Epistle to the Hebrews: Ten Thousand Feet Up
by G.S. Augustine
Seeing the Whole Map
Suppose for a moment you win a contract to landscape a two acre property. The owner provided you with information on the acreage layout, the street address, the city, the size of the house that sits on it, and some of his likes and dislikes, but he left out one important detail: which state it is in. Would you be able to come up with a good plan for the property not knowing what the geographical conditions are?
Some plants might not grow well if the state is too cold like North Dakota. Some plants may burn up if you’re in West Texas. Some plants may mildew if you’re near the Florida everglades. Additionally, each state advises against certain trees and plants because they are not native and can be invasive. In short, not knowing the whole map including the geography of the state can cause the project to fail to achieve the desired results.
Ignoring Maps Lead to Wrong Turns
When people study a Bible passage, they often make the same mistake. Looking at a few verses or even a whole chapter of a Bible book can yield some helpful insights but more often than not cause a good deal of misunderstanding. For instance, Paul’s letters in the New Testament may contain several topics but he usually has an overriding concern or theme to the whole discourse. And he may want us to see most or even all of the topics in light of that theme.
In the book of First Corinthians, for instance, if we ignore Paul’s concern that the believers at Corinth have created competing factions threatening their unity as the overriding concern of the book, we can interpret poorly. A case in point, unity of the body is the focus of passages surrounding the Lord’s table and of women’s head coverings in chapters 10-11. It isn’t an accident that chapter 12 discusses how the body must work as one. And it isn’t an accident that Chapters 1-3 condemn forming factions.
But this isn’t all. Paul reiterates the idea in chapter 6 in prohibiting law suits among believers. Chapter 8 points out that single body of Christ is the reason that we partake of “one loaf” at the Lord’s table. The way of love in Chapter 13 and the orderly worship of chapter 14 all grow out of Paul’s desire for unity in the body.
Writers Write; The Holy Spirit Shapes
Take the Biblical Book of Hebrews. Commentaries like The Epistle to the Hebrews by Harold Attridge and others have pointed out many cultural and exegetical nuances of value. But as good as these commentaries are, focus on the fine points often obscures the bigger picture. In landscaping, I may need to know what kind of grass grows best in the state, but if I spend too much time analyzing each blade of grass, I can forget the shape of the lawn.
There are those that think New Testament books are often just a collection of random topics writers are concerned about. But I disagree. Bible writers, according to the Apostle Peter, were not writing out of their own interpretation but were “moved by the Holy Spirit” (2 Peter 1:21). The Holy Spirit is the ultimate writer of the Bible and though the human authors had a message they wanted to impart, I believe the Holy Spirit used the their intentions to organize the materials into a cohesive whole. And I think our discussion of the the Epistle to the Hebrews will bear that out.
Getting Ten Thousand Feet Up
The Book of Hebrews has an overriding theme, and it isn’t really that difficult to identify as long as we do not linger to much in any one place. We need to get up in the air high enough to see the whole landscape. That means seeing how each piece of the discourse relates to all the rest of the pieces in the discourse.
Biblical writers (indeed all good writers) repeat elements of their theme regularly throughout the discourse. Good readers notice the repeated elements and tie them together. Identical wording isn’t necessary. Writers use different language to express similar thoughts in an attempt to come at their subject from diverse angles. There is a bit of an art to this. One must be careful because it’s possible to stretch similarities too far—usually with the intent of proving someone’s theology. However, if we make an honest attempt to set aside our hobby horses, we can do it.
Noticing Topographical Rises and Falls
In Hebrews chapter 1, our writer begins his discourse proving from the Old Testament that Jesus is God’s final revelation. He quotes eight different passages showing that Jesus is more significant than angels, that Jesus throne is an eternal one, and that creation itself is his work and he himself will outlast it. But focusing too closely on these details will miss the point the writer is making. The text in chapter one rises to a early peak which appears in Hebrews 2:1: “Therefore, we must pay more careful attention to what we have heard so that we don’t drift away.”
Right off the bat, we will notice that the passage calls us to persevere. If we read the whole book carefully, we will notice that the author punctuates this concern for perseverance throughout the entire discourse. Sections like Hebrews 3:7-19, 4:1-13, 5:11-6:12, 10:19-39, 12:1-13 are all calls to persevere from different points of view.
Small Peaks Can Obscure High Summits
As right as this thematic approach seems to be at first glance, we must be careful to avoid jumping to conclusions too quickly. Perseverance is certainly the mount range we’re in, but is it the high summit the author is guiding us to reach? Two major sections of the discourse seem to be emphasizing something else. First, chapters 7-10:18 prove that Jesus is a priest of the order of Melchizedek and how that differs from the Aaronic priesthood of Mosaic Law. Secondly, chapter 11 focuses heavily on how faith operated in saints of the past.
Some consider these just digressions of the writer (especially chapters 7-10), but once again, I believe the Holy Spirit orchestrated our text exactly as it is in order for us to understand the message. Faithfulness to the text of Scripture requires commitment to deal with the text’s original structure rather than rearranging things to suit us.
Paying Attention to Geographic “Seams”
The way I approach something like this is to look for clues between dominant ideas and ideas that take a different turn. We need to look at the seam between two possible summits. Setting aside the discussion on the priesthood of Melchizedek for the moment, we can look at what is arguably a climatic chapter on faith in Hebrews 11. What makes this good place to start is that it follows the strongest section on perseverance in the discourse. We know this because the writer moves from using “soft” synonyms about perseverance to “strong language:”
You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what is promised. (10:36)
This direct call is then coupled with a warning about shrinking back. The Lord will soon return and it is important that we live by “faith” until then. Failure to do so carries the possibility we will “shrink back.” The writer does not clearly define what he means by “shrinking back,” but he uses it to denote the opposite of “living by faith.” He tells us that if that happens the Lord “will not be pleased” (10:38). What follows is a very ominous consequence to the Lord’s displeasure but framed in a positive way:
But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who have faith and are saved. (10:39)
Look For Verses that Emphasize Connections
This is the last verse of chapter 10, and though not surprising but still a bit of a jolt, the writer then defines the kind of faith he’s talking about in the very next verse (11:1). Hebrews 11 provides 18 specific examples of those operated by this definition and eludes to many more. But what makes the connection between 10:39 and 11:1 even stronger is verse 11:13:
All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive what was promised. They only saw them and welcomed them from a far. And they admitted they were aliens and strangers on the earth.
“Perseverance” Exists in Both Sections
In other words, they persevered! And it was the type of faith they employed that made their extraordinary perseverance possible. It is certainly not the kind of thing American Christians normally think of when they talk about faith. So let’s look at this more closely by considering some of the first verses of chapter 11:
Now faith is the being sure of things hoped for and certain of what we do not see. This is what the ancients were commended for. By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen is not made out of that which is visible … By faith Noah, when warned about things not yet seen, in holy fear built an ark to save his family. By faith he condemned the world and became an heir of righteousness that comes by faith. (11:1-3, 7)
Beware Subtly Combined Topics
I skipped verses 4-6 not because they don’t advance this thesis but because they identify what righteousness looks like as a result of this type of faith (as also does verse 7). We will consider this part separately below. Here, we want to identify more clearly what faith consists of. The writer explains that faith is acting on something we cannot see knowing it to be true because of God’s faithfulness.
This aspect of seeing the unseen is critical not only to what faith is but also how it affects righteousness. This is true both when God declares someone righteous and the actual ability to live righteously.
Continuity of God’s Plans Through Scripture
The writer informs us that this was always the case in the past just as he is now declaring it to be the case in the present. “This is what the ancients were commended for.” His first example is creation. He says we “understand” that creation was ex-nihilo, or as he puts it: not made out of things that are visible.
The Greek word used for understand is νοεω (noeo) which can mean “to consider” or “to perceive” or even just “to think.” The idea of God creating grows out of faith but also because it just makes sense. We “perceive” it because it had to get here somehow. The idea that the universe always existed in it present form is an unreasonable conclusion. Though some early 20th century physicists made this assertion, Edwin Hubble in the 1920s demonstrated that the expanding universe had to have a beginning. Reluctantly, even Albert Einstein had to agree.
From Obvious Logic to Reasonable Faith
The writer’s logic is as follows: If the universe had a beginning, it was created. If it was created, it is logical to assume it had a creator who commanded it to come into being. He presents this logic as a “given” in the faith equation. We perceive it to be true. We don’t need an elaborate set of proofs. However, it is the place to start. If there is a God who creates “out of nothing” then everything else that moves from God’s space is also “out of nothing” or as the writer puts it “unseen” but very real—in fact the foundation of reality.
Applying Reasonable Faith Takes, Well … Faith
He gives us the example of Noah. Noah, after God warns of a coming flood, builds an ark. A simple statement but much is here that people miss. First of all, we are not told that Noah is living beside any large body of water. Though we can only speculate what the world was like before the flood, it is quite possible that even the Mediterranean Sea didn’t exist yet. It had also never rained if we take literally Genesis 1. The ark’s dimensions make the boat a football field and a half long and almost as wide and several stories tall. It’s safe to say it took a while to build. Some suggest that the 120 years mentioned in Genesis 6:3 refers to the remaining time before the flood as well as to the shortening of human life.
However long it took, Noah’s neighbors might have had a lot to say about a massive boat being built at the next house over. What answer did Noah give to: “Hey Noah, what the heck you doing here?” Even if they understood sea going travel, how would Noah get such a monstrosity from dry land all the way over to the ocean (assuming they knew where that was)? Can you imagine Noah saying: “Oh I’m not dragging the ship to the water. The water is coming to the ship!” You can almost see the regular gathering of neighbors at the local saloon telling their latest stories of Crazy Noah. And yet, Noah built the ark anyway! And we haven’t even considered the cost in terms of time and money!
The Major Reveal of Faith
I cannot overstate the significance of this for our writer’s thesis. Noah acted in the present visible world as if the invisible world is the foundation of reality, that which controlled everything—not what we see! This is the content of faith in our writer’s conception of it. It is not a matter of something we just believe. It is a matter of acting if what we believe—not just what we see—is so real that I invest my time, money, energy and reputation in the fact.
It says that Noah condemned his generation by his act of faith. How? He demonstrated that his trust in God’s invisible power is the only source of salvation. After all, Noah’s act of faith “saved” his family. Building an ark in the midst of their skepticism became a visual if not vocal prophesy of their destruction. After all, if they weren’t skeptical, the would have followed Noah’s example.
But something more: Noah became an “heir of righteousness.” God declares him righteous in his act of faith, but it goes even further.
Connection Between Faith and Righteousness
By faith Abel offered a better sacrifice than Cain did. By faith he was commended as a righteous man, when God spoke well of his offerings. And by faith he still speaks though he is dead. By faith Enoch was taken from this life so that he didn’t experience death; he could not be found because God had taken him away. For before he was taken, he was commended as one who pleased God. And without it is impossible to please God because anyone who comes to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him. (Hebrews 11:5-6 emphasis mine).
We are not told in Genesis why Abel’s sacrifice was better than Cain’s—just that it was. All we know is, it was because of his faith. If Abel acted in a specific way, our writer isn’t concerned with that part. He is concerned with the connection between faith and righteousness. Because of his faith, Scripture commends Abel as a righteous man and that his faith still has an impact (“still speaks”) even though he is now dead.
We can take this point too far, but Abel, though dead and no longer with us (i.e invisible), still speaks. Faith not only identifies and “sees” the invisible reality, it possesses something of the same quality. It’s invisible nature affects the visible world.
Faith Affecting Actual Righteousness
Our writer however then highlights Enoch who Scriplture considers righteous but also who “pleased God.” This “pleasing of God” is the reason that Enoch “overcomes death” in a way—not of himself, of course, but through God’s intervention: God “took” him. Our writer implies that pleasing God is the pathway which overcomes death, or as the New Testament speaks of “salvation.” And here the passage says that Enoch accomplished this by this faith.
To avoid confusion, I am not saying that people acting in faith causes salvation. The chapters preceding Hebrews 11 dismiss that idea. We are saved because of Jesus sacrifice and who is now our high priest (chapters 7-10). Those chapters show how Jesus came into that role and why that role and only that role achieves salvation. But more on that below.
The Great Faith Verse Of Hebrews 11
Our present passage tells us that in order to please God, a person must not only “believe that God exists”—here referring to the invisible reality that governs everything—but also “that he rewards those who seek him”—referring to the personal God who loves (11:6). God declares righteous those who believe the invisible reality of his rule and act on it.
But since a fallen world ridicules and persecutes those operating in such a way, we are also going to have to believe that there is serious reward in doing so or we will not live out that life of faith. All sin is just a belief that only chasing what the world, the flesh or the devil rewards is real and acting on that belief. Operating as if God is both willing and able to reward those who earnestly seek him are those whom God declares as righteous, but also those who will in the end act righteously.
Tying Faith To The Theme of Hebrews
So back to our question about the theme of the epistle to the Hebrews. Perseverance of the Hebrew Christians is upper most in our writer’s mind. But he is also aware that will only take place if Biblical faith is his readers’ defining characteristic. And as we have already said, Biblical faith consists in acting as if God’s invisible reality is foundational and rewarding.
But why does our writer put this important definition toward the very end of his discourse? Was he just hemming and hawing till he got up the gumption to address the real issue? Or did he know he needed to lay important groundwork before coming to this vital point? I would like to suggest the latter.
Necessary Groundwork
So what is this groundwork? Our writer begins with the concept of revelation in the opening paragraph in chapter 1 and then quickly moves to a comparison between Jesus and angels. At first this may seem a strange place to begin, but once we connect angels to the mediation of the Law of Moses in chapter 2 it becomes clearer.
Angels may have mediated prior revelation, but God has now spoken by the Son who is vastly more significant than angels. The son is the exact representation of God’s nature and his word (s) actually sustains creation. The son has done what angels couldn’t: he made purification for sins and now sits at the right hand of God. This puts the son in the place of ultimate authority over everything but God the Father—authority angels never have. Angels are merely “ministering spirits sent to serve those who will inherit salvation” (1:14).
A Message More Grave Than That of Angels
Our writer then goes on to prove this assertion by quoting eight different places in the Old Testament. All this is done to convince his hearers of the gravity of the situation they’re in. They must “pay more careful attention.” Drifting away has serious consequences especially since its not angels mediating a message from God but the Son of God:
For if the message spoken by angels was binding and every violation and disobedience received its just punishment, how shall we escape if we ignore such a great salvation? (2:2-3)
Certified By Miracles
If that wasn’t enough, he goes on to say this message was verified to be from the Lord and his disciples by signs, wonders and miracles (v.4) Moreover, this Son of God will be the one to whom the world to come will be subject. He will be the king to which everyone must answer. He has earned this right by being will to freely taste death for us even though he was himself not subject to it. This makes him not only King but a faithful high priest who meets our need (2:14-18). Here, is the first reference in Hebrews to what will become the subject of chapters 7-10. His own suffering made him able to sympathize with our weakness and bring help.
This is a two pronged approach to winning the hearts of his hearers, and it is either overtly or covertly present throughout the entire discourse. Jesus is king. There will be no escape so we must persevere. But he is also high priest who will sympathize with us and help us persevere.
Keeping Jesus in View
Chapter 3 begins with “Therefore.” Those of us who share in this heavenly calling need to “fix our thoughts on Jesus.” The discourse will come back to this sentiment in Chapter 12 where there he tells us to “fix your eyes on Jesus.” In this passage Jesus is the apostle (sent one) and high priest whom we profess. In chapter 12:2, Jesus is the author and perfecter of our faith. Here in Chapter 3, Jesus demonstrated that he was faithful to God who sent him in a similar way that Moses was (3:2).
This reminder of the Moses and by extention the Law will play a similar role that angels played in chapters 1 and 2. Jesus is greater than Moses because he is the Son of God whereas Moses was only a servant in God’s house. However, that does not diminish the greatness of Moses. On the contrary: “Moses was a servant in all God’s house testifying to what would be said in the future” (3:5). This is likely a covert reference to Moses statement that God would send a prophet “like him” after he was gone that no one could ignore without dire consequences (Deuteronomy 18:15).
A Sincere Warning
Emphasized here is the continuity of faith’s role from the beginning but also precipitates one of the most terrifying verses in the New Testament— one that the great reformer, Marin Luther recoiled at.
So as the Holy Spirit says:
Today if you here his voice do not harden your hearts as you did in the rebellion…. for forty years they saw what I did … So I declared on oath in my anger: ‘They shall never enter my rest. (3:7-11)
We need to ask an obvious question: If the author continually calls us not to drift from the faith and backs it up with dire consequences if we do, is it really logical to say: “Yes but that never can happen since once we are saved we are always saved.” There are ways theologians dance around what appears to be an unavoidable conclusion. And in case we haven’t quite understood his meaning, our writer goes on to say:
See to it brothers, that none of you has a sinful unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called today that none of you will be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness. We have come to share in Christ if we hold firmly until the end the confidence we had a first. (Hebrews 12-14 emphasis mine).
Some Enter, Some Don’t
The last verses of this chapter refer to the generation in the wilderness who did not enter into the land of promise because of their failure to believe (3:19). The word “believe” here refers to the faith necessary to experience salvation and avoid the destruction mentioned in 10:39. Moreover, Chapter 4 begins with another “therefore,” this time making it clear that not everyone will enter this future rest. It is important for each of his readers to be sure they don’t fall short of it. This argument spans the entirety of chapter 4 up to verse 13.
Most notably 4:6 says that the Exodus generation wasn’t just guilty of unbelief but of disobedience. To faith, our writer has added an obedience component. This conforms to the definition of faith in Hebrews 11. Faith is acting in the present visible world as if the invisible world is the foundation of reality—not what I see. And the “rest” mentioned here is not the land of promise to which Joshua helped them enter (v. 8) but the coming future world that Christ has inaugurated. If we follow the same pattern of disobedience of the Exodus generation, we will get the same result.
From This Word We Cannot Hide
The final paragraph of chapter 4 brings forward something we saw already in chapter 1. The word of God which is really the message of Son of God shines a light on everything. There is no way to hide from God’s sight (v. 13). One day we will give an account for our faith and obedience in light of the reality of God. Yet our author doesn’t leave us to fend for ourselves. He finishes the chapter again with the second prong of his appeal: Jesus is our high priesthood. He is not only able to sympathize with our temptations but also now with our weaknesses. There is grace at his throne if we come in our time of need. If we do we will find mercy.
Why Jesus Priesthood Is Different
Chapter 5 continues with a discussion of the normal high priest under the Law: he is selected among men by God as Aaron was. He is called to office, not elected. He is weak himself and able to sympathize with weakness. The writer then shows that Jesus was also called among men and that although Jesus was sinless, he still “learned obedience from what he suffered.” In that he follows the same pattern as the Aaronic high priesthood.
The difference is though that unlike the Aaronic priest, Jesus became complete in his resistance to sin even in the face of the loss of everything a person holds dear. He placed his obedience and trust in the Father above everything including his own life. In doing so he conquered death for us all and established an everlasting priesthood. Here is the first mention of the priesthood of Melchizedek to which he will turn to in more detail in chapter 7.
What His Readers Should Know By Now
At this point our writer tips his hand to how he feels about his readers. He has been explaining what is obviously more complicated theology than what new Christians can grasp. He would like to go talking about it but complains they are not ready.
We have much to say about this, but it is hard to explain because you are slow to learn. In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God’s word all over again (5:11-12)
The concern about these Jewish Christians drifting away now becomes clear. They are not only not growing in their faith and understanding, they forgot their past learning. This lack of knowledge isn’t just failure to pass a written test in Hebrew school. It is directly related to the ability to distinguish good from evil and live righteously.
You need milk not solid food. Anyone who lives on milk is still an infant and is not acquainted with teaching about righteousness. But solid food is for the mature who through constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil (5:13-14).
Righteous Lives Produce Kingdom Fruit
In chapter 6 he attempts to go on from elementary truths associated with coming to faith. But he warns that this is only possible when the truths of Scripture are regularly producing fruit in the believer. In fact, falling away creates a certain impossibility of being brought back to repentance (6:4-6). However we choose to understand those verses, we must at least admit they represent something we ignore to our peril.
Land that drinks in rain often falling on it and that produces a crop useful to those for whom it is farmed receives a blessing from God. But land that produces thorns and thistles is worthless and is in danger of being cursed. In the end it will be burned (6:7-8)
Encouraging Things To Remember
But once again, our writer provides encouragement in calling them dear friends and saying that he is “confident of better things in your case—things that accompany salvation” (6:9). After all he says, “God is not unjust; he will not forget your work and love you have shown him as you helped his people and continue to help them” (6:10). More of his two pronged approach to drive home the need to persevere.
We want you to show the same diligence to the very end in order to make your hope sure. We do not want you to become lazy, but to imitate those who through faith and patience inherit the promises. (6:11-12)
A Preview of Things to Come
Here he has given us a preview of where he is heading. In chapter 11 he will specifically identify those who through faith and patience inherit the promises. He will specifically talk about what actions these ancient saints took and how they looked at the world they lived in, but he is holding that back for the moment. The examples he will give involve things that worldly people would consider foolish. He needs to provide a foundation for that kind of trust in Jesus, and he will do this in his discussion of the priesthood of Melchizedek and why it is so much better than Aaron’s.
But for the moment he foreshadows chapter 11 with an incident in the life of Abraham. He shows unfettered trust in God but at the same time something not too scary. He focuses on God’s oath to Abraham to give him many descendants. God had already promised this to Abraham but God also added a sworn oath. When God promises something, you can take it to the bank. But adding an oath did do something for Abraham: double his confidence. This was not just for Abraham but for all of us who would inherit Abraham’s blessing.
Absolute Confidence in God’s Promise Needed
For the kind of perseverance the writer is calling us to, we will need a sure anchor for our souls:
Because God wanted to make the unchanging nature of his promise very clear to the heirs of what was promised, he confirmed it with an oath. God did this so that, by two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled to take hold of the hope offered to us may be greatly encouraged. We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the sanctuary behind the curtain where Jesus who went before us, has entered on our behalf. He has become a priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek. (6:17-20)
Truly living by faith is scary. Questions will always arise. “What if I step out on a limb and the branch breaks? Will God be there or will I just look foolish and maybe get hurt?” The Israelites at Kadesh Barnea in Numbers 14 thought that they couldn’t trust God against their enemies. They thought he was planning to kill them in the promised land and make their wives and children plunder. (Numbers 14:3-4).
The Fatal Flaw and How To Prevent It
Before we condemn them, we should consider that living by faith always involves risk—sometimes little, sometimes a lot. They didn’t have Jesus faithfulness as an anchor of the soul and they were facing fearsome enemies. But they did have God’s faithfulness demonstrated in his rescue from Egypt and provision in the desert. However they failed at something along the way that made it almost impossible to trust God in the moment: All the way from Egypt to Kadesh instead of thanking God for what he had provided, they constantly grumbled about what he had not yet provided.
The writer of Hebrews has directed us to fix our eyes on Jesus and become thankfully aware of what he has and is accomplishing. So in order to complete that picture, he embarks on a description of a kind of priesthood that demonstrates that “neither death or life, nor angels nor demons, nor the present nor the future, nor any power, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of Christ (King) Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:38-39). This is why he spends so much on Jesus Priesthood. It is not just a Jewish fetish of his.
The Priesthood of Melchizedek In Brief
Chapter 7 begins by showing that Melchizedek was greater than Abraham. By extension he was greater than Levi through whom the Aaronic priesthood would come. Quoting again Psalm 110, the writer shows that the Levitical priesthood was insufficient if a new priesthood was required. This new priesthood would not be hereditary one but granted “on the basis an indestructible life” (7:6). Since this priest lives forever he is able to save completely since he is always there to intercede (7:25). Jesus, unlike all before him, was never part of the problem of sin, so he was able to do what no one else could in offering himself (7:27).
Jesus Sacrifice Effective Where Others Weren’t
Here we might ask a question. How is Jesus sacrifice able to save where other sacrifices could not? We may not entirely be able to answer this question. God is infinite and the human race carries at least potentially infinite possibilities. But here’s a way to look at it. Jesus was not born into sin since his conception lacked a human father. He did not sin throughout his life. And Jesus explains the purpose of the cross in John 14:31.
“The world must learn that I love the Father and always do exactly what my Father has commanded me.”
This is a critical statement because in it Jesus is referring to his upcoming crucifixion. The cross meant the loss of everything: his life, his reputation, and the disfigurement of his physical body beyond recognition along with the pain that goes with it. And yet he will trust his father completely in the midst of complete loss. Jesus is doing what no man ever did.
In going to the cross, he places his allegiance to the Father above everything–including his own life. Jesus never broke his connection to the source of all life—that is the Father. Therefore as Peter says, “it was impossible for death to hold him” (Acts 2:24). Jesus resurrection from the dead proves that he was in the right before God, no matter what the human race thought about him.
How This Benefits Us
When someone comes to faith in Christ, Paul says this involves a baptism into Christ’s death (Romans 6:4). In other words, we die the death that Christ died with him. In a way, we are placing our allegiance above our own lives. Jesus then intercedes for us as a forever priest and the Father credits us our trust in Jesus as being in the right just as Jesus was in the right.
This of course is pure grace for we have not done what Jesus did. We in fact were sinners that placed most everything in our lives above our allegiance to the Father. This is the real problem not necessarily the actual sins. We needed a way back to placing the Father above everything, including our own lives. Jesus did exactly that and if we are willing to die with him, God the Father will, out of grace, credit that as doing what Jesus did.
Forgiving Sins Not Hard, But There’s A Catch
And, in that, God is able to forgive sins. For what is sin but loss? I steal your property, you lose it. I kill you, you lose your life. I enslave you, you lose your freedom. I gossip about you and you lose your good name which reduces your value in your community. But an infinite God can replace anything and everything any of us have ever lost without diminishing himself in any way. Indeed everything we’ve ever possessed came from God in the first place—our lives our property, our freedom, our value.
But before we get too smug about it, we must keep in mind all of us will actually die someday. It still requires us to trust that God the Father will raise us up after death. There is no really easy way out. I find it odd that theologians ignore the fact of our own deaths. In some measure, our own death shows we all pay for the sinfulness of our lives.
Restored to God’s Intention in Creation
Of course that by itself won’t restore our relationship with the Father. We may die for our own sins, but we still stand in rejection of his authority. Only by giving our allegiance to the Father above everything else including our own lives could even address that issue. And given our sinful nature, this was impossible. But the Father provided a substitute who could. Jesus. And as said above, if I will now give my full allegiance to his son by voluntarily dying with him, God will count it as if I did what Jesus did.
And in a sort of round about way, I have. I am surrendering my fallen life to death in hopes rising with Christ. He rose into new humanity that conforms to the original intention of God in creation. And Jesus intercession as our High Priest secures the result. But this allegiance cannot be faked. We cannot claim to put the Father above all things while living as though that isn’t true. Jesus confronts this idea directly in the Sermon on the Mount:
Not everyone who says to me, “Lord, Lord” will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven (Matthew 7:21)
Why The Old System Could Never Have Worked
In Hebrews 8-9, our writer tells us that old priesthood came with the first covenant that failed, but this new priesthood is part of a new covenant. The old priesthood offered sacrifices that were only copies, but Jesus offering was in the real thing. The old priesthood offered blood of animals in sacrifice and they had to do it every year. Jesus offered his own blood and was able to do it once for all.
At this point is might be helpful to understand the point of blood sacrifice. At first it is easy to think that a blood offering refers to the death of the animal or in the case of Jesus, his own death. It follows then that this is punishment for sin for “the wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23). However, I believe this to focus on the wrong thing. Leviticus 17:11 & 14 states “the life of the animal is in the blood.” This is why God commanded Israel not to eat the blood of animals. Now what was offered in the sacrifice of a bull and or goat was not its death but rather its life. But animal life could never achieve redemption simply because the life given wasn’t a voluntary offering and it did not represent us.
Jesus Offered The Entirety of His Life At the Cross
When Jesus offers his blood in the heavenly sanctuary, he is offering the entirety of his life—not his death. True, in order for that to happen, Jesus had to die, but the distinction is not unimportant. What God wants (and indeed must have) from all creation is the complete offering of the entirety of life. There can be no other allowed claims to his authority or all life would immediately cease. But since the wages of sin is death, the offering of our own blood does not demonstrate complete allegiance to the Father but rather just what is due because of our sin. Jesus blood on the other hand, was exactly the offering of a fully dedicated life. And since he partook of our human nature and has become our high priest, he is able to intercede for us as our perfect representative.
Heart of Salvation: Doing God’s Will
In Chapter 10, Jesus himself makes this idea clear:
Therefore when Christ came into the world, he said:
“Sacrifice and offering you did not desire, but a body you prepared for me with burnt offerings and sin offerings you were not pleased.” Then I said, “Here I am, It is written about me in the scroll—I have come to do your will, O God. (10:5-7)”
And this gets translated to the one who puts his faith in Jesus:
And by that will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. (10:10)
Then he adds:
“Their sins and lawless acts I will remember no more.” And where these have been forgiven, there is no longer any sacrifice for sin. (10:`17-18)
Wrapping Up Melchizedek
This is the conclusion of the discussion of the priesthood of Melchizedek as it applies to Jesus. Our writer then embarks on his strongest call to persevere. Clearly he thinks he has provided all the motivation necessary to persevere even in the face strong opposition so he sums up all he has said from 1:1 to 10:18:
Therefore brothers, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is his body, and since we have a great high priest over the house of God, let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled clean of an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.(10:19-22 emphasis mine)
This is a very succinct summation of the whole discourse so far, but it really speaks of the reason to come to a solid faith in the first place. But our writer is concerned about how we continue in that faith after the initial trust:
Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we possess, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how we may spur one another to love and good deeds. Let us not give up meeting together as is the habit of some, but let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the day drawing near.(10:23-25 emphasis mine)
Tools of Perseverance
Perseverance is going to require us to do two things. We must remember that Jesus is absolutely faithful. And we must encourage one another in the body of Christ. If we recall, the author made a similar appeal to the body of Christ in 3:12-13. And the writer then takes us back to the first prong: the consequences of not doing so.
If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God. (10:26-27)
And he concludes the paragraph with: “It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.”
Then as he regularly does, he switches to the second prong. He reminds them of their early days of the faith and the sacrifices they made. The confidence that made those sacrifices in the beginning, his readers shouldn’t throw away because God richly rewards them (10:32-35)
Clearly Understanding The Situation
Perseverance in this faith takes a continuous review of the reality of things. We can’t avoid God’s judgment for sin, but rather they can only be atoned for through Jesus—no one else. Jesus work in redemption shows both his love and his faithfulness first toward the Father and then toward all of us. As 2:11 says: “He is not ashamed to call them his brothers.” We need to keep in mind the air-tight nature of God’s redemptive plan: It comes with both a promise and an oath so that we can have great confidence. Jesus overcomes all the limitations of the old covenant and the old priesthood. Not even death can stand in the way. This high priest is not only indestructible but willing and able to help us in our time of need (2:18, 4:16).
The Summit: The Seeing Eyes of Faith
But in order to be successful at persevering, we will need to employ Biblical faith. That involves acting in our visible world with complete confidence that God’s authority from the invisible world is in total charge and nothing on earth or in all creation can subvert it. If God says he will do something, he will do it, no ifs, ands, or buts. And most importantly, I must act as if this is the case. Otherwise the ferocious enemies of God may frighten me into falling away.
In Chapter 12, our writer reminds us that we still “struggle against sin” both in ourselves and in the world. There will be hardships but God will use these hardships as means to guiding and disciplining us toward becoming what he intended when he created us. This is unpleasant, but it produces a life of goodness and peace in the end.
Keep Watch On Our Own Desires
And we are to remember that perseverance can be threatened by our own desires. Esau sold his birthright for a bowl of soup. Living for our desires is shortsighted and ultimately a bad trade. God is not calling us to the terrifying Mount Sinai. We are called to the joyful Mount Zion. There, the blood of Jesus prays: “Forgive them Father for they know not what they do.” Abel’s blood, on the other hand, called out for vengeance (12:24). Therefore turning away from all this is beyond foolish. This coming kingdom will never be replaced by any other. It is unshakeable. Therefore add to your faith thankfulness and worship (12:25-29).
A Few Practices That Help Perseverance
Our writer finishes his letter in chapter 13 with exhortations that are in line with perseverance: Loving each other, taking care of strangers, those in prison and those mistreated. We are to honor marriage and sexual purity. We are to avoid the love of money by remembering our ultimate security is in Christ not the world’s goods or powers. We should imitate our leaders whose lives reflect the person of Christ, and not let every new religious practice drag us along. And most of all, since the world hates Jesus, if we identify with him, the world will hate us as well. Our place is not here in this world, but in God’s city. Lastly we are to worship God, share with each other, listen to and help our leaders and pray.
The goal of all these things is that we persevere to the end of our lives with the confidence we had at first. And to do this well, we must exercise the kind of faith that says, “What God is doing in and through his Son Jesus is the actual reality of things, not the boastful claims of this world. Therefore I will act accordingly.”
