Ian Thomson

This is the final posting in this series on The Letter to the Hebrews from the New Testament. Our author, a prominent Christian leader in the first century, has just asked his recipients, a community of believing Hebrews, to pray for him. In this letter he has given many urgent requests to hold fast to Jesus, the great high priest and despite many testings, to remain faithful to the end. Now finally, he prays for them here at the end of his great letter:

 Now may the God of peace, who through the blood of the eternal covenant brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, 21 equip you with everything good for doing his will, and may he work in us what is pleasing to him, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen. (13:20-21) 

The letter ends with a beautiful appeal to the God of peace. Letters in the Ancient World invariably ended with a prayer to a god or the gods, who in peoples’ pagan imagination, were always fighting and competing with each other! But this is a cry to the God who is Peace.

In his prayer he reminds us of the great theme of this letter : the blood of the eternal covenant. He adds a striking reference to the resurrection of our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep. Jesus rose from death in a transformed human body just as he said he would. Without this resurrection, there would be no eternal covenant. We would be lost in our sins. An entombed, decomposing Jesus would have not been able to enter the heavenly sanctuary with his blood and secure the forgiveness for everyone who trusts in him, a mysterious act of cosmic proportions which has been introduced to us in this unique letter.

It is clear in this letter, that this author considers himself among the sheep with no more status before God than the brothers and sisters he cares for. There is no office of an ‘under-shepherd’. Actually there are no human offices or officials at all in the Body of Christ, only activists, bold servants, workers busy in the Lord’s business. There are varieties of service, of action, of gifts for the Body. The Holy Spirit is dynamic not static, not institutional.

So, he asks that they be equipped with God’s gifts and graces in every way for doing God’s will. Clearly, the people of God are not to be spectators, a mere audience, but active participants doing God’s will in their households and their holy community and in wider society.

The result of this dynamic working in us will be what is pleasing to God. It will be pleasing to God only because it is done through Jesus the Christ (Messiah). All other works no matter how grand, spectacular or ‘good’ will be lost in God’s sight. We are to build only by following God’s wonderful design revealed in Jesus and his words. All else will be ‘rooted up’ said Jesus (Matthew 15:13).

This here final hallowing of God, includes Jesus as well as God! Incredibly, the name of Jesus comes out of the writers mind in the same flow as God Himself. Clearly, this mystery is a huge shift from Judaism, certain to draw furious opposition. Just who is Jesus? Consider Jesus! Look to Jesus! It is Jesus who is the same yesterday, today, forever. Jesus is the only mediator between the one, true, living God and his people.

Brothers and sisters, I urge you to bear with my word of exhortation, for in fact I have written to you quite briefly. I want you to know that our brother Timothy has been released. If he arrives soon, I will come with him to see you. Greet all your leaders and all the Lord’s people. Those from Italy send you their greetings. Grace be with you all. (13:22-25)

The use of personal pronoun “I” in this letter, right at the very end, is remarkable in such a long letter—and although the author claims to have written briefly(!),  it is clear that the tone throughout is indeed very serious, with many warnings and reminders of dire consequences should the message be ignored, hence, I urge you to bear with me in my word of exhortation. He pleads with them, he does not issue authoritarian commands. We see that the author sees himself as carrying no coercive authority –he urges them, and does not treat them like a master or a prelate.

 The mention of our brother Timothy assures us that the author is well connected with the other apostles, especially Paul, Timothy’s close fellow apostle.  They could look forward to a visit from two well-known sheep of the great Shepherd among them. What a full-on time that must have been.

Timothy’s imprisonment also reminds us once more, that they lived in a hostile environment. They are asked to greet all their leaders—the letter is addressed to the community, not to leaders. He appears to ignore the leaders, asking his readers to greet the leaders, and all the Lord’s people, including no doubt, Gentile believers. The others who are the Lord’s people are not forgotten!

Then he sends greetings from people in Italy from where we assume he writes. There is certainly no Pope in view! Rather a reminder again that this fellowship is wider than just the community addressed in the letter. The ekklesia of God is international already at this early stage, and it is a family of brothers and sisters, God’s family, not a corporation.

How much there is to take home from a close reading of this letter, one that demands we go beneath the surface! We finish this series by praising and thanking God for such precious and unique perspectives and praying that more believers would feed on its richness.

So Grace be with you all.

(Oh, almost forgot. Could you pray for me please in my writing?)

Here’s a bit more from chapter 13 of The Letter to the Hebrews. I repeat here what is eminently repeatable :

Jesus’ once-for-all offering is unrepeatable!

The high priest carries the blood of animals into the Most Holy Place as a sin offering, but the bodies are burned outside the camp. And so Jesus also suffered outside the city gate to make the people holy through his own blood.  Let us, then, go to him outside the camp, bearing the disgrace he bore.  For here we do not have an enduring city, but we are looking for the city that is to come. (13:11-14)

Our author refers back to the Jewish cultic practices of Leviticus. He draws a parallel between the necessity to burn the remains of the bodies of the sacrificed animals outside the camp and the Lord Jesus the Messiah suffering outside the city gate. This is a remarkable parallel. What shame Jesus suffered for us and what humiliation to be cast outside society as if an accursed guilty one.

It has been made perfectly clear in this letter, that only Jesus’ blood can make them holy—and so it does! But there is a cost for them, a sacrifice, a call to gladly join him outside the man-made camp, the temporary city, the formal, now empty, religious system and share in and bear his disgrace from the unbelieving opponents of Jesus’ eternally noble offering. Opponents who will mock and sneer and cast them out. So we too are called to go outside with him.

Outside!

For many reading this who are still locked up in an institutionalised, static, rule-driven, denominational based or clergy dominated ‘church’, this is a call to join our beloved Jesus outside the camp, outside the ‘secure’ (?), programmed, professionally led citified, temporary edifice. To join Jesus along with others who are determined to worship God in God’s way, to obey him according to his design for church, his Body, his family, his household, given once for all to the apostles.  Yes, there is a design for growth, for maturity, and here there is the companionship of Jesus, here the resources of the Holy Spirit.

You can understand the design plan easily from the N.T. writings. The problem is our disobedience, our reluctance to join Jesus in his movement outside the known and traditional ways. To suffer the disgrace he bore by identifying with him.

Like the heroes of the Old Covenant the author listed for us, we look not to a city here, but the city that is to come. Our holy place is the presence of Jesus in our lives, in our shared experience. No earthly aesthetic can substitute for the Holy Spirit. We too live by faith and in the meantime waiting for his return, we enjoy the promised rest. Joining him ‘outside’, leaving all to follow him, Jesus has assured his disciples that anyone who gives up (sacrifices) home …

or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or land for me and for the good news will be rewarded. In this world they will be given a hundred times as many houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and pieces of land, though they will also be mistreated. And in the world to come, they will have eternal life. (Mark 10:29-30, C.E.V.)

Our author continues the Old Testament cultic metaphors in terms of the sacrifices now to be offered to God by his people under this glorious New Covenant, this new and living way.

Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise—the fruit of lips that openly profess his name. And do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased. (13:15-16)

So what sacrifices do we present to God under the New Covenant along with our believing Hebrew brothers and sisters?

Firstly, our offerings are made through Jesus! Our only mediator.  They are not offered to God through a church or through a liturgy. And they are offered continually, not temporary like the old. He is worthy that we offer right sacrifices constantly. These are not one-offs. We do not stop. And because Jesus is still the same and forever, we also are to offer up to God sacrifices that please God here and now in the 21^st century.

This offering is identified as what comes out of our mouths when we confess before others openly that name above all names. By doing this we promote and advertise his greatness, his wonder. For our band of Hebrew brothers and sisters, this was indeed often a costly sacrifice living as they did in a society opposed to their great high priest. For us also this can be costly but it is a sacrifice so pleasing to God. Let your name be hallowed.

Similarly, it is a pleasing sacrifice to God for us to be sharing with others, to be generous, and doing good, like our Master before us. So it is not only what comes from our lips but what comes from our hands in helping and serving others, out of thankful, praising hearts. Paul’s words in his letter to Romans (ch 12:1-8) again come to mind. It’s not only with our lips but in our lives lived out here on earth. Let your will be done on earth.

However, there is a teaching in some circles, that what comes out of the mouth is of inferior worth to what comes from the work of our hands. Francis of Assisi is often quoted as saying to his followers they should preach the gospel, if possible without using words. Such an idea can minimise the sacrifice of praise with the lips, giving people a false sense of righteousness through silence. Of course, there can be a hollowness about us if our actions do not match our words and there are times when speaking is not appropriate. Both kinds, honouring God with our lips and our works, are acceptable to God.

We are called to offer up pleasing sacrifices to God. These sacrifices that we offer up to God must be those he has called for. Under the Old Covenant cultic system, strange offerings carried severe penalties. Under the New Covenant, it is no less important to offer up sacrifices that please God, that is, those he has indicated through the words of Jesus and the apostles. And there is one sacrifice that can never be repeated and to try to re-enact that is an abomination, an insult to the gracious, finished work of Jesus, the Lamb of God.

So let’s leave behind any dodgy, worldly inspired, man-conceived practices, those traditions we think are acceptable (‘but we like doing these things’) and obey the word of the Lord in offering sacrifices we are sure are pleasing to Him.

In The Letter to the Hebrews, chapter 12, we are encouraged to fix our sight on Jesus who has run the race of life before us and resist the hardships that come with our running.

The people of Israel in the desert journey complained over their hardships and as a result, they forfeited their place of rest and security in the Promised Land. But our author has shown us the many men and women of the Old Testament who lived by faith and kept their hope alive in spite of many serious hardships. Grumbling and getting angry with God, losing faith in the only Name given to mankind to save, does nothing to help. That is a total waste of time and energy. Doesn’t move God one millimetre.

Where else can we run to, but Jesus? Tell me, where!

Make every effort to live in peace with everyone and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord.  See to it that no one falls short of the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many.  See that no one is sexually immoral, or is godless like Esau, who for a single meal sold his inheritance rights as the oldest son.  Afterward, as you know, when he wanted to inherit this blessing, he was rejected. Even though he sought the blessing with tears, he could not change what he had done. Hebrews 12: 14-17.

Though it is only by God’s grace that peace and holiness becomes our present experience, we cannot expect this without making every effort like an athlete preparing for the race and running it. The writer is emphatic: without holiness no one will see the Lord. Scary, eh? But let’s not pull this saying out of the context of this entire letter. Our author has repeatedly driven home the truth that we are holy by our determined participation in the Lord Jesus himself and his offering for us. What a joy! What a victory! What a Saviour!

So much the more ought we to cling to Jesus in faith and in him alone for entire holiness, and not throw away what has been wonderfully given to us, or lose what we have attained. We do want to see the Lord!

Look, this is serious. It’s your future we are addressing. Don’t you get it?

The next two or three exhortations are made to all in their community to care for one another: see to it that no one … Such responsibility is not left to an official, priest, or pastor (note here God’s great design for spiritual maturity of all, not just a few). No, they as a whole community were expected to ensure everyone among them knew the grace of God and that nothing was allowed to defile them—unforgiving hearts, disunity, disagreements, jealousies, envy, comparing people, gossip, etc. This is said to defile the many—to spread through the whole ‘loaf’, a condition endemic in many churches  today due to lack of one-another-ness. We each have a responsibility to care for one another, to watch over one another in love and tenderness and sometimes firmness. This the Lord expects! It’s not an optional extra. In most churches  it’s unheard of.

Then they are to see that no one is sexually immoral or godless! What a challenge this is! Earnest prayer at least is called for one another and especially for one who is entangled. The solution is not to disown that one, or to ignore such, leaving this work to some paid official. But to weep for that one, and bring that one without ceasing into the holy place of the Lord of which we have learned so much in this precious letter. That place is nothing like the old, terrifying, Mt Sinai and the Law of Moses. No!

 You have not come to a mountain that can be touched and that is burning with fire; to darkness, gloom and storm;  to a trumpet blast or to such a voice speaking words that those who heard it begged that no further word be spoken to them,  because they could not bear what was commanded: “If even an animal touches the mountain, it must be stoned to death.” The sight was so terrifying that Moses said, “I am trembling with fear.”    But you have come to Mount Zion, to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem. You have come to thousands upon thousands of angels in joyful assembly, to the church of the firstborn, whose names are written in heaven. You have come to God, the Judge of all, to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.  Hebrews 12:18-24.

No. They are told they have come to a different mountain altogether! God’s full salvation belongs not under the law given at Mt Sinai but to a different mountain—the true, transcendent Mount Zion. Here is the great good news! This is the place to bring our tempted and faltering friends. We must plead with such to join with us in fellowship again with the Father and with the Son and with countless others who have gone before.

There is no other place in the spirit for us to be. It is the city of the living God! It is the true Jerusalem, of which the earthly Jerusalem was a mere shadow. Here we join in with millions of other created beings in an assembly of lasting, everlasting joy.  We join in now. You have come!

You have come! You have come to the church (ekklesia=assembly) of the firstborn ones. At this gathering are those of faith who have gone there before us, both Jew and Gentile, as one new nation. Here in this passage, is the second of two uses of the Greek word ekklesia in this letter (the other was in Heb 2:12), and neither has any correspondence whatsoever with the word church ­in common language use today.

The firstborn are those who inherit the Father’s kingdom, assembled before him, to God the Judge of all, and in the cheerful company of those having been made utterly complete! Who would want to pass up this altogether magnanimous offer—to stand before the Judge of all as acceptable. No more! even as royal offspring?

And the ultimate experience for them and for us as we participate, is the presence of Jesus, the mediator of the New Covenant, the totally wonderful arrangement made by his sacrifice, the sprinkling of his blood, broadcasting to us a far superior offering compared to Abel’s, though that, too was acceptable to God.

See to it that you do not refuse him who speaks. If they did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, how much less will we, if we turn away from him who warns us from heaven?  At that time his voice shook the earth, but now he has promised, “Once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens.”  The words “once more” indicate the removing of what can be shaken—that is, created things—so that what cannot be shaken may remain.  Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, for our “God is a consuming fire.”  Hebrews 12:25-28

God is the God who speaks to be heard and we must take heed. This is the One who spoke and the universe was made! We hear him now, not just on earth as at Sinai, but everywhere in the heavens which declare daily his glory, his mercy, his compassion.

If those who ignored earthly warnings didn’t get away with it, what will happen to us if we turn our backs on heavenly warnings? (The Message, Eugene Petersen). There will be a greater shaking, a greater disclosure, a greater removal, a total removal, of the temporary. What will remain for us? Only the eternal.

What will be left in us at the End? Only what God has done in us. Nothing else.

So our response is to be thankful and to serve God (‘worship’ means ‘serve’) with reverence and awe. It is a fearful thing to remember that our service must be acceptable to God. Again from The Message:

He’s actively cleaning house, torching all that needs to burn, and he won’t quit until it’s all cleansed. God himself is Fire!

As we said, this is serious. It’s your future we are addressing. Get it?

In chapter 11, the author of The Letter to the Hebrews reminds his readers of the faith of their fathers and to follow their examples in the difficulties they face daily. He cites the faith of Noah, who knew the Almighty and heard and believed God’s warnings, resulting in him undertaking such a huge shipbuilding project, which without faith, seemed to others like the height of madness.

Then Abraham obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going. Abraham’s faith journey is a brilliant ‘type’ or pattern for that of each believer in God. We do not know precisely where we are going—so much is unchartered waters for us. We too are like strangers in a foreign country. We together also look forward to the city with foundations whose architect and builder is God.  We can only very poorly imagine what it will be like. However we can see all around us the altogether superb creation in the good Earth and the heavens. His design work, though spoilt by human greed, ignorance, carelessness and exploitation, enough beauty and grace remain for us to enjoy and give thanks for, to lift our sights to the day that is coming, the day of renewed heavens and a renewed earth. Fantastic architecture. Unmatched design. Can hardly wait.

Let this sink in. For Sarah, God’s promises seemed just as impossible for them as it was for Noah. Yet they were delivered as promised and we are reading this because those words from God were trustworthy. She is singled out as considering God faithful. Result? All around us, right through history, countless descendants of Abraham and Sarah.

And all these people were still living by faith when they died. So, they did not receive all the promised things, they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance.

Right to the very end, they lived by faith, and so must we! Many of God’s promises may not be literally delivered before we pass on. Yet we can welcome them from a distance. God is not watching from a distance but keeps constant watch on our walk of faith—and boy, does that please him! Continuously.

Our author has highlighted Abraham’s traumatic and dramatic test of faith believing that God could raise his son Isaac from death, so sure was he of God’s trustworthiness to make a people of countless number. Imagine the trial of his faith! The agony the struggle against doubt!

And note the marvellous parallel here with God’s one and only Son and his steady, determined stride towards a dreadful and shameful death in Jerusalem and then, a raising to life, in a transformed and glorious body.

Our author then reminds us of Isaac, Jacob and Joseph, patriarchs who believed God, often in the most dramatic circumstances, and changed the course of history.

In verses 24 to 29, Moses’ personal faith journey is then described in terms rather reminiscent of the calling of Jesus’ followers. And he could not leave out the Exodus story as a supreme example: a whole people group marching forward in faith through the sea. Moses could see and hear the invisible God and so he persevered. Nothing can beat perseverance. Press on!

He ends this long catalogue of men and women of faith, who all had a kind of knowing based on the character of their LORD God who speaks to his people, by reminding his readers, and us, that although these people were commended for their faith, yet many of the greatest promises were not received in their lifetime!

And what more shall I say? I do not have time to tell about Gideon, Barak, Samson and Jephthah, about David and Samuel and the prophets,  who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised; who shut the mouths of lions,  quenched the fury of the flames, and escaped the edge of the sword; whose weakness was turned to strength; and who became powerful in battle and routed foreign armies.  Women received back their dead, raised to life again. There were others who were tortured, refusing to be released so that they might gain an even better resurrection. Some faced jeers and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment.  They were put to death by stoning; they were sawed in two; they were killed by the sword. They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and mistreated— the world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, living in caves and in holes in the ground.  These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised, since God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect. (Heb 11:32-40)

What a list of gallant, believing, persevering humans, continuing to the end in faith, despite the suffering, the opposition!

So also for us as well, much that God has promised remains as yet un-received by us. We wait in faith for his return, with suffering, and for the final consummation of his reign of his people on a re-newed earth, this wonderful world renewed in unimaginable delight and splendour for a renewed people who desire above all else that “your will be done!”

They, this great crowd of witnesses coming before us, will with us all experience sure completion in accordance with God’s perfect planning and design. We wait, as they did, living by faith.  God has not forgotten his Ancient people.

God’s planning, His timing : better for them and better for us.