Hebrews 5:11-6:8.  For me this is a kind of hard section.  The author has been explaining about Jesus, how he is a “High Priest”, really the highest.  He is a priest who was appointed to the job by God not one who was born into the family of Levi (Jesus was from the tribe of Judah).  In today’s reading the author stops very suddenly, he wants to say more about Jesus but tells his readers they are not yet ready.  His statement is very abrupt, something like, “You’re not listening!”  Then he tells them that, even though they should be mature, that they are babies.  They should be teachers but they are still students.

In chapter 6 the author gives them a partial solution to their problem; they need to move forward in their understanding about Jesus.  Some translations use the phrase “elementary teachings” in Hebrews 6:1, the two Greek words are “arche” and “logos”.  The first word means beginning and the second word means “words”.  When we think of elementary we think of simple but the phrase here is talking about early teachings or former teachings.  It is clear from the rest of verse 1 and from verse 2 that the teaching the author is talking about is not simple.  If the book was written to believers who had been raised in the Jewish faith then this makes sense, the author is telling them to move ahead in what they think they understand about the Messiah or Christ.  They need to stop saying “But, But, But,…” and realize that Jesus is the promised one.

Verses 4-8 get pretty heavy.  Verses 4-5 go to great lengths to describe certain believers in Jesus.  They have been “enlightened” that is they have “seen” the truth about Jesus.  They have received the gift and have been filled up with the Holy Spirit.  Then I verse 6 we see that these people have “fallen away”.  The Greek word means to fall to the side or to wander away.  We are told that it is impossible to bring theses people back because they have “crucified to themselves the Son of God and have put him to open shame.”  I actually like the way the King James translation puts that part of the verse, “they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to open shame.”  We need to remember that crucifixion was a form of killing, putting to death.  We also need to remember that the main idea behind death is separation.  So these people are separating themselves from Jesus and it is dishonoring to him.  A lot of people might point to this verse and say it tells us that people can be believers and “lose” their salvation.  We need to remember that while death means separation that life is just the opposite, it is union or communion, sharing together.  John 3:16 tells us that “who ever believes in Jesus has eternal life”; that is an eternal union or relationship with God, it cannot be broken.  These verses in Hebrews are not talking about salvation but about our usefulness to God.  That is very clear from verses 7-8.  The land needs to be useful or it will be burned over.  That is the produce of the land will be destroyed.  In 1 Corinthians 3:11-15 we see a similar picture when the efforts of believers is tested by fire (fire was used to purify metals in the olden days and to remove impurities).  But notice in those verses that the person is still “saved”.  So the warning here is to remain faithful to Jesus and not to turn away.  It is serious to give your life to Jesus and then flip flop, once a person starts making excuses and compromises it is tough to turn back.  They will still be a part of God’s kingdom but will have very little to show in appreciation to God for what Jesus has done.

A couple of things seem pretty cool to me.  First is Hebrews 5:14.  Understanding the Bible takes work, we need to practice.   If you are reading this Blog hopefully it is helping you get the big picture and understand the details.  The next thing I really like is Hebrews 6:3, right in the middle of scolding the readers about being backwards the author says he is willing to go over it all with them again.  It’s like he is saying to students who keep making arithmetic mistakes on their algebra homework, “You guys should be doing trigonometry by now but you keep making mistakes about fractions.  I’ll try to find some time to review that with you.”  I was in a “Bible Study Methods” class in college one time and the teacher kept talking about parts of speech and sentences and diagramming sentences and assumed that we all knew all about this stuff.  After class one day I told him that we really didn’t understand.  Instead of going back and explaining it to the class he told me I was getting a good enough grade and to just keep moving ahead.  I told him I was paying money to learn and if I wasn’t going to learn I was going to leave and that’s just what I did, I dropped the class.  That teachers could have taken a lesson from the author of Hebrews.  But most of all I appreciate how faithful God is even when we are not.  But it will be sad for us if all we have to show God in eternity is a burned out life.

God help me be a fruitful field (maybe a tomato field, yum).  Let my life be beautiful to you.  Help me be faithful to Jesus.  Thank you for forgiving all my failure.

Hebrews 4:14-5:10.   A couple of days ago we saw Jesus compared to both an apostle and a high priest.  In today’s reading we see the whole High Priest thing brought up again.  Yesterday’s reading ended with a warning; we need to take advantage of the offer God has made before it is too late.  We need to accept his free offer of a new relationship through Jesus, today.  And we need to not think we can fool God, he knows what we really think.  Not accepting Jesus has the serious consequence of an eternity separated from God.

Many people want to reject God and Jesus because they think God cannot relate to them.  “God doesn’t know what I feel, what I want, what will make me happy.”  In today’s reading we see that, since Jesus lived a human life he can relate to us.  But he is also the “son of God”, he is actually the same “stuff” God is, he is God (See Hebrews 1:8-10 where Jesus is called both God and Yahweh (v. 10 via the quote)).   So Jesus can relate to us (Hebrews 4:15) and he also has the power to take care of our sins (Hebrews 2:17).

Remember this book was originally written to Jewish believers, many of whom had been priests.  As priests they would look to the High Priest as a sort of boss.  Here in chapter 5 we see the author encouraging them that they are still faithful, they are following the ultimate high priest.  In verses 1-4 we see that the Priest was a man, that his job was to represent men before God, that he can sympathize with those people because he too fails, that he needs to offer sacrifices for himself, and that his job was given to him by God (he didn’t earn it).  In the same way in verses 5-10 we see the similarities, and a few differences, of the kind of priest Jesus was.   He also was appointed to the job by God the Father (See “Three or One?”).  In verse 6 we see that Jesus is not a priest because he was born in the family of Levi (which he was not) but that he is a specially selected priest like the Old Testament character Melchizedek (Genesis 14:18).  Melchizedek was not only a priest but he was also a king (of Jerusalem way before it became a part of the land of Israel).  That’s interesting because if you read through Isaiah with us you might remember that the Messiah or Christ would ultimately be a king on the throne of David (See also Hebrews 1:8).  By bringing up Melchizedek the author makes it clear that it is God who decides who is a priest.  Melchizedek lived in the time of Abraham and received offerings from Abraham, the grandfather of Levi.

In verses 7-9 we see Jesus performing the function of a priest by representing us before God.  He prayed for us and cried for us.  And his prayers were answered because of his obedience.  Although he was the Son of God he submitted himself to the plan that God had to save us.  Jesus would pay the price for us all.  Because he practiced obedience or submitted to the plan, the plan was fulfilled, sin was paid for.  When some translations say the “He became perfect” it means that he fulfilled his part of the plan.  The word perfect means to fill up or complete.  Because the plan was “filled up” Jesus became the source of eternal life for all will similarly submit to the plan, we need to give in to Jesus as the only “way” to God (John 14:6).

Verse 10 repeats Jesus’ credentials, he is a special High Priest appointed directly by God.  Later the author of Hebrews will revisit Melchizedek so I won’t say more here.  Jesus deserved the respect of the Hebrew Christians and of those who had been priests.  Because of who Jesus is and what he has done we can all approach the throne of God with confidence (Hebrews 4:16).  According to 1 Peter 2:9 we are all priests (it’s interesting that Peter uses “royal” in describing us too).  And notice in Hebrews 4:16 that not only can we approach God with confidence we need to.  Jesus not only provided a way to have peace with God we are encouraged by him to come near.  In the story of the “prodigal son” (Luke 15:11-32) we see that the father (a picture of God) wasn’t really interested so much in the lost money but in having his son back.  God is serious about having a relationship with each one of us, Jesus was not just about settling up our debt but in bringing us close to God.  We need to not neglect so great a salvation and come near to God today and everyday through Jesus.

God it is amazing to me that you love me.  We are nothing, animated dirt, but you love us.  We offend you but you love us.  You are amazing.  Thank you for Jesus, thank you for life, thank you for telling me your story.  Help me live a story for you that responds with a fraction of the love you have for me.