Some who know me well, or, know their bibles well enough, will know that while we are just breaking open the book of Hebrews and beginning this series now. The book of Hebrews is one that I quote in my sermons all the time. And so, while I have technically not preached to you much from the book of Hebrews directly. I have actually already preached to you the whole book of Hebrews. Even just last Sunday. Yet, it behooves us, if you will, that we dig deeper into this, understand it, and apply it. That we go through this consciously, and understand this fully. And so, over the next few weeks, through the End of Epiphany and the beginning of Lent, we’re going to work through this book. Piece by piece. And this time in the church year is really the perfect time to do it. Because right here we find ourselves liturgically in the liminal space between the season of Epiphany; the revelation of Jesus as the fullness of God’s Word, above the angles, the greater and Better Moses, the divine Glory manifest before us – and the season of Lent; the revelation of His high priestly work for us on the cross, and the New and better covenant He’s come to bring us through the shedding of His blood). And, that is the book of Hebrews.
The context of the book of Hebrews is this. It is one that was written by St. Paul to the Hebrew Christians living under persecution. That is, those under pressure to return to a Judaism before Christ. To go back to Judaism, and leave Jesus behind. The problem with that was, of course, that Jesus did not just come to present a particular form of Judaism, but to fulfill Judaism. He did not come to be a particular Rabbinic Scholar. But to wrap up the whole business. And so Paul seeks here to make this clear to the people. And He presents this to them really in 3 main sections. In chapter 1-4 Paul seeks to make clear to his readers who Jesus is in His person. That is, greater than the Angels. The very Word of God, not a mere prophet or messenger. One greater than Moses. One better than Joshua. One who had come to finally bring rest. One who would complete for them Gods eternal promise. That is the first part. In the second part, Paul proclaims to them that He is the one who had come to fulfill the entirety of Judaism, from the priesthood to the temple to the sacrifices to the whole Law. And lastly, he seeks to spur them onward to faith, perseverance, and faithfulness in Christ, and to Christ.
We begin.
In times past, God spoke in partial and various ways to our ancestors through the prophets; 2 in these last days, he spoke to us through the Son
here we find a bit of unspoken pretext. Why does Paul need to say this? Well the idea was this. It was that Jesus could be abandoned, and Christianity could be abandoned, and that pre-Jesus Judaism could be returned to because Jesus was something debatable. That what he was, and what He’d come to do, was up for discussion. What He was, some believed, a prophet maybe, the Messianic King perhaps, a good teacher, a revolutionary philosopher, sure… but God? No. And this was the idea of these Jews here. That they could abandon Jesus and that their Judaism would remain. They believed, wrongly, if you will – that there was still a Judaism to return to after Jesus. This was not so. And so, Paul said to them, no, look, Jesus is NOT some kind of Prophet. He is not some kind of Messenger. no. See there WAS a time when God spoke to His people through the prophets. There was a time and a place for that. But that time is not now. What is this time? This time, Paul says, this is the time of the last days. And now, God has not spoken through another. But He has spoken to us through His Son. He has spoken to us through Himself. He has spoken to us His Word, through flesh, in the person of Jesus, the heir of all things, the creator of all things, the purpose and the point of all things.
That is, Paul is saying, Jesus is not just another messenger, but He is Himself the message. He is not another one in the long lines of prophets, but He is altogether, the point! You cannot, Paul is saying, put Jesus alongside the Law and the prophets, like Peter tried to do on the Mt. Of transfiguration (which is just next week). He is not to be found alongside Judaism. He is not to be added to the Old Testament, but rather Jesus is the fullness, the fulfillment, the entire case and point of the promises of God. All of the acts of God. All of the intentions of God. For He is Himself the very Word of God, the very Son of God, the very God of very God. The light from light.. begotten not made. Of one being with the Father, and He is the Word through whom the Father spoke in order that all things be made. And for us and our salvation He came down from heaven. And took flesh… and lived, and died, and rose again in order to make purification for our sins. And having done this, He ascended to heaven, where He is now seated at the right hand of God the Father almighty, from whence He will come again to judge the living and the dead. And that was God’s Word to the world. That was God’s Work in the world. That was God. That is Paul’s message. That WAS, that is, that STILL IS God.
Thus He is far above the angels. For to which of the angels did God ever say:
“You are my son; this day I have begotten you”?
Or again:
“I will be a father to him, and he shall be a son to me”?
6 And again, when he leads the first-born into the world, he says:
“Let all the angels of God worship him.”
7 Of the angels he says:
“He makes his angels winds
and his ministers a fiery flame”;
8 but of the Son:
“Your throne, O God, stands forever and ever;
and a righteous scepter is the scepter of your kingdom.
9 You loved justice and hated wickedness;
therefore God, your God, anointed you
with the oil of gladness above your companions”;
10 and:
“At the beginning, O Lord, you established the earth,
and the heavens are the works of your hands.
11 They will perish, but you remain;
and they will all grow old like a garment.
12 You will roll them up like a cloak,
and like a garment they will be changed.
But you are the same, and your years will have no end.”
13 But to which of the angels has he ever said: “Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies your footstool”?
The ANGELS are messengers. The ANGELS are those who serve God. And yet prophets are far below them. Prophets bow to them, and mistakenly worship them. Prophets fear them, and cry out for God’s mercy when they encounter them. But Jesus is far above them. Not only does He NOT bow low below them, nor sit on par as an equal to them, but He is far greater than them. He exceeds them. He commands them. He is worshiped by them. For He created them. For He is their God. And He is ours to. And so Paul is saying, to abandon Jesus is not just to abandon the sequel to Judaism… it is to abandon God.
And so, we must be careful, paul says that we listen to this Word that the Father has spoken to us through His Son. Just as the Jews have always been careful to listen to the words that God has delivered to them through the prophets. Just as they had been careful to hear and heed the words delivered to them through the Angelic messengers. Just as you were careful in following Moses – YOU MUST ALL THE MORE FOLLOW JESUS. For as God’s Word has said and shown, those who did not follow Moses, they did not enter into the promise. Those who ignored the words of the prophets, they were destroyed. Those who disobeyed the commands God gave through the angels received great punishment. So HOW THEN SHALL WE ESCAPE Paul asks, if we ignore the very Word of God when He delivers it directly. Not in part but in whole. Not through a prophet or preacher or priest or messenger or even angel, but through His own mouth. At the cost of His own BIRTH – and life – and DEATH. How then? How will you be forgiven if you reject His forgiveness? How will you be saved if you reject His salvation? How will you love the Father if you hate His Son? How will you hear God if you close your ears to His Word?
And so he says be careful that you do not let your heart turn away from Jesus. For to turn away from Jesus He says is to turn away from the living God.
And really, this is the message of the beginning of the book of Hebrews. Jesus is not something to add to our life. He is not something to add to our faith. He is not ONE way to God. But He is the only way to God. Because He, together with the Father and the Spirit proceeding from Him, IS GOD.And those who cast Him off, or leave Him to the side, they have, and keep, and remain in, and with, NOTHING. The have, nothing. And so their salvation will come to nothing, indeed, they will have no salvation, because salvation for all people has come through Jesus Christ . They will have no rest, because true sabbath rest has come not by taking a day off work but through faith in Jesus Christ. They will have no peace because peace for all people and between all people has come through Jesus Christ.
And so the message here is those who do not have Jesus Christ, they have – nothing. But those who have Jesus Christ they have – everything. For Jesus Christ is the Word of God through whom the Father has spoken. He is the one in whom and for whom and through whom all things were created. He is the one whom the angels serve and worship and sing of endlessly in the heavenly places. He is the one that sent the prophets. He was the point of their prophecies. He was the light that illumined Moses’ face at Mt. Sinai. He was the end of the Law. He was the peace and the rest that the land pointed to by Joshua. He was, He is the fullness, the culmination, and the completion of God’s promises, Kingdom, acts, works, and Word in the world, for the world, and to the world. That is who He is.
So what then shall we do? We’re not I don’t imagine in danger of abandoning Jesus and becoming Rabbinic Jews. BUT – we are constantly tempted by the world to loosen our grip on the necessity of Jesus. We are constantly told by the world that there must be other ways to God. That there must be an acceptance of Islam, and of Judaism, and of Hinduism, and of atheism, and that if God is real, and that He has revealed Himself in Jesus – that He must have revealed Him elsewhere to. Yet what must we say? We must say – that all of this is false. That God has spoken in this last day through Jesus and nowhere else. That He has revealed Himself fully in Jesus, and nowhere else. That He can be known truly in Jesus, and nowhere else. That even the old testament, revealed through prophets and angels and Moses and Joshua – is understood THROUGH JESUS, and no way else.
That as Jesus says, unless you believe that I am (that is, that I am the I am) – you will die in your sins. For there is no other way, No other way to the Father, no other way to salvation, than this Jesus. There is no God other than the one who became man in this Jesus. There is no other hope, there is no other peace, there is no other rest, THAN THE ONE IN THIS JESUS.
That is the message for today, it is to fix your eyes upon Jesus – and to call all others to see Him, to know Him, and to receive Him. For it is in this Jesus that God has reconciled the whole world to Himself. It is in this Jesus that God has revealed His whole self to the human race. And it is in this Jesus that He has loved us into eternal life.
So let us constantly and continually make known to the world, this God, through this Jesus. The Word who was with God, the Word who was God. The Word who was made flesh and who dwelt among us. Who for us and for our salvation came down from heaven, and was incarnate of the virgin Mary by the power of the Holy Spirit and made man. And lived and died. And rose again on the 3rd day. All that we might be forgiven. All that we might might no more taste death. All that we might enter into God’s rest.
All that we might, through His flesh – through His blood, be eternally and forever blessed.
All this in Jesus. All this, because Jesus. All this, through Jesus.
