Our Hope in Jesus

-We can walk through suffering with Jesus because He is worthy of our trust.

On May 1, 2023, a small aircraft carrying seven passengers crashed deep in the Amazon rainforest, one of the most remote regions on Earth. The Cessna had been flying between two villages in southern Colombia when its single engine failed. It vanished into the jungle canopy, and all seven onboard were presumed dead.

The crash site was finally located two weeks later. Three passengers had died on impact. But four were missing—all siblings, ranging in age from 13 years to 11 months. No trace of them nearby. Just silence.

Hope waned as weeks passed. Rescuers dropped food, water, and whistles into the jungle, unsure if the children were even alive. Incredibly, they were—but they were hiding. Afraid and unsure if those searching were friends or foes, the children avoided the very people trying to save them.

Colombia intensified the effort: 150 soldiers, 40 volunteers, rescue dogs. Clues emerged—tiny footprints, a baby bottle, used diapers. Raised near the jungle, the older children knew how to survive. But even so, they were just kids. Could they really make it?

Then came a breakthrough. Rescuers recorded the children’s grandmother calling to them: “Stay in one place. Help is on the way.” They broadcast her voice through speakers lowered into the trees—her familiar voice calling them home.

On day forty, the children were found—starved, bitten, exhausted, but alive. What finally drew them out wasn’t the army or the food—it was a voice they trusted.

I. Jesus Stays the Same v. 8

In our passage, the author of Hebrews is running towards the close of his argument for remaining faithful to Jesus

All of this begins with an overarching declaration: Jesus is the same.

He was the same in the past as He is presently

He will always be as He is today

In a world that is consistently inconsistent there is a constant that we can trust: Jesus will not change

His disposition towards us is gracious and good

His promises will not fail

His plans will be fulfilled

When we trust in other prophets, priests, and pastors, we will be disappointed, but we can always trust Jesus

Great is thy faithfulness, O God, my Father; There is no shadow of turning with thee. Thou changest not, thy compassions, they fail not; As thou hast been, thou forever wilt be.

II. Jesus Gives Greater Grace vv. 9-10

Next, we dig back into the distinction between the New Testament and Old Testament systems

There are diverse and strange teachings that are out there

What are they?

Some of them are surely related to legalistic requirements for Temple worship and obedience to Old Testament dietary laws

These are all attempts to find justification by obedience to the Law

Can you really be strengthened by that?

That is the whole temptation for these folks. If they do this, they can avoid persecution. It’s very comfortable

However, there’s no real spiritual benefit to this kind of thinking

There is a greater grace that is ultimately transformative for us that we receive from Christ

This, I think is the big thing that we have to remember:

The Gospel is not inferior to the Old Testament system

The Gospel does not come alongside and supplement the Old Testament system

The Gospel is the ultimate fulfillment and is greater than the Old Testament system

You cannot, through your obedience to the Law, gain the right to the King’s table! That only comes through the Cross!

My friend Dr. Roy Gustafson has the finest illustration of justification I have ever heard. It seems that there was a man in England who put his Rolls-Royce on a boat and went across to the continent to go on a holiday. While he was driving around Europe, something happened to the motor of his car. He cabled the Rolls-Royce people back in England and asked, "I'm having trouble with my car; what do you suggest I do?" Well, the Rolls-Royce people flew a mechanic over! The mechanic repaired the car and flew back to England and left the man to continue his holiday. As you can imagine, the fellow was wondering, "How much is this going to cost me?" So when he got back to England, he wrote the people a letter and asked how much he owed them. He received a letter from the office that read: "Dear Sir: There is no record anywhere in our files that anything ever went wrong with a Rolls-Royce." That is justification.

III. Jesus is Worth Suffering With vv. 11-13

Next, the author draws a point of comparison between Jesus and the animals sacrificed in the Old Testament system

There are two pictures that Jesus fulfills here:

First, we see that the bodies of the sacrifices that consecrated Aaron as a priest as a sin offering were burned outside the camp (Exodus 29:14)

Next, we see that the scapegoat of Leviticus 16:20-22 suffers outside of the camp of Israel and carries their sins into the wilderness

In a two-fold sense, Jesus pays the price for our sin and then carries away the consequences of the sin

In important ways, Jesus endures shame and suffering away from the safety of the camp of Israel for the people of God

If Jesus is outside of the safety of the camp, we cannot be afraid to go with Him to where He is

We can endure suffering, shame, and insecurity for His sake because we will meet Him there

We are sharing with Him in the gift that gave us grace; He is worth suffering with! The gift is greater than the cost!

You cannot share with Him in His Resurrection if you do not share with Him in His Suffering

Philippians 3:8–11

[8] Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ [9] and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith—[10] that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, [11] that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead. (ESV)

IV. Jesus Offers Us a Home v. 14

When our trust is here, our trust is in something that just won’t last; it will come to an end

We are looking ahead to something that endures forever; there is a permanency that we can only receive through Him

At the end of the day, when we flee persecution and suffering, it may work for a little while

For a moment, life will seem easier

We may avoid a little bit of pain in this season

However, when we do that, we are forsaking an eternal home that is promised to us through Christ

This is not a threat!

The issue here is not that we might lose out on the promise of eternal life if we deny Christ

The issue is that if we deny Christ, we are living out of touch with our eternal reality

In so doing, we miss out on the best of life there for the sake of some convenience here!

John Newton was a rough, dirty sailor with a foul mouth and an appetite for rotten living. He hated life and life hated him. He was captain of a slave ship. Then someone placed in his hands a copy of Thomas a Kempis' The Imitation of Christ. He also had the gift of a good mother who told him about the Savior when he was young. And then he was saved. He went all over England sharing his faith. Well past his "retirement" age, he had to have an assistant stand in the pulpit with him on Sundays. He was nearly blind and spoke in whispers, but nothing could keep him from preaching while he still had breath.

One Sunday, while delivering his message he repeated the sentence: "Jesus Christ is precious." His helper whispered to him: "But you have already said that twice." Newton turned to his helper and said loudly, "Yes, I've said it twice, and I'm going to say it again." The stones in the ancient sanctuary fairly shook as the grand old preacher said again: "Jesus Christ is precious!"