Hebrews
Introduction
As
early as the second century, this treatise, which is of great rhetorical power
and force in its admonition to faithful pilgrimage under Christ's leadership,
bore the title "To the Hebrews." It was assumed to be directed to
Jewish Christians. Usually Hebrews was attached in Greek manuscripts to the
collection of letters by Paul. Although no author is mentioned (for there is no
address), a reference to Timothy (Hebrews 13:23)
suggested connections to the circle of Paul and his assistants. Yet the exact
audience, the author, and even whether Hebrews is a letter have long been
disputed.
The author saw the addressees
in danger of apostasy from their Christian faith. This danger was due not to
any persecution from outsiders but to a weariness with the demands of Christian
life and a growing indifference to their calling Hebrews 2:1; 4:14; 6:1-12; 10:23-32).
The author's main theme, the priesthood and sacrifice of Jesus (Heb 3-10), is
not developed for its own sake but as a means of restoring their lost fervor
and strengthening them in their faith. Another important theme of the letter is
that of the pilgrimage of the people of God to the heavenly Jerusalem (11:10; 12:1-3, 18-29; 13:14).
This theme is intimately connected with that of Jesus' ministry in the heavenly
sanctuary (Hebrews
9:11-10:22).
The author calls this work a
"message of encouragement" (Hebrews 13:22),
a designation that is given to a synagogue sermon in Acts 13:15.
Hebrews is probably therefore a written homily, to which the author gave an
epistolary ending (Hebrews
13:22-25). The author begins with a reminder of the preexistence,
incarnation, and exaltation of Jesus (Hebrews 1:3)
that proclaimed him the climax of God's word to humanity (Hebrews 1:1-3).
He dwells upon the dignity of the person of Christ, superior to the angels (Hebrews 1:4-2:2). Christ
is God's final word of salvation communicated (in association with accredited
witnesses to his teaching: cf Hebrews 2:3-4)
not merely by word but through his suffering in the humanity common to him and
to all others (Hebrews
2:5-16). This enactment of salvation went beyond the pattern known to
Moses, faithful prophet of God's word though he was, for Jesus as high priest
expiated sin and was faithful to God with the faithfulness of God's own Son (Hebrews 2:17-3:6).
Just as the infidelity of the
people thwarted Moses' efforts to save them, so the infidelity of any Christian
may thwart God's plan in Christ (3:6-4:13).
Christians are to reflect that it is their humanity that Jesus took upon
himself, with all its defects save sinfulness, and that he bore the burden of
it until death out of obedience to God. God declared this work of his Son to be
the cause of salvation for all (Hebrews 4:14-5:10).
Although Christians recognize this fundamental teaching, they may grow weary of
it and of its implications, and therefore require other reflections to
stimulate their faith (5:11-6:20).
Therefore, the author
presents to the readers for their reflection the everlasting priesthood of
Christ (Hebrews
7:1-28), a priesthood that fulfills the promise of the Old Testament (Hebrews 8:1-13).
It also provides the meaning God ultimately intended in the sacrifices of the
Old Testament (Hebrews
9:1-28): these pointed to the unique sacrifice of Christ, which alone
obtains forgiveness of sins (Hebrews 10:1-18).
The trial of faith experienced by the readers should resolve itself through
their consideration of Christ's ministry in the heavenly sanctuary and his
perpetual intercession there on their behalf (Hebrews 7:25;
8:1-13).
They should also be strengthened by the assurance of his foreordained parousia,
and by the fruits of faith that they have already enjoyed (Hebrews
10:19-39).
It is in the nature of faith
to recognize the reality of what is not yet seen and is the object of hope, and
the saints of the Old Testament give striking example of that faith (Hebrews 11:1-40).
The perseverance to which the author exhorts the readers is shown forth in the
early life of Jesus. Despite the afflictions of his ministry and the supreme
trial of his suffering and death, he remained confident of the triumph that God
would bring him (Hebrews 12:1-3).
The difficulties of human life have meaning when they are accepted as God's
discipline (Hebrews
12:4-13), and if Christians persevere in fidelity to the word in which they
have believed, they are assured of possessing forever the unshakable kingdom of
God (Hebrews
12:14-29).
The letter concludes with specific
moral commandments (Hebrews 13:1-17),
in the course of which the author recalls again his central theme of the
sacrifice of Jesus and the courage needed to associate oneself with it in faith
(Hebrews
13:9-16).
As early as the end of the
second century, the church of Alexandria in Egypt accepted Hebrews as a letter
of Paul, and that became the view commonly held in the East. Pauline authorship
was contested in the West into the fourth century, but then accepted. In the
sixteenth century, doubts about that position were again raised, and the modern
consensus is that the letter was not written by Paul. There is, however, no
widespread agreement on any of the other suggested authors, e.g., Barnabas,
Apollos, or Prisc(ill)a and Aquila. The document itself has no statement about
its author.
Among the reasons why Pauline
authorship has been abandoned are the great difference of vocabulary and style
between Hebrews and Paul's letters, the alternation of doctrinal teaching with
moral exhortation, the different manner of citing the Old Testament, and the
resemblance between the thought of Hebrews and that of Alexandrian Judaism. The
Greek of the letter is in many ways the best in the New Testament.
Since the letter of Clement
of Rome to the Corinthians, written about A.D. 96, most probably cites Hebrews,
the upper limit for the date of composition is reasonably certain. While the
letter's references in the present tense to the Old Testament sacrificial
worship do not necessarily show that temple worship was still going on, many
older commentators and a growing number of recent ones favor the view that it
was and that the author wrote before the destruction of the temple of Jerusalem
in A.D. 70. In that case, the argument of the letter is more easily explained
as directed toward Jewish Christians rather than those of Gentile origin, and
the persecutions they have suffered in the past (cf Hebrews
10:32-34) may have been connected with the disturbances that preceded the
expulsion of the Jews from Rome in A.D. 49 under the emperor Claudius. These
were probably caused by disputes between Jews who accepted Jesus as the Messiah
and those who did not.
The principal divisions of
the Letter to the Hebrews are the following:
I.
Introduction
(Hebrews 1:1-4)
II.
The
Son Higher than the Angels (Hebrews 1:5-2:18)
III.
Jesus,
Faithful and Compassionate High Priest (3:1-5:10)
IV.
Jesus'
Eternal Priesthood and Eternal Sacrifice (5:11-10:39)
V.
Examples,
Discipline, Disobedience (11:1-12:29)
VI.
Final
Exhortation, Blessing, Greetings (Hebrews 13:1-25)
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Hebrews
Introduction Ends.
Easter
Sunday 12 April 2009.