Lesson 1: On Reading Hebrews
Hebrews is most probably a sermon, a “word of exhortation” (Hebrews 13:22; cf. Acts 13:15), offered to a specific community that was discouraged by faith-fatigue and their social dislocation. He encourages them to persevere based on what God has done for them.
Essentially, the sermon says: “Since we have this great gift from God, let us persevere in our service to God and each other.”
A full schedule of the lessons and a more detailed outline are available here.
There are several unknowns about this document.
- The author of the written sermon is unknown and anonymous, though its preacher knows the recipients well, and both know Timothy (Hebrews 13:23).
- The timing of the sermon is unknown, whether it is even before or after the destruction of Jerusalem in A.D. 70.
- The specific community is unknown, though the community and the preacher both know some people in Italy or from Italy (Hebrews 13:24).
Though these are significant unknowns, they do not hinder the message of the sermon because we learn so much about the recipients from the document itself.
The community is at a crossroads moment that endangers and weakens their living faith. They are on the verge of apostasy, and some have already abandoned their faith.
- They are drifting from their original fervent embrace of the God’s word (Hebrews 2:1).
- They are in danger of failing to reach the land of promised rest (Hebrews 4:1).
- They must move beyond their immaturity and press on to maturity (Hebrews 6:1).
- They are slowly giving up meeting together, and some already have (Hebrews 10:25).
- They are in danger of giving up their inheritance like Esau did (Hebrews 12:16-17).
But what was the occasion of this danger? Why are these believers in such danger? What are the circumstances of this crisis?
Many have read Hebrews through the lens that the danger the congregation faced was a potential return to Judaism or some had already returned to Judaism. As far as we know this perspective began with Chrysostom, bishop of Constantinople (d. 407). The preacher, Chrysostom thought, was attempting to persuade Jewish Christians to persevere rather than abandon Christianity in order to embrace once again the Judaism of their past. While this cannot be ruled out absolutely, and there is some reason to think some might have moved in that direction, I think that focus is too narrow. Hebrews does not say anything about a return to Judaism. That is an inference that is not explicitly supported by the sermon.
Perhaps rather than rejecting Judaism, this is a Christian attempt to deal with the nearing or recent destruction of the temple and its cultus. Just as Judaism in the post-temple era had to reimagine and reinterpret sacrifices and relationship with God, so also Christians had to think theologically about it as well. After all, while the temple still stood, Jesus-followers still participated in the rituals and worshipped God at the temple (for example, Acts 2:46-47; Paul in Acts 21).
Even if the above alternatives have any merit, the struggles of discouragement, persecution, and social dislocation are explicit. The preacher in Hebrews characterizes their journey as a wilderness experience. They are like Israel trekking through the wilderness in search of a permanent home (Hebrews 3:7-18). Like Israel, they are in danger of not receiving the promised rest if they do not persevere in faith (Hebrews 4:1-13). Their social location means they experience the hostility and suspicion of a culture that does not understand them. They are shamed by their neighbors. They are a persecuted people, though not yet unto blood (Hebrews 12:4). There are no martyrs in their circumstance, at least for the moment. Nevertheless, they can expect this as they follow Jesus who was shamed in his death. Given such social pressures—shaming and persecution—it is not surprising that some have decided to abandon Jesus community. Faith can waste away in a hostile culture. It is difficult to hang on when the dominant culture is shaming you, persecuting you, and hostile to your way of life.
The fundamental reason for the sermon, then, is to persuade believers to persevere, and it does this by providing reasons to stay. It answers the question, “Why stay? Is it worth it? What is the benefit?” While there are many supporting points, the outline of the sermon identifies at least three reasons.
- God has spoken to us through a Son (Hebrews 1:1-4).
- God has provided a great High Priest for us (Hebrews 4:14-16).
- God has invited us to enter God’s sanctuary (Hebrews 10:19-25).
These are three grounding moments in the sermon, and they provide a thesis supported by the following material. Stay because God has spoken not only through angels and prophets but has spoken through the Son who became human and shared our suffering as a pathfinder through the suffering into glory. Stay because God has provided a High Priest for us to deal with sin not only in his death but through his continual intercession for us at the throne of God. Stay because God invites us to serve in the sanctuary as royal priests who will inherit all that belongs to the Son.
Believers are exhorted to continue their life of faith despite their dire circumstances because this is how God has come to humanity in a dramatic way through the incarnate God who died for sin and was raised to present his offering before God for the purification of all things. This is what is really real. Everything else, even the good things like the Levitical sacrificial system and its tabernacle, is a shadow of this reality.
An outline of the sermon, then, may be something like this, and it will be the way I will unfold the message of Hebrews in coming weeks.
I. The Sonship of Jesus: God’s Spoken Word (1:1-4:16).
Thesis: God has spoken to us through the Son (1:1-4).
- The Person of the Son (1:5-2:18).
- The Prophetic Function of the Son (3:1-4:13).
II. The Priesthood of Jesus: Our High Priest (4:14-10:18).
Thesis: Jesus, the Son of God, is our High Priest, including exhortation (4:14-16).
- The Priestly Office (5:1-7:28).
- The Priestly Function, An Exposition (8:1-10:18).
III. Faithful Participation: Our Response to God’s Gift through Jesus (10:19-12:29)
Thesis: We enter the holy sanctuary through Jesus, including exhortation (10:19-25).
- Follow the Faithful (10:26-11:40).
- Endure the Hardship (12:1-17).
- Participate in the Eschatological (Heavenly) Reality (12:18-29).
IV. Epistolary Epilogue (13:1-25).
- Serving as Priests in the Community of Faith (13:1-6).
- Application of the Sermon’s Point (13:7-17).
- Concluding Epistolary Notes (13:18-25).