Overview of Hebrews: Grace and Gratitude
David deSilva
Typically, one of the least studied books of the New Testament, the Letter to the Hebrews—actually, a sermon— is designed to remind its initial readers of the incomparable gifts Christ has bestowed upon them. The writer’s intent was to encourage its listeners to stay the course they had so ardently embraced against discouragement, oppression, doubts, and other pressures which tugged at their hearts. In the memorial words of the sermon writer:
Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has ascended into heaven,[f] Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. 15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin. 16 Let us then approach God’s 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)
At the core of Hebrews is the vision of Jesus as the Son of God and the Son of Man. In the words of the powerful opening of the Sermon, we see in Hebrews, Jesus as the radiance of God’s glory, the exact imprint of his nature, who, in his humanity was tempted as we are in every way, as one who can sympathize with our weakness. It was this Jesus, in bringing many sons and daughters to glory, who was made perfect through suffering, which, after making purification for the sins of humanity, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high.
It is this High Priest who passed through the heavens that deSilva, along with the sermon writer, presses us to hold fast against all the pressures which tempt us to hold back. For why should we neglect such a great salvation? This is the essential message of Hebrews, delivered as an oral sermon, the portrayal of Jesus as the more excellent way, higher than the angels, higher than Moses, higher than the high priests, more exalted than Melchizedek, who served as a type for Israel’s most perfect high priest. For this Christ has obtained a ministry that is much more excellent than those of old as the covenant he mediates is better, since it is enacted on better promises. (Heb 8:6).
Because of the incomparable gift of God in and through Christ through whom we have access to the inner sanctuary of the holy of holies through the direct mediation of Jesus, we must pay closer heed. Otherwise, we will be tempted to drift away (2:1) from our first love, which was as much a temptation with the first century Church as it is with us, in our time. The preacher presses on: “how shall we escape such a great salvation” (2:3), who, once having heard the Word, and being profoundly moved by it, “harden our hearts as in the rebellion” (3:15), as in the time of Moses. Therefore, “today,” that is, in each moment, if we hear His voice, we are admonished not to harden our hearts, but to press on to fully embrace the unchangeable character of God’s promises, that we have in Jesus, “as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain, where Jesus has gone as a forerunner, on our behalf, having become a high priest after the order of Melchizedek (Heb 6:19-20). This is the exhortative message of Hebrews that permeates the entire text of its 13 chapters. Both the sermon writer and deSilva have a message they want to deliver, which they pound home through the rhetorical power of their respective texts.
In this study we will keep attuned to the ways in which the sermon writer encouraged its First Century audience to strengthen their commitment to the Son of Glory against the many pressures that pulled at them coming from various directions. This will serve as the basis for us to consider the ways the text speaks to us, notwithstanding the profound differences of our context from that of the original hearers of the sermon. The passages in Hebrews referred to, above, echo throughout the 13 chapters that comprise the sermon. In this magnificent presentation, designed to be verbally delivered, we catch only glimpses of the resonant power of the preacher that this majestically composed Greek text conveyed to the original hearers in a language and in imagery that they could readily grasp. Nonetheless, through a prayerful reading of the text, itself, and the guidance of DeSilva’s excellent commentary, I believe we can glimpse more than a little of the original power of the preacher’s message.
The study is comprised of six chapters.
1. The Sermon’s Setting and the Son’s Glory Heb. 1:1-2:4
2. Threshold Moments Heb. 2:5-4:13 on the importance of persevering in the faith
3. Responding Gracefully to Grace Heb. 4:26-6:20 given the majestic power of God’s capacity to save to the uttermost
4. A Full and Perfect and Sufficient sacrifice Heb. 7:1-10:18, the most technical portion of the sermon
5. Faithful Response in Action Heb. 10:19-11:40, which includes Israel’s Hall of Fame (ch 11)
6. A Summon to Persevere in Gratitude Heb. 12:1-13:25)
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