Hebrews: Exegesis, Theology, and Ministry

Reflect on Psalm 150 as it is read aloud. “Praise the Lord! Praise God in His sanctuary; praise Him in His mighty expanse. Praise Him for His mighty deeds; praise Him according to His excellent greatness. Praise Him with trumpet sound; praise Him with harp and lyre. Praise Him with timbrel and dancing; praise Him with stringed instruments and pipe. Praise Him with loud cymbals; praise Him with resounding cymbals. Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Praise the Lord!” Consider that Hebrews 12-13 addresses suffering, discipline and community life together. Reflect on Hebrews 12:3 – 13:25 as it is read aloud and exposited. This is the culmination of the epistle. How are we to suffer well in our journey of faith? We are warned against regarding lightly God’s discipline. We need to accurately assess and appreciate the severity of our struggle. We must remind ourselves of the Gospel so that we do not forget and grow bitter or become wearied. Hebrews 13:21 tells us, “. . . equip you in every good thing to do His will, working in us that which is pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ . . .” God works in us faith. Consider the role of hope. Hebrews describes suffering in external and internal ways. It puts suffering in perspective. Jesus had it the worse and God still saved him from death. You have never out suffered for God to bring life from death.

Explore the concrete instructions given in Hebrews 12-13. What does Hebrews say about suffering well? Ten things are mentioned in Chapters 12-13. We are to keep to the Word. We are to seek peace with our neighbors. We are to seek endurance as a community project. Brotherly love is to continue. Hebrews 13:2 tells us, “Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers.” Hebrews 13:4-5 tells us, “Let marriage be held in honor among all, and let the marriage bed be undefiled … Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have …” Hebrews 13:7 tells us, “Remember your leaders, those who spoke to you the word of God.” Our solid ground is in Hebrews 13:8, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.” Consider that the unchanging nature of Christ in his immutability makes imitation possible. Hebrews 13:9 tells us, “Do not be led away by diverse and strange teachings…” Hebrews 13:17 also tells us, “Obey your leaders and submit to them…” And finally, Hebrews 13:18 states, “Pray for us . . .” Reflect that the most profound ethical act for the Christian is to pray. Prayer is the expressed voice of faith.

Continue to listen and experience the Letter to the Hebrews as Chapters 11-13 are read aloud.

Hebrews 12:1-2 states, “Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” The logic of Jesus’ faith is truly the most distinctive elucidation of the dynamics of faith in the epistle. Consider that songs of lament are rarely sung. The fact that Jesus experienced suffering and hates it ought to be a part of our dynamics of faith. Jesus suffered for the greater joy and future hope. Christ’s joy is on the other side of the Cross. Note that Hebrews 11 and the heroes of faith include some surprising people. Hebrews 11:6 tells us, “And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him.” The kind of zeal, sacrifice, and obedience that pleases God is always and only one that comes from faith.

Hebrews always describes sanctification as being by faith alone but not of faith alone. Reflect on Hebrews 11:1-12:2 as the text is read aloud and exposited. Notice what precedes this text. The danger here is about shrinking back. The perseverance must be a perseverance of faith. Hebrews 12:1-2 really concludes this section by summing up the function of the list in Chapter 11 and then highlighting the exemplary role of Jesus. Hebrews 12:1 sums up the function of Chapter 11. We are to imitate by running with endurance, laying aside distractions, and casting off indwelling sin. Consider that we are made to imitate that which we love and idealize. Are we going to present Christian exemplars of faith? The use of this kind of list is a remarkable list of diversity. The list culminates in Jesus as the highest example. We should think of imitation not as slavish repetition nor as disconnected do-it- ourselfness but rather as contextual replication- the same journey but in our own distinct context. Reflect on fides qua creditor – the faith by which we believe. On the pilgrimage, are we faithfully keeping the faith and being led by the great cloud of witnesses and are we faithfully walking our step in the journey in our time and space. Reflect that Hebrews 12-13 concerns the suffering, disciplined life. Consider an introduction to Matthew Thiessen’s essay, Hebrews 12.5-13, the Wilderness Period, and Israel’s Discipline.

Reflect again that Hebrews is a sermon turned into a letter and that Scripture is meant to be heard. Listen and experience the Letter to the Hebrews chapters 1-10.

Eschatological tension is described in Hebrews 10:14 which states, “For by one offering He has perfected for all time those who are sanctified.” If a sacrifice has been offered once and for all and we are still be sanctified, we are still on a journey to a fixed end. This is the notion of the pilgrimage. Hebrews 10:22 states, “... let us draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.” Hebrew talks about purity and justice. There is concern for the disadvantaged and for moral and covenantal order, that is, for religious purity. The community that knows atonement begins to be sanctified. Note that “cleanliness” is linked here with social justice. There is a logic and not just a thoughtless spontaneity to service. How do you call people to service when there is a probability they will suffer for it? The believers knew they had a better possession and an abiding one. Hebrews 10:32 states, “But remember the former days, when, after being enlightened, you endured a great conflict of sufferings.” Hebrews 10:35 states, “Therefore, do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward.” The Christians were known for this and encouraged to keep at it. Hebrews 10:24-25 describes the reality of real community. There is a social responsibility for the sustenance of faith. Notice that individual responsibility is paired with communal contexts for obedience. Hebrews calls the people to take responsibility for each other. Hebrews calls us to continue in our faith and trust in God. Consider an introduction on John Webster’s sermon, The Nature of Faith.

Reflect on and exegesis of Hebrews 11:13-16, “All these died in faith, without receiving the promises, but having seen them and having welcomed them from a distance, and having confessed that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. For those who say such things make it clear that they are seeking a country of their own. And indeed if they had been thinking of that country from which they went out, they would have had opportunity to return. But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God; for He has prepared a city for them.” Explore the rhythm of Christian obedience. Faith, unlike any other human action, points completely away from the one doing it. Faith is only worth what its object is worth. It is the object of faith which receives glory and praise. The Bible highlights faith as the fundamental action of the Christian life. Faith is a human action whereby we trust God as our good.

Explore Hebrews 5:11-14. Why this much on Melchizedek? What is the warning in Chapter 6? Keep in mind the journey motif that continues to pervade the literary shape of the epistle. The journey language is used to describe Christian experiences. The wilderness generation is a lens used to describe the danger of apostasy. The imagery and analogy is thick. The lack of persevering faith is evidence for the lack of possessing God’s presence. In Hebrews 3:14 we read, “For we have become partakers of Christ, if we hold fast the beginning of our assurance firm until the end…” The warnings are a call to faith to believers. Hebrews defines “real Christians” as those who have persevering faith. Consider an introduction to Stephen Holmes’ essay Death in the Afternoon.

Reflect on Psalm 111 as it is read aloud. Consider the work of Christ as sacrifice and sacrificial offering. Reflect on Hebrews 8-10 as it is read aloud and exposited. In Hebrews 8:1-2 we read, “Now the main point in what has been said is this: we have such a high priest, who has taken His seat at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens, a minister in the sanctuary and in the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, not man.” In general, Chapter 7 focuses on the person of the priest. Chapters 8-10 turn our gaze to the work of the priest- the sacrificial offering. It is a move from considering the person to considering the work. Jeremiah 31:31-34 is the basis for this whole section which speaks of God’s covenant with his people. What are the promises given in Jeremiah 31? There is a promise of real atonement. Hebrews 8:12 tells us, “For I will be merciful to their iniquities, and I will remember their sins no more.” There will be a genuine answer to sin. Jeremiah and Hebrews both tell us this is the basis for all the other promises- they are premised on the promise of the forgiveness of God and that God will not remember our sin anymore. The second promise is real transformation. The third promise is that there is real covenant community. Hebrews 8:11 states, “And they shall not teach everyone his fellow citizen, and everyone his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for all will know Me, from the least to the greatest of them.“ Hebrews 8:13 tells us, “When He said, ‘A new covenant,’ He has made the first obsolete. But whatever is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to disappear.” Explore that this is where Hebrews addresses the eschatological tension. Hebrews 10:1-4 describes a scenario where people can never have the clear conscience. Hebrew 8-10 shows us we can have that assurance because of Christ’s final sacrifice. Consider an introduction to David Moffitt’s essay, Blood, Life, and Atonement.

Reflect on Jeremiah 31:31-40 as it is read aloud. God takes the place of judgment and makes it sacred. Reflect on Hebrews 10 as it is read aloud and focus on the three-fold promise in Jeremiah. Consider the warning that those who shrink back are destroyed. The danger is one of apostasy. Jeremiah 31 is quoted and is meant to offer assurance. There is real atonement, real transformation, and real covenant community. Hebrews 10:12 states, “…but He, having offered one sacrifice for sins for all time, ‘sat down at the right hand of God…’” The completion of His sacrificial work means there is no more need for the offering for sin. The concern is that Christians would lapse back into offering sacrifices for sin.

Join a reflection of Psalm 22 as it is read aloud. Consider that priesthood and sacrifice are the themes of this text and we will consider the exhortation that is offered and the way the Christian life is characterized. Listen and reflect on Hebrews 4:14 – 7 as it is read aloud and exposited. Note the introduction to this section. We have a high priest we can put our trust in and can draw near to Him in confidence. Hebrews is the only New Testament writing that refers to Jesus as High Priest. Explore ten of the places in Hebrews that consistently applies the title of high priest to Jesus. What is it that a priest does? Why is it Jesus is a supreme high priest? Hebrews 5:1 tells us, “For every high priest taken from among men is appointed on behalf of men in things pertaining to God, in order to offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins…” Consider that there is a vicarious service being done. Sin has to be dealt with if God’s presence is to be near sinners.

Why is it that Jesus is a supreme high priest? Reflect on Hebrews 7:26-28, “For it was fitting for us to have such a high priest, holy, innocent, undefiled, separated from sinners and exalted above the heavens; who does not need daily, like those high priests, to offer up sacrifices, first for His own sins and then for the sins of the people, because this He did once for all when He offered up Himself. For the Law appoints men as high priests who are weak, but the word of the oath, which came after the Law, appoints a Son, made perfect forever.” The term eprepen (“is fitting”) appears in both verses. Only in light of Old Testament logic can Jesus make fitting sense. Hebrews is very specifically addressing ceremonial law.

Explore the twofold superiority of Christ. Fix upon the conclusion to our section (7:26-28) to see how Jesus is the supreme high priest. Consider five descriptions of Christ as holy, innocent, unstained, separated from sinners, and exalted above the heavens. Jesus Christ is superior to the priests of old, is exalted above the heavens, and is a Priest forever. Reflect on Hebrews 5:7-10. Consider that reverence cannot be identified with non-emotive stoicism. Jesus’ reverence led to his prayers being heard. The vindication of the resurrection is God’s response to Jesus’ prayer. We read in Hebrews 4:9-10, “And having been made perfect, He became to all those who obey Him the source of eternal salvation, being designated by God as a high priest according to the order of Melchizedek.” Jesus’ earthly piety secures his status as the Great High Priest. The main point of chapter 7 is that Jesus is a great high priest because he is closer to God and continues serving before God. The Son has really, finally, and forever mediated the presence of God. Hebrews 7:16 tells us, “…who has become such not on the basis of a law of physical requirement, but according to the power of an indestructible life.” God is interested in a greater quality of life and greater quantity of life – the fullness of God’s presence and experience and that forevermore.

In Hebrew 2-3, we find Jesus as a Man of Sorrows. Becoming human involves suffering. Can Jesus sympathize with our situation? Hebrews 2 tells us that He can sympathize because He has experienced a greater temptation than we have faced. The great pain of Christ’s atonement is the alienation and decent into hell and facing God’s judgment. It is the fullest extent of His suffering and He journeys through it faithfully. Being tempted means being presented with a genuine choice or decision. Consider impeccability as something that is a lived psychological reality or a providential reality. God is actively involved in keeping us persevering. Consider an introduction to Calvin’s interpretation of Hebrews.

The story in Numbers 13-14 is a metaphor for Sabbath Rest. It is the antithesis for the creation story as creation spins out of control. Numbers 14:4 tells us, “So they said to one another, ‘Let us appoint a leader and return to Egypt.’” In Numbers 14:10 we read, “But all the congregation said to stone them with stones.” In Numbers 14:10-12 we are told, “Then the glory of the Lord appeared in the tent of meeting to all the sons of Israel. The Lord said to Moses, ‘How long will this people spurn Me? And how long will they not believe in Me, despite all the signs which I have performed in their midst? I will smite them with pestilence and dispossess them, and I will make you into a nation greater and mightier than they.” Numbers 14:39-45 tells us, “When Moses spoke these words to all the sons of Israel, the people mourned greatly. In the morning, however, they rose up early and went up to the ridge of the hill country, saying, ‘Here we are; we have indeed sinned, but we will go up to the place which the Lord has promised.’ But Moses said, ‘Why then are you transgressing the commandment of the Lord, when it will not succeed? Do not go up, or you will be struck down before your enemies, for the Lord is not among you. For the Amalekites and the Canaanites will be there in front of you, and you will fall by the sword, inasmuch as you have turned back from following the Lord. And the lord will not be with you.’ But they went up heedlessly to the ridge of the hill country; neither the ark of the covenant of the Lord nor Moses left the camp. Then the Amalekites and the Canaanites who lived in that hill country came down, and struck them and beat them down as far as Hormah.“ Consider that the first sin was a sin of doubt and despair and at the end their sin is of presumption and pride. Reflect on Peter and his sin of presumption of pride and doubt. “How long will this people spurn Me? And how long will they not believe in Me?” Reflect that the life of faith is looking outward for life and sustenance. All sin is rooted in unbelief. We are to believe in the Lord Jesus for everything. We are called to a lifestyle of rest. Consider a short introduction of Matthew Thiessen’s essay, Hebrews and the End of the Exodus.

Continue to explore Hebrews 2-3 and the humanity of Jesus as found in Hebrews 2: 5-18. How is Jesus characterized by the author? Consider Christ’s humiliation and exaltation. Reflect on Jesus’ teaching about His narrative. In Mark 8:31 we read, “And he began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again.” Mark 8:34 tells us, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow me.” Also in Mark 9:31 we read, “The Son of Man is to be delivered into the hands of men, and they will kill Him; and when He has been killed, He will rise three days later.” We read in Mark 10:32-34, “They were on the road going up to Jerusalem, and Jesus was walking on ahead of them; and they were amazed, and those who followed were fearful. And again He took the twelve aside and began to tell them what was going to happen to Him, saying, ‘Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be delivered to the chief priests and the scribes; and they will condemn Him to death and will hand Him over to the Gentiles. They will mock Him and spit on Him, and scourge Him and kill Him, and three days later He will rise again.’” This is an early paradigm for understanding Jesus. Christ’s salvific work is based on death and resurrection and Hebrews 1 and 2 describe this. Hebrews 1 begins with exaltation and alludes to humiliation. Hebrews 2: 9-10 and 2:14-18 describes the humiliation further. These statements shaped the theology of the patristic fathers. Note that he saves humans. This means that he must become human “in every respect”. That which is not assumed in Christ is not healed – he had to become “fully” human. He must perfect a perfect intellectual life along with a perfect bodily life.

Reflect on an exposition of Hebrews 3:7 – 4:13. Note the context of this section. We are reminded to be diligent to Jesus in our response as Jesus is greater and exceeds man and angels. Future persistence in faith demonstrates present possession of faith’s object. Note the conclusion to this section, beginning with verse 14. “Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession.” The main portion of the text is an extended exegesis of Psalm 95. Notice the introduction “as the Holy Spirit” and idea of inspiration. It is crucial to read Psalm 95:7-11 in it’s own context. What sort of Psalm is being quoted in Hebrews? At first glance it seems it is a call to worship but it moves to a depiction of people who have wandered poorly and rebelled against God. The Hebrews text is offered to the people of God as a pastoral reflection. The addresses here are those already identified with the Christian faith and apostasy is the danger of which they are warned. Consider that rebellion is when one breaks vows and is what we see in the Israelite wandering generation. The main message of the Exodus is that God is Lord and pharaoh is not. Hebrews warns people in the Christian family from drifting away and rebelling. The address is to “brothers,” not outsiders. It warns of “falling away” not failing to come.

What is God’s response in the Exodus story? The response of God to such testing is longsuffering and judgment. God is patient with us but God does eventually respond in justice. Note the dual nature of God’s patience. It allows time for repentance but it also requires perseverance from those already believing. What is “rest”? What is “my rest,” that is, God’s own rest? Genesis 2:1-3 shows how God rested. Exodus 20:8-11 is explicit. “Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath of the lord your God; in it you shall not do any work, you or your son or your daughter or your male servant or your female servant or your cattle or your sojourner who stays with you. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day; therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.” Rest or Sabbath experience is used as a sign of faith. Consider that the Israelites were very vulnerable as they wandered and a day of rest made no sense in normal human thinking. The Sabbath is a weekly reminder to live by faith. The ongoing Sabbath command is an example or symbol of eschatological tension. Although we have rest as a present possession, we do not have it fully. What is “today”? Hebrews 3:18-19 tells us that the rebellious Israelites were not able to enter rest because of their unbelief.

Explore the place of Hebrews as Christian Scripture. Ernst Käsemann was an influential New Testament scholar of the 20th century. He wrote much through his time imprisoned by the Nazi party in Germany. Consider that the appropriate way to receive revelation is as one on a journey. Käsemann is an important commentator on the Letter to the Hebrews. Explore that the central theme of Hebrews is the idea of the pilgrimage of the people of God. Pilgrimage is central to the Christian life. Reflect on Psalm 1 as the idea of a journey and path is laid out and the opportunity to choose righteousness or wickedness. It is paradigmatic for what is found in the New Testament. Consider Acts 9:2 in which Paul knows the threats that came up against Christians and in Acts 22:4 in which Paul confesses he had persecuted the “Way” meaning the path or the journey Christians take. Consider that Hebrews includes language of motion and uses verbs of motion as exampled in 10:22 with “draw near” and 10:36 “need of endurance” (race imagery). Hebrews continues to speak of our journey of faith. It gives us the option of a journey that leads to life or a journey that leads us to death. The genre of the text is a sermon but it ends as a letter. It is meant to continue to shape the Christian life generation after generation. Authorship debates help illustrate this. It was written by a second or third generation Christian but the author is unknown. The form of the letter is worth noting. It is unique. It moves wavelike between exhortation and reflections on who Christ is and how great Christ is. It escalates as we move through the letter and reaches the pinnacle in chapter 12. Consider a preview of John Webster’s paper “One Who Is Son”.

Begin by exploring Psalm 8 which proclaims the Lord whose name is majestic in all the earth. Explore an exposition of Hebrews 2-3:6. Note the transitional phrasing of 1:14 and 2:1. There are three main sections in this chapter. Hebrews 2:1-4 is a moral exhortation. Hebrews 2:5-18 is a doctrinal explanation of who Jesus is and why he is a man of sorrows. Hebrews 3:1-6 is a return to moral exhortation again. Note the link between theology and ethics. Ethical imperatives as in Hebrews 2 call for attentiveness in order not to drift away. The danger is neglect. Consider a parallel in Romans 12 by Paul. Hebrews 3 is an exhortation to faith in Jesus. Hebrews 3:6 is the result. We show ourselves to be His house and identified as holy brothers and members of the family of God. What do we learn about the author’s way of linking theology and ethics? First it shows the author is not Paul because he had a different rhetorical strategy in the pattern in his letters. Consider that we are called to conformity. Reflect that who Christ is defines who we are to be. Our identity is not based on what a community values but the person of Christ.

Hebrews offers binary pairs of ideas. What text emphasizes the sacrifice of Jesus Christ as the basis for our acceptance before God? The answer must be Hebrews but at the same time it is an ongoing call to faith for the here and now. Hebrews tells us Christ is the Great High Priest but also treats him as an example to be followed through His suffering. Jesus is fully God and fully human. Hebrews reminds us that the Christian faith is about profound mysteries. Listen and experience Hebrews 1. The first two verses set the stage for what the author says is connected to what the prophets have said. Polumerós means contingent particular contextual nature of different times God has spoken. Polutropós refers to the distinct nature of these revelations. The Old Testament Is generally diverse yet underneath is the common fact that it is God speaking. It should shape the way we understand and engage the Old Testament. Consider that Hebrews shows us that there is affirmation and contrast in the way in which God has revealed himself. Augustine stated, “The new is in the old concealed and the old is now in the new revealed.” “In these last days” is an eschatological term used by the prophets. It refers to the culmination of history. Hebrews conveys that there is a definitive action in Jesus and he is linked to the Old Testament.

Hebrews moves back and forth, from doctrine to ethics and back again. There are five moral exhortations. The goal of the letter is to bring about the obedience of faith among the Gentiles. Galatians 5:6 says, “For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything, but faith working through love.” Transformation and renewal is not a one time thing. We are constantly to be renewed as we trust Jesus. There is a distinction between faith and love as seen in Romans 1-11. “And without faith it is impossible to please Him,” as we read in Hebrews 11:6. Consider the greater message of Christ and receptivity to God alone. Amongst the senses the ears are unique. They are the only sense that has no restraint. Consider we are directed from outside. We are not autonomous. We are to be always listening to God for his leading.

Hebrews is a sermon turned into a letter. Consider that Scripture is meant to be heard. Listen and experience the Letter to the Hebrews chapters 1-10.

Continue to listen and experience the Letter to the Hebrews Chapters 11-13. Consider that Scripture is meant to be heard. Reflect that in this text terms are repeated, the preacher presses a point, and calls for action. Consider that the Letter to the Hebrews continues to shape Christian communities to this very day.

This lesson reviews the outline and organization of the course along with reading requirements. Consider that reading biblical and theological texts is a spiritual discipline and a way of growing as a Christian not just a way of growing intellectually.