“God’s Throne of Grace” – Hebrews 4:16

Good Friday – March 30, 2018

“Let us be brave, then, and approach God’s throne.”

If you were going to approach Queen Elizabeth’s throne, how would you feel? Would you be cautious, apprehensive, shaking in your boots? Maybe you have heard that there are protocols for being in the presence of the Queen. Apparently former Governor General David Johnston broke royal protocol last year by not only touching the Queen but by holding her left elbow all the way down a flight of steps at Canada House in London. Former First Lady Michelle Obama put her arm around the Queen, and former Prime Minister Pierre Elliot Trudeau was photographed doing a pirouette behind her back – at Buckingham Palace!!

There is a significant Bible story about someone approaching the throne of the King. Hadassah was a young woman who was one of the Jewish exiles in Persia. When the Queen fell out of favour with King Xerxes, Hadassah won a beauty contest, had her name changed to Esther and became the new queen. An evil noble named Haman hatched a plot whereby all the Jews were to be exterminated on a certain day. Esther’s cousin, Mordecai, advised her that she needed to petition her husband the king to undo his extermination edict. However, no one was to approach the king without being summoned, on penalty of death. She had to approach Xerxes’ throne with bravery, knowing that she might perish, unless he granted her a special exception. How do you think she felt?

What about you… approaching the throne of God Almighty, King of all creation – in prayer with your needs, in repentance with your sins? Are you allowed into the King’s throne room? Do you dare? Are you afraid? Are you confident? Will God dismiss you, or destroy you with one look from His all-consuming eyes?

Good Friday is about approaching God’s throne… with bravery, with confidence. Why? Because it is a throne where we receive mercy and where we find grace. Oh, and we don’t go there alone. When we go to God’s throne, Jesus, our great high-priest, goes with us… actually, He goes before us. He stands in our place so that all of our sins are seen only through His suffering and death, and so that all of our needs are brought to the Father by Him.

Matthew’s account of Jesus’ crucifixion says that when Jesus died, the curtain in the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. This was the curtain that separated the Holy Place from the Most Holy Place. In other words, it separated people from God’s very presence, His “throne room.” The tearing of the curtain signified that Jesus’ death has made it possible for us to go directly into God’s presence. We don’t need to go through a priest, for Jesus is our high-priest. And that means that when we go to God’s throne, we do find grace, and love, and forgiveness, and salvation – ALL in Jesus! Go to God’s throne with confidence, with bravery, to find God’s grace… in Christ. Amen.