High Priest

“We have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God” — Hebrews 4:14 ESV

When most people think about Jesus, they think about the 33-year life He lived on the earth.  They think about a historical figure.  And while the life of Christ is amazing and inspiring, and while we can read the gospels and see how Jesus lived, there is more to Jesus than that.  
Christ has actually had a second part of His life — Since the ascension, He has been seated in heaven, pouring out the Spirit and interceding for us.  He’s doing that now.

Jesus “ascended far above the heavens” (Eph. 4:10); Jesus “ascended higher than the heavens” (Heb. 7:26); Jesus “passed through the heavens” (Heb. 4:14).  He passed through the atmospheric heaven, the astronomic heaven, and the celestial heaven, to take His place at the right hand of the Father and pour out the Holy Ghost.  But what was happening in the spiritual realm when He ascended?  

Ephesians 6 says that there are principalities and powers in the heavenly realm — evil, demonic powers. The demonic beings doubtless wanted to prevent Jesus from passing through to take a seat and pour out the Spirit.  But they were unable, because Jesus had defeated the devil on the cross, and every wicked demonic being in the heavenly realm had to clear the way for Jesus to come through.  He led a host of captives with Him. Like a parade rolling down the street, the powers of darkness had to sit on the sidelines and admit defeat when the sinless Son of God passed through the heavens.  The last thing that gang of demons wanted was for Jesus to pour out the Holy Spirit. But who cares what the devil wants?  Jesus took His place as our heavenly High Priest, and from there He pours out the Holy Spirit upon you. Look to this High Priest today.