This letter to the Hebrews is written to born again believers showing Jesus Himself fulfills all requirements of Jewish law, providing a much better covenant than ceremonies and functions of law under Moses. It instructs us that all Old Testament requirements of law are fulfilled in the person of Jesus. He is the door we enter becoming children of God and joint heirs with Christ. Jesus IS the Apostle and High Priest of our salvation.
We have been looking at 2Corinthians 4:6-7 adding a Romans 8:9-10 view in our last GN. How similar is this focus in Hebrews to our theme of Life in Jesus’ Name! In fact, it has a similar message geared to the cultural issues in Jewish tradition. This is of major importance because not only does the new covenant of the New Testament supersede the old covenant of the Old Testament, it surpasses the old covenant demonstrating the superiority of Jesus in whom all promises and prophesies of the Old Testament are fulfilled.
This New Testament letter is written to Jewish Christian believers because severe persecution was creating doubt. Believers were losing confidence and “drifting away.” It is hard for us to absorb their living circumstances. They were still enamored with the God of their Fathers; their life was still tempered with Temple life, centered in the Temple of God made by human hands. When we read this letter, we bring our “in Christ” reality into their Jewish context and miss things sensitive to them.
On the other hand, this Hebrew letter reveals the faithfulness of God. It demonstrates a purpose God is filling out. So we must not read it in isolation. We must not see it only directed at Hebrew Christians. Everything God does is connected to a higher purpose as suggested in the opening verses of this awesome letter. Lets consider this letter in the context of our finite place in God’s eternal scheme. We are living stones growing into His eternal dwelling place and He is the Head! The Hebrew Christians are “in Christ” too! They also are living stones and part of our fellowship in Christ.
If you were part of “The Way,” a follower of Jesus in Israel, you were banished from the earthly Temple of sacrifice. You were not allowed to participate in Hebrew Temple culture. You could loose income and friends. You might lose your home and all your things. You became excluded from your own way of life with all its music and childhood memories. You may have ended up living in caves with other believers. We cannot fully realize how displaced these Hebrew believers were at the time of this writing.
The surface evidence suggests this letter was written during the life of the Temple; they were still performing sacrifices and rituals. This being the case, it was written before Titus destroyed the second temple in August, 70AD. They were still under Roman rule until 66AD when the Jewish rebellion against the Roman Empire took place. This letter was written to Jewish Christians during tremendous hardship and persecution; their hardship was also internal, from their own people and culture, because they were believers in Jesus.
They were still looking for King Jesus to return to earth and set up His Kingdom. They didn’t know where they fit into God’s future Kingdom, not knowing they were already in a spiritual kingdom seated in heavenly places at the right hand of the Father in Jesus. They didn’t realize they were “in Christ” nor did they understand what this could possibly mean!
Paul had written his letters by this time but they were in circulation among Gentile churches. Many believe Paul wrote this letter also but there are several reasons why this may not be the case. Some will argue Paul wrote this letter in Hebrew and then it was translated into the Greek document we have. But there are other issues raising doubt for Paul’s authorship. Martin Luther suggests Apollos is the writer of this exquisite Greek composition but other possibilities include Barnabas and even Luke. Paul is believed to have been executed in Rome around 66-67AD.
These Hebrew believers could have had a copy of Matthew’s or Mark’s gospel. Luke and Acts were written about the same time as Hebrews but John had not yet written his gospel or his epistles. This is not to say these believers had written copies of what was written.
A few of the older Jewish Christians may have seen Jesus or had parents who did. We know John is still living. Some probably had older relatives healed by Jesus. It is reasonable to believe this letter is written within 35 years from the resurrection. Some probably knew older friends who were among the hundreds who witnessed Jesus’ resurrection and the gift of the Holy Spirit to the church. The church can’t be much older than 35-40 years old if this letter was written before 70AD.
Hebrew Christians were still looking for King Jesus to return to Zion but there was no sign of His coming. Was their persecution worth it? Was it really true or was it a false teaching? They had the ceremonies of their history with the Old Testament law and prophets. They also had the Holy Spirit because they were in Christ but they also were in the flesh and drifting away from “The Way.”
Saul was on his way to Damascus to persecute Hebrew believers when confronted by our Lord of glory. He was also present at the stoning of Steven. These events were much earlier than the writing of this Hebrew letter but they set a scene for several sects thriving at the time of this writing. The Essenes were active at the time of John the Baptist and they are one of the major sects influencing thought at the time of this writing.
The Qumran Sect may have originated from a succession of priests in Jerusalem after the death of Stephen. There was also the Dead Sea Sect, likely a smaller brake away group from the Qumran, teaching a prominent role for Michael, the archangel, as well as a priestly roll for Melchizedek in the coming kingdom. This gives us some framework for the heavy emphasis of comparing Jesus to angels and Melchizedek as presented in this letter.
These sect teachings had the ears of persecuted Hebrew Christian believers. They appear misguided by distorted views within their own leadership. They were vulnerable needing support from local groups sharing God’s truth concerning their risen Jesus even if it taught new ideas concerning the coming kingdom. They did not have the benefit of a whole Bible.
The Hebrews Christians were under persecution at a much higher level than we can imagine. We can’t enter into the pain and trial of making choices these believers made. They had to choose between comfort and truth, between family and faith. There was a temptation to drift away from the truth. They didn’t have a New Testament to glean God’s word of truth. How blessed are we!
This brings us back home to the Church! What is the Holy Spirit laying down in this letter for us who are in the body but not in Jewish culture?
In Romans 5 we have a similar message. There we find grace is “so much better” than law. It is mentioned seven times in various forms in this one chapter. This same idea is culminated in the 8th chapter where Paul argues, if we, you and I, have God’s Son (abiding in us), how can He not benefit us with all things! Who can separate us from His love?
This letter to the Hebrews is drawing a similar comparison. In Romans the comparison is law to grace which is “so much better.” In Hebrews it is comparing Jewish religious culture to Jesus and a new living covenant. The person of Jesus is better than all personages in Hebrew culture. This letter lifts Jesus up so that Jewish people will focus on the person of Christ in the context of their temple life. Romans 5 through 8 focuses on individuals in a church culture developed for us in Ephesians. Both the Hebrew and gentile believers suffer from the same malady, drifting away from the truth. Life in Jesus’ name is also in view in Hebrews!
The Hebrew culture depicts a man’s relationship to God as weak, finite, unable to grasp the reality God provides. God delivers salvation for the Hebrews at the hands of Moses but they, like the church of today, are focused on the temporal expression of self in the context of what is seen. God intervenes continuously, but man persists, insisting God meet us on our human ground rather than leaning and learning the righteousness, grace and glory in God Himself. The lesson to the Hebrews is a common ailment for created mankind, regardless of cultural group man happens to belong. Our soulish self contends for top billing.
There are three groups of people depicted for us in the Bible, but only two spiritually. There are the gentiles who is everybody from Adam to Abraham. Then there are the chosen Jewish peoples from Abraham to Jesus. The third group is the “church” or “the body of Christ” who are believers from after the resurrection of Jesus and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit until the rapture i.e., the removal of this body of believers from the earth. These Hebrew believers are in this third group with us!
Spiritually speaking, there are only those who are “in Christ” and those who are not. Some evangelicals interpret the Jewish picture of the Old Testament as a spiritual picture of the “church.” The promised land given to Israel will be fulfilled at the end of the seven year tribulation period when King Jesus reigns from Jerusalem for 1000 years. Hebrews is addressed not to those possessing the land of the Old Testament, but to Jewish believers included in the Body of Christ where there is no difference between Jew and Gentile. The Genesis 15 promises to Abraham are still viable and will be delivered on God’s schedule.
We have 13 short chapters in Hebrews focusing on the beauty and glory of Jesus as our source of grace and glory; our High Priest who entered once for all into the Holy Place. With His own blood He secured an eternal redemption. We have here both the Son of Man and the Son of God merging our path into God Himself, the grace and glory are together through the person of Jesus Christ. Hebrews depicts the glory of God’s grace in and through the person of Jesus to Jewish believers because they are in Christ under a new covenant.
Our Lord chose the Hebrew people as His own so that He could show His love, care and faithfulness to those who belong to Him. Look at what He said to Moses at Mt. Sinai in Exodus 19:3:
“Thus you shall say to the house of Jacob, and tell the people of Israel: You yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and I how I bore you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself. Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples, for all the earth is mine; and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. These are the words that you shall speak to the children of Israel.”
Hebrews is the only letter of the entire Bible presenting the adequacy and supremacy of Jesus as God’s provision for righteousness in our salvation. Jesus is God’s Son fulfilling all of the promises of the law and prophets. But it doesn’t stop there! Jesus is the sustaining power holding the universe together and providing faith for us to believe with His saving life in us! “Everything from God and nothing from self.” This is what grace is!
This letter takes us to the next level. The first three verses of chapter one succinctly direct our attention to who Jesus is. It lifts up our heart and mind to express the love we experience because we know the glory of being in Him!
“Long ago, at many times and many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the majesty on high.”
What an introduction!
As we read this letter, keep in mind, we, just like the Hebrew Christians, are a piece in the eternal kingdom being prepared. We are now learning spiritual skills of faith and love conditioning us for service in our Lord’s work in His eternal kingdom. Let’s eagerly commit ourselves to do His will and be who we are intended to be!
We have a visibility the Hebrew Christians didn’t experience (the written word of God) but we share the same vulnerabilities, reliance on self. I’m always reminded of the verse, Trust in the Lord with all your heart … and lean not on your own understanding, which I have the habit of doing! In all you ways acknowledge him and he will direct your paths.
While circumstances and culture for our Hebrew brothers and sisters in Christ are different than our evangelical church experience, the issues overlap because it is a flesh condition inviting us all to lean on our own understanding. Yes, our sin is forgiven. Yes, we are Holy in our Lord but we are also in a spiritual warfare; we live in fleshly bodies and need to die daily.
The choices our churches make today are not as overtly threatening as the Hebrew believers experienced but the dangers are as great because we too take our eyes off Jesus. Our choices are more refined and politically protected. They are subtle and hidden from view except within our own personal soul. The answer to the Hebrew issue is the realization of the living resurrection person of Jesus sitting on the throne of grace, at the right hand of the Father, interceding personally on our behalf as our great High Priest; or, as John might put it, providing life in His name. He is our eternal High Priest and Apostle.
There is a human hunger deep within the human soul. Only the believer in Jesus has found the solution for this natural desire. This is the focus of Hebrews! Jesus, the Son of God is also the Son of Man and has taken His blood sacrifice to the heavenly altar satisfying the righteous requirement of God’s holiness so that we can enter into His redemption. This letter lifts up Jesus to the supreme position of earthly King and Heavenly Potentate. God’s word to man is all summed up in the person of Jesus.
This letter is precious because through it we see more clearly the glory now within us. We see in this letter not only the person of Jesus from an eternal perspective, but we see also our participating inclusion into His glory since we are now in Him.