HEBREWS
Following the order of the NT canon, Hebrews is the 1st of the explicitly non-Pauline letters. But as I mentioned in the blog “NTO 2,” some of the early church fathers believed that Paul wrote this letter (hence, its placement next to Philemon); the King James Version thus follows this belief, labeling it: “The Epistle of Paul the Apostle to the Hebrews.”
Let me begin the survey of this “letter” with a few remarks about its background. 1st, technically Hebrews is not a “letter”: it lacks most of the characteristics of Graeco-Roman letters, as evidenced, for example, by the letters of Paul (see the blog, “Ltr Back”). Moreover, the author of Hebrews calls his “letter” a “sermon” (Heb 13:22). In terms of date, it was probably written post-70 AD: the Temple talk is based on the scriptures and not on the 1st-century institution (which was destroyed in AD 70); and the persecution of Christians comes later in the century not earlier than 70. In terms of authorship, it was perhaps written by a Gentile, given the extremely high level Greek used, and the strong allegiance to Graeco-Roman thought (e.g., his Platonic ideas). The audience of the text was probably Jewish Christians in Rome; the reason he writes them is b/c they are being sucked back into practicing Judaism in order to escape being persecuted b/c of their Christian faith. Question: In what ways could a Christian practice Judaism? Is it possible to practice it without compromising Christianity?
Before we take look at the text, let me offer a basic outline: Christ’s superiority in his essence (1:1-7:28), Christ’s superiority in his ministry (8:1-10:31), a persevering faith in God results in God’s reward (10:32-12:29), concluding remarks (13:1-19), and closing statements (13:20-25).
Nearly the first half of the book is devoted to extolling Christ’s superiority in his essence. Right off the top the author states that Jesus represents God’s ultimate/final revelation to the world (Heb 1:1-2). Jesus is the climax of God’s revelation to humankind. In fact, Jesus represents the very essence of God (Heb 1:3). In other words, Jesus is God, not simply some lesser divine being; and as God, he sustains his creation by his powerful word, and he completed God’s plan for redemption. Hence, Jesus is greater than the angels (Heb 1:4). Angels were always considered extremely powerful beings in the OT; and during the interim between the Old and New Testaments, their role in providence and salvation became even more exalted. So the author corrects this for his audience. He gives some reasons why Jesus is greater than the angels: b/c he is God’s Son (Heb 1:4-5); b/c angels actually worship and serve him (Heb 1:6-7); b/c he is called “God” (Heb 1:8-9); and b/c he rules over God’s kingdom (1:8-14; cf. 2:5-8).
B/c Jesus is God that means that we need to give heed the message concerning him (Heb 2:1-4). Question: How, according to this text, does someone heed the message of Jesus? 2:1-4 is the 1st of the author’s infamous “warning passages”; I’m going to save my remarks for these warning passages when I get to chap. 6.
It is b/c Jesus is God and therefore greater than the angels that his suffering accomplished salvation (2:9-18). Not surprisingly, then, Jesus is also greater than Moses (3:1-6). Moses was considered more than just a hero to the Jews. During the interim between the writing of the Old and New Testaments, there was tons of literature written about him, e.g., Testament of Moses, the Life of Moses, the Apocryphon of Moses, the Apocalypse of Moses, the Book of Moses, etc., etc., etc (just to name a few). But despite Moses’ greatness, Jesus is far greater: Moses was only a servant in God’s house, but Jesus is not a servant but a son (Heb 3:2, 5-6); and while Moses served in God’s house, Jesus created that house and owns it (3:3-4). Once again, in view of Jesus’ surpassing greatness, we need to heed the message concerning him (3:7-4:16): don’t fall back from your faith in Christ but move ahead (Heb 4:11)! Question: Can you think of other reasons to move forward in your faith?
Jesus is also greater than the mysterious high priest, Melchizedek (5:1-10; 7:1-28). Of all the high priests of the past, the greatest was Melchizedek. He was not simply a priest but a king (7:1-2); he was even greater than the “founder” of God’s people, Abraham (7:1-4); and his priesthood served as an archetype for all others (Heb 5:6; 7:17). Yet, Jesus surpasses even this great high priest: Mel was a priest of the Old Covenant, but Jesus inaugurates and ministers the vastly superior New Covenant. The author will return to his point of the superiority of the New Covenant in chap. 8.
At the close of his 2 discussions of Jesus’ high priesthood (5:1-10 and 10:1-17), the author offers 2 frightening warnings about “falling away” from the faith. I will look at these next.