  He is One who will understand what I’m saying all the time. Even if I can’t get all the words out, He knows me and can say what it is I’m trying to say.  This is the stunning reality of prayer ~ when the Spirit verbalizes our groanings with words He conceives before the Father.  What a mediator!

Perfect empathy.  Perfect mediation.  Perfect in availability.  Perfect in loyalty.  Perfect in patience.  Perfect in counsel.  No good thing is ever skewed nor at any point is He ever untrustworthy.

You call me Friend, not Master.  You woo me to move closer, not keep my distance.  There is not one valid reason I need to fear intimacy today.  I love the new covenant because You are the promise keeper.  Amen