A scene from Jesus’ life and ministry wonderfully depicts what the Book of Hebrews is all about. Matthew 17 tells us that Jesus took his three closest disciples up onto the mount, where they saw him transfigured in glory, speaking with Moses and Elijah. Peter proposed building a tabernacle for the veneration of these three spiritual giants. But just then the Shekinah glory cloud enveloped them in brightness and the voice of God said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him” (Matt. 17:5). When the disciples rose from their terror, they did not see either Moses or Elijah, but they saw Jesus alone. A.W. Pink comments: “The glory associated with Moses and Elijah was so eclipsed by the infinitely greater glory connected with Christ, that they faded from view.”

This is what the Book of Hebrews is about—the supremacy of Christ, along with the sufficiency of his work and the necessity of faith in him for salvation.

The book of Hebrews can be helpfully linked with the book of Romans. While both books exhibit epistolary features, the content is mainly that of a theological treatise. This does not mean that these books are not epistles, though, because modern scholarship has added the genre of letter essay to the repertoire of available letter forms in the classical world to which the book belongs. Like Romans, Hebrews is a difficult book not only because it pursues a continuous and intricate theological argument, but also because the author makes use of forms of argumentation and proof that seem baffling today. There is one more common thread that encompasses Romans and Hebrews: both are written in an exalted style that carries us along with the magnificence of thought and style. A difference between Romans and Hebrews is that whereas we know that the former was written by Paul, the author of Hebrews is unknown.

C. S. Lewis memorably portrayed the growing Christian’s experience of an ever-enlarging Christ in his Chronicles of Narnia. Lucy, caught up in her spiritual quest, saw the lion Aslan—Christ—shining white and huge in the moonlight. In a burst of emotion Lucy rushed to him, burying her face in the rich silkiness of his mane, whereupon the great beast rolled over on his side so that Lucy fell, half-sitting and half-lying between his front paws. He bent forward and touched her nose with his tongue. His warm breath was all around her. She gazed up into the large, wise face.

“Welcome, child,” he said.

“Aslan,” said Lucy, “you’re bigger.”

“That is because you are older, little one,” answered he.

“Not because you are?”

“I am not. But every year you grow, you will find me bigger.”

Expanding souls encounter an expanding Christ! And this is why I am particularly enthused about these study volumes on the book of Hebrews, for that epistle has a double dose of growth-producing power—first, because it presents the greatness of Christ as no other New Testament writing does, and, second, because it repeatedly demands a response from the reader. Seriously considered, Hebrews will make us grow and find a bigger Christ.