Introduction to Hebrews

The book of Hebrews is one of the most difficult books of the Bible for us to interpret because of several factors.  First, we are not sure who the author is. Second, we are not sure who the recipients are. Third, we are not sure exactly when it was written.  These things are not essential to interpretation but they certainly help.  Much speculation is made as to whom the author might be but it is impossible to be dogmatic on this issue.  It seems unlikely to be Paul since he does not identify himself like he does in all of his other Epistles.  Whoever the author was, they had a deep knowledge of the Levitical system of sacrifice which seems to still be in place at the time of the writing.  This gives us our best clue as to the recipients and the time of the writing.  Since the temple seems to still be functioning we must assume the book was written prior to its destruction in 70AD.  The recipients also seem to be predominantly Jewish believers.  However, it is important to note that we must not assume that every text in the book was meant to apply only to believers.  In the midst of the congregation of converted Jews there were also, more than likely, people who had been convinced of the Gospel intellectually but were not converted; or had begun through participation with believers experienced certain common graces available to all who follow biblical principles but had not truly come to saving faith in Christ.  The book is dedicated to pointing out the superiority of Christ over everyone and everything and then pointing out the impact the Christ’s superiority has on those who have truly committed their lives to Him. 

THE SUPERIORITY OF CHRIST’S POSITION: The name of Jesus is the highest name on earth or in heaven.  There is no name that is superior to His name.  It is of utmost importance that we recognize the importance of the name of Jesus as God very God and the Messiah who has come to set us free from sin.  Christ is also presented as being higher than the angels.  Apparently, there was a group of people who were fascinated by angels and were even going so far as to worship angels.  There is evidence of people who but angels is a higher class than Jesus.  The author of Hebrews attacks this false teaching head on and demonstrates categorically that Christ is higher than any and all angels.  Our Lord is also presented as being superior to Moses.  As the human author of the Law; Moses was generally considered to be the most important of the Jewish leaders.  By proving that Jesus is superior to Moses; the author of Hebrews demonstrates that Jesus came to fulfill the Law and that His Gospel is over the works of the Law that was given by Moses.  Moses and the Law came to point us to our need of the Gospel and make us realize our desperate need of Messiah who came in the form of Jesus.  The Gospel of Jesus is over the Law and sets us free from sin.  The Jew’s took great hope in the rest promised to them in conquering The Promised Land.  There was a great expectation that one day the Jewish people would live in security once again in the land of Cannon.  The general belief was that Messiah would come to establish just such a rest in the land.  The author of Hebrews does not deny this hope but simply points to the fact that the rest Jesus will bring to all who believe will be far superior to any rest that the people of Israel have experienced in the past.  Jesus gives us a rest from sin and he will eventually give us complete rest in His presence for all of eternity.  This is the hope of the Gospel and is far superior to any political promise of rest.

THE SUPERIORITY OF CHRIST’S PRIESTHOOD: The person on earth who was closest to God in the Jewish religion was the high priest.  He was the only one allowed to enter the Holy of Holies.  He represented God before the people and the people before God.  However when Jesus came He became far superior to any high priest.  The priests would make sacrifices repeatedly for the people as well as for himself because every priest was also a sinner until Jesus.  Jesus was the perfect Man who had no sin and represented God perfectly before us and was able to take our sin upon Himself so that we might appear perfect before God due to the ministry of Jesus our High Priest.  No other priest could ever do this.  In light of this truth we are urged by the author of Hebrews to live a life of complete dedication before the Lord Jesus.  He who have Himself for us certainly is worthy of our full dedication to Him.  The priesthood of Christ is compared to that of Melchizedeck.  This was a priest who lived in the days of Abraham to whom Abraham paid a tithe from the spoils of his rescue of Lot and the kings of the valley.  The reason for this argument is that Jesus was not a descendant of Levi through whom the priestly line came.  Jesus was a descendant of Judah, the kingly line.  Melchizedeck was also a king so the author wants to point out that Jesus was a legitimate Priest that like Melchizedeck was even superior to Abraham.  In Christ we have a new covenant that was paid for by His blood.  The old covenant of Law was not attainable and could not bring forgiveness of sins.  But the new covenant in Christ is superior because it gives us forgiveness by grace through faith in the sacrifice of Jesus on our behalf.  Jesus becomes our temple and we become His body on earth so the Temple of Jesus is far superior to the temple that Solomon built or the one built under Ezra that was being used at this time.  Jesus is the superior Sanctuary that was made without human hands because He is God in the flesh.  He is also man through the incarnation which allows Him to become the superior sacrifice for sin.  All the other sacrifices were of animals for the sins of men.  But the blood of animals does not satisfy the righteous requirements of God.  However Jesus as Perfect Man became the superior sacrifice for all of our sin.  He is the Priest who is also the Temple who is also the Sacrifice.  He is superior to all. 

THE SUPERIORITY OF CHRIST’S PEOPLE: Perhaps the most gracious thing about Christ’s superiority is that He is able to communicate that to His children.  Because of our relationship to Him we have wonderful privileges that we can enjoy because of our faith in Him and relationship to Him.  Without a doubt the greatest of those privileges is salvation from our sins through faith in Christ.  Because of the death of Christ we can draw near to God, obey the Scriptures and have genuine fellowship with one another.  We become members of His body and members with one another so we can stimulate one another to love and good deeds.  Unfortunately, all that is of great value is often counterfeit in order to trick those who think that they might be getting the real thing.  There is a genuine faith that saves us from sin and reconciles us to God through the blood of Christ.  But there are also many false faiths that claim to be able to reconcile us to God but it is always through some other means besides Christ alone.  Genuine salvation always involves two things: freedom from sin through faith in the death and resurrection of Christ.  There are those who promote that we can free ourselves from sin through our own good works and there are those that promote a faith in Christ that does not free from sin.  Both are false faiths that have unfortunately led many astray.  However, history is full of many great men and women who through faith were empowered to do many amazing things to advance the kingdom of God.  These heroes of the faith suffered great hardship and died without ever seeing the promises fulfilled but they continued to trust God and live in light of the hope that God has promised.  The Gospel gives us great hope in an eternal life completely without sin.  We will certainly struggle all of our lives against sin but those who have genuine faith will experience gradual  victory and will continue to look forward to that wonderful day when we are finally and eternally free.  This victory over sin allows us to have godly relationships with other people, especially our spouses and family members.  We have a correct view of who we are and how we should live.  Most importantly we have a right relationship with God and live a life that is pleasing in His sight.