A real-time blog on the Letter to the Hebrews…part 1

Hebrews, I feel, suffers a little from being left out. If Romans is fighting for the Premiership title with Ephesians maybe, Hebrews is in a relegation battle, in need of a miracle manager to climb up the table. And they’ve just hired Melchizedek.

More of Melchizedek later. Romans and Ephesians have had a good run…

But if the Holy Spirit has given us this letter and we ignore its contents, we are denying the children their bread.

In fact, ‘neglect’ was a chief concern of the author.

‘lest we drift away…how shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation…’ 2 v 3

The gospel had been preached to them and they had believed. The concern was that they, a group of Jewish believers, would ‘drift away’, not that they had disbelieved the gospel when they heard it.

‘At first (the gospel) was spoken to us by the Lord and was confirmed to us by those who heard Him, God also bearing witness with signs and wonders, with various miracles, and gifts of the Holy Spirit’ 2 v 3,4

Countless ‘charismatic churches’ are attended by thousands who, when they heard the gospel, believed and then have seen the power of God at work in miracles and signs and wonders and yet are in danger of drifting away. And I’m not particularly writing about individual believers, but whole denominations and streams are in danger of drifting away. This Letter to the Hebrews is more relevant than we might think. When was the last time you read the letter? Or heard it taught carefully, chapter by chapter?

If we drift, we reduce Jesus

I can’t offer that. This is written more or less in real-time highlighting verses and themes that seem to stand out as I am writing, downloads from the past as well as the present.

The first three chapters remind the church of the pre-eminence of Jesus, the Messiah (Christ), who ‘tasted death now crowned with honour and glory’ 2v9; God’s Son 1v2, seated at the right hand of the Majesty on high; 1v3, higher than angels 1v4-14; and superior to Moses, chapter 3. Jesus is the Son in the house, the heir, and Moses is a servant in the house…a particularly dramatic and important distinction for the Jewish recipients of this letter.

If we drift, we reduce Jesus. He becomes a wonderful teacher, or a Jewish prophet, or Rabbi, he becomes a guru from Nazareth, a spiritual teacher, a Christ to be understood only in the historical or sociological context of the first century, rather than the ‘heir of all things’ and ‘the express image of His glory’ at whose name we bow and worship in all generations.

Blog 2 will deal with the purpose of the gospel: ‘bringing many sons to glory’ 2v10