Jesus Yawned

I recently completed teaching an online class on the Letter to the Hebrews. For a few weeks I am sharing thoughts that came from this study.

He [the high priest] can deal gently with people who are ignorant and easily deceived, since he himself is subject to weakness. (Hebrews 5:2 ISV)

In the days of his flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to him who was able to save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverence. (Hebrews 5:7 ESV)

With these words, the author of Hebrews is beginning to make his case for Jesus being the new and greater high priest under a new and greater covenant. This writer, who began his work with great emphasis on the fact that Jesus is preexistent and divine (Hebrews 1), now, emphasizes Jesus’ humanity perhaps more than any writer in the New Testament.

Jesus...Our Emmanuel

I have just completed teaching an online class on the Letter to the Hebrews. For a few weeks I am sharing thoughts that came from this study.

Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess.  For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are--yet was without sin.  Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need. (Hebrews 4:14-16 )

This wasn’t planned (at least by me), but it works out very well to look at this passage from Hebrews 4 the same week as the world pauses to remember the birth of Jesus. The author of the letter has not yet developed his important teaching on how Jesus is the new and greater high priest, but that doesn’t keep him from going ahead and pointing out that in that role Jesus can fully relate to us.

From "This is bad" Comes Very Good

I have just completed teaching an online class on the Letter to the Hebrews. For a few weeks I will be sharing thoughts that came from this study.

Of all the lessons we gain from the letter to Hebrews there is one that is very easy to miss and that is how God works for good even in things that are not good. You may ask where does the writer of Hebrews teach this idea. Probably no where explicitly.

Today...Your Heart!

The writer of Hebrews uses some rather involved and even complicated rabbinic style arguments to make his point again and again that it would be foolish, even disastrous, for his readers to go back to the practice of the Old Covenant now that Jesus and God’s great salvation has come.

However, in chapters 3 and 4 we see that his main concern is not that they understand some intricate theological argument. His main concern is that the keep their hearts in the right place. This is lesson needed for every generation in every situation.

But We See Jesus

I am currently teaching an online class on the Letter to the Hebrews. While discussion of any passage in this letter needs to involve careful and sometimes lengthy examination of the context and background, there are still some gems from this fascinating letter that I want to share in these short weekly notes.  For several weeks we will look at some of these. More careful study on your part is always recommended.

In Hebrews, the writer quotes from the Psalms describing how all things are put under man’s feet and how everything is made subject to him, and then he adds: “Yet, at present we do not see everything subject to him. But we see Jesus” (2:8-9).

Most great mind-changing thoughts include the word "but" and this one is no exception.  The writer takes note of the fact we don’t yet see everything in submission to man or to the man that was written about in the psalm, and yet he adds, ‘but we see Jesus.”

There is a great lesson in this for us. We sometimes come away from Scripture with certain expectations. We come away from our times with God looking to see certain promises fulfilled on our time table. However, those expectations are not always met and the promises are not always realized as we thought they would be. If our faith wavers a bit, that is a time to remember, “but we see Jesus.” Sure, we thought certain things would happen in a certain way. Then, they didn’t. But still, we see Jesus. We still see his life, his teachings, his miracles. We still see his trust in God, his cross and his resurrection. Yes, we have questions, “but we see Jesus.”

There are plenty of times when we don't understand, when we don’t see all things working together for good, when we wonder just where God is, but even in those moments we can see Jesus and remember that there are truths about him that are undeniable. There may be some "unbelievables," but the "undeniables" are greater. Yes, there are plenty of things we don't understand, but our faith can remain, even if a bit disturbed, through challenges, disappointments and perplexing times because "we see Jesus."