The Greatest Treasuer

Therefore is a great word for starting our Epistle reading this evening because it lets us know that what we are reading is based on what has just been said a chapter earlier. And the preceding chapter, the first chapter of Hebrews, starts, “Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son” (1:1–2).

In that first chapter, Jesus is distinguished from the prophets as the culmination of their life and message. This evenings therefore includes Jesus’ being Savior and God: “He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high” (1:3). By the order of creation, and the order of redemption, Jesus is in all things God, speaking among us in these last days.

And then we hear about the angels, who are praising God in heaven and are God’s servants as he pleases (Hebrews 1:14). But they are not human beings; angels are angels. When your believing loved ones go to heaven, they do not become angels, even though they are “with the angels.” Our Savior, once made lower than the angels, is crowned with glory and honor, as the psalmist said (Psalm 8), or as we hear in Heb 1:3, “at the right hand of the Majesty on high.”

All of this is understood by the first word of our text, therefore. Yes, the unbroken message of the prophets from God’s call to God’s Christ. Then, the glory of the angels bows to the majestic glory of a Savior. Such is heaven’s economy. As the angels looked upon the earth, they, who had never known a Savior of their own, saw God himself making purification for the sins of the dwellers of earth. As he rose to the right hand of the Majesty on high, they looked upon him, they his subjects, and continue to sing their unbroken praise for this mystery of divine, crucified love for fallen humanity.

It is the greatness of this salvation which is the heartbeat of our text, of the entire second chapter, and so we’ve heard, “How shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation?” (Hebrews 2:3). It is upon these words that all other words of our text today depend, as do our eternal souls.

The Salvation Given by Jesus, Our Savior,

Is Our Greatest Treasure

and Is Neglected to Our Greatest Peril.

He Came As One of Us, So Don’t Neglect Him

The picture behind the word neglect is the picture of water in a river being observed flowing by. But as it flows, we do not engage with it to quench our thirst, wash our face, or fill a jug for later. We simply remain observers, as it flows by.

There are many times when neglect in some form helps us live life. Someone brushes your elbow in a supermarket aisle as they pass by hurriedly. You think of it for a minute, then let it go. They were in a hurry. Back home, a banana has a bruise you’d rather not eat. You cut it out, and enjoy your banana, not even counting the bruise by the time it’s finished. Such easy neglect helps us get through the day with fewer worries, understanding that a fallen creation has its brushes and bruises and that there are things far more important to life.

Our world is a busy one. International instabilities, political games, the effects of disease, and places where crime seems to be out of control are the stuff of daily news, creating a sense of daily crisis.

Society aside, we think of our families. Even if all of these societal troubles ceased, there would remain the full-time job in our family of cultivating love, caring for one another, recognizing our responsibilities and roles, loving sacrificially, and practicing repentance and forgiveness toward one another.

Apart from family togetherness, even if you or I were the only person on earth, we would find a state of war within ourselves, where the old sinful nature would fight the new redeemed person we are, and we would beg God to increase in us true knowledge of him and his will and true obedience to his Word, to the end that by his grace we may come to everlasting life through Jesus Christ, our Lord. This alone would be a full-time pursuit.

In reaction to all of this, we may find that we neglect some things in life, not because we should, but just to take the pressure off of us.

We tell our family to “let us be”, because we need time to ourselves. We may be tempted to neglect God and take refuge in things he has forbidden, telling ourselves we need a break lest we be entirely overwhelmed.

Neglect is a reality, but not a sustainable solution. Our propensity to neglect even important things isn’t new to us or our those who have gone before us. The existence of Hebrews 2 lets us know that this choice also attracted at least some of the Hebrews for whom this book was written. Why? Because these Jewish Christians were suffering and persecuted, and were being pressured to return to the old covenant

By the way, think of this: the magnitude of neglect is determined by the importance of a thing we may choose to neglect. Ignoring a snide remark is wise neglect. Neglecting your body may be lethal. Neglecting your home and family may damage more than just you and be hard to repair. But, much worse, Scripture surmounts all such things when God asks us to consider, “How shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation?” (Hebrews 2:3).

In Order to Provide an Escape for Us

Notice the word escape. We are talking of escaping judgment. And it’s a significant ingredient in understanding the great salvation many neglect.

In our text, verse 2 says, “For since the message declared by angels proved to be reliable, and every transgression or disobedience received a just retribution.”

“Just retribution” tells us we are, fair-and-square, destined for punishment. Another word for retribution might be punishment or vengeance or wrath.

Our sins and our sinfulness all require it because justice is involved, and we have been passive and active sinners.

Because God is good, He is just: He punishes sin. He plays no favorites, pulls no punches. It is actually comforting that there is retribution for sin, and that it is just. God’s justice is good; He does not change. He is dependable in punishment, so we know where we stand and that what is right and wrong. Unless there is a purification — salvation — an escape from the just retribution — we own it and it’s coming at the Last Day.

We find many examples in Scripture sufficient to show us God’s message declared by angels. The cherubim of eastern Eden forced the banished Adam and Eve to look not back to what could have been but forward to believe what would be realized. There would be One, born of woman, to crush the devil.

The angels who met Abraham in Genesis 18 brought the Lord’s promise to return and that Sarah would have a son. This son of promise would bear sons until the Messiah of promise was born from this line.

As Jesus was born to be our Savior, angels would announce to Mary, Joseph, and shepherds of his incarnation, and after attending him while in agony, they would hail his bright resurrection, declaring the message thereof to all who sought the living among the dead.

This message was greater than retribution. It was one of escaping punishment. Throughout the Old Testament and the New, angels proclaimed the message and person of the Lord Jesus Christ, truly as his ministering spirits, showing him to be greater than his created beings and victor over even the angel who was once of their own ranks but who, by sedition, sought to be like God.

Since there is escape from receiving punishment for our sin, then for sure, we have a great salvation to celebrate! And so we do celebrate...

So That We Can Live Eternally With Him

Just as great neglect is tied to the importance of what is neglected, the greatness of salvation is tied to the magnitude of the escape, as well as to that from which one will have escaped.

What makes this salvation “such a great salvation” is a God who loves you, who gave his only Son for you, whose blood paid your price for sins committed, whose blood cleanses you from all sin, whose blood set us free to be people of God. Salvation’s greatness does not lie in you; if it does, it lies in your inabilities and Jesus’ supreme abilities for your benefit.

You know, it would seem easy to preach two kinds of neglect: “We are always tempted to neglect our salvation, and Jesus is merciful to neglect our sins.” While this would be easy to roll off the tongue, it would not be true. The great salvation is great exactly because Jesus refused to neglect us and our inborn sinfulness and our daily pile of sins.

The greatness of salvation is that God took note of your sorry situation, hapless attempts at holiness, and careless Christianity, and simply loved you. He saw doubt, fear, and worry in your soul, and pitied you with a Father’s love. He saw you stray and felt your neglect of him, and he truly wanted better for you. The greatness of salvation is God, in majesty, loving you, in misery, and becoming your great salvation.

With one person, two intersected beams of wood, three nails, and four Gospel writers, he made your salvation a reality. Our text tells us a few things:

Our salvation was declared at first by the Lord. “Such a great salvation . . . was declared at first by the Lord” (Hebrews 2:3).

Old Testament: God, great in grace, great in patience, great in pity, promised Adam and Eve a Savior who would crush the serpent’s head.

New Testament: God traveled from heaven above to earth to be the very declaration of his saving purpose.

Our salvation was attested by those who heard. “Such a great salvation . . . was declared at first by the Lord, and it was attested to us by those who heard” (Hebrews 2:3).

Old Testament: Witness Adam’s family, Noah, the patriarchs, and Moses, with the men who went up on the mountain, and a stream of prophets sent by God through the ensuing years.

New Testament: The disciples, the seventy, and the multitudes heard God standing daily in the temple courts, and each generation has told their loved ones, their children, and all who are far off, in many nations, including us.

Our salvation is given through signs and wonders and various miracles. “God also bore witness by signs and wonders and various miracles” (v 4a).

Old Testament: The signs and wonders of Moses’ calling: from burning bush to parted sea, manna and quail to water from the rock, as they traveled by way of Sinai until they came to promised Canaan land.

New Testament: Each miracle of Jesus shows him to be the living water, true bread, healer, life-giver, Lord over nature. And no miracle before or after was greater than the cross and resurrection, which he continues even to us with his Spirit in the waters of Baptism, and in incarnation under the bread and wine.

Jesus is the founder of this salvation. He would not leave it to his ministering spirits, the angels, to do his work for him. He is its start, and he will bring it to completion. And we are partakers because he accomplished it through suffering for us, and then bestowed it on us. Astonishingly, God has tasted death for everyone.

But because this very great salvation is ours, how could we neglect it?

It is greater than your sin and your sinfulness. It is greater than all you face this day or, if God wills, tomorrow. It is greater than every last charge the accuser could lay against us on the Last Day, for in this salvation, our names remain written in the Book of Life. It is greater than doubts, greater than fears, greater than cancer, cardiac arrest, or yes, greater than COVID.

A parting thought: We may find ourselves tempted to neglect God’s best gift in good times or in difficulty. Though the tempter is already judged, he likes to keep busy, seeking to imperil our souls. But God has built joy into his great salvation. If you find yourself guilty of neglecting it, the process of confessing and receiving forgiveness centers you in the restoring work of the cross, and the care of the crucified. It brings back to you the appreciation and greatness of your salvation because it brings you back to your Savior. It reorients you from your neglect to God’s joyous embrace, so that even the way back may emphasize so great a salvation and so great a Savior who loves you. Such is your greatest treasure.

Amen.