Hebrews: A Journey Of Faith

Good morning friends. This week we are starting an exciting series on the book of Hebrews. There is nothing “light” or easy about the book of Hebrews…in fact, in the very introduction to his book on Hebrews, N.T. Wright, who is one of the foremost respected scholars, that is still living today once said:

The letter to the Hebrews is one of the most bracing and challenging writings in the New Testament. People often find it a bit difficult, because it uses ideas that are strange to us. But, like meeting a new friend, we will find as we get to know it that it is full of interest and delight, with a powerful message that comes home to today’s and tomorrow’s church as much as it did to yesterday’s. N.T. Wright

As I have had the privilege of going through the various passages, the book has come alive to me and has given me a better understanding of our Lord and Savior. My original plan for this series was to take the 4 of the chapters and do 1 chapter each week. I quickly found out that while I could do that, I would not be doing justice to the author, or to you all. So, while I’m still working it out, we may just finish out the year in the book of Hebrews. That will allow us to really dig in and explore the more difficult areas, without me feeling I must gloss over things to be done in 4 weeks. It is my prayer that once we are in Hebrews, you will experience the same thing I did…and find great encouragement through its teaching. I was going to cover all of chapter 1 today, instead, we are going to kick off this series looking at just the opening 4 verses. I think that once I read them, you will understand why trying to cover anything else would not be a good idea.

PRAY!

Background of Hebrews

We are going to take some time this week to go over the background and overall message of Hebrews, as it is important to understanding the letter. Let’s start with what we know about the book of Hebrews…things that aren’t debated (for the most part)

Epistle (letter); Functions as a theological sermon rather than a traditional letter

Written sometime between 60 and 80 AD

Specific audience is unknown

We know that Hebrews was written while Timothy was alive, as the author makes reference to him. Now on to the more debated topics.

There are 2 areas that are highly debated:

Author:

The author of Hebrews has been debated since before the biblical cannon was decided. Some believe it was Paul, others say Luke (the writer of Luke and Acts); others believe it could have been Apollos, Barnabas, and I even saw one commentary suggest Priscilla…maybe we will go with that. No, not really....I do not have a strong opinion on this matter…other than to say it was someone closely associated with Paul and Timothy.

Intended audience:

Notice, I did mention that people agree that the author did not specify a specific audience…but that is where the agreement ends. Most Epistles (letters)…give us an idea of who the intended audience is…even in James.

James 1:1

“James, a bond-servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, To the twelve tribes who are dispersed abroad: Greetings.”

In Paul’s letters, he addresses a church or a person, such as Timothy. Hebrews is unique, in that the author does not do the standard greeting we see elsewhere in the N.T. . Most content that that the primary audiences were:

Intended primary audience:

Persecuted Jewish Christians

Aside from detailing who Christ is, Hebrews is also known for the “5 Warning Passages.”

The warning passages:

Warning 1: Do not drift away from God’s last word (2:1–4).

Warning 2: The danger of hard-heartedness and unresponsiveness (3:7–4:13).

Warning 3: The dangers of “spiritual” immaturity (5:11–6:12).

Warning 4: The danger of disloyalty to Christ (10:19–39).

Warning 5: The danger of refusing God’s word (12:14–29).

We will be covering these warning passages as we progress in this series, but my focus will be on what I believe was the intent of the author.. a theological sermon on the supremacy and divinity of Christ…not as a position paper on election vs free will. The author needed his audience to understand just how precious Christ is to them.

Big Picture of Hebrews:

Outline of Hebrews:

The preeminence of Christ (1:1–4:13)

The great high priest (4:14–10:18)

Exhortations to faithfulness (10:19–13:25)

There are a few very important things to keep in mind when reading Hebrews…and this is why the context is so important. The author of Hebrews is basically preaching a sermon about Christ through the lens of the Old Testament.

(1) Their only Bible was the Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible. Meaning the way the audience understood Christ was through a more traditional Jewish interpretation of the Old Testament.

(2) He reads the entire Old Testament through the lens of Christ, understanding well that the royal (or Messianic) psalms pointed to Jesus.

(3) His form of scriptural argument is to cite a specific O.T. passage, say in Psalms; then cite another passage, then pull them together and point to Christ.

For example,

Hebrews 5:5–6

“So also Christ did not glorify Himself so as to become a high priest, but He who said to Him, “You are My Son, Today I have begotten You”; just as He says also in another passage, “You are a priest forever According to the order of Melchizedek.””

What the author does here is cite

Psalm 110:4

“The Lord has sworn and will not change His mind, “You are a priest forever According to the order of Melchizedek.””

Then He cites

Psalm 2:7

““I will surely tell of the decree of the Lord: He said to Me, ‘You are My Son, Today I have begotten You.”

The author is making the claim that Christ humbled himself and became flesh, in order to be our forever priest…and in order to prove that, he pulls together two Messianic Psalms. Again, remember, the audience would have known these passages well…the author was reminding them that Christ did indeed was the messiah.

(4) He regularly uses a very common rabbinic way of arguing called a fortiori or, “from the lesser to the greater” (= if something is true of a, how much more so of z).

For instance, if a man says he can afford to spend $100, we assume he can afford to spend $10. If drinking one sip of a liquid is fatal, we assume drinking an entire cup is also fatal. If a man can hold his breath underwater for three minutes, we assume he’s able to hold his breath for one minute. If it’s considered a sin to punch someone, we assume stabbing him would also be sinful.

In Hebrews 9, the author asks: “If animal sacrifice has a certain spiritual effect on sin, how much more effective is the sacrifice of Christ. This is an example of this way of reasoning. Jesus used an a fortiori argument when He said, “If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!” (Matthew 7:11)—Jesus’ point hinges on the phrase how much more. Paul points out that Christianity is irrevocably tied to the idea of resurrection—if there is no resurrection, then our faith is false (1 Corinthians 15:12–19). In contrast, Paul’s immediately following remark is that Christ is, in fact, because Christ was raised from the dead…how much more is our faith alive and true. (1 Corinthians 15:20),

My point being, the author is very intentional in trying to persuade and convince his audience to not give up…he needed them to better understand that Christ had began something new…and he did this by pointing to the past.

That is some important background on the book of Hebrews…Like I mentioned in our last series, the more we can understand the author and why he wrote, the easier we can understand the intent.

Hebrews Chapter 1:

Hebrews 1 is typically divided into 2 main sections, today we will only be looking at the first section, or verses 1-4

Let’s begin by looking at the first section

Hebrews 1:1–4

“God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, in these last days has spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the world. And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power. When He had made purification of sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, having become as much better than the angels, as He has inherited a more excellent name than they.”

I think the best way to go through these 4 passages is to split them up into 2 sections…we will start with verses 1 and 2.

Hebrews 1:1–2

“God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, in these last days has spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the world.”

Imagine being a 1st Century Jewish convert to Christianity, having had put your faith in Christ, believing that He was indeed the long awaited Messiah. Try to put yourself in their shoes…growing up, hearing that one day the Messiah will arrive and Israel will finally be free. From the O.T. Jewish perspective, when the Messiah arrived, that would signal the “last days.” In fact, Jews today still believe that once the Messiah comes, we will be in the “last days.” However, despite the fact that the Messiah has arrived, all they have seen is suffering and sin. Not only that, but the Messiah was no longer around. Because of this, the author of Hebrews begins his letter in a most unique way. Just about everything I read on the 1st two passages commented on the original structure being almost song or rhythmic in nature. We loose that in the translation. Additionally, everything I’ve read on the book of Hebrews, the author is refereed to as “the preacher,” so that is how we will refer to him.

The preacher opens up by saying that God spoke in many ways to the Old Testament Israelites. As most of us are aware, God spoke to His people through the prophets of old…however, God also spoke through people we do not consider prophets. Men like Abraham, David, Rahab, and even Ba lam's donkey. The preacher is saying…listen, you all are well aware that God has used many people and different mediums…like the wind or the flood in Genesis to communicate His character and plan to restore fellowship between Himself and man.

Then, starting in verse two, the subject shifts from the past to the present and future. The term “in these last days” is often said to be “at the end of these days.” Christ is now and will always be the vehicle through which God speaks. We see a similar type of idea and wording

1 Peter 1:20

“For He was foreknown before the foundation of the world, but has appeared in these last times for the sake of you”

After the preacher draws a direct connection between how God used to speak and how now, Christ is how God speaks, he turns his attention to the knowledge that Christ is the very heir or recipient of everything that God created. Taken another way, however, the phrase “in these last days” should be read idea that the Son is a word unlike any previous word, a word spoken to God’s people from the end of all time into the middle of time—from God’s future into where we now stand.

whom He appointed heir of all things

It is important to note that the author is not only drawing a line between the past…how God used to speak, but is saying that Christ, who is the new way God speaks is actually greater…as Christ has been appointed heir of all things. You will see that this is the narrative or the general idea that the preacher is trying to get across here in Hebrews Ch. 1....that as great as Moses and Abraham were…they were not the heir of all things. Only Christ takes that role. All of the promises that God made in the old testament are now brought to bear in Christ…the heir of all things.

In the Old Testament, God’s people are often described as heirs of “the land”

Deuteronomy 12:9

“for you have not as yet come to the resting place and the inheritance which the Lord your God is giving you.”

Also, in the O.T., there are (what we now understand to be) messianic passages that point to what the preacher is saying:

Isaiah 53:12

“Therefore, I will allot Him a portion with the great, And He will divide the booty with the strong; Because He poured out Himself to death, And was numbered with the transgressors; Yet He Himself bore the sin of many, And interceded for the transgressors.”

Daniel 7:14

““And to Him was given dominion, Glory and a kingdom, That all the peoples, nations and men of every language Might serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion Which will not pass away; And His kingdom is one Which will not be destroyed.”

Psalm 2:8

“‘Ask of Me, and I will surely give the nations as Your inheritance, And the very ends of the earth as Your possession.”

The preacher is taking all of these threads and weaving them together to declare the Son as that heir, not merely of the land or of the nations, but of “all things.”

The idea that Jesus is the heir of all things addresses the human need to know where life is ultimately headed. Does the one who ends up with the most toys, or the most troops, really win? Do the rich keep on getting richer and do the violent always seem to prosper? The Preacher of Hebrews assures his congregation that, when all is said and done, life does not belong to the politics, the oppressor, the tyrant, or the warrior; it belongs to Jesus Christ.

through whom also He made the world.

The irony is that the Son, who is heir of all things, also created all things. Jesus, who is the “last word,” is also the “first word.” The idea of the Son creating his own inheritance eventually grows into the important doctrine of the preexistence of Christ.

Once again, we see Paul issuing a similar sentiment

Colossians 1:16

“For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things have been created through Him and for Him.”

Christ not only preexisted creation, but he was the very word of God, which spoke and brought order to chaos. Again, it is important to understand that for thousands of years, the Israelites would stone anyone who suggested the idea that God was not the single entity that created the world, as we know it. It is hard to imagine just how difficult this would have been for these Jewish converts.

Let’s begin to land the plane here by looking at verses 3 and 4…but just so you know, it is a very long runway and the plane still have a lot of fuel!

Hebrews 1:3–4

“And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power. When He had made purification of sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, having become as much better than the angels, as He has inherited a more excellent name than they.”

Starting in verse 3, the preacher begins to talk about how Christ IS the very nature of God the Father

What does the preacher mean by the radiance of His glory? If you have ever seen photos of the sun taken with a specific filter, you see a large glowing red ball…then you see the rays of light coming off of the sun. The rays extend out..going every direction, literally filling the earth with light…that is what the author is referring to. Christ is the rays of light, coming off of God the father, filling the earth with His goodness. Jesus, as the Son, was not just a good person who we can learn from. He was the very nature of divine truth; in him the very nature of God shines forth brightly. Jesus is not a word from God; he is the divine word. To paraphrase Paul,

in former times God’s people may have “seen through a glass darkly,” but, in Jesus, we see God “face-to-face.”

So, not only is Christ the light, but He is also the exact representation of God’s nature. Other translations say the precise expression of His nature. Actually, the word used for “exact representation” or ‘precise expression’ here is the Greek word character, the origin of our apparently identical English word. But this is an interesting word in both Greek and in English. When we talk about the ‘characters’ in a play, and when we talk about the ‘characters’ of an alphabet (the Hebrew ‘characters’, say, or the Japanese), those seem to be two different concepts? So, where did the idea come from, as far as calling them “characters,” Where does the idea begin?

At the bottom of it all, in the ancient world, lies the idea of engraving, or of stamping soft or hot metal with a pattern which the metal will then continue to bear. Well, in the ancient world, even before the printing press, they had a system for making coins. The emperor would employ an engraver who carved the royal portrait, and suitable words or abbreviations, on a stamp, or die, made of hard metal. The engraver used the stamp to make a coin, so that the coin gave the exact impression, or indeed expression, of what was on the stamp.

The word character in ancient Greek was widely used to mean just that: the accurate impression left by the stamp on the coin. From there it came to mean both the individual letters that could be produced by this method (hence the ‘characters’ of a language) and the ‘character’, in the broader sense, of a person or thing: the sort of person, the ‘type’ if you like (think about that word, too). And this is what our writer is saying about Jesus. It is as though the exact imprint of the father’s very nature and glory has been precisely reproduced in the soft metal of the son’s human nature. Now it is there for all the world to see.

As verse 3 flows into verse 4, the preacher talks about the sustaining power of Christ, the priestly role of Christ, and the Exaltation of Christ…which I will explain.

The sustaining power of Christ

The Priestly Role of Christ

The Exaltation of Christ

and upholds all things by the word of His power. When He had made purification of sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, having become as much better than the angels, as He has inherited a more excellent name than they.”

The sustaining power of Christ

and upholds all things by the word of His power

Once again, referring back to the Apostle Paul:

Colossians 1:17

“He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.”

Christ the Messiah not only was the word of creation, but is the maintainer of creation…by the same means, His word. I’m not going to get into this, but I’ve heard a really great presentation once relating the natural laws…such as gravity, the laws of motion…etc…that these universal principles, which are constant and unchanging are the very nature of God. He claimed that these natural laws are the very word of Christ, in tangible form…it was interesting. For the ancient Israelites, they needed to be reminded that Christ is the One who upholds the world.

The priestly role of Christ

When He had made purification of sins,

In the book of Hebrews, the idea of the High Priest is front and central. The preacher needed the people to understand why Christ had to take human form. There is a word in academia:

Salvific: acts that lead to salvation.

Christ’s entire life here on earth was salvific…one Jesus began His earthly ministry, everything He did was for one purpose…to become the perfect sacrifice for our sin, or to make purification for our sin. Christ’s role as High Priest was a salvific act…not one that is merely symbolic or allegorical.

Hebrews 8:1

“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,”

Hebrews 10:19–22

“Therefore, brethren, since we have confidence to enter the holy place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He inaugurated for us through the veil, that is, His flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, 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.”

The audience needed to understand that Christ needed to take an earthly form, in order for reconciliation to happen.

Lastly, and we will end with this one:

The Exaltation of Christ

He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, having become as much better than the angels, as He has inherited a more excellent name than they.”

The exaltation of Christ about Him assuming His rightful place within the godhead. The preacher ends verse four by making a direct reference to 3 different Psalms.

Psalm 110:1

“The Lord says to my Lord: “Sit at My right hand Until I make Your enemies a footstool for Your feet.””

The Jewish audience would have been well aware of this reference. Once again, the author is pointing to the past, in order to explain the present. It is possible that the preacher was trying to get the Jewish audience understand a new understanding of what the Psalmist was trying to convey about the Messiah.

To us, the angel reference may be a bit confusing…but if we understand it from the audiences perspective, it makes more sense. What the preacher is doing here is making references to the Jewish understanding of who Angels were, in relation to humanity. These references come from 2 particular Psalms

Psalm 8:5

“Yet You have made him a little lower than God (the angels), And You crown him with glory and majesty!”

This Psalm is talking about a hierarchy of sorts. With God being the top, then angels then man

The preacher was saying that the more excellent “name” that Christ “inherited” through his death and resurrection is the title “Son,” thus now making Christ, higher than the angels.

Psalm 2:7

““I will surely tell of the decree of the Lord: He said to Me, ‘You are My Son, Today I have begotten You.”

One of the big issues back in the O.T. days, where Israel was ruled by kings, was what is called “The Right to Rule.” When a son would inherit the throne from his Father, he would be determined to have the right to rule. The preacher is saying that Christ is the heir and has a divine right to rule.

OK. I know I presented a lot of information today, in just the first 4 verses of Hebrews. Aside from what we’ve talked about, which has been largely from the perspective of the ancient audience, what do these passages say to us?

What it means to us?

In a similar manner to those of the biblical audience, today, we can be confident in our faith in Christ. One of the ways that our faith is strengthened is to gain a better understanding of who He is, so our identity can be firmly placed in Him. Just like back then, Christ remains our Prophet, Priest, and King. Although our understanding of these roles are a bit different today, that does not take away these important roles.

Prophet

One big advantage that we have today is the N.T.; the biblical audience did not have that. Christ is our prophet in that He was God, in human form, speaking the will of the father. Those words were recorded for us in scripture…which we must learn and know. In doing so, we gain discernment, which gives us the ability to respond to the prompting of the Holy Spirit.

Priest

He is our priest, in that he provided the sacrifice that allows us to draw close to the Father and have communion with Him.

King

We can be assured that Christ won the victory of death, Hell and the grave.

Hebrews 2:14

“Therefore, since the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself likewise also partook of the same, that through death He might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is, the devil,”

Jesus is our conquering king that has provided for us a place of safety and assurance. We can be confident in our king’s authority…His “Right to Rule.” In fact, Jesus, as king, has the right to rule in us…as we are the creation He spoke into existence.

The passages presented to us today are very challenging, in 2 ways.

It can be difficult to understand the depth of their meaning

It should compel us to evaluate our perception of who Christ is in our lives. Over time, our relationship with the Lord can become just another thing we do. It becomes a habit, no different than biting your nails. The writer of Hebrews, I believe, is challenging us to grow into a more complete understanding of who Christ is and what it means to truly have our identities in our prophet, priest, and king. To close today, I want to quickly reread our passages, as we chopped them up quite a bit as we examined them.

Hebrews 1:1–4

“God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, in these last days has spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the world. And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power. When He had made purification of sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, having become as much better than the angels, as He has inherited a more excellent name than they.”

PRAY!