Who is Jesus?
It took the church a couple of centuries to work through how to articulate the nature of Christ, and therefore the nature of the Godhead.
It began with the Christian Testament, the writer of Hebrews, the Apostle Paul, and the Apostle John all taking great care in describing and explaining the supremacy of the Lord Messiah Jesus.
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From the blog
Hebrews: Benediction
Humility and teachability are to be our leading edge. To be responsive to and supportive of those who teach and lead us is also a mark of faithfulness.
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Hebrews: Strengthened by Grace
Jesus’ death and resurrection marked the beginning of the new covenant of grace, pointing towards the heavenly Mount Zion. Living by faith in Jesus meant rejecting the old life, and it also meant being rejected by the people who still lived the ways of the old life.
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Hebrews: Strange Teachings
We have some options when we hear a teaching that doesn’t sit well or sound right.
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Hebrews: The Marks of Love
The writer gives us five ways to treat our brothers and sisters well: to love genuinely from the heart, and to be hospitable, faithful, content, and teachable. In these ways, believers live daily by faith in community.
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Hebrews: The Law of Love
Jesus’ command of love became a central part of the apostolic teaching, showing up in all the gospels, in Acts, in all the epistles, and, in certain ways, even Revelation.
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Hebrews: Worship In Spirit
When everything around us is shaking, we hang on to the truth that you and I are in a kingdom that cannot be shaken.
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Hebrews: A Cloud of Witnesses
the saints who have gone before us are an encouragement to us, for by the mighty wonder-working power of God, they persevered, and so can we.
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Hebrews: Celestial City
Time did not permit the writer of Hebrews to tell of his final examples of faith, but for you and me today—even concerning those as famous as the names listed in Hebrews’ Hall of Faith—taking time to remember is fruitful.
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Hebrews: Faith of Samuel
Time did not permit the writer of Hebrews to tell of his final examples of faith, but for you and me today—even concerning those as famous as the names listed in Hebrews’ Hall of Faith—taking time to remember is fruitful.
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Hebrews: Faith of David
After the rough-and-tumble days of the Judges, came the time of kings. Notice the writer did not turn to Saul, Israel’s first king, or to Solomon, last potentate, wealthiest and most powerful of the United Kingdom of Israel. The writer turned to David, who would become—and remains to this day—the most beloved of kings found…
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Hebrews: Faith of the Judges
Having made his point with these six pioneers of faith, the writer then recalled to mind other men and women whose mention would have conjured up vivid memories of mighty deeds, great bravery, and fervent faith.
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Hebrews: Faith of Rahab
The writer of Hebrews had begun with the pioneers of faith, the patriarchs. Then, the writer had moved on to the one—Moses—who pioneered the nation. Now came those two who represented pioneering in the Promised Land. First was Joshua the Hebrew, and now came Rahab the Canaanite
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Hebrews: Faith of Joshua
Now, the writer turned to those early pioneers in the land, representing the tribes of Israel and faithful converts, men and women of faith who forged the way in taking possession of God’s promises in the Promised Land.
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Hebrews: Faith of Moses
Faith is the language of our souls, it is the native tongue of our new life in Christ, the culture of heaven saturating our earthly existence.
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Hebrews: Hall of Faith, the Patriarchs
The writer of Hebrews turned to the faith of the ancients in a passage often called the “Hall of Faith,” or “Faith’s Hall of Heroes.” These were of the believing remnant spoken of throughout the Hebrew scriptures, who persevered in faith against great odds, and chose to believe in God’s promises, though they would not…
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Hebrews: Factors of Faith
For believers, the issue of faith is foundational to everything. So, at regular intervals, I set aside time to revisit the components of belief, and the nature of faith.
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Hebrews: Definition of Faith
Have you ever felt a small curl of melancholy, or maybe a tendril of fear, or a root of bitterness, or a little flame of anger, asking “Why me?” What does it mean to persevere, to be patient in affliction, to have joy and contentment in every circumstance?
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Hebrews: The Courage of Polycarp
The end of the chapter features a brief reprise of Chapter Six’s warnings, and reassurance that those who have read thus far in this epistle have not fallen away but are persevering in faith. This encouragement is necessary, for the readers would need courage to face fierce persecution.
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Hebrews: The Unforgivable Sin
for those who have gone a long way towards salvation, but have yet to commit to Jesus, do not stop now! And for those who are saved, persevering is evidence of that faith.
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Hebrews: Five-Fold Response of Faith
After delivering the astonishing declaration that the veil torn at the moment of Jesus’ death was nothing less than Christ’s body torn asunder, throwing open the gates of heaven to every person, the author offered five ways every Christian responds to the magnificent good news of the Gospel.
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Hebrews: The Veil Is Torn
There was no mistaking the connection, for first century Christians. The heavenly reality, revealed on the day of Jesus’ baptism became the earthly reality at the moment of Jesus’ death—heaven’s gates are open wide!
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Hebrews: Sealed by the Blood
This sprinkling of blood refers to a different action than having had propitiation made, or being cleansed by. Sprinkling was symbolic of cutting a solemn and sacred covenant, just as the first covenant had been cut between God and humanity, through the people of Israel.
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Hebrews: The Fulcrum
Scholars often divide the Epistle to the Hebrews into two parts. The first, chapters 1-10, teach on the supremacy of Messiah (chapters 1-8) and the new covenant cut in Messiah’s blood (chapters 8-10). The second part, chapters 10-13, is exhortation on how we are to respond to the truths found in the first part.
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Hebrews: And He Sat Down!
Messiah, having completed his mission, can take His seat on the royal throne of heaven, and rest His foot on restored creation, joining heaven and earth, the spiritual and physical realms, in a sacred whole.
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Hebrews: ὑπέρ | huper
In Greek, the word for substitute is ὑπέρ| huper, meaning on behalf of or in another’s place.
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Hebrews: Perfect, Permanent Propitiation
Since Jesus offered perfect and permanent propitiation, it means what was damaged is now perfectly and permanently repaired.
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Hebrews: A Better Sanctuary
The Mosaic covenant had a pattern for the tabernacle, worship, and sacrifices. The old sanctuary merely represented the better sanctuary in heaven.
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Hebrews: A Better Covenant
the writer would now explain why the covenant Christ has cut in His own blood is better than even the covenant God made with the Israelites at the foot of Mount Sinai, sealed with the blood of sacrificed animals.
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Hebrews: A Better Hope
It had taken two chapters to establish the superiority of the Lord Jesus Christ, as fully God the Son, above every earthly and heavenly principality. Now, the writer was establishing Jesus’ work as also superior, pre-eminent, far above any human priest’s work, even of Aaron himself.
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Hebrews: Korah’s Revolt
How could there be a priesthood more perfect than that of Aaron, particularly when God had so protected the sanctity and exclusivity of the Aaronic priesthood for thousands of years?
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Hebrews: A Better Priesthood
Melchizedek is a fascinating and mysterious figure in the Bible. Here is the sum total of his appearances in the pages of scripture.
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Hebrews: Anchor of the Soul
The writer had given nearly three chapters of exhortation, dire warnings in stern language. Now he turned to encouragement, feeling certain his audience would respond to God’s call through his letter.
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Hebrews: Scorched Earth
It is hard to know what exactly was meant by this extreme measure, but it seems this was real, and was intended for ultimate good.
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Hebrews: Three Great Needs
The flow of Hebrews, then, so far, is to begin with Jesus and our right response, then to examine our need. Having pointed to Jesus as both fully God and also fully human, as uniquely able to pull off a God-sized rescue of all creation and also meet you and me right where we are,…
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Hebrews: Mathein and Pathein
Greek writers often paired the words mathein (to learn) and pathein (to suffer) together, because not only did they sound alike, it was accepted in antiquity that learning came through suffering.
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Hebrews: Failure to Thrive
The Hebrew Christians were not growing. Filled with feelings of doubt, tempted to go back to their old familiar ways instead of forward in faith, they were failing to thrive.
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Hebrews: The Arduous Road to Maturity
Healing means saying yes to God, trusting God, taking that next step with God, knowing it will be hard, but it will also be good.
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Hebrews: Living and Active
as I look at the pages of my Bible, reading the English words there, inert, typed on paper, I wonder, “How is this living and active?”
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Hebrews: How Not To Miss Out!
It is a better reading of the writer’s exhortation to see “God’s rest” as the process of sanctification in this life, a process that grants every believer peace from God that “passes understanding,” confidence in God, and a willingness to fully surrender to God’s will, guidance, empowerment, and word.
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Hebrews: God’s Rest
Here is where many people reading Hebrews can find themselves in a dilemma. If by “rest” the writer meant “eternal salvation,” then the example of the rebellious Israelites who could not enter the Promised Land becomes gravely problematical.
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Hebrews: Excursus Into Exodus, Part 2
Once saved, always saved. The people remained delivered from their bondage and suffering. But God would bring them back to their beginnings, and for the rest of their lives they would have only the hope of the Promised Land for their children
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Hebrews: Excursus Into Exodus, Part 1
This third directive is so important, the remainder of the chapter rests on it. At the very end of the passage, though, the writer made some startling conclusions which we may find unsettling.
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Hebrews: Partners Of Christ
The writer of Hebrews spent the second chapter saying “Because we see the superiority and preeminence of Christ, let us believe right doctrine,” and warned his readers to guard against their faith drifting. In chapter 3, the writer had a second “therefore” followed by five directives for our response to right doctrine. The first two…
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Hebrews: Resist the Pull of the Past
We all grow up with traditions and worldviews that go so deep you and I often do not even realize they are there. We also grow up with ways of processing and coping with what we experience that seem so true and right it goes without being said. These things can be so rooted within…
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Hebrews: Not For Angels
If Christus Victor was a primary doctrine in the early church, how did penal substitutionary atonement move to prominence in recent centuries?
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Hebrews: Brothers and Sisters
Against the backdrop of God’s ineffable transcendence, God’s omnipotence, omniscience, omnipresence, and absolute sovereignty over the entire universe, the gospel story does not make sense. Yet, it is nonetheless true.
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Hebrews: Perfect Human
Getting our doctrine straight—what we know and believe about God, creation, and humanity—gives us the ability to navigate our stress and enter into God’s rest.
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Hebrews: Components of Belief
Every now and then I read a book that reorients the way I think about pretty much everything. “Love God with All Your Mind” by J.P. Moreland was just such a book. In it, Moreland explained the five basic components of a belief, and as I read I realized this was a core teaching every…
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Hebrews: The Drift
Having now established Jesus as God the Son, truly God and truly the Savior of all creation, the writer of Hebrews turned his attention to what he saw as a drifting away from faith in his audience.
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Hebrews: Superiority of the Son
Angels are sent by God to carry out God’s purposes. But angels’ work for God cannot be compared to Christ’s perfect work on the cross. Jesus is superior because He is God the Son, He alone can save, and be called the Savior.
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Hebrews: All About Angels
Angels can never share in the incommunicable attributes of God. As God the Son, the Lord Jesus Christ contains all the fullness of God.
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Hebrews: Greater than the Angels
Having now established the supremacy of Christ, the writer turned his attention to those mysterious celestial beings, the angels.
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Hebrews: Heresy and Dogma
The church spent centuries trying to understand Who Jesus is, for what Jesus did and does has to be understood in the framework of His identity.
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Hebrews: The Word is Revelation
The most important subject in the Epistle to the Hebrews is the Lord Jesus Christ. There is nowhere else to begin but with Messiah, for nothing else can show the betterness of the better covenant than Jesus Himself.
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Epistle to the Hebrews: An Introduction
Jesus is the hope for all people, the one in whom are all the hopes of the world.
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About Me
My passion for the Bible began when I was eight or nine years old, somewhere in there, when on occasion my dad would take me to synagogue, where he sang. I remember watching the men in synagogue pray the words of scripture, murmuring and weeping, lovingly touching and kissing the Torah, and I wished I could read what they were reading.
Imagine, then, my wonder when I was given a Bible of my own!
