Day 78: By Faith, the Cloud of Witnesses

Like when I hear a good sermon (even though Hebrews is a letter, not a sermon), when I read this section of Hebrews, I sense that we are coming to the peak, the climax, the mountaintop of the letter.  Here is where everything is leading, the encouraging and exhorting, the theological arguments for the superiority of Jesus as high priest and sacrifice.  Here we can sense so much the letter-writer's desire that the people not give up, not turn away from their faith, even though (it seems) the times are tough and they are not seeing much evidence for the truth of the faith.

By faith.  What is faith?  Generations of Christians have used this definition:  "The substance of things hoped for."  We believe in things that we do not yet see, but we believe that they are coming, and we live differently because of it.  But there are things that we do know and have seen and heard about, and they give substance to our faith and our lives.

The author of Hebrews recites a whole litany of people who lived by faith, starting with Abel, and ending with Jesus.  In between s/he lists so many people, well-known and anonymous, men and women, who lived by faith, not receiving the end of their hoping, but holding firm to the Promise of God.  Abraham.  Sarah.  Gideon.  David.  Jephthah (yes, even the judge Jephthah is mentioned).  And in sort of terrifying detail, the author goes through some of the hardships and persecutions people before them had to endure.

In the end is Jesus, one of the crowd of witnesses, but also different somehow.  While we are running our raise, and being cheered on by the whole company of those who lived "by faith" we are looking to him, for he alone has crossed the finish line  "the pioneer and perfecter of our faith."

After this great climx, this great exhortation, this great finish of the one who went outside the city gates for us, there's not much left to say, except for some reminders of how to live (in purity, showing hospitality to strangers, visiting those in prison), and  a wonderful benediction:

May the God of peace, who brought back the great shepherd of the sheep, our Lord Jesus,
from the dead by the blood of the eternal covenant,
equip you with every good thing to do his will,
by developing in us what pleases him through Jesus Christ.
To him be the glory forever and ever.  Amen.

Day 77: The Better Priest, the Better Sacrifice

That is what the author of Hebrews calls Jesus:  the better sacrifice.  He intentionally sets Jesus up against the priests of the old covenant, and the sacrifices of the old covenant, and declares Jesus to be better, more effective, good Forever.  Because he is perfect (unlike any other priest), he is able to save completely; because he died and rose and is now seated at God's right hand, he able to intercede continually for us.  That is one of his jobs.

And this kind of priest, and this kind of covenant was foretold, by Jeremiah, who wrote, "Look, the days are coming when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel...I will place their laws on their minds, and write them on their hearts....."  So God always intended for this old covenant to become real.

Some people think that this letter is written to Jewish Christians, who were considering abandoning their new faith, and returning to pre-messianic Judaism.  Sometimes the rhetoric makes me think so.  While I am one who holds fast to the new covenant given and sealed by Jesus (remember the idea that the death of the signee makes the well effective?), I also struggle with some of the words of this letter that seem to say that Judaism is now obsolete and is going away.  Is that what the letter writer is saying?

Jesus in Hebrews is not only the Better Priest, he is also the perfect sacrifice.  His sacrifice on the cross is not again-and-again, but once-for all, so no longer do we need to make sacrifices of animals to be reconciled with God.

On the other hand, if we fall away once we know the truth, this letter has harsh words for us: 'if we make the decision to sin after we receive the knowledge of the truth, there isn't a sacrifice for sins any longer."  What do you think of this?  Do you think that the author of Hebrews is referring to ordinary "sins", or something more encompassing?

Tomorrow we are on to the some of the most well-known passages of this letter.

What is faith?

Day 76: Jesus, our Sabbath Rest; Jesus, our High Priest

So, in his (or her) encouraging way, the writer of the letter to the Hebrews continues to encourage and to chide and to remind the congregation of the superiority of Jesus, of the benefits of knowing Jesus and following Jesus.

First he reminds them of the story of the Israelites wandering in the wilderness, and the promise of sabbath rest.  But there's more to the story than meets the eye.  Sabbath rest is about a literal rest from labors once a week, it's about entering God's rest, it's about trusting the faithfulness of God, whether in the wilderness or the promised land.  So ultimately Jesus is God's Sabbath rest -- the One who trusted God perfectly also offers us a Sabbath when we trust him.

Then, he points out Jesus as a high priest:  and not just any high priest, but a high priest "after the order of Melchizedek."  What does that mean?  Melchizedek is a sort of shadowy figure from the book of Genesis, who appears mysteriously to bless Abraham, and then disappears again.  He is not part of the formal line of priests.  He is prior to the levitical priesthood.  In fact, he does not even appear to be an Israelite.  But he is unique, like Jesus.

Jesus is a priest, our high priest, which might seem a strange thing to our ears.  What do we need a priest for?  A priest is a mediator, an intercessor, someone who pleads for someone else, and most of us don't think this way.  What do we need a mediator for?  What do we need an intercessor for?  What could we be guilty of?  We're pretty good, aren't we?  Maybe we make mistakes sometimes, but nothing we have to worry about.

But the author of Hebrews and his/her congregation do believe they need a mediator.  They know that they fall, and they want to be reconciled to God.  Jesus is a good reconciler because as a human being, he sympathizes with our stumbling ways, but he always has the ear of God.

But what about us?  Is it good news to us that Jesus is rest, or that Jesus is a high priest?  How would you describe the good news of Jesus?

Day 75: The Mysterious Letter

We don't know much about Hebrews.

We don't know who wrote it (very long ago it was ascribed to Paul, but his name is never mentioned in the greeting.  In fact, there isn't a greeting at the beginning, although there are some final greetings at the end.)

We don't know who it was written to, despite the fact that the title says it was written to "the Hebrews."  (Some people think perhaps it was written to Jewish Christians in Jerusalem; others disagree.)

We're not sure when it was written, either.

Some people even think it wasn't a letter, actually but a sermon, an idea which sort of intrigues me.  I am also intrigued by the idea that perhaps Apollos wrote it, or even Aquila or Priscilla.  But don't mind me, I'm also the one who thinks that Lazarus could have been the "Beloved Disciple."

Whatever else it is, Hebrews is a hymn of praise to Jesus.  The mysterious author makes the case for the uniqueness of Jesus as Savior and Son of God, and writes to encourage and exhort people under duress to hang on to him and to the faith that proclaims him.  So, the opening chapters are full of scripture citations and poetic praises of Jesus "The Son is the light of God's glory and the imprint of God's being."  He is more important than any of the other messengers God has sent.

Therefore, don't give up or drift away.  The author will say this, in many ways, again and again.  Don't give up.  Don't drift away.

Although the world and culture and people have change in many ways throughout the ages, in some ways we haven't.  We give up.  We drift away.

"Hold fast to your faith!" the letter to the Hebrews insists.  There's a new world coming, and God has made us to shine in it.

There's nothing wrong with this message (and a lot right with it), but one issue that can get uncomfortable is the fact that the writer again and again compares Jesus with the first covenant in a sort of denigrating way.  Now that we have Jesus, does that mean that there is no use for Judaism?  How can I talk about my faith in a way that doesn't put someone else's down?  It's not as easy as it might sound.

Keep reading to find out more about what the mysterious writer of Hebrews has to say about Jesus, and why we should not give up...