Hebrews 11:32-40-- The World Was Not Worthy of Them

Scripture: Hebrews 11:32-40

We want to trust in generalities. Will eating an apple a day generally keep the doctor away? Will a stitch generally, in time, save nine [more stitches from being required]? Is the worm generally eaten by the early bird?

Hebrews 11:1-31-- Longing for a Better Country

Scripture: Hebrews 11:1-31

Hebrews 11. The "Hall of Faith". Seriously, there are probably statues of these people in heaven.

But for all the times you've read this beloved chapter, have you ever wondered why it's there?

Hebrews 10:1-25-- Confidence to Enter

Scripture: Hebrews 10:1-25 (especially verses 19 to 25)

In some sense, the first 9 chapters of Hebrews have all been leading up to this literary moment. The author is about to take a turn in chapter 11, so chapter 10 is the crescendo of all the arguments we've seen so far about Jesus' priesthood, covenant, and ministry being far better than the things of old.

Reading those arguments, beautiful though they may be, you might wonder a fair question-- 'So what? What's the point? How does this affect me?' (Okay, three fair questions.) In chapter 10, you get your answer.

Hebrews 9-- Copies of the Heavenly Things

Scripture: Hebrews 9

I always think it's funny when a book reviewer says something like, "Chapter 6 alone is worth the cover price." While surely these reviewers mean that the sixth chapter is the best of many amazing parts, I sometimes take it more negatively. I assume that's the only chapter that makes the book worthwhile, so I just skim that chapter and put the book back on the bookstore shelf (if you're reading this ten or so years after I wrote it, you might be wondering what a 'bookstore' is).

Hebrews 8-- Better Promises

Scripture: Hebrews 8

Near the end of Hebrews 7, a bold declaration was made: "Jesus has become the guarantor of a better covenant."

The author of Hebrews is bolder than I. (Admittedly, that's not saying much.) I don't think I'd feel comfortable ever saying that one major act of God was 'better' than another. Then again, I'm also not penning any Scripture.

Hebrews 7-- A Better Covenant

Scripture: Hebrews 7 (especially verses 22 to 28)

Friends, I really jumped the gun a few posts ago. The author of Hebrews had likened Jesus' priesthood to that of Melchizedek, and I couldn't help but write about it. You can read it here. I had forgotten how amazingly the author would return to this subject in chapter 7!!

Oh well. Just read the first half of Hebrews 7. The author explains it better than I could anyway. If your mind doesn't explode with joy upon reading it, then it's a stronger mind than mine.

Hebrews 6-- An Anchor for the Soul

Scripture: Hebrews 6

Life is full of strange tensions. Every person is full of morally "good" and "bad" impulses, regardless of which moral system we consider. Concepts such as infinity and perfectly circular objects are easily conceived by the human mind, but do not exist in nature. Light (and maybe even matter?) behaves as both particle and wave.

Christianity is no different: Jesus is fully God and fully man. The Bible was written by God and written by people. God is in sovereign control of all things, and humans make actual, meaningful decisions. You can call it paradox, antinomy, or tension, but in life and religion we learn to live with immense complexity.

Hebrews 5-- The Order of Melchizedek

Scripture: Hebrews 5 (especially verses 5 and 6)

As we've seen, and will keep seeing, the author of Hebrews is concerned with how high our view of Jesus is, that we might also lift our response to His ministry and message. One theme in this book is that of Jesus as our high priest.

We've already thought about why He became our human priest, but now we get to take an awesome look at what kind of priest He is. And to do that, we get to turn to an amazing Psalm (number 110) and a cryptic ancient figure (Melchizedek).

Hebrews 4:14-16-- Yet He Did Not Sin

Scripture: Hebrews 4:14-16

The imagery of the last section--the Bible as terrifying, double-edged sword--concludes the letter's tangent(s) about Jesus' message being more pressing than Moses' and the angels' because of His superiority to them. The author now returns to the point (s)he was making a few chapters earlier about Jesus' office as our high priest being one of the reasons for His humanity.

And while the tail end of chapter 4 could easily be grouped with what follows in chapter 5 about the superiority of Jesus' priesthood to Aaron's, this part is so good that I wanted to dwell on it separately today.

Hebrews 4:12-13-- Nothing is Hidden

Scripture: Hebrews 4:12-13

I grew up in a family with a spiritual situation like many others: we went to church regularly, but I didn't have any real dealings with God the other six days of the week. One episode, I think, particularly highlights this interesting tension.

I was in high school, and I had for the first time become really interested in Jesus and my faith. One day, I wanted to use a Bible for some reason-- whether to consult a particular passage or just to read, I don't remember. At any rate, I asked my mom if we had one and the search began. That search ended with me holding a dusty copy of a King James Bible. (Seek, and ye shall find... a stodgy, outdated, nigh unreadable translation of a book.)

Hebrews 4:1-11-- To Enter That Rest

Scripture: Hebrews 4:1-11

Have you ever created something?

Of course you have. We all make things all the time. I guess what I mean is, have you ever really created something? There are many different kinds of masterpieces: songs, stories, pictures, woodwork, math proofs (trust me), meals (I'll trust you)... 

Hebrews 3-- If Indeed We Hold

Scripture: Hebrews 3

Hebrews 3 continues the argument from Hebrews 1 and 2: Jesus is greater than the iconic figures of God's revelation in times past, and thus we must reckon all the more seriously with His word.

Now, if you're like me, your attention span lasts somewhere between "literally no time has elapsed" and "the time it takes for someone to jump in and correct a misuse of the word literally". In fact, for some of us, that joke was too long to hold our attention. So, it can be tough when the author of Hebrews starts his letter by drawing out an argument for three whole chapters (and counting).

Hebrews 2:5-18-- To Taste Death for Everyone

Scripture: Hebrews 2:5-18

As I noted last time, Hebrews 1 and the beginning of Hebrews 2 give us a crucial truth-- Jesus is supreme, and so His message is supremely important to our lives. 'But,' the Hebrew audience might have objected, 'Jesus was a man, right? You're telling me a first century human was high above the angels and, as I sense you're about to tell me, Moses of old?'

I'm not sure how these ancient readers would have known about the numbered century system or what the author would write next, but their imagined interjection is a reasonable one. If the Son of God has all the glory and preeminence described in chapter 1, why do we find that He has lived life as a human?

Hebrews 1-- A More Excellent Name

Scripture: Hebrews 1

The book of Hebrews is amazing. Commentator Matthew Henry declared that "if we compare all the epistles of the New Testament, we shall not find any of them more replenished with divine, heavenly matter than this to the Hebrews." Adam Clarke asserted that it "is by far the most important and useful of all the apostolic writings... so many are the beauties, so great the excellency, so instructive the matter, so pleasing the manner, and so exceedingly interesting the whole..."

I've always loved Hebrews, so I have no argument. Though Clarke's Apostolic Writings Power Rankings were pretty forward-thinking in the late 1700s. I imagine he posted them on his Irish town's local Buzzfeed Stone Wall.