I must confess I love the letter of Hebrews. I love the mystery behind Who wrote it? (Martian Luther and I think it was Apollos but we are a minority) In the end, the best answer is from and early church theologian named Origen he wrote: “God knows.” It may well have been someone who is not even mentioned anywhere in Scripture. What is important is the Holy Spirit marked these words with his inspiration and gave us a deep and rich picture of Christ. So I asked myself "What if Hebrews was the only book we had? What kind of theology could we construct?" And this is my conclusion.
I. What Hebrews teaches about God?
A. The theology of Hebrews
God speaks to us
“God, having in the past spoken to the fathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways ...”
God has a Son, Jesus Christ
“has at the end of these days spoken to us by his Son ...”
The Son is the full revelation of God. (What God is like)
“spoken to us by his Son ...”
God is generous
“whom he appointed heir of all things ...”
He created all things (through his Son)
“through whom also he made the worlds.”
He calls his Son “God”
“But of the Son he says, "Your throne, O God, is forever and ever.”
He testifies to the truth of salvation through the Son
“God also testifying with them, both by signs and wonders, by various works of power, and by gifts of the Holy Spirit, according to his own will ...”
He has power-sharing plans for redeemed humanity
“For he didn't subject the world to come, of which we speak, to angels. But one has somewhere testified, saying, "What is man, that you think of him? Or the son of man, that you care for him? You made him a little lower than the angels. You crowned him with glory and honor. You have put all things in subjection under his feet."”
He takes the initiative in redeeming humanity
“... that by the grace of God he should taste of death for everyone.” (This particular verse (2.9) has an alternative reading. Nevertheless, Hebrews says the same thing elsewhere (e.g. chapter 8).)
His people are his household
“Moses indeed was faithful in all his house as a servant, for a testimony of those things which were afterward to be spoken, but Christ is faithful as a Son over his house; whose house we are, if we hold fast our confidence and the glorying of our hope firm to the end.”
He is pleased by faith and is displeased with unbelief
“Beware, brothers, lest perhaps there be in any one of you an evil heart of unbelief, in falling away from the living God”
He has prepared a rest for his people
“There remains therefore a Sabbath rest for the people of God.” This rest is entered through faith in God and by believing his promises.
His word is powerful
“For the word of God is living, and active, and sharper than any two-edged sword...”
He sees everything
“There is no creature that is hidden from his sight, but all things are naked and laid open before the eyes of him with whom we have to do.”
He does not forget our labour of love
“For God is not unrighteous, so as to forget your work and the labor of love which you showed toward his name, in that you served the saints, and still do serve them.”
He has appointed Jesus as our high priest
“You are a priest forever, according to the order of Melchizedek.”
He wants us with him
“... a better hope, through which we draw near to God.”
He should be respected
“It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.”
He is a builder
“For he looked for the city which has the foundations, whose builder and maker is God.”
He is able to raise the dead
“... concluding that God is able to raise up even from the dead.”
He disciplines his children
“God deals with you as with children, for what son is there whom his father doesn't discipline?”
He is judge of all
“... you have come to Mount Zion, and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable multitudes of angels, to the general assembly and assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, to God the Judge of all ...”
He is a consuming fire
“Therefore, receiving a Kingdom that can't be shaken, let us have grace, through which we serve God acceptably, with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire.”
He is the God of peace
“Now may the God of peace, who brought again from the dead the great shepherd of the sheep with the blood of an eternal covenant, our Lord Jesus, make you complete in every good work to do his will, working in you that which is well pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory forever and ever”
II. What about Jesus? What does Hebrews teach us about Jesus? He is the point of the letter anyway!
A. Hebrews gives us a Portrait of the heavenly Priestly King
Hebrews chapters 1 to 10 is a splendid portrait of the Jesus. The aspects that the author portrays are not merely theoretical musings, but practical truths that are directly relevant to the situation in which the audience finds itself. Jesus is champion, and, more centrally, sustaining advocate. The letter shouts, "Jesus is better!" It teaches Jesus is all we need, that he is sufficient and better than any lesser love that pulls at us, seeking out our devotion.
Jesus Christ as portrayed in Hebrews
Son of God
ultimate revelation of God
agent of creation
sustainer of all things
heir of all things
the radiance of God's glory
the one who purged our sins and obtained our eternal redemption
seated at God's right
better than angel's
better than Moses
better than Aaron
better than Joshua
mediater of the new covenant
addressed as God by God
from eternity to eternity
author and captain of salvation
great high priest, representative of and intercessor for his people
anchor of the soul
having the power of an endless life
able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through him
appointed by God with an oath
holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, made higher than the heavens
minister in God's sanctuary
able to purge the conscience of dead works
allows us to receive the promise of eternal inheritance
pioneer of our path into God's presence
B. Concluding thoughts
Christ role as humanity's Prophet, Priest, and King, is highlighted in Hebrews. He is the very revelation of God in chapter one (prophet). And his kingship is sprinkled through the book but it is the role as humanity's high priest that Hebrews highlights.
Hebrews is unique among the New Testament writings in its exposition on Jesus Christ our high priest, although we see hints of Christ performing that function elsewhere (Fro example: praying for Peter in Luke and for his followers in John). Stephen testifies that Jesus is at God's right (Acts 7.56), Paul states that Christ intercedes for us (Rom 8.34), and John writes that Jesus Christ is our advocate and that he atones for our sins (1 John 2.1f).
As a priest, it is necessary for Christ to present an offering. His is the offering par excellence, a perfect sacrifice, in his own blood, that has achieved what the former sacrifices were powerless to do -- remission of sins and a cleansed conscience.
Our high priest made sacrifice "once for all" and all at once we are forgiven.
In Him
J. Dawson Jarrell
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