Led By Jesus
We’ve all played follow the leader. These days, we aren’t sure we like where we’re being led. In the Jesus community, we’re all following Jesus. He’s our leader. What’s the role of the human leaders? Leaders could be elders, deacons, teachers, youth leaders, mentors. But if we start with a very simple concept, who are the people you look up to and follow in the faith? What is their role in shaping the culture of the church?
English Standard Version Chapter 22
25 And he said to them, “The kings of the Gentiles exercise lordship over them, and those in authority over them are called benefactors. 26 But not so with you. Rather, let the greatest among you become as the youngest, and the leader as one who serves. 27 For who is the greater, one who reclines at table or one who serves? Is it not the one who reclines at table? But I am among you as the one who serves.
Leading with the Word of God
13:7 - You may have people leading you in all kinds of ways. The leaders you should call to mind, “remember”, in the community of Jesus, are those that speak the word of God to you. Not that everything they say is God’s word. Their authority does not come from their wisdom, their intelligence, their ability or success in some area of life. Their authority as leaders is derived from their role as ministers of the word. We follow leaders who are filled to overflowing with God’s word and teach us how to trust more in that than in their wise leadership.
Leading by Example
They should be a living example of God’s words in action. If you were to imitate the way of life of the leaders of this church, would you learn the faith in the process?
13:8 - Any consistency in them is a testimony of the life of Christ in them. If their way of life is worthy of imitation, it is because Jesus Christ is living in them, giving them endurance and faithfulness. He never changes.
Because Jesus never changes, there are truths of the faith that don’t change. The essentials of the gospel are reliable. But the way of Jesus isn’t easy, so it’s easy to be led astray onto other paths.
Do Not be Led Astray
13:9-16, the longest section of this passage, clarifies the way of life that you should imitate. There are many paths that can lead you astray. The writer warns about being “led away by diverse and strange teachings”. “Diverse” = “many-colored”. While there are many colorful ways to go astray, there is one path that leads to Jesus. It’s the path with four steps: grace (13:9), reproach (13:13), praise to God (13:15), and doing good and sharing (13:16).
Path of Grace. The writer contrasts diverse and strange teachings about foods with grace in verse 9. What’s going on here? The Hebrew Christians to whom this letter is written had a choice to make. When they chose to follow Jesus, their new lifestyle was a statement of faith in Jesus as the final and greater sacrifice for sin and acceptance with God. Their new freedom in Jesus Messiah was offensive to the religious leaders, whose power lay in the religious system based in sacrifices and kosher food laws, and these leaders were probably trying to draw them back in.
Judaism is a religion that offers spiritual purity based on keeping physical rituals around food and sacrifice. The idea was that as you participated in the sacrifices, which were often shared as a meal with the priest, in the presence of the Lord, it would draw you closer to God, and it was a symbol of His acceptance of you. But the writer says these teachings and rituals “have not benefited those devoted to them (lit., “walked around in them” 13:9).” The ritual elements had replaced the spiritual reality. By contrast, in Jesus, we are sustained not by food, but “strengthened/established by grace” (13:9). Keeping the ritual purity laws strengthens your self-righteousness, which is of no benefit. Following Jesus in faith strengthens you in His grace. Your acceptance by God is not based on your sacrifices for Him, but based on Jesus’ sacrifice for you. You are saved by grace. Keep preaching this gospel to your own heart, and you will be strengthened.
For these Hebrew Christians that were experiencing rejection from their Jewish religious leaders, the encouragement is that Jesus knew what it was like to be rejected by the religious establishment. The writer shows how Jesus’ rejection and crucifixion was both a rejection by those leaders, but also a fulfillment of the Day of Atonement.
The altar they used in their rituals had to be cleansed because of all the dead animals that had been placed on it. On the Day of Atonement every year, a bull was offered as a cleansing sacrifice. It was slaughtered outside the camp, leaving death “outside the camp”, and only the blood, which symbolizes life and internal cleansing, was brought in (Leviticus 4, 16) to sprinkle the altar. This would symbolize that sin and death had no place in the camp of Israel where God, the Ever-Living One dwells.
Because the religious leaders rejected Jesus and handed Him over to the Romans, He was crucified outside Jerusalem. They did not even realize they were fulfilling, and putting to an end, the sacrificial system they were trying to protect.
Path of Reproach. Every time one of these Hebrew followers of Jesus is rejected and kicked out of a synagogue or their family or social circle for the sake of their faith in Jesus Messiah, they are on the right path. Verse 13, “Let us go to him outside the camp, and bear the reproach he endured.” Embracing reproach for the sake of Jesus is one way to know Jesus. Jesus leads us on the way of the cross. And it is a statement to the world that it has nothing to offer compared to the city that is to come (verse 14).
All that is well and good, but the sacrificial system is the way they used to worship God. So, next the writer encourages them two steps in the path to Jesus which form their new sacrificial system.
Path of Praise (verse 15). When we acknowledge the name of Jesus -- Jesus as Lord, as Messiah, as Savior -- we are offering a sacrifice of praise to God for accomplishing His plan of salvation, for keeping all His promises, for His wisdom, grace, redemption, power, justice, and love. This is why we sing songs to and about Jesus, why we tell others about Jesus, why we behave in ways that demonstrate His life in us. But there’s one more step on this path.
Path of Doing Good and Sharing (verse 16). This is another form of sacrifice that pleases God. God has saved us by grace through faith so that we would walk in the good works He has prepared for us. Jesus said that others should see our good works and glorify our Father in heaven. He adds to good works, “share what you have”, which is actually one word, “koinonia”. This is a life of partnership, sharing, communion with one another, that spills over in generosity to others. When we do good to others, God receives that as praise because we are living in the restored image of God in us. It is the evidence of the life of Christ in us.
Follow Your Leaders
The writer closes this section with another word about leaders. At the beginning, he said, “remember them” because they speak God’s word to you, “consider the outcome of their way of life, and imitate their faith” (verse 7). But in verse 17, also obey them and submit to them.
The leader who leads you to Jesus on this path is worth following. They are the one who isn’t afraid to speak God’s word to us when it isn’t easy, and when it’s most needed. They set an example for you in walking a lifestyle of faith in Jesus. But the other reason we see here to obey and submit to them is that “they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to give an account.” The word here is for a sleepless watch over someone. These are the people that lose sleep over you. They love you, pray for you, are concerned for your soul. They check in on you, your well-being and your progress and growth. They recognize that there is another leader to whom they will give an account of their role in your life.
That leader is the one who lost sleep on more than one occasion for His disciples, who did not just speak God’s word, but was God’s word in human form, who set an example not just in life, but He walked the path of grace and reproach in obedience to God the Father and suffered outside the camp for our sin. But God received this sacrifice as praise, and He was doing the ultimate good.
Jesus is the Leader of the church. He is forming a culture in the community of His followers. The people He will use to lead that community are those that will lead like Him, and lead others to Him.
Who leads you to Jesus? Who teaches you His words and His way of life? How are you submitting to their leadership in your life?
Who are you leading to Jesus? When they ask for advice, do you give them your words, or use that as an opportunity to share God’s word? When others look at your way of life, would they imitate your faith? What is one step of obedience to Jesus that you can take next to become a better example?
Questions for Discussion
What do we learn about God in this passage?
What do we learn about Jesus?
What do we learn about people?
What are some ways walking in the grace of Jesus, bearing the reproach of Jesus, offering a sacrifice of praise to God, and doing good and sharing, all come together in the Christian life?
Why is obedience to a human leader necessary to following Jesus?
What are some ways we can remember, imitate, and submit to our leaders that would give them joy and keep them from groaning?
How will you respond to this passage this week?
Who is someone you can share this message with this week?