Hebrews 13:17-25
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Lord, here we go again!
Pray.
Think myself empty.
Read myself full.
Write myself clear.
Pray myself haught.
Be myself.
Forget myself.
Lord, let this message be a beacon for you. Let me be forgotten and invisible. Let them see and know you, only you. “Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.” Psalm 19:14
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The word Gospel means “good news”. It’s pretty important to understand that. The Bible is not a book that tells us what we have to do to earn salvation, it is a book that tells us what God did to earn our salvation. What he did was send Jesus. Jesus did for us what we could never do for ourselves and he paid for what we had done in his body on the cross. God created human beings and intended for them to be ruling creatures. We were supposed to be under God but over everything else. We were supposed to rule over creation under the guidance and authority of God’s Word and to function as conduits for all the blessings of heaven. That’s how it was supposed to be, but unfortunately, the Bible tells the story of how our first parents, Adam and Eve, fell into sin by choosing to rebel against God’s Word in order to become autonomous ruling creatures. Basically, they wanted to be gods unto themselves, deciding good and evil. From that point on, humanity has been on a downward spiral moving further and further away from God and our original design and glory. The heart of the Gospel is the Good News that Jesus has come as God in the flesh and has obeyed God perfectly and has therefore won the right to all the blessings God originally intended to give to men and women. Furthermore, through his sacrificial death on the cross, he has paid the debt that we owed to God for disobeying his commands. There is therefore no need anymore for us to hide from God. In Jesus, we can come home and we can be restored. The climax of the Gospel is the great news that he rose from the dead and ascended into heaven where he now intercedes on our behalf. He gives the Holy Spirit to all his people and he slowly but surely, changes our hearts, reforms our desires and teaches us how to be the children of God we were always intended to be. For now, Jesus remains in heaven, changing the world one person at a time, but one day he will return and judge the world in righteousness. He will remove from this world all sin and all causes of sin and he will restore the cosmos to a state of peace, prosperity and flourishing and all those who have received him as their Lord and Savior will participate in his rule and enjoy his goodness forever.
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PRAY
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Have you ever tried to take a cat for a walk??
Hebrews for Everyone The God of Peace Be with You (Hebrews 13:17–25)
I was chatting with a friend who had recently become a bishop. He was and is a wonderful man, scholarly, wise, outgoing, full of ideas and devotion and love and goodness. You might have thought any church would be glad to have him as a leader.
‘How are you finding it, then?’ I asked.
‘Trying to be a leader in this church’, he replied, ‘is like trying to take a cat for a walk!’
Now there are some rare cats who like being taken for walks. Sometimes, as we say, they seem to think they’re dogs. But mostly they respond badly to any attempt to suggest that they might like to do this or that. They tend to look slightly offended, and do the opposite. All too often, it seems, Christian people behave in the same way. The present mood of Western society, in which all authority seems suspect, and all power is assumed to corrupt people, gives an extra excuse to people who want to do their own thing rather than submit in any way to what anybody else says.
And yet there are appropriate structures of responsibility within God’s church; because, as we find in passage after passage, God regards his people as sheep in need of shepherds. Jesus
What’s the difference between a “boss”, a supervisor, and a leader?
Over the past couple weeks, we’ve been looking at a “right response” to several thing.
Fellow Christians (vv. 1-9)
Special needs
Family
Fellowship
God (vv. 10-16)
Bold
Loyal
Worshipful
This week, we’re looking at a right response to leaders, specifically church leaders. There’s only one verse here regarding Church leaders but I believe that it’s important. I don’t know about you but I tend to want to do my own thing when I’m told what to do. If I don’t trust you, then I’m gonna be leary of following you. But, here, we’re given a proper perspective drawing on what we already have looked at in the saints that have gone before us.
Let’s read here in Hebrews 13:17
17 Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with groaning, for that would be of no advantage to you.
It’s hard for us to obey sometimes, especially when we don’t like the person or the command. But, the writer has already reminded his readers just only several sentences prior to our arrival here that they were to...
7 Remember your leaders, those who spoke to you the word of God. Consider the outcome of their way of life, and imitate their faith. 8 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.
Now, don’t forget that we are breaking this up but the writer, as he is prompted by the Holy Spirit, is looking at the big picture of his audience so there is some indication that maybe they weren’t doing this so well. Maybe they weren’t quite in line with their leaders/teacher. Looking back, the writer was reminding them in Hebrews 10:25 to...
25 not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.
The leaders are here described as those who are keeping watch (agrypneō) over their souls. These men have to keep watch as shepherds caring for sheep, or as a sentry on military service.
Brown, Raymond. The Message of Hebrews: Christ above All. Leicester, England; Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1988. Print. The Bible Speaks Today.
So, the writer here is reminding his contemporary audience that their response is two fold:
Their right response to their leaders should be one of RESPONSIVE OBEDIENCE and RESPECTFUL SUBMISSION
What do these words mean?
Responsive Obedience
Act or instance of submitting to the restraint or command of an authority; compliance with the demands or requests of someone or something over us. The general words for obedience in both Hebrew and Greek refer to hearing or hearkening to a superior authority. Another major Greek word includes the idea of submission to authority in the sense of arranging or ordering oneself under someone in a place of command. A third Greek word suggests obedience that is a result more of persuasion than of submission.
Elwell, Walter A., and Barry J. Beitzel. “Obedience.” Baker encyclopedia of the Bible 1988 : 1575. Print.
Literally listening and obeying instruction
Respectful Submission
This is a function of obedience. It’s a recognition of authoritative leadership as essential for the harmony and administration of any group.
No where in the New Testament does it encourage undiscerning obedience nor unintelligent submission.
Believers follow their leaders without grudging. The leader was to maintain a constant watchfulness over the souls of their flock and to give an account of their work. Leaders had responsibilities and not merely privileges.
Lea, Thomas D. Hebrews, James. Vol. 10. Nashville, TN: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1999. Print. Holman New Testament Commentary.
I don’t know about you but when I was in school and one of my classmates was put in charge of the class, it almost always resulted in a “holier than thou” complex and they would write my name on the board for nothing, just because they could.
As a leader in the church, this isn’t something we do out of a love for our brother and sister. We don’t, or shouldnt, take advantage of our position but rather do so out of an accounting to God and that is a joyous task.
So, when our role as a leader is compromised due to the disobedience of others, then our role becomes complicated.
This is a position that requires alertness and diligence. A Godly leader should be striving to ensure that the people under them are entering into an authentic relationship with Christ. (Mark 13:13; Eph 6:18)
So, WHY??
Because leaders will give an account for themselves (Heb 2:3-4; Rom 14:12; 1 Pet 4:5) and those that they are responsible for., those that are entrusted to their care.
This is a pretty big deal.
What if the kid that was put in charge of the class also got in trouble for me acting up. Would they take their role more seriously?
1 The word of the Lord came to me: 2 “Son of man, speak to your people and say to them, If I bring the sword upon a land, and the people of the land take a man from among them, and make him their watchman, 3 and if he sees the sword coming upon the land and blows the trumpet and warns the people, 4 then if anyone who hears the sound of the trumpet does not take warning, and the sword comes and takes him away, his blood shall be upon his own head. 5 He heard the sound of the trumpet and did not take warning; his blood shall be upon himself. But if he had taken warning, he would have saved his life. 6 But if the watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow the trumpet, so that the people are not warned, and the sword comes and takes any one of them, that person is taken away in his iniquity, but his blood I will require at the watchman’s hand.
7 “So you, son of man, I have made a watchman for the house of Israel. Whenever you hear a word from my mouth, you shall give them warning from me. 8 If I say to the wicked, O wicked one, you shall surely die, and you do not speak to warn the wicked to turn from his way, that wicked person shall die in his iniquity, but his blood I will require at your hand. 9 But if you warn the wicked to turn from his way, and he does not turn from his way, that person shall die in his iniquity, but you will have delivered your soul.
This leads to the next couple verses
18 Pray for us, for we are sure that we have a clear conscience, desiring to act honorably in all things. 19 I urge you the more earnestly to do this in order that I may be restored to you the sooner.
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.
As leaders need obedience and submission, leaders are also dependent on the prayers and support of those that they are over. It’s humble leadership, symbiotic.
Because, we are all reliant on the Great Shepherd of the sheep.
So the writer is asking for prayer that they can continue to strive to be the effective witness and prayerfully supported over the leaders there also. Heb 13: 18-19
But not only that, the writer is offering a prayer back. Heb 13:20-21
The Message of Hebrews b. His Prayer for Them (13:20–21)
But this verb equip (katartizō) can also mean ‘restore’, ‘repair’, or ‘mend’. It is the word used in the gospels to describe the work of the disciples when they were ‘mending’ (katartizontas) their nets. In equipping his people with everything good, our God is able not only to supply what is necessary, but also to repair what is broken.
Lastly, as the writer closes his letter, he gives them instructions to heed, a reminder of the fellowship to cherish, and grace to appropriate.
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.
The gospel is the good news that God, the loving Creator, sovereign King, and holy Judge of all, has looked upon men and women wonderfully and uniquely made in His image who have rebelled against Him, are separated from Him, and deserve death before Him, and He has sent His Son, Jesus, God in the flesh, the long-awaited King, to live a perfect and powerful life, to die a sacrificial and substitutionary death, and to rise from the grave in victory over sin, Satan, and death. The gospel is a summons from God for all people in all nations to repent and believe in Jesus for the forgiveness of sins, turning from all idols to declare allegiance to Jesus alone as King and trust in Jesus alone as Lord. All who turn from Jesus will experience everlasting, horrifying suffering in hell, while all who trust in Jesus will experience everlasting, satisfying communion with God in heaven. (Secret Church 2020, David Platt, Radical.net)
