Heb 13:20-25 Easter Benediction
Notes
Transcript
20 Now may the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant, 21 equip you with everything good that you may do his will, working in us that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.
22 I appeal to you, brothers, bear with my word of exhortation, for I have written to you briefly. 23 You should know that our brother Timothy has been released, with whom I shall see you if he comes soon. 24 Greet all your leaders and all the saints. Those who come from Italy send you greetings. 25 Grace be with all of you.
V22-25
22 I appeal to you, brothers, bear with my word of exhortation, for I have written to you briefly. 23 You should know that our brother Timothy has been released, with whom I shall see you if he comes soon. 24 Greet all your leaders and all the saints. Those who come from Italy send you greetings. 25 Grace be with all of you.
These verses the author of Hebrews gives the final goodbye in this letter. He appeals to us to bear with his exhortation, which was the whole letter. The author exhorts us over and over to run to Jesus to keep our eyes on Him.
This benediction is so beautiful and amazing because it has a solid, stable foundation. A foundation that was crucial for the first readers of this letter because roughly a decade after they received the letter they were going to face unimaginable suffering under the hands of emperor Nero. Likely, those who first read this letter paid the ultimate price of following Jesus. Thus, the author of Hebrews gives 3 outstanding foundations for this benediction. God’s peace, God’s eternal covenant, and the Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ.
20 Now may the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant,
Foundation of the Benediction (V. 20) 1. God’s Peace
Peace is intrinsic to the character and existence of God. God is called “the God of peace” at least five other times in the New Testament (Romans 15:33; 16:20; 2 Corinthians 13:11; Philippians 4:9; 1 Thessalonians 5:23). These citations, along with the opening invocation of our text, “May the God of peace…,” reference two marvelous aspects of that peace. First, we see his divine peacefulness—the eternal restfulness in God’s being. And secondly, it references God’s shalom. God’s peace is more than the absence of conflict, it is more than tranquility. It is completeness, soundness, welfare, well-being, and wholeness.
Invoking God as “the God of peace” is parallel to Jeremiah 29:11, which reads literally, “ ‘For I know the plans I am planning for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans for shalom and not for calamity, to give you a future and a hope’ ”. Significantly, this promise of shalomwas given to God’s covenant people at the beginning of the Babylonian captivity when it appeared that the ungodly world had taken over for good, God’s people.
Therefore, the title “the God of peace” at the end this letter comes as a consciously appropriate benediction to fearful, restless hearts—“Your God is a God of peace, and he will pick up the pieces no matter what happens—he will heal your wounds and fulfill what is lacking. No sickness or emotional distress will destroy us. No terror attack will destroy us!
We can say what Paul says in 2 Cor 4:8-9 “We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; 9 persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed”
Why we can be afflicted in every way but not crushed and destroyed? Because Jesus gives us His shalom—His peace. Jesus said, “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives” (John 14:27a). God’s peace is not just an imperfect, small, and temporary peace. God gives us His eternal, perfect, and eternal peace.
What an encouragement to a church that was going to be afflicted with severe persecution. The truth for all of us who truly are God’s children is that our God is “the God of peace,” and his plans for every one of us are for shalom, peace, well-being, and wholeness. The first foundation for this benediction is God’s peace, the second foundation that this verse gives us is God’s Eternal covenant.
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2. God’s Eternal Covenant
The second foundation for our highest dreams is the everlasting, unbreakable New Covenant promise earlier quoted in Heb 8:10 where God says, “I will put my laws in their minds and write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people” (cf. Jeremiah 31:31–34). The promise is nothing less than a renewed heart and a personal relationship with God through the atoning work of God the Son and the indwelling of God the Holy Spirit. We have His word for it that all this is ours if we come to him! If we seek Him with all our heart!
And this covenant, this promise, is eternal. It will never be replaced by another. It was established by the blood of the only Lamb of God, whose atoning death was confirmed and verified by His resurrection. The readers of this letter were being encouraged to remember that whatever comes, no matter how big the trouble, God’s Eternal Covenant promise would never change or fail. The eternal covenant granted us eternal life. This eternal covenant was sealed with the blood of the Lamb, who was raised on the third day.
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3. The Resurrection
We have seen so far in this passage that the foundation for the benediction was God’s peace and God’s eternal covenant. This verse also shows us that the resurrection is also one of the foundations for this benediction. If we think about it, the Resurrection is the consummation and the decisive evidence of God’s peace and God’s eternal covenant, it all depends on the work of Jesus on the cross. The Resurrection is the ultimate proof that Jesus is God, that He did take our sin upon the cross, that in Him alone our sins are forgiven, and that salvation is found in no one else, it is only by faith in Jesus.
That is what we are celebrating today on Easter Sunday. Without Easter, without Jesus’ Resurrection, there is no life, no redemption, no forgiveness, no salvation, no faith, no reconciliation with God the Father and no peace. Without Christ, there is only Hell and we will get the only thing we truly deserve, eternal punishment for our sin, for our rebellion against God.
As Paul says in 1 Cor 15:14-15 “And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain. We are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we testified about God that he raised Christ” Paul understood that the most foundational aspect of the Christian faith was Jesus’ Resurrection, and their purpose was to be witnesses of the Resurrected Christ.
The Christian faith depends on the historical event of the Resurrection of Jesus. The apostles were eyewitnesses of this historical event and they were killed because they attested to the fact that Jesus is Risen.
The very old tradition of saying on Easter “He is Risen, then answering He is Risen indeed” goes back hundreds of years, some even suggest that this goes back to the time of the apostles. This saying has a lot of meaning and history. Let’s continue this tradition by saying it now
“He is Risen, He is Risen indeed”
Because He is Risen, there is hope, there is life, redemption, forgiveness, salvation, faith, and reconciliation with God the Father. Because He is Risen there is resurrection for us, there is eternity with God, the Father, the Son, and the Spirit.
Praise God for the Resurrection.
Back to our verse it says there is still more!:
20 Now may the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant
Here it says that our Risen Savior is “the great shepherd of the sheep”.
It says that Jesus is our Shepherd and that we are the sheep. Even today, being called a sheep is not a compliment. Being a sheep means that without the shepherd you will not survive, a sheep depends completely on the shepherd.
Jesus took up the term shepherd and applied it to himself. Jesus’ shepherd heart swelled with compassion, for Mark tells us, “When Jesus… saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd” (Mark 6:34). Even more, His good shepherd’s heart caused him to give everything: “I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me—just as the Father knows me and I know the Father—and I lay down my life for the sheep” (John 10:14, 15).
But here the author of Hebrews tells us that he is not only a “good shepherd”—he is also, the “great Shepherd of the sheep.” Why? Because he is a Risen Shepherd—“brought back from the dead.” As the great risen Shepherd, his compassion and protection are mediated from a position of a supreme display of power! He, our Shepherd, is exalted at the right hand of the Father. All other shepherds are nothing compared to Him. There is none like our “great Shepherd.” Our risen Shepherd lives not only to give us life, but to shepherd us so that we will be sheep who bring him glory. What security and what joy because our risen “great Shepherd” cares for you and me.
Therefore the three foundations for the benediction are God’s peace, God’s eternal covenant, and our Great Risen Shepherd who died for us. Because of Jesus, we have His peace, His promise, and His care. This amazing foundation can now bear the weight of the amazing benediction:
20 Now may the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant 21 equip you with everything good that you may do his will, working in us that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.
21 equip you with everything good that you may do his will, working in us that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.
This benediction has three requests: God’s equipping, God’s enabling, and God’s glory. This a prayer request that we can pray for one another and the church at all times.
1.God’s Equipping
The first request is for God to equip us. The word equip can mean “to perfect,” “to make good,” or “to mend.” That is the idea here—to repair things so they can be useful. Matthew uses the word to describe fishermen “mending their nets” (Matthew 4:21, NASB). Paul uses it in Galatians 6:1 regarding “restoring” a brother—that is, putting him back in place.
So the prayer here is a beautiful request that God mends and perfects His children with everything good, thus equipping them to do God’s will. We may sense that we are out of joint, or that life is a bird’s nest. But this prayer is built on the idea that God can and does equip us with everything good to do his will—and our experience confirms the truth of this.
The relevance of this closing prayer for the church on troubled times is obvious: God can put you back together so you can do his will, no matter what. Do you see the powerful request for a church that was going to face very hard times? Through good and bad times God will…
21 equip you with everything good that you may do his will, working in us that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.
2.God’s Enabling
The prayer moves very naturally from equipping to enabling: “working in us that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ” (v. 21b). The Scriptures tell us that all creation and all God’s works in the world are through Jesus Christ. He not only created everything—he preserves it: “For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together” (Colossians 1:16, 17).
So we should have no trouble believing his statement that “apart from me you can do nothing” (John 15:5). This is ontologically true, for we would not even exist apart from him. But the emphasis of Jesus’ word in John is upon bearing spiritual fruit: “I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing”
But gloriously, as believers, we are by definition spiritually “in him.” Perhaps the most famous of Paul’s “in Christ” statements is 2 Corinthians 5:17—“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!”
It follows that once we are in Christ, we can do works through him which pleases him: “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” (Ephesians 2:10). So in Christ each of us has an eternally-designed job description which includes the task, ability and place to serve. And whatever the task to which he has called us, we will be equipped for it as surely as a bird can fly or a fish can swim. And in doing the works that he has called us to do, we will be more and more his workmanship and more and more our true selves.
Thus the prayer here in Hebrews—“ working in us that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ”—is doable and possible!
It is an immutable fact that the power to do what is pleasing to God will always be given to us through Jesus Christ—if we want it! But some of us live as if that is not true. The real question is, Do we want it? Do we desire it? Do we expect it? Do we desire it? Then pray for it! And rely on Him and not on your own strength. We must be connected to the vine, that’s when we please God.
The foundation we all share is truly monumental. We have God’s peace, his own shalom. His plans for us are only for our wholeness, our wellbeing, and our completeness. We have his eternal covenant, the New Covenant in his blood, and the promise of a new heart and new relationship. This great promise will never change. We have The Risen Christ, who is our Shepherd, who cares for our souls with compassion and power seated at the right hand of God. He is our “great Shepherd.”
Having, therefore, the foundation of God’s peace, God’s eternal covenant, and The Resurrected Jesus, we pray for ourselves and for our church. We pray for God’s equipping“with everything good that you may do his will”—and thus we find him mending us and putting us right so we can do it! We pray for God’s enabling—“may he work in us what is pleasing to him, through Jesus Christ”—and so find ourselves living under his pleasure and power.
We are, through prayer, equipped and enabled to serve.
There is only one thing left to do, and that is to glorify God—“to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.”
3. God’s Glory
• We can Glorify God for his peace, for it is his nature and his desire for his people. He has only thoughts of peace for us. Approach him with holy delight!
• We can Glorify God for his eternal covenant. What an amazing thing that God should enter into a covenant with us! Adore him for his blood, which sealed it. Bless him for our new hearts.
• We can Glorify God for giving us our “great Shepherd,” for though we were all going our own way, he sent his Son to save us with his blood, and then to shepherd us. Magnify him for his shepherd’s compassion and care.
• We can Glorify God that he has equipped us and enabled us to do his will and to please him—even in the storms!
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. Amen!
Soli Deo gloria! Glory to God Alone
We are going to close with the doxology but before we sing listen to the words that we are going to sing:
Praise God from whom all blessings flow; Praise Him, all creature here below,
Praise Him above, ye heavenly host, Praise Father, Son and Holy Ghost, Amen