BibleProject New Testament Series - Lesson 25

BP150-25 - Hebrews

The letter to the Hebrews. The author of this letter is anonymous, and people have wondered for a long time whether Paul wrote it or maybe one of his coworkers like Barnabas or Apollos. But really we just don't know. In chapter two, we discover that the author had a firsthand relationship with the disciples who were themselves around Jesus. So we know that this letter is anchored in the teaching of the Apostles. We also don't know who the audience of this letter was or even where they lived. The author knows them really well, and he assumes that they have a thorough knowledge of the Old Testament scriptures, especially the storyline of the first five books of the Bible, the Torah, about how Abraham's family became the nation of Israel, about how Moses led them out of slavery in Egypt, to Mt. Sinai, where they received the Torah, and they made a covenant with God, where they built the tabernacle, where the priests offered sacrifices, and also about how they wandered through the wilderness on their way to the promised land. The author just expects that the readers know all of the details about these stories, and so most likely the audience is made up of Jewish Christians. That's where the name of the letter comes from. We also have clues from Chapter ten that this church community was facing persecution and even imprisonment because of their association with Jesus. Some in the community were walking away from Jesus and abandoning the faith altogether, and this explains the purpose and the structure of this letter. First, there's a short introduction, which is followed by four sections where the author compares and contrast Jesus with key people and events from Israel's history. Jesus is first compared with angels in the Torah. Second with Moses and the Promised Land. Third with priests and Melchizedek. And lastly, with the sacrifices in the covenant. And the other has two main goals and all of these contrasts. The first goal is to elevate Jesus as superior to anyone or anything else, showing that Jesus is worthy of all their trust and devotion. But his second goal is this is to challenge the readers to remain faithful to Jesus despite persecution. So in every section, he includes a strong warning not to abandon Jesus. So let's dive in now and see how this all unfolds. The elevation of Jesus begins in the opening sentence of the introduction. In the past, God spoke to our ancestors in many different ways. But in these last days, He has spoken to us in his son. So the author saying that Jesus is superior to all of the previous ways that God has revealed himself to Israel. He then makes this astounding claim that Jesus is the radiance of God's glory and the exact imprint of God's nature. These metaphors are making the closest possible identification between Jesus and God. So Jesus is what the rays of light are to the sun, or Jesus is what the wax impression is to the signet ring. For this author, there is no God. Apart from Jesus, Jesus is God become human as the sun. And it's this elevated view of Jesus that's then explored throughout the rest of the letter. In the first section, the author compares Jesus with angels, which might strike you as kind of odd, like white angels. In Jewish tradition, it was taught based on Deuteronomy chapter 33, verse two, that the Torah and the words of God were delivered to Moses at Mt. Sinai by Angels. And so by saying that Jesus is superior to angels. The author is claiming that Jesus and his message of good news are superior to all previous messengers of God's Word. And so the first warning flows from this very point. If Israel was called to pay attention to the Torah that was delivered by angels. How much more should we pay attention to the message that was announced by the Son of God? And not only that, given Jesus a status high above the angels, how remarkable is it that he gave up that high status to become human, to suffer and to die? In Jesus, we see God's greatest glory and God's great humility as Jesus sympathetically joined Himself to humanity's tragic fate. In Chapters three and four, the author moves on to argue that Jesus is superior to Moses, who led the people of Israel through the wilderness and built the tabernacle. Jesus is also the leader of God's people, but in him we see not the builder of just a tent, but of all creation. Then the author retells the story of how the Israelites rebelled against Moses in the wilderness, and they lost their chance to enter into the rest that God offered them in the promised land. And so here comes the second warning. If Jesus is greater than Moses, how much higher are the stakes if we rebel against him? We also are in a wilderness like environment where we have to trust God for the future. Rest in God's new creation. So let's make sure that we don't rebel like Israel did in the wilderness and lose out on God's gracious offer to enter his new creation in chapters five through seven. The author then compares Jesus with Israel's priests that come from the line of Aaron. Their role was to represent Israel before God and to offer sacrifices that atoned for. Recovered over the sins of the people. But he points out the priests were themselves morally flawed people, and so they constantly had to offer sacrifices for their own sins as well as for everybody else's. Something more was needed. And so he then argues that Jesus was that something more. He's the ultimate priest. But Jesus did not come from the line of Aaron. Rather, Jesus was a priest in the Order of Melchizedek, that mysterious priest king from ancient Jerusalem. And he appears in the stories about Abraham. We also find in Psalm 110 that the Messianic king from the line of David will be a priest in the order of milk. Mrdak So the author's whole point is this Jesus is the ultimate priest. King He's morally flawless. He's eternally available for his people, and so he's superior to any other mediator between God and humans. And thus comes His warning in this section. To reject Jesus is to reject one's best and only chance to be fully reconciled to God. So don't do that. Which transitions us into the last comparison. In chapters eight through ten, the author shows how Jesus's death on the cross was the ultimate sacrifice superior to all the animal sacrifices offered in the temple. Those sacrifices had to be offered constantly, both daily but also yearly. On the Day of Atonement, Jesus offered his life once and for all, and it was sufficient to cover the sins of the whole world. And so the author warns the audience, From walking away from Jesus, it's like turning your back on a gracious offer of God's forgiveness. Why would you do that? Jesus? A sacrifice is permanent, he says, and it's the foundation for the New covenant spoken of in the prophets, where all sins are forgiven. So now that the author has elevated Jesus through all of these contrasts, this final section is one big challenge to follow Jesus. So think big picture in Jesus. They have found God's very word In Jesus. They have hope for the new creation. Jesus is their eternal priest. He's the perfect sacrifice. And so now they should follow all the great models of faith found throughout the story of the Scriptures. And they should remain faithful to Jesus, trusting that despite whatever hardship and persecution, God will not abandon His people. That's the basic flow of thought throughout the letter, which the author calls right here at the very end a brief word of exhortation. Here's a couple of extra tips for reading this letter. Whenever the author quotes from the Old Testament scriptures, which is like every other sentence, stop and go look up the reference and read that quotation in its original context. And sometimes you'll be puzzled, but more often you'll see all kinds of extra cool connections that you would never notice otherwise. It's totally worth the effort. You should also just know that these warning passages, they're going to make you uncomfortable. And that's kind of the point. They're not there to make you afraid. They're there to show you that rejecting Jesus is foolish because he's so awesome. These warnings all serve the larger purpose of the letter to show that Jesus is the ultimate revelation of God's love and mercy. And that's what the letter of the Hebrews is all about.