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In this painting Abraham’s beloved only son Isaac is portrayed as an unwilling victim (Gen 22), but Jesus faithfully obeyed the Father all the way to the cross.
During the passion week leading to Easter we often hear a phrase coined by famed African-American Baptist Pastor S. M. Lockridge (1913-2000)—”It’s Friday but Sunday’s comin’!” (recitation here). We can never forget Good Friday and Easter, the Cross and the Empty Tomb! Jesus’ Easter victory proves that Jesus’ apparent defeat on Good Friday was not real. His death and resurrection are at the heart of the gospel (1 Cor 15:1-8). We’ve written previously about the power of the cross in our lives here.
During the seven weeks of the Easter Season that lead to Pentecost (June 5, 2022), we also need to remember that every day is Friday for us. Like Jesus, we must bear the cross before we wear the crown, and that won’t happen until Jesus comes back to the earth (Matt 16:24-28//Mark 8:34-38//Luke 9:23-27). Until then, Jesus’ faithfulness to his calling spurs us on to fulfill ours. Our previous post considered Jesus’ Seven Last Words from the Cross, what they tell us about Jesus, and what they ask us about ourselves—are we taking up our crosses and following him? In this post we want to engage how Jesus’ story maps out the Good-Friday story of our lives. The book of Hebrews teaches us that we won’t have Easter endurance if we’ve forgotten the faithfulness of Jesus.
We’ve heard many times that God is faithful, and rightly so (e.g. Gen 39:21; Deut 7:9; 1 Kgs 3:6; 1 Chron 16:34; 1 Cor 10:13). Psalm 136 calls on us to affirm the everlasting faithfulness of God of 26 times! We’ve also been told many times that we must be faithful to God (Ps 31:23; Luke 12:42; 16:10-12; 19:17; 1 Cor 4:2; Rev 2:10). But for some reason we don’t hear as much about Jesus’ faithfulness to the Father (2 Tim 2:13; 1 John 1:9; Rev 1:5; 3:14; 19:11). The Gospel of John makes it clear over and over and over again that Jesus constantly obeyed the Father as he completed the work of redemption (John 5:19-20, 30-31, 36, 43; 6:38; 7:16, 28; 8:16, 26, 28-29, 38, 42; 10:17-18, 32, 37; 12:49-50; 14:10, 24, 31; 15:10, 15; 17:4-8, 26; 18:11; 19:30). Have we reflected on Jesus’ faithfulness and what it means for our own faithfulness? The book of Hebrews especially makes this point—Jesus’ faithfulness is the capstone to the entire argument of that book (Heb 2:17; 3:1-6; 12:1-4). The exemplary faithfulness of our Lord compels us his servants to be faithful.
Hebrews: Faithful Jesus, Faithful Us?
Throughout his time on earth Jesus always pleased the Father. His faithfulness brought him through the anguish of Gethsemene and the agony of the cross to his exalted seat at the right hand of God. Let’s follow the teaching of the book of Hebrews about how Jesus’ faithfulness calls us to be faithful. Although it’s often called a letter, Hebrews reads more like a sermon or homily. It is a “word of exhortation,” maybe like the address Paul was asked to bring to the synagogue at Antioch of Pisidia (compare Heb 13:22 to Acts 13:15). We don’t know who wrote this book (maybe Priscilla or Apollos?), when it was written, or which congregation heard it read it first (Rome? cf. Heb 13:24). Whoever they were, they were in trouble. They had reached a crisis point due to persecution. They were weary of the battle and ready to throw in the towel (Heb 10:32-39; 13:1-3). Hebrews warns of spiritual disaster—people were walking away from faithfully following Jesus.
Anyone who has read the book gets its focus on the superiority of Jesus. But Hebrews is a pastoral exhortation, not a seminary textbook on Christology. Understanding and heeding this pastoral message requires us to take a journey down a long and winding road through some difficult terrain. Hebrews is almost as long as Romans and 1 Corinthians, and its argument is complicated. But if we keep a few things in mind, the message is clear and sobering.
Hebrews contains four types of speech, woven together to encourage us to keep on keeping on our discipleship journey:
- Exposition: The author of Hebrews explains how great Jesus is, that he is better than the Old Testament institutions and messengers (Heb 1:5-14; 2:5-3:6; 5:1-10; 7:1-10:18; 11:1-40; 13:1-25).
- Exhortation: The author of Hebrews uses this biblical exposition to urge us us to be faithful to God (Heb 4:11-16; 10:19-25; 12;1-24; 13:1-25)
- Admonition: The author of Hebrews warns us of the terrible consequences that will come if we do not obey the exhortations (Heb 2:1-4; 3:12-4:13; 5:11-6:8; 10:26-31; 12:25-29).
- Comfort: The author of Hebrews reassures us that there is hope despite all our difficulties, if we continue to follow Jesus (Heb 4:14-16; 6:9-20; 10:32-39).
These four kinds of messages combine to make the overall argument of the book, an argument from the lesser to the greater in the form of a syllogism:
- If Jesus is the Son who is ultimate messenger/message of God, our faithful high priest of the New Covenant,
- and if God punished unfaithfulness in the former days of partial revelation through the prophets,
- then how much more severely will unfaithfulness be punished now that God’s ultimate message has been made clear?
The outline below is one way of seeing the message of Hebrews at a glance—Jesus >. Jesus is superior to the good system God set in place in the Old Testament, and he is superior to the faithful servants of God who lived during those days.
Running the Race with Easter Endurance
“Strengthen your feeble arms and weak knees! (Hebrews 12:12 NIV)
As the book draws closer to its end, Hebrews 11 reminds us of the fidelity of past heroes and heroines. These great saints embody the truth of Habakkuk 2:4 (cited in 10:38), that God’s righteous people live by faith(fulness). This “Hall of Faithfulness” brings us to Hebrews 12:1, which refers to the faithful people of chapter 11 as a great cloud of witnesses that surround us. Although we can imagine a scene in which God’s saints in the grandstand cheer us along as we compete on the field, it’s not about us! The point of the passage is just the opposite. God’s past saints aren’t our fans, we are theirs! It’s not that they are watching us, we should be watching them! Their faithfulness testifies to us. If they could do it, so can we!
There’s more. We have an even great testimony to the life of faith. Jesus is the greatest possible witness to a life of fidelity to God (Heb 12:1-2; cf. 1 Tim 5:13; Rev 1:5). He is both founding pioneer and finishing perfecter of our faith. As we run the race of life, our gaze can never divert from faithful Jesus. None of us has ever gone through anything remotely approaching what Jesus went through for us. If our high priest could endure the punishment of the cross, we can endure whatever comes our way.
Have we forgotten the faithfulness of Jesus? Our recent Easter celebrations reminded us that after he endured the agony of the cross, Jesus was exalted to God’s right hand. As our enthroned champion, his faithfulness inspires and empowers us for the journey-race that is before us. He has already done everything he asks us to do:
- Life is stewardship. Jesus’ faithfulness to the Father summons us to use our gifts and opportunities everyday of our lives (Heb 2:17; 3:2, 6; 10:23; 11:11).
- Life has choices. Jesus’ obedience calls us to do what’s right, no matter the consequences (Heb 2:7; 5:8-9; 11:8; 13:17; cf. John 15:10).
- Life is a race. Jesus’ endurance blazes the trail that we follow in his steps (Heb 10:32, 36; 11:27; 12:1-3; 13:3).
- Life hurts. Jesus’ suffering shows us how to live when life seems unbearable (Heb 2:9-10, 18; 5:8; 10:32; 12:2; 13:12)
Jesus’ example, coupled with the Spirit’s enablement and the encouragement of the Scriptures, equips us to handle anything that God permits to come our way. This is the endurance that comes only from Easter. May we never forget the faithfulness of Jesus!
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Go here for Perfect, a video series of sermons on Hebrews from Chapel Pointe in Hudsonville Michigan. Go here for Admire, a video series from Chapel Pointe focusing on Hebrews 11.
Go here for an 8-part series on Hebrews by Pastor Derwin Gray.
Go here for the music video “Faithful God” by I AM THEY.
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Therefore, holy brothers and sisters, who share in the heavenly calling, fix your thoughts on Jesus, whom we acknowledge as our apostle and high priest. He was faithful to the one who appointed him, just as Moses was faithful in all God’s house. Jesus has been found worthy of greater honor than Moses, just as the builder of a house has greater honor than the house itself. For every house is built by someone, but God is the builder of everything. “Moses was faithful as a servant in all God’s house” [Numbers 12:7], bearing witness to what would be spoken by God in the future. But Christ is faithful as the Son over God’s house. And we are his house, if indeed we hold firmly to our confidence and the hope in which we glory. (Hebrews 3:1-6 NIV)
I want to be faithful, it’s just the doing of it that is hard!
Just like Peter said, “Lord, I believe. Help my unbelief.”
David, thanks for a great overview of Hebrews and resource for further study about the faithfulness of Christ, and interpretive grid as a pastoral letter.
David, I so much appreciate how you carry the Easter message forward past Easter. I remember your series years back with GIR that you presented with the same message. It is so easy to ‘do’ Easter, then move on with life, forgetting the significance of the Christ’s sacrifice for and gift to us.
Thank you for your faithfulness in keeping us grounded in the teachings of God’s Word!
This is so helpful.
I love Hebrews, but it always seemed so big and unwieldy and mysterious.
I couldn’t grasp the overall gist.
I had favorite chapters and verses, of course,
but was lost as to the main point.
The message at a glance: Jesus > !
The faithfulness of Jesus–yes!
I’ll be printing this out and trying to learn it and share it.
The blue boxes are so helpful.
Thank you for thinking this through and passing it on.
And thank you for the links to related videos and sermons.
P.S.
One thing that grates, though, is Easter.
I cannot help but hear “Ishtar” every time I see/hear “easter.”
My little voice saying “Resurrection Day” doesn’t echo far,
but I think if theologians and pastors would make the switch,
it would definitely help the church and especially young people and children
focus on what we are celebrating.
King Jesus doesn’t really get much attention on the major Christian holidays, I noticed.
Does that bother anyone else?
Thanks Mary, glad the post is helpful.
I agree with you that some Christian “holidays” have connections with pagan celebrations. I haven’t really looked into it, but I think early Christians tried to use existing holidays as opportunities to get the gospel message out. Nowadays they call that contextualization. As to Easter and Ishtar, there’s no linguistic connection between the two words, as Steven Morgan shows here:
https://www.nobts.edu/geauxtherefore/articles/2018/Memelords.html
It wouldn’t be a bad idea to speak of Easter as Resurrection Day. Better yet, let’s just reaffirm that Good Friday and Easter Sunday are rooted in the biblical Jewish Passover celebration. That’s clear in the Gospels. Paul referred to Christ as our Passover lamb.
What it comes down to for me is not what we call it but how we celebrate it, as you say, with King Jesus getting the attention he alone deserves!
Great post Dr. Dave,
Totally blessed by it!
Thanks Bill. Long time. Great to hear from you again. Send me an email and let me know how you’re doing.
David,
The four types of messages and the outline in the blue box helped me understand the flow of argument and teaching embodied in Hebrews. As others have responded already, many of us including myself, do not emphasize the power of the resurrected Jesus. He is indeed the author and perfecter of our faith. Living that out is a daily challenge.
Amen and thanks Jerry. I’m thinking about making a chart of Hebrews with columns for each of the four types of speech. If you list the chunks in order in the correct column I think it would look like a set of downward stairways!
Thank you for great work. In light of your analysis, I’m curious how you would apply to US society the most commonly used exhortation from Hebrews (in my experience), “Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.” As the pandemic wanes, I hear many pastors lamenting that the long-term trend of lower church attendance is accelerating. Some are inclined to see this as a great apostasy, while others see it as a shift in how people “do church,” where they find fellowship and inspiration for faithfully following Christ. I’m sympathetic to the latter view.
Thanks for the thoughtful question Doug. “let us not forsake assembling . . .” (10:25) may well be the most commonly used text from Hebrews. Another common one is its bookend 4:4:11-16 (“the word is sharper than a 2-edged sword . . . let us draw near to the throne of grace”). And there’s always 12:2, “looking to Jesus the author and finisher . . .”. The problem is we seldom look at these texts in context and we miss their urgency.
I’m not up on the studies of trends in church attendance and how COVID has impacted things. I’m blessed to belong to a church that has kept on growing right through COVID. I wonder whether people who stopped going to church A during COVID are now going to church B, or meeting in smaller house-churches, or streaming services into their home with their family and friends. Whatever, apostasy isn’t as simplistic as attending church less often or in a different way. Apostasy is intentionally turning away from Jesus Christ with eyes wide open. It may happen due to false teaching, as Paul warned in 1-2 Timothy, or it may happen due to a combination of persecution and false teaching as in Hebrews and Matthew 24:9-14.
Following Jesus isn’t a solo gig, it’s done in community, and community can be experienced at a physical site or a website (or a combination of the two). I greatly favor the former, but I’m to going to label those who don’t as apostates. So, I guess we agree!