Lesson 23: Live Together in Community
Hebrews 13:1-25
Let mutual love continue. Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by doing that some have entertained angels without knowing it. Remember those who are in prison, as though you were in prison with them; those who are being tortured, as though you yourselves were being tortured. Let marriage be held in honor by all, and let the marriage bed be kept undefiled; for God will judge fornicators and adulterers. Keep your lives free from the love of money, and be content with what you have; for he has said, “I will never leave you or forsake you.” So we can say with confidence,
“The Lord is my helper;
I will not be afraid.
What can anyone do to me?”
Remember your leaders, those who spoke the word of God to you; consider the outcome of their way of life, and imitate their faith. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. Do not be carried away by all kinds of strange teachings; for it is well for the heart to be strengthened by grace, not by regulations about food,which have not benefited those who observe them. We have an altar from which those who officiate in the tent have no right to eat. For the bodies of those animals whose blood is brought into the sanctuary by the high priest as a sacrifice for sin are burned outside the camp. Therefore Jesus also suffered outside the city gate in order to sanctify the people by his own blood. Let us then go to him outside the camp and bear the abuse he endured. For here we have no lasting city, but we are looking for the city that is to come. Through him, then, let us continually offer a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that confess his name. Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God.
Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls and will give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with sighing—for that would be harmful to you.
Pray for us; we are sure that we have a clear conscience, desiring to act honorably in all things. I urge you all the more to do this, so that I may be restored to you very soon.
Now may the God of peace, who brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant, make you complete in everything good so that you may do his will, working among us that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen.
I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, bear with my word of exhortation, for I have written to you briefly. I want you to know that our brother Timothy has been set free; and if he comes in time, he will be with me when I see you. Greet all your leaders and all the saints. Those from Italy send you greetings. Grace be with all of you.
There is debate about the relationship between Hebrews 12 and Hebrews 13. Some think it is an epistolary addendum to the sermon, but others think it is mostly the conclusion to the sermon. Whatever its literary function, the theological point is seemingly rather clear or at least superficially discernable.
Hebrews 10:19-12:29 has emphasized perseverance and called for participation in the life of God and the community. As a motive and ground for that perseverance, the preacher called his hearers to experience the present with a view toward the future. Indeed, the present experience of faith is the experience of the future. Nevertheless, the future has not yet arrived. We are pilgrims on a journey of faith. Even though we presently enter the throne room of God and experience the kingdom of God when we assemble in faith, we have not yet fully reached the goal of the journey or enjoyed the “better possession” that yet awaits us.
Hebrews 13 is probably best construed as “instructions to pilgrims on the journey.” The instructions are occasioned by the situation in which the pilgrims find themselves. They are like Israel who must endure the wilderness to reach the promised land. They are on a journey. They are pilgrims who live in a hostile environment and are about to experience severe persecution. The preacher’s instructions for these pilgrims are connected to their situation.
What do you tell a group of people about life and community when their life is under hostile inspection and their community will soon encounter a brutal persecution? What do pilgrims in that situation need to hear? How can the preacher encourage them and call them to faithful perseverance?
I have divided Hebrews 13 into three sections. The first is advice for practical living in community (Hebrews 13:1-6). The second encourages the communal life of the church (Hebrews 13:7-17). The third section is a collection of exhortations, prayers and requests for the community (Hebrews 13:18-25).
Instructions for Pilgrim Living (Hebrews 13:1-6).
More than likely, Hebrews 13:1 is a heading for this section. “Keep on loving each other as brothers” (as family). The term here is philadelphia, brotherly or familial love. The word points toward a family bonding more than simply a congenial attitude toward each other. That bonding is the root idea for the specific instructions that follow.
The ground or basis for the practical instructions is found in Hebrews 13:5b-6. Ethical living—living out our pilgrim faith—is grounded in God’s presence. We are assured that God will never leave or forsake us (13:5b, quoting Deuteronomy 31:6 which is part of Moses’ exhortation to Israel as they enter the land of promise), and we are assured that God will help us on our journey (13:6, quoting Psalm 118:6-7 which is something the Psalmist realized after he had been through a distressing time where he even despaired of his life in Psalm 118:10-18). Pilgrims need confidence and our confidence is rooted in God’s presence and help.
The preacher offers four specific practical instructions for living as pilgrims in the hostile environment in which they find themselves. First, they should show hospitality (13:2), that is, they should “love strangers” (philoxenia from two Greek words meaning “love” [philo] and “strangers” [xeno]). Part of the motive is that sometimes God sends angels among his people to experience that hospitality, as Abraham (Genesis 18), Gideon (Judges 6) and Manoah (Judges 13) did. Does God sometimes test our love of strangers? Or, are these occasions simply moments of revelation and encounter that the preacher uses to link his exhortation with redemptive history? In either case, whether angel or human, God’s people are called to “love strangers.” Given the context of persecution and traveling Christians in the first century (there were few “inns” on the roads and usually people depended on strangers for lodging), there would have been ample opportunity to show this virtue.
Second, “remembering” prisoners means, of course, to take of them. The principle the preacher applies is that they should treat them as if they were the prisoners. In other words, “lover your neighbor as yourself.” Prison was a reality for some of these believers, and many would endure it for their faith.
Third, sexual morality was important in the context of living in the ancient pagan world. It was a constant problem and temptation as they lived in a culture that was overtly sexualized through art, statutes, and temples. Loving the family (brothers) means faithfulness to family, particularly one’s spouse. The perseverance of the community was connected to how families honored each other in their marriages, and how such ideals were upheld in the community.
Fourth, wealth and greed were a problem in the ancient world as well. The faithful will probably lose some of that wealth through persecution as they had earlier (Hebrews 10:32-34). Will they love “money” or will they love the family of God? Will they remember the reward at the end of the journey (the “better possession” in Hebrews 10:34 or the joy set before them) through faithfulness like Jesus did or will they hang on to their present wealth through faithlessness?
The beginning sentence of this section calls for family bonding (13:1; brotherly love), and then the preacher articulates four practical applications of that call (13:2-5a). But the call is meaningless, and the prospect of endurance is hopeless without the presence and help of God (13:5b-6).
Instructions for Communal Living (Hebrews 13:7-17).
This section begins and ends by talking about “leaders” (13:7, 17; also in 13:24). Jesus is the great shepherd (13:20) who will lead us, but he also leads us through “leaders” within the community of faith. They should “remember” their past leaders (13:7) and “obey” their present leaders (13:17). The former are witnesses to the endurance of faith and models for the present community. They function as a stabilizing influence in the community, just as Jesus himself is a stabilizing influence since he is always the same (Hebrews 13:8). The latter are present for the good of the community and accountable for the community. No doubt the hostile environment and loss of faith that some exhibited in the community created some tension between the leaders and the community. The preacher reminds them (and perhaps includes himself among the leaders; cf. Hebrews 13:18) that leaders are present for the advantage of the community.
Hebrews 13:9-16 is sandwiched between the two appeals to leaders. This material may reflect some problem within the community itself, though it is probably a general appeal that is based on the argument in the sermon that functions as a homiletic summary.
The text may indicate that there was some problem surrounding “foods” or ceremonial meals. Some think that part of the community or perhaps even outsiders have attached too much significance to Jewish or Gentile meals. We know that Jews, even outside the Palestine, attached sacrificial/theological significance to their meals. More than likely, the preacher is simply reminding his hearers that earlier covenant meals—with their links to their covenant sacrifices—have been taken up into the “altar” of the Christian faith, which is present in heaven itself. “We have an altar” is a confessional statement much like “we have a great high priest” (Hebrews 4:14). There is now a better high priest offering a better sacrifice at God’s heavenly altar.
Hebrews 13:11-14 encourages pilgrims to continue their journey to the “city that is to come” (Hebrews 13:14; cf. 11:10,14,16), even though it means bearing disgrace, humiliation, and persecution. Jesus bore the same disgrace. He bore the shame of the cross (cf. Hebrews 12:2) and so now Christian pilgrims who follow Jesus must bear the disgrace their faith brings in a hostile environment.
But because Jesus has made us holy through his blood, we are priests who offer sacrifices. The sacrifices we offer to God through Jesus include the confession of our lips and the sharing of our lives (“share” is the Greek word koinonia which often described financial and material sharing among believers; cf. Romans 15:26-27; 2 Corinthians 8:4; 9:13; Acts 2:42-45) through benevolence toward others (“to do good” is a Jewish expression for benevolence; cf. Galatians 6:10; James 4:17; Acts 10:38). Here is a succinct description of worship or our priestly service. This is the Christian liturgy—to confess/praise the name of God with our lips and to share our lives with others. Worship is more than Sunday morning liturgy; it is a sacrifice of our lives just as Jesus sacrificed his life for us. We worship God through Jesus with our whole being—lips and ministry (benevolence). The coming persecution, of course, would test whether these believers will “confess” and “share” amid that hostility. Will they endure and continue their priestly ministry before God?
Closing Prayers and Requests (Hebrews 13:18-25).
This final section connects the community that received this “letter” with the larger Christian community throughout the Mediterranean basin. It requests prayers for the author and his companions (“us” in Hebrews 13:18), gives them news about Timothy who is a mutual acquaintance (Hebrews 13:23), and exchanges greetings between friends (Hebrews 13:24). The latter two appear rather incidental (a piece of information about Timothy and the hope that he too would visit the community) and expected greetings. But the appeal for prayers is more intriguing.
There is some discussion about who are the “us” and “we” of Hebrews 13:18 because the preacher returns to the first person (“I”) in Hebrews 13:19. Some believe that it is a further comment about the “leaders” in Hebrews 13:17, while others think it refers to the preacher’s companions wherever he is. It depends on how close a connection one places between Hebrews 13:17 and Hebrews 13:18, that is, is the preacher continuing his topic of leaders or moving to another topic? I tend to think the latter, but the apparent apologetic or defensive comment in Hebrews 13:18 (“we have a clear conscience and desire to live honorably in every way”) may indicate that there were some problematic rumors surrounding the preacher (including the leaders if we take the “we” in that fashion). Whatever the situation, the preacher wants them to keep praying for him and specifically to pray that he might return to their community soon.
The preacher characterizes his document as a “word of exhortation” which was common language for a sermon in the first century (Acts 13:15; but also 1 Timothy 4:13 where Timothy is to devote himself to reading Scripture, teaching and “exhortation”). But exhortation is an extremely appropriate word as his letter has contained many exhortations (Hebrews 4:1,14; 6:1; 10:22-24; 12:1).
The nature of the exhortation and the whole theology of the sermon is summarized wonderfully in the doxology of Hebrews 13:20-21. It is a “wish-prayer” or blessing. The wish is that God would “equip” (furnish, complete) his hearers with “everything good for doing” God’s “will.” This is the fundamental request. It acknowledges a dependence upon God as the equipper, the supplier of power for holiness, maturation, and growth. We “do” God’s will through the equipping ministry of God’s grace in our lives. It is God’s work in our lives that generates what is pleasing to him (e.g., “pleasing sacrifices” in Hebrews 13:15-16). This is the grace-centered focus of sanctification. Our holiness depends upon God’s work in us.
The wish is surrounded by theological allusions to the exhortations in Hebrews. The God of peace made peace through the blood of Jesus by an eternal covenant that is grounded in the eternal life of the Son. The reference to the resurrection connects us with the eternal life of our high priest who is exalted at the right hand of God. Even though he shed blood, yet he is no longer dead. God “led out” (literal meaning) Jesus from the dead, so he could lead us as Shepherd. God “leads out”—this is the language of Exodus, of redemption. God through Jesus leads his people to the promised land (cf. the allusion to Isaiah 63:11-14). Jesus is a “great” shepherd just as he is a “great high priest” (Hebrews 4:14; cf. 10:21).
Theological Substance
This is the most practical section in the whole letter, but the theological context of the sermon is not far from the preacher’s mind. Theologically, Jesus is still at the heart of what the preacher does in Hebrews 13.
Jesus is the eternal constant (Hebrews 13:8). Jesus bore disgrace for his people (Hebrews 13:11-14). Through Jesus we approach God as holy priests (Hebrews 13:15-16). Jesus is our great shepherd who redeemed us through his blood (Hebrews 13:22-23). We worship the Father through Jesus, and God equips us and works in us through Jesus. God in Jesus will never leave/forsake us, and he is always present to help. Jesus will always be there for us at the right hand of God because he has been led out of (redeemed from) death.
In the context of this strong theological content, the preacher offers some practical applications for pilgrim journey: love strangers, love each other through ministry to each other in prison, love your family, don’t love money, and remember your leaders, both past and present. It is important to relate all of these practical admonitions to both the circumstance of the sermon (persecution and external hostility) and the theological ground of the sermon’s argument. This practical theology in the context of external pressure and theological grounding will give stability to the community of faith as it pilgrims through the wilderness of suffering. It draws the community together; the family bonds through the suffering in the light of what God has done in Jesus.
The preacher also wants to build on the bond he already has with them. He wants to return to them and bring Timothy along with him. He requests their prayers and exchanges greetings from friends. He subtly conveys to his hearers that they are part of a larger community—the community that surrounds the throne of God in worship as part of an eschatological assembly (Hebrews 12:22-24). They are not alone—they have a community beyond the borders of their own house churches that is spread across the Mediterranean basin.
Most of all, however, they are not alone because through Jesus—the great Shepherd—they approach God himself in his throne room. And Jesus is there, ever alive and ever the same. After modeling faith through suffering, he eternally sits at the right hand of God interceding for them and helping them through their difficult pilgrimage. That same theological truth is for us as well. It is our confidence too!