11th September 2023

Christ is the best

This study is the twentieth in a series of studies on the books of the NewTestament
(Hebrews – read in 27 minutes)

God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds… Hebrews 1:1-2 (NKJV)

If God has spoken to us through his Son, having spoken through ‘forefathers’ and prophets throughout the Old Testament, it is probably a good idea to listen. The writer of Hebrews sets out to establish that Christ was who he claimed to be – using the very scriptures that his audience was so aware of. He systematically finds prophetic evidence for Christ’s messiahship in the Psalms: prophecies that initially do not seem to refer to Christ, but they couldn’t be seen as being completely fulfilled by David or Solomon. Psalms 2, 89, and 110 are among those presented as messianic psalms, fulfilled in Jesus taking his throne as His Father says, “Sit at My right hand, Till I make Your enemies Your footstooL.’’ (Psalm 110:1).

We don’t know who wrote Hebrews. We don’t know for sure who it was written to, and we’re not sure when it was written. One of the many suggestions goes as follows: ‘…the Book of Hebrews was written by a Hebrew to other Hebrews telling the Hebrews to stop acting like Hebrews.’ ¹ Whoever wrote it was someone immersed in Old Testament scriptures, with a deep understanding of how they pointed to Christ, and someone who knew Timothy. (Hebrews 13:23). It’s probable it was written before AD70 – the year the Roman armies destroyed the temple – the place of commanded sacrifices. It’s unlikely that this event would be ignored by someone who was able to reframe all of the sacrificial system in the light of what Christ had done.

There are forty direct references to the Old Testament with many more allusions. 15% of the text is direct quotes from what was the only scripture available to people at that time. Hebrews stands alone in the power of its insistence to integrate Old Testament writings with the gospel expounded by Christ. But throughout the epistle there is a continuing message that Christ is better than everything that has gone before: better than all the prophets (Hebrews 1:1-2); than angels (vv.5-14); than Moses (Hebrews 3:1-19); than the Levitical priests (Hebrews 5:1-6).

Jesus is pictured as the pivot, the turning point in the whole of human history, and the writer urges the readers not to return to the old order, from which they came. Jewish Christians might have been tempted to return to their roots if they were experiencing persecution. Roman authorities tolerated Judaism but not Christianity, because it named a king other than their emperor. This is one of the sources of the persecution where the writer is encouraging people to ‘hold fast’ (Hebrews 10:23). Their suffering is equated with the suffering of Christ, with the suggestion that it should therefore not be unexpected but endured: ‘…consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners against Himself, lest you become weary and discouraged…’ (Hebrews 12:3).

The passionate appeal that is being made to the audience is gathered together in Hebrews 11, unsurprisingly known as the ‘faith chapter’. The people’s own history provides a wealth of personal examples of men and women, too many to name individually (v.32), who believed what they were told by God and were prepared to endure hardships, because the promised future was worth it. Hebrews looks backwards, but only so its readers can move forwards. 

Prayer
Thank you, heavenly Father, for the wealth of knowledge of salvation in Christ, that comes through the light that he has shed on the Old Testament scriptures. Amen.

Study by Maggie Mitchell

¹ Dr. Walter Martin, founder of the Christian Research Institute and writer of Kingdom of the Cults

About the writer:
Maggie Mitchell attends the Northampton congregation of Grace Communion International and is Chair of the Pastoral Council

Local congregation:
GCI Northampton
Ecton Village Hall
78A High Street
Ecton
Northampton
NN6 0QB

Local congregational contact:
Maggie Mitchell
Email:  maggie.mitchell@btinternet.com

Word of Life contact:
wordoflife@gracecom.church