Hebrews Introduction
- The church does not confers status on the books of the bible; the church consents to their status
- Homologoumena - Universally recognized books of the Bible
- Antilegomena - Books of the Bible not universally accepted
• No church teachings originate from these books.
- The writer is unknown
• Historic guesses: Barnabas, Apollos of Alexandria, St Paul, Clement of Rome, St Luke
- Written between 50 - 70 AD
- Begotten: emphasizing the authenticity of Christ's divinity. Christ is not a creation as He is of the same substance as God the Father.
- Christ reflects the radiance of God's glory, while at the same time, He is the radiance of God's glory.
- There are many similarities between the Nicene creed and Hebrews chapter one
Hebrews 1 Part 2
Nature of Christ:
• An exact imprint of the nature of God (God is Righteous)
• Is the radiance of the Glory of God
• Creation created through Him and He up holds it
• Legally entitled to all things (not an usurper)
• Superior to the angels (humans and angels are part of creation)
Melchizedek (viewed as a historical figure and heavenly figure)
- Biblical references:
• Genesis 14: King and Priest of the God most high
• Psalms 110: a priesthood different from the Levites.
- Non-biblical materials
• Dead Sea Scrolls: End times figure
• 2Enoch: a creative backstory
• Philo: King of peace and God’s own priest; visitable representation of the logos
• Josephus: Good Canaanite king; first to officiate a priests
- Propitiation: The turning away of God’s wrath and the gaining of His gracious acceptance through vicarious (done for another) atonement by Christ Jesus
- Our salvation is dependent wholly upon God.
• We should fear and love God so that we do not despise preaching and His Word, but hold it sacred and gladly hear and learn it.
• I cannot by my own reason or strength believe in Jesus Christ, my Lord, or come to Him; but the Holy Spirit has called me by the Gospel, enlightened me with His gifts, sanctified and kept me in the true faith.
• We have a kinship with Jesus who is therefor able to atone for our sins.
- Demons have no plan of salvation.
Hebrews 2 Part 2
- Christ is true God and true man (not any sense like the gods of mythology)
- Christ suffered and died for all (lived under the Law); salvation by faith alone.
• To suffer: to permit an action to be called without appearing to answer; to endure with pain, annoyance, etc.; to submit with distress; to sustain; to tolerate.
- Creation was subjugated to man not the angels. (through the fall, all of creation was changed). Now, through Christ creation is subjugated to Him and also those things we cannot see.
- Sanctification: to be made holy
Hebrews 2 Part 3
• Christ assumed our human nature *1 (true man) though without sin *2 (true God).
• Jesus had no sins from which to be saved from
• Our glorification is accomplished by Christ’s humiliation *3
• God made Jesus the “perfect” man in our place
• In His exaltation Jesus, as High Priest, continually appears before God on our behalf.
Hebrews 3 Part 1
- Christ/Messiah: God’s anointed one. (the one to fulfill the Davidic promise)
- Priesthood of all Believers
• Common to all believers because they are Christians
• Given the right to select and call ministers (whom God chooses, calls, and sends into public ministry)
- Office of the Keys:
• For all things to be done decently and orderly
• The congregation is given the keys
• The pastor uses the keys publicly on behalf of the congregation.
• (LCMS) Auxiliary offices are created to support the pastor's key.
• (WELS) Each Auxiliary office is given a separate key.
Hebrews 3 Part 2
- Church : A community where Christ is preached and the sacraments administered.
• Church is for us to hear other believers speak God’s Word to us, to proclaim our salvation in Christ Jesus again and again to bulwark for those times when our feelings work to undermine God’s promises.
• “Church” the invisible Church to include all believers in Christ everywhere
• “church” the visible church which may include hypocrites (local congregations)
- Our connections to the Office of Christ
• Prophet - We are to share God’s Word with each other in community and outsiders
• Priest - We are a royal priesthood (1Peter 2:9) enable to intercede with prayer for others
• King - Scripture is the rule and norm for life (2Timothy 3:16)
- Relationship Motivations
• (Moses) Servant - Relationship
• (Jesus) Heir - Responsibility
- Transfiguration Connections (with Hebrews 3:1-6)
• God of the living
• We are a living house of God
• (Stewardship Issues) Listen to Christ, Trust in Christ, and understanding is reliance on Christ
- Sabbatismos: “Sabbath rest”/“Sabbath celebration”
• A response to our Justification
• We enter into God’s rest by faith alone
• The Old Testament sabbath was a sign pointing to Jesus, who is our rest.
• Our worship on Sunday is because of Easter
• 3rd Commandment: Gladly Hear My Word; Remember who’s you are; Realizing God is in your life
Hebrews 4 Part 2
- Function of a priest - mediator between man and God
• ✝ The son of God assumed into the unity of his person human nature though without sin
• Temptation - a cause or occasion of enticement; A sinful action (thoughts, words, deeds) with or without consideration
- Law focus; me - No Salvation - Curb (Shows limits), Mirror (Show sin), Guide (How to live)
- Gospel focus; Christ - Salvation
- 5 Types of Sacrifices
• Whole burnt offering (Morning/evening) Death on Cross - wholly consumed
• Sin/Purification offering (dependent on the person’s status) - Priest Eats
• Reparation/Trespass/Guilt offering - Priest Eats
• Fellowship/Peace offering (freewill, vow, thanksgiving) - Everyone Eats
• Cereal/Grain offering
Hebrews 5 Part 1
- Melchizedek Priesthood: Not inherited; No succession
- The sacrifice (faith), not the ritual (work) atones (Hosea 6:6)
- Jesus’ ongoing intercession on our behalf
- The Prayer in the Garden (Matthew 26:39, Mark 14:36, Luke 22:42)
• Petition to be the sacrifice for sin
• Petition for the bodily resurrection and salvation of others
• Supplication that God’s will be done.
Hebrews 5 Part 2
- Dull of hearing/slow to learn/slow to understand = sluggishness or laziness, a gradual process of deterioration.
- Our hope is grounded in God’s promises; grounded in the Word of God
• Infants/Milk - Infants can’t feed themselves; Reliance on others to meet basic needs for survival
• Mature/Solid Food - Adults feed themselves; ability to discern false teachings; owning your God given faith; living as a child of God; growing in the mission of the church
- Baptism also means washing (Hebrews 6:2 ESV, Hebrews 6:2 NIV)
• Part of the Gospel: God doing the work.
• Law focus is the sinner; Gospel Focus on Christ
• No salvation in the Law; Salvation only in the Gospel
• Infant baptism: Included in all Nations (Matthew 28:19, Acts 2:38-39), Invitation (Luke 18:15-17), Babies are sinners (Psalms 51:5, John 3:5-6, Ephesians 2:3)), Babies can have faith (Matthew 18:6)
• Nicene Creed: “one Baptism for the remission of sins”
- Those who have deliberately turned away from their faith have done so by rejecting the Holy Spirit. That’s on them and it is their own fault.
- Without the Holy Spirit we cannot have faith.
- We cannot seek your own path to salvation therefor apart from Christ there is no place for repentance, no place to return to God.
- Hermeneutics
• No new teaching comes from an Antilegomena book
• Scripture in light of Scripture: Matthew 12:31-32; Mark 3:28-30; Luke 12:10; 1John 5:16-17; Matthew 22:11-14; Reinstatement of Peter (John 21:15-19)
• Context in text: Proceeded with a warning against apostasy followed by the certainty of God’s Promise.
• Context in the book: The sufficiency of Jesus Christ as revealer and mediator of God’s grace. There can be no turning back to or continuation in the old Jewish system, which has been superseded.
- Faithfulness receives blessings (salvation, hope, life, holiness, peace, healing, access to the heavenly realm); unfaithfulness curses
- Good works in God’s eyes are those done in faith
- Avoid sluggish: Fear and love God so that we do not despise preaching and His Word, but hold it sacred and gladly hear and learn it
- Be imitators: Saints show us how faith can be lived out
- Nature of God: Unchanging; keeps promises; cannot lie
Hebrews 7 Part 1
- Melchizedek as Pre-incarnate Christ
• Some hold Melchizedek is the Pre-incarnate Christ
• Others say the text does not support that position (Lenksi, Kleing, Luther)
- This Melchizedek
• Scripture completely ignores Melchizedek’s lineage: He appears – he vanishes.
• His priesthood stands alone and unique – “but resembling the Son of God” (Hebrews 7:3)
• Reflects the very attributes of Jesus: King of Righteousness; King of Peace
• Priesthood that is never ending; no beginning; no ending – it remains but he no longer functions as priest
- Jesus is a legitimate priest without being in the Aaronic succession
• Melchizedek’s priesthood is in perpetuity; Jesus’ Priesthood is eternally
• Jesus is independent, absolute; Melchizedek is dependent on Christ
Hebrews 7 Part 2
The Superiority of the Priesthood of Christ
The author of Hebrews is echoing the views of others in his culture regarding Melchizedek, without necessarily espousing those views as true.
• Paul does something similar when he cites the non-biblical names of the Egyptian magicians, Jannes and Jambres (2Timothy 3:8) - Names not given in Exodus
This Melchizedek is NOT a typical compare/contrast figure in Hebrews, like the priests, Moses, or Aaron.
Cultural Views of Melchizedek:
• Historical Figure: Canaanite chief, priest, king, found of Jerusalem, representative of the Logos, who has an enduring priesthood connected to the messianic king
• Heavenly Figure: Angel, Divine Redeemer, leader of heavenly armies, precocious child with no father and dead mother, founder of post-flood priesthood, eschatological priest in the end times.
Extra Biblical Sources (1st Century):
11QMelchizedek - Dead Seas Scrolls
• End of World
• Appears from heaven as the general of the heavenly armies, visible representation of God, and redeemer of the people of the Lord.
• Makes his appearance on Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement)
• Called EL or Elohim (God)
2Enoch - Midrash (Jewish interpretation) on Genesis 5:21-32
• Nir, brother of Noah, is married to Sopanim but they are childless
• Sopanim becomes pregnant apart for sexual relations
• Sopanim dies before giving birth but a son emerges from her corpse fully developed with the badge of priesthood on his chest
• The Angel Gabriel takes Melchizedek to heaven, whence he will return after the flood to reestablish the priesthood.
Philo Judaeus, also called Philo of Alexandria: Mentions Melchizedek in four of his works
• King of Peace, God’s own priest
• He is a priest, even the Logos, and all his thoughts of God are vast and sublime
• His priesthood is self-taught and instinctive
Flavius Josephus: Wars and Antiquities
• Canaanite chief, and a righteous king, was the original founder of the city
• He was first to officiate as priest, first to build a temple, and renamed Salem as Jerusalem
- Christ sits in the place for the “heir” on the Throne.
• He is enthroned as co-regent and serves as our man with God.
• The right hand of God is everywhere
- Tent setup by man:
• That traveling Tabernacle used during Moses time
• A place where God would meet with His people
• Not the true tent, a shadow
Hebrews 8 Part 2
- Old Covenant
• Based on what was yet to come
• Repeated sacrifices on behest of sinful priests
- New Covenant
• Based on what has come
• One last sacrifice on behest of Christ our high priest
- Moral Law vs Ceremonial Law
•Moral Law - Curb, Mirror, Guide; still applies
•Ceremonial Law - To mark the Israelites from where the messiah would come; Fulfilled in Christ
- Jesus is high priest. His blood satisfies the shedding of blood for the forgiveness of sins
- The Old Covenant more than just the Ten Commandments.
- Day of Atonement - when the High Priest reconcile the nation with God
- Three levels to the tent of meeting
• Courtyard
• Holy Place
• Holy of Holys
- Sacrifices
• 1. Blood of Bull sacrificed for the priest’s sins sprinkled on the ark
• 2. Blood of sacrificed goat for the people sins
• 3. Sins of the nation placed upon the scape goat
- Garden of Gethsemane (levels???)
• 8 Disciples left at the entrance
• 3 Disciples taken further into the garden
• Jesus goes further in still
- The ceremonial (ritual) law foreshadowed the coming of Christ (Word made flesh)
- Saved by faith alone; God desires faith not adherence to rituals.
• Faith is a work of the Holy Spirit
• Baptism is a work of the Holy Spirit
- Law/Gospel Distinction
• Law Focus: Me
• Law Purpose: Curb, Mirror, Guide
• Law Result: Rebellion, despair
• Law words: should, must, do, have to, obedience
• Gospel Focus: Christ
• Gospel Purpose: Salvation
• Gospel Result: Joy
• Gospel Words: receive, gift, forgiven, justified, sanctified
- Law/Gospel Confusion with Baptism
• Law (first act of obedience) = Egocentric, adherence to a ritual
• Gospel (an act of faith) = Christocentric, brings salvation
The Faith Chapter
- Protoevanglium - A promise of a savior
- Faith
• K)knowledge of the object of faith (Christ)
• A)acknowledgement from where faith comes from (God)
• T)Trust (in God)
- In faith they looked forward to the Messiah:
• Abel, Enoch (who did not die), Noah (Promise: God will save you), Abraham & Sarah (Promise: Name, Nation, Blessing, Home), Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses (Promise: We will be God’s people), Rehab, Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David (Promise: Everlasting kingdom), Samuel
- Child like faith - as children are dependent on their parents for survival, we are dependent on Christ for our salvation
- Childish faith - a baseless faith.
Hebrews 12 Part 1
- Don’t forsake heavenly blessings to ease social/economical discomforts
• Theology of the Cross - we must despair of our own abilities; Christ focus
• Theology of the Glory - this life should be glorious; Me focus
- The patriarchs had faith in what was to come (Christ); Our faith is in on what has come (Christ)
• The object of faith is Christ
Hebrews 12 Part 2
- Theophany - a visible manifestation to mankind of God
• Sinai (the mountain) - the only time God spoke directly to the whole assembly without mediators
• Zion (the city) - the place where God resides with His people
• “assembly of the firstborn” - the mountain, the city, and the sanctuary are no longer separated.
- Athletic Imagery:
• Runners = us
• Common race = living a life of faith
• Champion = Jesus
• Goal = heavenly city
• Prize = seeking the Lord
• Assistance = God’s grace
• Opponent = sin
• Impediments = Sin
• Dangers = discouragement, exhaustion, injured limbs, crooked paths
- Love:
• Practice brotherly love
• Show hospitality to strangers
• Have empathy to the needy
• Honor marriage
• Avoid the love of money
- Marriage is a one-of-a-kind experience between a man and a women. No other relationship, either between closest friends or between parent and child, compares with the uniqueness that is found in marriage.
- Definition of a Sacrament
• Established by God
• Visible Element
• Word of God
• For the forgiveness of sins
∴ Marriage not a sacrament (Not for the forgiveness of sins)
- Stewardship Issues; Listen to God; Trust in God; Acknowledge it is all Gods (Hebrews13:5,16)
• Do Good
• Share what you have
- Hebrews 13:10 The Altar is:
1. a metonymic term for the death of Jesus as a sin offering?
2. the cross of Jesus?
3. in the heavenly sanctuary?
4. Holy Communion?
5. the place of worship that is located between God in the heavenly sanctuary and the assembled congregation on earth?
- Obey and submit to church leaders insofar as they speak the Word of God
• Do not be led away by diverse and strange teachings (Hebrews 13:9)
• The congregation processes the Keys, the pastor uses the keys publicly on behalf of the congregation.
- It is called Divine Worship because in it God comes to us; we don’t reach up to God.
• The rhythm of worship: hearing God’s Word, responding to God’s Word