Proper 23 - Does It Matter Which?

Hebrews 4:12-16

The New International Version (Chapter 4)

12 For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. 13 Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account. 14 Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has ascended into heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. 15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin. 16 Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.

Does It Matter Which?

Reading through this passage this week, I had a moment of uh-oh. And the reason I had that moment was that I read this passage with last week’s sermon still on my mind. And if you recall last week, I said the whole book of Hebrews presents the supremacy of Jesus Christ. That in this series we would discover that Jesus is Greater. In fact, I told you no matter what you faced, no matter what struggles you had, no matter what you were up against, Jesus is greater than. But then I read Hebrews 4:12 “For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.”

This single verse is most frequently used in Christian thinking, not to talk about Jesus but about the Bible. In fact, we might substitute “word of God” to Bible so that Hebrews 4:12 would read “For the Bible is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.” It might even be our habit to do so. To automatically change “word of God” in our head to “Bible”. We might do it so easily we don’t even think about it.

But that’s not what the writer to the Hebrews was thinking about when that verse was written. Although we don’t know the exact dates, Hebrews was probably written sometime between 60-70 ad. And may have been as late as 95 ad. But the Bible as we know it with both Old and New Testaments was not formally accepted until the 1500’s. Now, by the end of the first century, people had been using the writings of Paul, the gospels, and other writings in worship but there wasn’t complete agreement on which books were canonical until much later.

So when the writer says, “the word of God is living and active”, it was not the Bible as God’s word, but Jesus Christ. As the title suggests, this book was written to Jewish Christians, to Hebrews who had accepted Christ and who were living in a world where they faced persecution. It would have been easier for those who were there to turn back to their old way of life, to go back to the traditions and rituals of the Jewish faith.

But the writer to the Hebrews affirmed and we heard last Sunday the affirmation that Christ was supreme. In fact in the opening chapter of this letter, the author gives us reasons why Christ is superior to the prophets.

Then as the letter continues we learn the ways in which Christ is superior to the angels. He is superior in name. He is superior to the angels in His relationship to the Father and in the nature of who He is. He is superior because they are to worship Him. And He is superior because of what He has accomplished.

In chapter 2, the writer tells the audience to pay attention. And the reason to pay attention is so we do not “drift away”. Because if we drift away, we miss out on the salvation Christ announced.

The writer picks up then in chapter 2 about the supremacy of Christ again in relation to the angels. He is superior to them in authority. He is superior in the fact that He lowered Himself from the glory of heaven and joined us in our humanity.

In chapter 3, the writer affirms Christ is even greater than Moses. Moses was such a significant character in the life of the nation. His is the story of salvation. God used Moses to set His people free. But not in the same way that Christ did so.

Over and over again, in these first chapters, the writer is telling the readers of the supremacy of Christ. So maybe when we come to this fourth chapter and the writer says, “the word of God is living and active”, since the Bible was not completed yet, it most likely refers to the Jesus Christ. And when we read how John wrote in his gospel, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” (Jn. 1:1)