Key word: Christ’s superiority
Aside from Romans there is no more theologically heavy, and I would add, rich book than Hebrews. We do not know who wrote it, although there have been many theories. His immediate audience was Jewish Christians in the mid A.D. 60s, and thus were second generation believers. As a result, some had lost the passion for the church and New Testament living and were drifting away – some apparently into Judaism – from which their parents had emerged. Rather than drifting back into an inferior religion, the author encouraged them to press on to maturity – to grow up. But their foundational problem was they had lost the vision of the superiority of Christ. They had not, a least for the most part, abandoned Christ, or ceased to believe in Him. But they had removed Him as central to their lives, and replaced Him with inferior things. So, what they desperately needed was to once again understand the superiority of Christ and embrace it with all their hearts. Thus, the book outlines itself around five ways that Christ is superior to all things:
5. He is superior to the law (10:19-13:25). The author, having now laid out the theological foundation, concludes his epistle with an extended applicational section. It begins with the standard “therefore,” followed by a very general summary of the previous 10 chapters (10:19). Since we now have confidence to enter into the Holy Place, that is, the presence of God, because of the blood of Christ (vv. 19b-20), and since Christ now serves as our great high priest (v. 21); we are now exhorted, and privileged, to do three things:
1) Let us draw near (10:22). In many ways this is the theme of the book. Because of the superiority of Christ and His cross-work, we now, as Christians, are invited to draw near to God in faith.
2) Let us hold fast (10:23). We are now urged to hold fast to our confession of hope. But we can only do so because we have hope in One who is faithful. This verse points back to 6:19, which informs us that our hope is an anchor for our souls and is anchored to Christ in His position as our eternal, faithful high priest (6:20). No Christian should ever feel hopeless, for our hope is not in self, or any temporal thing, but in Christ Himself.
3) Let us consider others (10:24-25). If we have the joy of drawing near and holding fast to Christ, we will want others to experience the same joys. We will want to actively seek ways to stimulate others to walk in love and to serve through good deeds. We will look for every opportunity to encourage fellow believers in their faith. Life in this fallen, broken world can be extremely difficult, and we need one another to help us presevere in the faith, which is the subject of the rest of the book. Our key verse will be 4:16.
Key verse: Hebrews 4:16 – Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
