Hebrews 2:1

Introduction

Sermon 6 – Hebrews 2:1

Introduction

Hebrews 2:1-4 serves as a parenthesis on the present discussion regarding Jesus’ relationship with angels. The writer has not finished this discussion, but feels it necessary to add this exhortation,[1] right now.  Each exhortation in Hebrews functions as an urgent warning.  Our exhortation is “the first in a series of five urgent warnings”[2] that the writer gives his readers. 

These warnings highlight how the “author is deeply concerned lest his readers succumb to the pressures they were feeling and either renounce the gospel outright or gradually turn from public confession and lose its influence entirely.”[3]

I will illustrate how these five exhortations, or urgent warnings, operate within the book.  When I was in elementary school, we had a dentist come to our class.  He taught us how and when to brush our teeth.  In addition, he gave us chewable and delicious plaque disclosing tablets to see how well we brushed our teeth.  We chew these tablets after brushing our teeth.  They disclosed all the areas we missed when we brushed our teeth.  After completing the teaching, he transitioned to the dangers of not doing what he taught us.  He showed us pictures of rotted teeth and gum disease associated with poor dental hygiene. 

The writer of Hebrews follows a very similar pattern.  Throughout this epistle, the writer establishes a foundation in truth, then builds upon it an exhortation that resembles a warning: here is what happens if you do not heed the lesson.  The truth foundation for Hebrews 2:1-4 is Hebrews 1:4-12, which shows that Jesus is superior to the angels. 

John Piper noted that “In chapter 1 of Hebrews there are no commands for the church. We are not told to do anything. The whole chapter is a declaration and celebration of God’s final word to the world — Jesus Christ the Son of God.”[4] 

The writer of Hebrews gives 6 reasons Jesus is more excellent than the angels: He is the Son, angels worship and serve Him as He sits on the throne, God anointed Him with gladness above the angels, He created the universe, and He conquers as angels minister.

As we look at the value of Jesus’ supremacy, we need to know that “the supremacy of Christ brings tension in everyday life.  The world bristles at ‘Jesus only’”[5] regardless of the comparison.  So why did the writer of Hebrews choose angels as his first section for the unsaved Jew to bristle over and encourage the saved Jew?   Angels had an elevated place within Judaism.  They were second only to God the Father.  They were the heavenly senate that God conferred with before making decisions.  Therefore, the writer of Hebrews, inserting that Jesus, by an inheritance, has a better name than the angels, would have ruffled the feathers of Judaism, while strengthening the saved Jew who was under constant attack. 

Chapter 2 begins with an exhortation or urgent warning to his readers.  Just like a dentist giving a lesson on how and when to brush our teeth, followed by the danger of not listening, the writer of Hebrews gives us a lesson, then the danger of not heeding that lesson. 

He begins chapter 2 with “therefore.”  My pastor said a thousand times: “Whenever you see the word ‘therefore,’ find out why it is there for.”  Therefore, or based on all the information the writer gave us in chapter 1, we should do the following.

A commentary wrote with “therefore” in mind: “Since the Son is so supremely great and is destined for final triumph over his enemies, the readers would do well to pay more careful attention to these realities.”[6]

John Piper adds to the value of “therefore:” “Because God has spoken by his Son in these last days, and because he is the Creator and Sustainer and Owner and Ruler and Redeemer of the world — above all angels — therefore (‘for this reason . . . ‘) ‘we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard.’”[7]

This brings me to a question that needs to be answered if we are to understand the writer’s main point: Who are the “we” in Hebrews 2:1-4? 

There are a few possibilities.  Warren Wiersbe argues: “The admonition is written to believers, for the writer included himself when he wrote ‘we.’”[8]

John MacArthur takes the opposite approach: “To whom is the warning directed?  It cannot be to Christians.  They can never be in danger of neglecting salvation…since they already have it.  They can neglect growth and discipleship, but they cannot neglect salvation.  Nor can the warning be to those who never heard the gospel, because they cannot neglect what they do not even know exists.  The warning must therefore be directed to non-Christians, specifically Jews, who are intellectually convinced of the gospel but who fail to receive it for themselves.”[9] 

Ray Stedman takes the middle ground: “…It is addressed both to the Christian and to the non-Christian. To the non-Christian it says, Where are you going to go? How will you get out of God's universe?…How can you escape, and why attempt to do so? Especially when His purpose is not to curse but to bless? How can you find deliverance by any other route, by any other path, or by any other channel, if it does not involve the One who is behind all things? To the Christian, the writer is saying it is not enough that we know Jesus Christ: We must use the resources we have in Him. We can lose so much, even knowing Him, unless there is a day-by-day walk with Him. We lose peace and freedom and joy and achievement. We are subjected to temptation, frustration, bewilderment, bafflement and barrenness without Him. And if we do not go on as Christians, if we do not grow, a serious question is raised: Have we ever really begun the Christian life?”[10]

I agree with Bob Utley’s view when he writes that the “we” should be understood in literary and not literal terms based on the same grammatical structure in Hebrews 10:26: “For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins.”[11] 

In view of this, I believe the “we” applies to two groups: non-believing Jews who have heard but have not committed to the Gospel of Jesus Christ; believing Jews, who are warned that evidence of salvation is not neglecting their salvation. 

The result applies to both groups: if you stay uncommitted, you may one day harden your heart against the Gospel of Salvation; if you are a professed believer but continue to neglect your salvation, then you prove that you were a professor of salvation without possessing salvation.  John warns us this in 1 John 2:18–19: “Little children, it is the last time: and as ye have heard that antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists; whereby we know that it is the last time. They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us: but they went out, that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us.”  

As Christians, we should strive for our faith and good conscience so that we do not become shipwrecked, as Paul warns Timothy in  1 Timothy 1:19: “Holding faith, and a good conscience; which some having put away concerning faith have made shipwreck.”  A. B. Bruce: “Some in the church were also in danger of being blown away from their moorings and drifting away from the truth of Christ and back into ‘the Dead Sea of Judaism.’”[12]

Pay Attention

Hebrews 2:1: “Therefore we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard, lest at any time we should let them slip.”

Why should we pay attention to this charge?  After all, over several weeks, we disregarded many charges from the higher authorities.  We disregard the speed limit, diet, or directions to assemble something.  John Piper says that we cannot treat the words of Jesus casually.[13] 

Notice first, the writer exhorts us to “give the more earnest heed.” The root of the phrase is “give heed.”  However, to stress the importance of giving heed, the writer includes “the more earnest.”  He is pleading with his audience in as emphatic a way as possible to listen to the words and ministry of Jesus.  In this phrase, there are three important applications:

Number 1: We need to be careful about what we listen to.  In the candlestick's parable, Jesus says in Mark 4:24: “And he said unto them, Take heed what ye hear: with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you: and unto you that hear shall more be given.”  Garner-Howes remarks by saying: “What one hears, listens to, influences what he does, Psalms 1:1-3. Hearing error leads to corruption by error. Satan enters one’s life by ear-gate. This is why our Lord warned of the leaven of the Scribes, Pharisees.”[14] 

The Athenians had no problem receiving information.  Luke records in Acts 17:21, “(For all the Athenians and strangers which were there spent their time in nothing else, but either to tell, or to hear some new thing).”  We desperately must be what we hear, or else we may live in the sea of regret.  Imagine how much different Rehoboam’s rule would have been if he had listened to the right information (1 Kings 12:8: “But he forsook the counsel of the old men, which they had given him, and consulted with the young men that were grown up with him, and which stood before him”). 

Number 2: We need to be careful how we listen to the right information.  Luke records the same parable that Mark did in Mark 4; however, he added a new layer to what Jesus said in Luke 8:18: “Take heed therefore how ye hear: for whosoever hath, to him shall be given; and whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken even that which he seemeth to have.”  The emphasis shifted from what we hear to how we hear.  A. W. Pink says, “To hear is not sufficient.  There must be prayerful meditation and personal appropriation.”[15] 

I failed 10th-grade geometry.  The issue was not the teacher or the lessons he taught.  He taught in such a manner and used the correct lessons so that a 10th-grader could pass his class.  The only reason I failed the class was how I listened to the material.  As Mr. Homan taught the lesson, my mind was on how many peanut butter and jelly sandwiches I would eat after school.  How we listen to God’s word is of utmost importance. 

We should approach God’s word and the preacher’s sermon with respect, awe, and humbleness because of what God’s word can do:

1. The Holy Spirit uses God’s word to produce the new birth: 1 Peter 1:23, “Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever.”

2. God’s word stands when everything else falls: Isaiah 40:8, “The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: But the word of our God shall stand for ever.”

3. The scriptures guide us: Psalm 119:105: “NUN. Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, And a light unto my path.”

4. His words are pure and true: Proverbs 30:5: “Every word of God is pure: He is a shield unto them that put their trust in him.”

5. God’s word sanctifies us: John 17:17: “Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.”

6. Jesus’ final verdict cast people into Hell: Matthew 7:22–23 “Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.”

Number 3: Do not procrastinate!  I have a systemic problem with procrastination.  The Athenians did as well.  After hearing Paul preach the gospel that included the resurrection of Jesus, Luke records in Acts 17:32–34 that “some mocked: and others said, We will hear thee again of this matter. So Paul departed from among them. Howbeit certain men clave unto him, and believed: among the which was Dionysius the Areopagite, and a woman named Damaris, and others with them.”  In other words, those who did not mock or were converted wanted to arrange with Paul to discuss the resurrection more fully at a future time.

There has to be an urgency in paying attention to what God says!  The warning the writer gives is: not to carelessly let the truth slip by.  Once the truth slips past, there is no hope.  Jesus taught a parable in Luke 12, which parallels the writer’s concern in Hebrews 2:1.  The parable is in Luke 12:16–20: “And he spake a parable unto them, saying, The ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully: And he thought within himself, saying, What shall I do, because I have no room where to bestow my fruits? And he said, This will I do: I will pull down my barns, and build greater; and there will I bestow all my fruits and my goods. And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry. But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided?”  Do not procrastinate because you do not know your specific date and time of death.  Hebrews 9:27: “And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment.”

Notice second: the phrase “give the more earnest heed” is in the present tense and imperative mood.  The writer commands his audience to pay careful attention to the words of Jesus.  In Greek, the present tense differs slightly from English.  The focus is on a present action, but with no termination date.  In other words, we need to pay attention presently and make paying attention a lifestyle.  God’s word does not pursue present decisions but lifestyle changes. 

The writer’s concern is “lest at any time we should let them slip.”  This is a nautical phrase, and the idea is drifting downriver.  Some argue that “them” refers to people slipping or drifting past the truth.  Others argue that “them” is the truth slipping past them.  Although I side with the truth, moving beyond them, we reach the same conclusion.  The reason we should pay close attention is the fear of carelessly allowing salvation to slip away.   

There are two points:

1. Once the truth of salvation slips, there is no guarantee that you will ever be as sensitive to Jesus as you are now.  This may be as conscious or receptive as you will ever be to the truth.  Therefore, Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 6:2 “(For he saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succoured thee: behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation).” 

2. Evidence of salvation is not letting the ship of salvation slip by you.  I would argue that what Peter did after Jesus’ arrest is far worse than what most of us have done.  He did not just deny His Lord and Savior, the man that he called in Matthew 16:16, “…the Christ, the Son of the living God,” once, but 3 times.  The denial was so intense and shattering that in Matthew 26:74, he began “to curse and to swear, saying, I know not the man (referencing Jesus). And immediately the cock crew.”  Even in Peter’s darkest hour, when he should have neglected salvation because of the depth of his fall, he said to Jesus 3 times that he loved him (John 21:15-17), and followed Jesus. 

[1] (Hurt, “Hebrews 2:1-2 Commentary | Precept Austin”)

[2] (Walvoord and Zuck).pg.21

[3] (Stedman)

[4] (John Piper, “The Danger of Drifting from the Word”)

[5] (Hughes).p.36

[6] (Walvoord and Zuck).pg.21

[7] (John Piper, “The Danger of Drifting from the Word”)

[8] (Wiersbe).p.282

[9] (Macarthur).p.41

[10] (Stedman)

[11] (Utley)

[12] (Bruce)

[13] (John Piper, “The Danger of Drifting from the Word”)

[14] (Garner and Howes, “Mark 4 - Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary - Bible Commentaries - StudyLight.org”)

[15] (Pink)