Hebrews: The story so far

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Review of Chapters 1-10

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Hebrews

The story so far
In our journey through the letter to the Hebrew Christians, we have covered much ground. Whether it was written by Paul , or Barnabas, or Appollos, the important thing to remember is that it was inspired by God Himself, through the Holy Spirit and its aim was to turn our attention to God’s Son, Jesus Christ, Jesus the Messiah..
Do you remember that occasion , recorded in John Chapter 6, when Jesus said, “I am the bread of life”, and then: “For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day.”
In the following verses Jesus began to explain a bit more

Whoever eats this bread will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.”

52 Then the Jews began to argue sharply among themselves, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?”

53 Jesus said to them, “Very truly I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. 54 Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day. 55 For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. 56 Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in them

What was the reaction of many who heard those words?

60 On hearing it, many of his disciples said, “This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it?”

66 From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him.
When Jesus asked the twelve if they would desert him, too, Simon answered:

68 Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. 69 We have come to believe and to know that you are the Holy One of God.

To whom shall we go? This letter to the Hebrews was to them, and is to us, an emphatic reminder that there is no other way to obtain eternal life. In today’s world, Christianity is often viewed as just one of the many paths that lead to God. In our multi cultural world other faiths, and even no faith at all, are put forward as perfectly acceptable ways to live your life.
The letter was written to Christians who were facing a real challenge to their faith; they were under pressure to abandon their faith in Jesus altogether or to go back to their former ways.
The world today is constantly pulling Christians away from faith in Jesus. “Turn back” is the World’s call to the Christian. “The path you are on is too hard. There is an easier way. You don’t have to suffer persecution or ridicule or even polite indifference. Why follow someone who asks you to take up a cross every day?”
That’s the call of the World. The call of Hebrews could not be more different. “keep on following Jesus; don’t turn back; persevere; the reward is the salvation of your soul.”
Following Jesus is a better way of life:
Heb 6:9 Even though we speak like this, dear friends, we are convinced of better things in your case—the things that have to do with salvation.
In Jesus we have a better covenant (7.22) established on better promises (8.6). The sacrifice of Jesus was a better sacrifice (9.23) opening the way to a better country — a heavenly one (11.16), and a better world (12.24). And all this because God had planned something better for us (12.24)
The writer to the Hebrews puts this choice to his readers: Follow the world or follow Jesus. Paul puts it this way in his letter to the Romans:

2 Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

God’s good, pleasing and perfect will. The letter to the Hebrews has been leading us to a deeper knowledge of that pertfect will as he revealed himself to us in the person of his son Jesus. Remember how the letter begins:
Heb 1:1 In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways,
Heb 1:2 but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom also he made the universe.
Heb 1:3 The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven.
Out of his heart of compassion and love, God put in place a plan of redemption, which could only be achieved by the sacrifice of his Son.
As we go through the letter we are invited to examine what we already know and then to consider Jesus.
More Excellent than the Prophets
The writer starts with the prophets, to whom and through whom God spoke to his people. They had their place in God’s plan, but that place was only partial and incomplete and they always pointed forward to God’s son.
in these last days he has spoken to us by a Son. (Gal 4.4)
We see Jesus as God, the creator (John 1.1)
We see Jesus as God incarnate (John 1.14)
We see Jesus as God himself in the radiance od God’s glory (Col 1.15)
We see Jesus at work, sustaining all things by his powerful word (Col 1.17)
We see Jesus as Saviour Lev 16.30
Leviticus 16:30 NIV
because on this day atonement will be made for you, to cleanse you. Then, before the Lord, you will be clean from all your sins.
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And we see Jesus as the Son of man, now in glory, who sat down at the right hand of the majesty on high. (Rev 4.2)
More Excellent than the angels
Now the writer leads us to consider God’s Angels and that now the Son has become as much superior to them as the name he has inherited is superior to theirs. For the Jews, angels were held in high esteem.
The law was given through Angels (Acts 7.53)(Deut 33.2)(Ps 68.17)
We find angels in the lives of Abraham; Lot; Hagar and Ishmael, Joseph; Moses; all of the Israelites as they left Egypt; Gideon; Samson and many others
Angels excel in strength (Psalm 103.20)
Angels are God’s messengers and instruments of his Judgment (Psalm 104.4)
And they are the thousands upon thousands who attend the “Ancient of Days” (Dan 7.10)
And it was the angels who announced to the shepherds that the messiah had been born (Luke 2.11)
Psalm 8.4,5 remind us that angels were created beings, whose position is higher than man’s.
When the writer to the Hebrews invites a comparison with Jesus he asks two questions. The first:

For to which of the angels did God ever say,

“You are my Son;

today I have become your Father”?

The second:

13 To which of the angels did God ever say,

“Sit at my right hand

until I make your enemies

a footstool for your feet”?

While Angels had an important part to play in God’s plan of salvation, not one was qualified, either by his position, or by his nature, or by his ability, to play the key role in that plan. That role was for God’s son, Jesus. He alone, as God, took a position lower than the angels to fulfil the task of saving mankind, and, having done so, was raised to his rightful, higher position, where, at the name of Jesus:
that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
11 and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.
Philippians 2:6–11 NIV
Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death— even death on a cross! Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
More excellent than Moses
If you go to John chapter 9 you read the story of the man who had been blind from birth and was healed by Jesus, causing much aggravation among the pharisees. Here’s what they said:

28 Then they hurled insults at him and said, “You are this fellow’s disciple! We are disciples of Moses! 29 We know that God spoke to Moses, but as for this fellow, we don’t even know where he comes from.”

Jesus himself had said:
John 3:14 Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him.”
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If angels were held in high esteem by the Jews, that esteem is nothing compared to the esteem in which they held Moses. The writer to the Hebrews also held Moses in high esteem. He says this of him:

26 He regarded disgrace for the sake of Christ as of greater value than the treasures of Egypt, because he was looking ahead to his reward.

Moses was, indeed, a man of God, a man who spoke face to face with God
“When there is a prophet among you,
I, the Lord, reveal myself to them in visions,
I speak to them in dreams.
7 But this is not true of my servant Moses;
he is faithful in all my house.
8 With him I speak face to face,
clearly and not in riddles;
he sees the form of the Lord.
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The New International Version (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2011), Nu 12:6–8..
The writer to the Hebrews says this of Jesus:
3 Jesus has been found worthy of greater honor than Moses, just as the builder of a house has greater honor than the house itself.
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Moses was a faithful servant in the House of God and all his work pointed forward to Jesus. Here’s what he himself said about the coming Messiah:
Deut 18:15
The LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your fellow Israelites. You must listen to him.
Our Great High Priest
In Exodus 25 we read these words
Exodus 25:1,2
Exodus 25:2 NIV
“Tell the Israelites to bring me an offering. You are to receive the offering for me from everyone whose heart prompts them to give.
And so began the system of offerings and sacrifices that was a reminder to the people that they were approaching a Holy God and that before him they were sinners who could not come to him directly or without a sacrifice. There was to be an intermediary, a priesthood and a High Priest, who would accept the offerings of the people and bring them to God.

36 “Make a plate of pure gold and engrave on it as on a seal: HOLY TO THE LORD. 37 Fasten a blue cord to it to attach it to the turban; it is to be on the front of the turban. 38 It will be on Aaron’s forehead, and he will bear the guilt involved in the sacred gifts the Israelites consecrate, whatever their gifts may be. It will be on Aaron’s forehead continually so that they will be acceptable to the LORD.

The High Priest was not there simply to receive the gifts and sacrifices that the people had brought. He was to literally take them on himself and become the offering. Then, in the act of laying hands on the sacrificial animal, sin would be transferred to this substitute.
When the writer refers to Jesus, our Great High Priest, he recalls that:

12 He did not enter by means of the blood of goats and calves; but he entered the Most Holy Place once for all by his own blood, thus obtaining eternal redemption

Jesus was not only the lamb of God, bearing the judgment. He was also the priest officiating at the altar. Jesus was far more than a willing victim, passively enduring God’s judgment. On the cross he was performing a work and he did not cease till he cried “It is finished!”
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A High Priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek
When we looked at Jesus, our Great High Priest, we learned how, in every way, his priesthood was superior to the Aaronic priesthood, that was such a fundamental part of the Jewish sacrificial system. The writer has shown already that Jesus had fulfilled the Aaronic type by himself offering to God a perfect and final sacrifice for the sins of his people.
But Jesus was not from the tribe of Levi. How then, could any sacrifice by him be legitimate? The writer to the Hebrews asks that very question in Chapter 7:11
If perfection could have been attained through the Levitical priesthood—and indeed the law given to the people established that priesthood—why was there still need for another priest to come, one in the order of Melchizedek, not in the order of Aaron?
What was required was a priesthood that in all respects was superior to that of the Levitical priesthood, but which was different and had been established by God before the Levitical priesthood. This was the priesthood in the order of Melchizedek.
Psalm 110, the subject of which is David’s Lord, the Priest-King, gives us the answer

4 The LORD has sworn

and will not change his mind:

“You are a priest forever,

in the order of Melchizedek.”

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This is a priesthood, established long before the Levitical priesthood came into being. It is a priesthood not based on natural descent. Melchizidek appeared, as if from nowhere, in the story of Abraham and Abraham acknowledged him as Priest and King. The two qualities of his name and Title are righteousness and peace, those same qualities that throughout scripture are associated with Jesus.
And it is a permanent priesthood:

because Jesus lives forever, he has a permanent priesthood. 25 Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them.

The High Priest of a new covenant
“You are a priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek.”
The work of Jesus as Priest is not finished. There is a work to be done in us to make us fit to serve God. By his death he redeemed us and his sacrifice gave us the means by which we can draw near to God. Jesus lives in Heaven as High Priest in the power of an endless life. He works in that power to meet our needs, not merely to save us from our sins, but to prepare us for life in God’s service. This high priest, Jesus, continues the work he has begun in those whom he has redeemed.
The writer to the Hebrews now refers to a new covenant , of which Jesus is the guarantor and which is established on better promises.
The first Covenant was based on Law, which, though good, could never make anything perfect.

18 The former regulation is set aside because it was weak and useless 19 (for the law made nothing perfect), and a better hope is introduced, by which we draw near to God.

And the first Covenant was temporary and established to be a reminder of sins.

10 They are only a matter of food and drink and various ceremonial washings—external regulations applying until the time of the new order

3 But those sacrifices are an annual reminder of sins.

It was the prophet Jeremiah who spoke of this new covenant

31 “The days are coming,” declares the LORD,

“when I will make a new covenant

with the people of Israel

and with the people of Judah.

33 “This is the covenant I will make with the people of Israel

after that time,” declares the LORD.

“I will put my law in their minds

and write it on their hearts.

I will be their God,

and they will be my people.

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In this new covenant we have forgiveness for sins, a new or restored relationship with God and a promise that God will teach us his ways.
Jesus, our great High Priest of this New Covenant, is working in our hearts by his spirit to enable us to follow him. Ezekiel puts it this way:
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26 I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. 27 And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws.

All of this, the writer says, should encourage us to stand firm in our faith, to persevere. We have a God, who loves us; a Saviour who redeemed us; and a Spirit, who teaches and guides and helps us.
The New International Version (Chapter 10)
A Call to Persevere in Faith19 Therefore, brothers and sisters, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, 20 by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body, 21 and since we have a great priest over the house of God, 22 let us draw near to God with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water. 23 Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful.
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