What More Can God Say

1
What More Can God Say?
?

• An Overview of the Letter to the Hebrews

2
Whats It All About?

• Understanding Jesus as Gods ultimate Revelation,
  our Saviour, and our Great High Priest
• Growing in grace as we come to know him better
• Being faithful followers of Jesus in a sometimes
  puzzling and often hostile world

3
Who was the Writer?

• Paul
• Luke
• Priscilla
• Apollos
• Barnabas

4
Origens Opinion

• The thoughts are the apostles (Pauls), but the
  style and composition are the work of someone who
  called to mind the apostles teaching and wrote
  short notes, as it were, on what his master said
  . . .
• As to who actually wrote the epistle,

God knows the truth of the matter
5

• The author was a second generation Christian,
  well versed in the study of the Septuagint (the
  Greek translation of the Old Testament), which he
  interpreted according to a creative exegetical
  principle. He had a copious vocabulary and was
  master of a fine rhetorical style, completely
  different from Pauls we might well describe him
  as a learned man . . . mighty in the Scriptures.
  He was a Hellenist (a Jew with a Greek
  background) who inherited the outlook of those
  Hellenists described in Acts 6-8 1119 ff., the
  associates of Stephen and Philip, pioneers in the
  Gentile mission.
• F. F. Bruce  

6
The First Recipients

• A particular community of Jewish Christians
  (512 1032-34 1322-25)
• Jewish believers in Judea?
• A (mainly) Jewish home church in Rome?
• The entire first-century Hebrew Christian
  Community
• Its teaching enriches all Christians in all
  centuries

7
The Date

• Certainly not after 96 (it is cited at that date
  by Clement of Rome)
• The readers had not heard Jesus themselves
• They had heard the gospel from those who had
  heard him personally (23)
• Timothy is mentioned (1323)
• It appears that the ritual of the temple was
  still being observed
• If it was addressed to Christians in Rome, Neros
  persecution had not yet occurred (64)
• It was probably written some time between 60 and
  65.

8
The Message
?
In Two Minds
9
Having Second Thoughts

• Appeal

• Drawbacks

• National identity
• History
• Acceptance
• Respectability
• God-ordained religion
• Impressive ritual

• Ostracism
• Novelty
• Rejection
• Persecution
• Exclusion
• Spiritual worship

10
The Approach

• He must show from (Old Testament) Scripture that
  Jesus is Gods unique Son and ultimate
  Revelation.
• He must portray him as the one in whom Gods
  saving purpose is realised.
• He must depict Jesus as the perfect High Priest
• He must encourage wavering Christians to
  persevere in the face of trials.
• He must warn them of the futility and danger of
  returning to the now obsolete religion.
• He must urge them to fix their eyes on Jesus and
  bear reproach for him if needs be

11
Three Key Terms

• Superior (better, greater) e.g. 14 33 714,
  22 86 911, 23 101 1140 1224
• Therefore . . . e.g. 21 31 41, 11 61
  1019 121, 12 131
• Let us . . . e.g. 41, 11, 14, 16 61
  1022-25 121

12
(No Transcript)
13
The Letter is a Call to Faith

• The nation has been seriously wrong once before
  (31-413)
• Its problem was that their lack of faith resulted
  in disobedience
• Those who trust God look beyond the visible and
  believe even when they do not see the immediate
  fulfillment of the promise.
• They are prepared to be in the minority.

14
The Argument

• Gods ultimate revelation to us is in his Son,
  whom he has appointed heir of all things.
• The Son is infinitely greater than the prophets,
  the angels, and Moses.
• He became human in order to reconcile us to God
  and restore us to the position of honour God
  intended for us.
• God promised to raise up a messianic King who
  would have universal dominion
• He described this King as a Priest forever.

15

• A priest personifies (embodies) the people.
• When he stands before God, he represents them.
  When God deals with him , he deals with them.
• The sacrificial system provided a picture
  prediction of what Jesus would do as the perfect
  High Priest
• It is on the basis of his sacrifice that God
  fulfils his promise to establish a New Covenant
  which is infinitely superior to the Old.

16

• Our sins are completely obliterated, and we can
  approach God with humble confidence.
• In view of all this, it is as absurd to try to
  return to the obsolete way as it is to attempt to
  hug a shadow.
• We are restored to the position God intended for
  us.
• But in this present age, it will not always seem
  like that.
• We are to emulate the example of the people of
  faith who trusted God and persevered.

17

• As those who are receiving a kingdom that cannot
  be shaken, we should go to Jesus outside the
  camp, bearing the disgrace he bore, for here we
  do not have an enduring city, but we are looking
  for the city that is to come.