Hebrews: we really need to know Hebrews! It’s different from any other new testament book. Like others, though, it’s a marvellous, joyous book, `ablaze with the glory of Jesus` as David Gooding says in his superb free commentary (see PS). And for me, at a very difficult time in my life it was a lifesaver.
We don’t know much about when it was written; it seems clear it was before AD70, because (like with the gospels) Jerusalem’s fall and the destruction of the temple that year would otherwise have been such a useful addition to the writer’s argument about the end of the old covenant; so, not too long after Jesus’ lifetime. We’re not sure who it was written by either; Origen thought it was Luke, Tertullian thought Barnabas, Luther thought Apollos. We don’t know. And it’s a good principle that, if something like this is not clear, it doesn’t matter too much. What’s important is that Hebrews was written for Jewish Christians, Jews who had been doing well but were losing their first love (10:25,32-36). So it’s one of the NT books written somewhat for the second generation, like 2 Timothy and 1 John; and it can be very relevant if we’re second generation, kids of a Christian family; or if maybe we’re feeling we’re in the second generation of our own spiritual life after the initial excitements have gone…
Why was it hard for these people? Well, they were Christians, but they were also Jews. They were proud of their Jewish heritage, and they had reason to be. Like Paul says in Romans 9, the divine glory, the covenants, the law, were all theirs as Jews, and so were the temple worship, the biblical promises, and the ancestry of Christ. And we see in Acts that Peter and John, and Paul, loved to go to the temple. So it was hard that their nation’s leaders were pouring scorn on them as followers of Jesus. Yet Jesus was a Jewish Messiah; and they believed he would come back and (Acts 3:19ff) demonstrate that they were indeed the true followers of the Jewish heritage. But now year was succeeding year, maybe forty years almost, and he still hadn’t come in glory to show this. And Christians began to die, and they were realising Jesus might be a long time coming, and the question arose for them – as it may for us? – are we willing to be in this for the long haul?
And official Judaism was getting increasingly hostile. The Jewish authorities were treating Christians as a heretical sect; we see this over and over again in Acts. So a serious split was developing between their church and everything their ancestors had valued. And to make matters more complex, gentiles were getting saved. So: did the gentiles need to embrace Judaism and get circumcised? The apostles discussed just this in Acts 15 and decided that no, these gentiles who had come into their churches didn’t need to be circumcised or keep the Jewish dietary laws or all the wonderful traditions. And meanwhile Paul had publicly walked out of the synagogue (eg Acts 19); and he had stated clearly that he was `going to the gentiles`. So there was a huge crisis, an either/or, where they were facing the need to break with much that was most precious to them. And many had got close to giving up their Christian faith.
And so God the Holy Spirit sent the writer of Hebrews to teach them; for example to look back carefully into their history and see that there had previously been folk who were apparently part of God’s people, but deep down, because they didn’t believe, ended up `turning away from the living God`; and the results of that were catastrophic (3:7-15, 4:1). To be like that, he was warning them, is utterly tragic (2:3, 10:26-29). It matters incredibly whether we carry on or not. He’s confident about them (6:9) – but therefore, he says, `strengthen your feeble arms & weak knees` (12:12)!– and clearly some were in very real danger.
So how shall we apply all this to ourselves? Perhaps rather easily! All kinds of things can erode our commitment and love for Christ. Life sucks sometimes: job issues, family issues, singleness, childlessness, sickness, broken relationships – where is God?… and our hearts can grow cold. Then again, prosperity too can make our hearts grow cold. It’s harder for a camel to go through a needle’s eye than for an affluent person to enter the kingdom, Jesus said. I once did a conference for the student CU at Universiti Malaya: great young Christians, courageous, and some had undergone great pressure from their families because of their faith. But the staffworker told me that it was after university, when those pressures were over and they had good jobs and good salaries, that they began to fall away. Our hearts too can grow cold. So for us, what is our anchor? How will this letter help us not to give up?
This is very personal for me: there was a time when I was burnt out and my life was falling apart, I doubted God & was only just clinging on, and Hebrews became very, very important for me. So much so that I hardly dared move on to another book! And I made a list of the encouragements it contained. As we go through Hebrews it’s worth asking ourselves, what anchor does today’s passage provide? Because any or each of these could save our life and make all the difference whether it’s wasted. May God help us learn to go on living by faith!
And we see as Hebrews goes on, particularly chapters 10>12, that what matters is not just us saying, Yeah yeah, I believe, but rather whether as God’s people we live by faith. In other words, whether in challenging times we make choices that reflect the fact that Jesus really comes first for us – how we use our time and our money, whether we’re actively involved in his church, whether we’re active in seeking to share our faith: each of these choices whether or not to live by faith takes us forwards or backwards. This is how faith grows and flourishes.
But we’ll also see another big thing: what counts most is not greater faith in God, but rather faith in a great God, Jesus. We’ll see the supremacy of Jesus; not only over all other religions but also over everything God himself – he Jesus – had done before. Chs 1&2, Jesus is greater than the angels God used; greater than Moses, ch3; than Joshua who brought them into the promised land, ch4; than Aaron, ch 7. Jesus’ new way is better even than the wonderful temple sacrifices, ch 9; because his new way does what no religious ritual can, it actually changes hearts, ch 8.
Religion can’t do that; even the best religion in history, the one God himself had brought into being. As we go through Hebrews we see how, where there’s an exhortation `let us`, it usually builds on a `since` of what God has done already or is doing. Hebrews points us vitally away from the religious principle of trying to earn God’s favour by the good things or rituals we do. In the old testament God led his people that way because that is the basic human religious impulse, and God needed to show us it doesn’t work; we can only be saved by his grace first through faith. So now comes the gospel: Christ has done it all for us, let’s take that and, passionately and consistently, build our lives on it!
But the biggest thing in Hebrews, it seems to me, is what it shows us about Jesus: Jesus is our Great High Priest praying for us as we go through hard times. This is presented almost nowhere else in the new testament; so it’s why Hebrews matters, and why it’s vital we grapple with it. It’s a vibrant truth that can keep us alive! So let’s whizz through some highlights of how this wonderful book shows us this reality. First, 10:19-21: we see here two reasons why we can enter God’s presence, the Most Holy Place: first, Jesus’ blood shed for us, but secondly because we have a great high priest. If this is a new idea for us, God is going to show us through Hebrews what it means and how great it is! Then chapter 2 shows us Christ’s incarnation as the one true Man, the one who went the way we go, who experienced and identified with our suffering; and here again we see the double goal, the double purpose of Jesus becoming man: `that he might become a merciful and faithful High Priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people` (2:17).
Then over in 7:24-26 we see Jesus as the Priest interceding for his people – Jesus praying for us. What does that mean? In 1:3 Jesus is seated at God’s right hand; but we remember that when Stephen was in his final crisis he saw Jesus standing at God’s right hand (Acts 7:56), standing up in prayer to support him when he desperately needed it. Friends: Jesus prays for us individually (see also John 17:11, 15-17), and it’s this that’s our security. Look at 4:14-16: Hold firm, it says, because you know you’ve got a Great High Priest who knows what life can be like: that certainty is the basis for our continuing, surviving, thriving. And again 3:1: `Holy brothers and sisters… fix your thoughts on Jesus, whom we acknowledge as our Apostle and High Priest.` Back in the desert (the theme of ch3) the Israelites asked that question, Is the Lord among us or not?- in dark moments I’ve sometimes wondered that, and so have you! And the answer is: YES! HE IS HERE! So let’s fix our thoughts, not only on Jesus as our Saviour on the cross, utterly wonderful and essential though that is, but on Jesus now, watching, caring for you, loving, praying for you. In Christ alone our hope is found! And his prayers for us will surely be answered. That’s how it will be for us throughout these coming months!
So as Peter says, let’s pray to add to our faith: along with everything else about Jesus, to feed thankfully and joyfully and worshipfully on this, that he is our Great High Priest who watches over us now, cares for us now, prays for us now! Just as Stephen saw Jesus standing in his time of need, so Jesus is praying for you. And his prayers will surely be answered! `Before the throne of God above I have a strong, a perfect plea: a Great High Priest whose name is Love, who ever lives, and pleads for me…!` Thank you Lord!
PS David Gooding’s excellent and illuminating book on Hebrews, An Unshakable Kingdom is downloadable – absolutely free! – at https://www.myrtlefieldhouse.com/online-books/an-unshakable-kingdom (scroll down the page). (Gooding’s downloadable free guides to Luke (According to Luke) and Acts (True to the Faith) on the same site are also brilliant. And all three are downloadable free there in several other languages, for example https://mh316.com/russian in Russian.)
