More details about Hebrews

• Apparently some of the Jewish Christians throught they had made a mistake in becoming Christian and rejecting Judaism. Some of them considered rejecting Christianity and returning to Judaism. The author of Hebrews writes a letter to encourage them to remain Christian by explaining how Jesus is superior to or better than Judaism. He does this by comparing Jesus to 5 Jewish ideas.

1. Jesus is greater than the angels: 1:4-2:18

• Some of the Jewish Christians were beginning to think that Jesus was just an angel. The author of Hebrews mentions the incarnation, that God became a human in Jesus, and therefore is superior to angels.
• From Hebrews 1:5 = “For to which of the angels did God ever say, ‘You are my Son, today I have become your Father’? Or again, ‘I will be his Father, and he will be my Son’?”

2. Jesus is greater than Moses: chapter 3

• Some of the Jewish Christians were beginning to question whether or not Jesus was greater than Moses. After all, the thinking went, since the Law came through Moses, how could Jesus be greater than Moses?
• From Hebrews 3:3 = “Jesus has been found worthy of greater honor than Moses, just as the builder of a house has greater honor than the house itself.”
• The author of Hebrews again mentions the incarnation, that Jesus was God. Since Jesus was God, and the Law came from God, therefore, the Law came through Jesus. The imagery is the "builder of a house," or the creator of the Law is greater than the Law itself, the "house." As God Jesus was that builder of the Law, and, therefore, Jesus is greater than the Law.

3. Jesus’ priesthood is the greatest: chapters 4-7

• Some of the Jewish Christians were beginning to think that the Jewish High Priest was greater than Jesus. One of the roles of the High Priest was to enter the room in the center of the Temple, known as the Holy of Holies, once a year and ask forgiveness for the sins/disobedience of the entire kingdom. (Some sins/disobedience are individual and require individual sacrifices, and some are corporate or group sins/disobedience and required a sacrifice by the High Priest) But, the thinking went, Jesus never went into the Holy of Holies, so how could he be greater than the High Priest?
• From Hebrews 4:14 = “Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess.”
• The author of Hebrews explains that the High Priest went into the Holy of Holies only once a year, but Jesus (as God, again bringing up the incarnation) lives in Heaven. So Jesus, who is in heaven, is superior to the High Priest, who only goes into the Holy of Holies once a year.

4. Christ’s Covenant is greatest: chapter 8

• Some of the Jewish Christians were beginning to think that the Covenant (between God and Abraham) was greater than simply having faith in Jesus.
• From Hebrews 8:13 = “By calling this covenant ‘new,’ he has made the first one obsolete; and what is obsolete and aging will soon disappear.”
• In the verses surrounding this verse, the author of Hebrews explains that the first Covenant was a physical one requiring circumcision for males, whereas the "New" Covenant of Jesus is a spiritual one that requires a change of heart and behavior. So, with Jesus the first Covenant passed away and the New Covenant took its place, which comes through faith in Jesus.

5. Christ’s Sacrifice is greatest: 9-10:18

• Some of the Jewish Christians were beginning to think that the sacrifices they used to make were better than simply asking forgiveness through Jesus.
• From Hebrews 9:27, 28 = “Just as man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment, (28) so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him.”
• The author of Hebrews explains that the sacrifices in the Law had to be performed over and over and over. Each personal sacrifice only covered one sin/act of disobedience. But Jesus was able to take on himself all the sins/acts of disobedience for everyone because he was God. This occurred when Jesus died on the cross. So after Jesus, no one has to offer sacrifices again, because he/she only needs to believe and follow Jesus and to ask for forgiveness from Jesus.

A shift happens

10:19 to end of the chapter

• With 10:18, the author of Hebrews has finished presenting the evidence that Jesus is superior to five different parts of Judaism.
• These verses make a transition to the second part of Hebrews, where the author explores faith and discusses people in the Old Testament who had a great faith in God.
• Note: these verses also provide some scholars with an alternative to the theme I gave above. This is also a good place to show where and why scholars disagree. Some scholars believe that Hebrews was written to Jewish Christians who were being persecuted for their faith, that they rejected Judaism and became Christian. Their proof of this idea comes from 10:32-36, which reads in part, "Remember those earlier days after you recevied the light, when you stoodyour ground in a great contest in the face of suffering." (v. 32, NIV)
• On the other hand, while I agree that some Jewish Christians suffered from their fellow Jews because they became Christian, I do not see that as the purpose for writing the letter. I would suggest that, if that was the case, that idea of suffering would occur throughout the thirteen chapters, which it doesn't. Therefore, I think some of the Jewish Christians were beginning to doubt. The author wrote simply to explain more deeply about how Jesus fulfills different Jewish ideas.
• Ultimately, it doesn't matter why it was written, but I did want to give you an example of a smaller disagreement between scholars.

Chapter 11: Discussion of Faith

• Chapter 11 begins with the clearest definition of faith in the Bible: "Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see." (11:1, NIV)
• In the rest of the eleventh chapter, Hebrews lists many people from the Old Testament who stood firm in their faith. Since the letter was written to Jewish Christians, they would have been very familiar with all these people. Basically, Hebrews is encouraging them to remain strong in their faith because the people in the Old Testament also remained strong even when they didn't fully understand. That is why he adds this in the second-to-last verse in the chapter: "These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised." (11:39, NIV) That promise was Christ, which was in the future for them, but they believed anyway.

Chapters 12 & 13

• These final two chapters provide more encouragement to stay strong. They also give more instructions on how to live as a Christian, which we saw in most of Paul's letters to churches.