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Luke 5:11, Isaiah 9:6, Luke 8:18

Jesus is God’s Message

Filed Under: Devotions by Chuck
September 23, 2019

The superiority of Christ to the prophets, angels, Moses, the Law itself, the priests of Aaron’s line, and everything else as well, has been the subject of the epistle to the Hebrews since the opening verse. Don’t attach Hebrews 5:11 with the short dependent clause of verse 10 “to those who obey him.” Many people will argue that “eternal salvation” is at stake and the writer wants to speak more about the call on us for righteous living rather than the call on us to trust Christ for everything. Hebrews 5:11 says, “About this we have much to say, and it is hard to explain, since you have become dull of hearing.” The coming exhortations which have caused so much confusion are not about living a more moral lifestyle but about living a more faith filled lifestyle. Jesus is better than anything you can imagine. Put your faith in Him and only in Him. The Handbook for Translators talks about the title heading for the next few verses and it rightly captures this theme. It says, “The section heading Warning against Abandoning the Faith may be expressed as an imperative; for example, “Do not give up trusting in Christ” or “Do not cease believing in Christ.”[1]

What’s at stake is not our eternal salvation in the upcoming warning passage, but the loss of “rest” that comes from trusting in the full sufficiency of Christ. What he has a lot more to say about is not exhortation to keep the law but true spiritual growth through understanding all the wonderful mysteries of Jesus as revealed to us in the whole Bible. He is found in it from Genesis through Revelation. He explained how the Old Testament was about Himself to the two disciples on the road to Emmaus. Then he opened their eyes to see Him for who He was.  When He spoke with the religious leaders, He reminded them that they search the scriptures because they think they have eternal life in them but then adds that the whole Old Testament is about Himself. But the religious leaders were blind to that truth. They could not see it. Very often Jesus spoke of those who “had ears but couldn’t hear or eyes but couldn’t see.” Their religion has blinded them to the truth of Jesus as the subject of God’s entire revelation to man. Even today religious rituals, rules and regulations blind people to Jesus. It’s easier to focus on our own righteousness than to trust in Jesus’ righteousness. We make the Old Testament stories into examples for us to follow rather than revelations of Jesus. We reduce Christianity to another self-help book while we focus our attention on ourselves rather than Jesus.

What the author of Hebrews has a lot more to talk about is Jesus. He’s already proven that in the first five chapters. He’s quoted numerous times from the Old Testament to show that it’s pointing to Jesus. He adds that this is hard to explain and takes real maturity to understand. Jesus is the subject of the Bible! So he brings up an obscure reference to a priest in the book of Genesis that Abraham gave a tithe to, and explains how that story is really about Jesus. Jesus is the one who fulfills the priestly as well as the kingly line of Melchizedek. Melchizedek makes intercession to God for Abraham and the people. Jesus makes intercession on behalf of all mankind. Melchizedek is the king of Salem (Peace!). But Jesus fulfills that role totally! He is the “prince of peace” (Isaiah 9:6). After explaining the parable of the soils in which the seed is the “word” of God, He says in Luke 8:18, “take care then how you hear.”

[1] Paul Ellingworth and Eugene Albert Nida, A Handbook on the Letter to the Hebrews, UBS Handbook Series (New York: United Bible Societies, 1994), 102.

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Hebrews 5:9-10

Obey the Law or believe in Jesus?

Filed Under: Devotions by Chuck
September 23, 2019

Hebrews 12:2 says we should be “…looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.” This verse speaks of the “founder” of our faith as well as the “perfecter” of our faith. Hebrews 5:9-10 looks at the “foundation” of our faith; our eternal salvation. It says, “And being made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey him, being designated by God a high priest after the order of Melchizedek.” Jesus was perfected, not morally, but essentially at His resurrection where He took on a resurrected body and now sits next to God the Father where He can be our effectual High Priest and intercede for us with the Father.

Hebrews chapter seven is all about how much greater the priesthood of Melchizedek is than those of Aaron’s line who offered sacrifices for the people. The focus will be on the fact that Melchizedek has no beginning and no ending and that’s why Jesus was appointed as priest of that order rather than of Aaron’s order. The resurrection clarifies the eternal nature of Jesus’ role in heaven seated with the Father. The habitual practice of the “Hebrews” of offering blood sacrifices was deeply seated in their lives and it was extremely hard for them to let go of those religious practices as the basis of having their sins forgiven by God. Many of us today have been raised under strict religious regimes and have a hard time feeling at peace with God when we don’t live up to those standards. Like the Hebrews we continue with our religious rituals “just in case” Jesus is not enough. We feel guilty if we don’t perform. We feel less “saved” if we don’t observe the traditional routines. By focusing on the superiority of Jesus and the fact that He is “the source of our eternal salvation,” the writer of Hebrews is pointing out verse after verse, chapter after chapter, the full sufficiency of Christ’s sacrifice and intercession on our behalf.

According to Ray Brown, Jesus is the source of “eternal salvation” only to those who “obey him.” He understands “obey” to mean keeping the Law because He says that eternal salvation is achieved “…only by a lifetime of constantly renewed dedication and obedient responsiveness to all that God requires of his people.”[1] Nothing is more destructive to our peace with God than teaching like this. God calls us to perfection under the law! Paul tells us that the standard required is impossible for anyone to attain! The Gospel itself is the call that Jesus accomplished for us, what we could not do for ourselves. He was perfect and “perfected” for us all. Don’t put your faith and confidence in your strength to live up to the standards of the law! You’ll constantly fail. Instead, believe the Gospel. Jesus’ perfection is ours by faith. Pfeiffer says that the obedience referenced in this passage is “an obedience of faith.” He writes, “Jesus was obedient to the Father. Now He seeks the obedience of faith of all who would share His blessings. Faith may be regarded as the response of obedience to the preaching of the message of redemption in Christ.”[2]

[1] Raymond Brown, The Message of Hebrews: Christ above All, The Bible Speaks Today (Leicester, England; Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1988), 102.

[2] Charles F. Pfeiffer, The Epistle to the Hebrews, Everyman’s Bible Commentary (Chicago, IL: Moody Press, 1962), 46.

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Hebrews 5:7-8, Philippians 2:6-11, Hebrews 12:2-3

Focus on Jesus!

Filed Under: Devotions by Chuck
September 20, 2019

When the author of Hebrews mentions the prayer of Jesus that was answered by God, he is referring to the passionate prayer in the garden of Gethsemane. It appears that Jesus prayed that God would deliver Him from the death that faced Him. But if the prayer was answered by God as the writer asserts, it must have been a prayer to be delivered, not from this death, but through this death. Piper suggests that it’s a prayer to “hang in there” through the excruciating ordeal He was about to undergo. Which is exactly what happened. He was successful through His trials and as Pfeiffer observes, “Jesus overcame the power of death. Jesus tasted death, but in so doing He opened the vistas of endless life for His people. The temptation of Jesus ‘in all points’ included the issues of death, but He accepted the Father’s will and ‘for the joy … set before him’ endured its agonies.”[1] But then comes Hebrews 5:8 which says, “Although he was a son, he learned obedience through what he suffered.”

I’m alarmed at how many commentators want to make this comment about us. You see, we learn obedience through suffering for sure. It would be clearer to say that we learn obedience through disobedience. But not Jesus! He was obedient from beginning to end! When I commented on Hebrews 5:7, I referred to Philippians 2:6-11. I’m still convinced that these verses are parallel to those in Hebrews 5:7-8. You see, Jesus wasn’t an ordinary priest or even an ordinary son. He was “the” Son of God and could have bypassed the pains and sufferings of the cross if He had so chose. That was even the temptation used by Satan in the wilderness. It was what Satan tried again, using Peter to dissuade Jesus from completing His mission. No way! Jesus would have none of it and I think Hebrews 5:8 is saying something to the effect of Philippians 2:8, “he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.” He was obedient up to and including death!

Jesus is so much more important than the priests of the Old Testament because He was not only intercessor, bringing sacrifices for the sins of the people, He was also the sacrifice itself. He was the perfectly obedient Son of God who had no need to offer sacrifices for Himself like the priests did. The sacrifices for sin offered by priests had to pass through sinful, human hands! The sacrifice Jesus brought was perfect in every respect and was presented to God as payment for our sins through the only perfectly obedient intercessor. Not even the death on the cross deterred Jesus from becoming the perfect High Priest for us all. Jesus did not experience disobedience but he suffered the consequences of our disobedience to the fullest extent possible, even death on the cross. No knees are going to bow to the Angels. They bow to Jesus. No souls will be saved through the Laws of Moses, and no sacrifice offered by sinful human priests will make peace with God on our behalf. He is the one and only! Several times already he has instructed his readers to keep their eyes on Jesus. In Hebrews 12:2 he says again, “Look to Jesus” and then again in Hebrews 12:3, “consider him…” Like Peter on the water, we must keep our eyes on Jesus! As soon as we take them off of Him and focus on ourselves, we will sink.

[1] Charles F. Pfeiffer, The Epistle to the Hebrews, Everyman’s Bible Commentary (Chicago, IL: Moody Press, 1962), 45.

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Hebrews 5:7, Philippians 2:6-11, Colossians 1:18

Jesus is Preeminent!

Filed Under: Devotions by Chuck
September 20, 2019

Jesus, as a priest of the order of Melchizedek, was of an older priesthood affirmed by the father of the faithful himself, Abraham. The Messiah, the Christ, who existed in eternity past with the Father in all His divine glory, was to serve as priest and king for all mankind forever and ever. His reign will have no end! Now to further his argument that Jesus is the only acceptable intermediary for us, the author of Hebrews turns to the days of Jesus’ incarnation. Hebrews 5:7 says, “In the days of his flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to him who was able to save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverence.” The writer is going to focus on Jesus’ superiority in all things and His worthiness of our entire attention. The God man, the Messiah, was actually born into the family of man in order to become our fully-sufficient sacrifice. He felt our pains and cried out to God for deliverance and was answered.

This is one verse that might sway me toward seeing Paul as the writer of Hebrews. I don’t believe he was, but the similarity between this verse and Paul’s words in Philippians 2:6-11 strike me. Paul wrote about Jesus saying, “Though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”

With great tears, Jesus prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane and God heard that prayer! In His humble submission to death, which was the Father’s will for His Son in order to save us all, He was raised from the dead and elevated to the highest possible position. Jesus is so far above the prophets, the angels, the priests, and even Moses, that it’s at His name, and only at His name, every knee will bow and worship. Jesus deserves and yes, demands, all our attention. Paul tells the Colossians, “He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent” (Colossians 1:18). Unfortunately we focus way too much attention on our own efforts, our works of righteousness that don’t matter at all except being as filthy rags, rather than putting Christ ahead of everything. Let Him be preeminent in our lives: thinking, living, and preaching! He is the only one who deserves it and demands it.

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Hebrews 5:6, Psalm 110, 1 Timothy 2:3-7

Proclaim Jesus!

Filed Under: Devotions by Chuck
September 17, 2019

The author of Hebrews isn’t through arguing for the superiority of Jesus as the intercessor on our behalf, over the priesthood of Israel. Like Aaron, Jesus was appointed directly from God. Unlike the corrupt priesthood in the day that was purchased or gained through political intrigue, Jesus was twice identified in His life personally by God as the appointed intercessor for all mankind. He was superior because He was one of the people, human, himself but without sin. His sacrifice did not pass through the sinful hands of any man. God directly appointed Him and then established Him as the High Priest for all mankind through the resurrection from the dead. But there was more evidence to support Jesus’ superiority. Hebrews 5:6 says, “As he says also in another place, ‘You are a priest forever, after the order of Melchizedek.’”

Mentioning Melchizedek is a reference back to the days of Abraham. Pfeiffer explains the significance of this. He says, “This provides the key to the contention that the priesthood of Christ is superior to that of Aaron and his descendants. Although all priests in Israel had to be of the Aaronic line, the Law itself spoke of a pre-Aaronic priest who was recognized by no less a personage than Abraham. Melchizedek had been the priest-king of the city-state of Jerusalem (Salem) at the time Abraham had rescued Lot from his captors. Subsequently the Psalmist spoke of an ideal and everlasting priestly line after the order of Melchizedek.”[1] It seems that the mention of Melchizedek is saying that Jesus was of an order that pre-dates Aaron. He is superior because He was priest long before Aaron even existed. Jesus’ order is affirmed by Abraham, the father of the whole nation, and therefore is superior.

But it’s not only that the Order of Melchizedek, of which Jesus belonged, is much older than the priests of Aaron’s line, it is an order that will last forever and ever and ever, Hallelujah! The quote from Psalm 110 is a key passage for understanding much of what is to follow in the book of Hebrews. But it seems to me that the purpose of it begins in this verse by pointing out that Jesus’ divine appointment predates Aaron’s and will outlast Aaron’s. Further it is an uncorrupted priesthood unlike that of Aaron’s. The priests cannot offer an acceptable sacrifice for our sins. They cannot intercede for us. Neither the Prophets, the Angels, or Moses himself are capable of mediating a relationship with God. Only Jesus can do that. Paul encourages the young preacher, Timothy, to set aside his interests in the law and efforts at measuring up to God’s standards. He wants Timothy to focus on what matters. He says, in 1 Timothy 2:3f that God…”desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.” What is that truth Paul? Verse 5 tells us, “For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all.” Paul goes on to tell Timothy, “For this I was appointed a preacher and an apostle.” Preachers should preach “Jesus.”

[1] Charles F. Pfeiffer, The Epistle to the Hebrews, Everyman’s Bible Commentary (Chicago, IL: Moody Press, 1962), 44.

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Hebrews 5:5, Psalm 2:7

Listen to Jesus!

Filed Under: Devotions by Chuck
September 17, 2019

In chapter 5 of the Epistle to the Hebrews, the writer is arguing for the superiority of Jesus as the great high priest over the high priests of Israel in Aaron’s line.  First it was noted that the high priests of Israel were sinners and had to offer sacrifices for their own sins before they could offer them for the nation’s sins. This is not so with Jesus. All the sacrifices offered by man, any man, are tainted with sin. The only perfect, pure sacrifice was offered by Jesus on our behalf. Then the writer notes that priests are appointed by God and don’t have the authority to appoint themselves. In Exodus 28 we see that God called for Aaron so that He could appoint him and his sons as priests for Israel. The calling is something God does and this is exactly what happened with Jesus. Hebrews 5:5 says, “So also Christ did not exalt himself to be made a high priest, but was appointed by him who said to him, ‘You are my Son, today I have begotten you.’”

The superiority of Christ’s priesthood over the Aaronic Order was important for a couple of reasons. Furthermore, Jesus’ role has nothing to do with His lineage. He’s not of the line of Aaron, therefore a direct commission from God had to be made and it was. He didn’t inherit it as a child of Aaron but received it personally as a commission from God directly like Aaron himself did. But also the high priesthood had become a political office. It did not even directly follow in Aaron’s line. Guzik observes this, “It is easy to see why the priesthood of Jesus was difficult for early Jewish Christians to grasp. Jesus was not from the lineage of Aaron. Jesus neither claimed nor practiced special ministry in the temple. He confronted the religious structure instead of joining it. In Jesus’ day, the priesthood became a corrupt institution. The office was gained through intrigue and politicking among corrupt leaders.”[1]

There were competing voices crying for their own right to be high priest! That’s not the way Aaron was called to that office and it was not the way Jesus was called to His office. Many of the commentators argue that the “today I have begotten you” in this verse is of course a reference to Psalm 7. But the application of this to Jesus by the author of Hebrews is pointing toward the day of Jesus’ resurrection from the dead. We’ll see in Hebrews 5:9 that the day of Jesus appointment is referring to the day He was “Perfected.” Pentecost says, “By quoting Psalm 2:7 he shows instead that, at the resurrection, Jesus Christ was appointed by His Father to the role of High Priest.”[2] Pfeiffer observes, “Both at the baptism of Jesus and at the moment of His transfiguration the Father designated Jesus as the Son who was to be heard and obeyed.”[3] The obvious superiority of Jesus over prophets, Moses, Angels, and the Priests of Israel should make it clear who we should listen to. It’s all about Him! He interprets the Bible for us! He informed us on several occasions that it was all about Him. Focus your attention and look for and listen to Jesus.

[1] David Guzik, Hebrews, David Guzik’s Commentaries on the Bible (Santa Barbara, CA: David Guzik, 2013), Heb 5:5–6.

[2] J. Dwight Pentecost and Ken Durham, Faith That Endures : A Practical Commentary on the Book of Hebrews, Rev. ed. (Grand Rapids, MI: Kregel Publications, 2000), 94.

[3] Charles F. Pfeiffer, The Epistle to the Hebrews, Everyman’s Bible Commentary (Chicago, IL: Moody Press, 1962), 44.

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Hebrews 5:4, Exodus 28:1

Letting Jesus Be Jesus!

Filed Under: Devotions by Chuck
September 12, 2019

The “honor” of serving as a High Priest in Israel was something that no one could bestow upon himself. Aaron did not appoint himself. In Exodus 28:1, God calls Moses to bring Aaron and his sons before Him that He could appoint them as the priests of Israel. As it was God Himself that appointed Aaron, so too it was God Himself who appointed Jesus to His role as the Great High Priest for us all. Hebrews 5:4 says, “And no one takes this honor for himself, but only when called by God, just as Aaron was.” The writer of the Handbook for Translators wants those who wrestle with this text in different languages to focus on the issue at hand and not be misled by the idea of the “call” itself. They say, “The wider context is concerned with valid appointment to the office of high priest, not so much with the call itself.”[1]

I can’t tell you how many sermons I’ve heard, books I’ve read, and Christians I have talked to, that try to take this passage and some others that are talking about the legitimacy of Christ’s call by God, and apply it to a human “call to ministry.” That’s not what this passage is about. It’s not about me although I would like it to be sometimes. It’s about Jesus! So much of the Bible is taken out of context in order to make it mean something “to me” that the original point is missed altogether. The Bible is all about Jesus, it’s not about you! He’s the only one who can offer a perfect sacrifice for our sins. Only His righteousness is sufficient to meet the perfect demands of God. Jesus’ perfect life and perfect sacrifice on Calvary is what the Bible is all about. He’s the center of God’s message to man and it’s seen from Genesis through Revelation. He does for you and I what we could never do for ourselves. If you feel you have to add something to that through your own efforts, dedication and hard work, I feel sorry for you.

You and I were not appointed by God to save ourselves or others! We are not David going down to meet Goliath in the Valley of Elah! Not nearly! I am a frightened warrior standing with other frightened warriors needing a champion to fight for me. Jesus is that Champion. I am not Joshua (OT name for Jesus) wanting to stand against the giants in the land of Canaan. I am one of the other spies shaking in my boots at the size and demeanor of the enemy. I’m the one who needs a champion to take the land for me. Jesus is that Champion. We must stop seeing the Bible as just another self-help book to inspire us to take control of our lives; “Be like Daniel! Be like Joshua! Be like David! Be like Jesus!” I am not Daniel. I am not Joshua. I am not David, and I am certainly not Jesus! I want to let Jesus be Jesus! I want to be the sinner who is saved by God’s grace through the only perfect life and sacrifice that could ever be made. It’s not until we get over ourselves and let Jesus be our savior that we’ll ever find true rest. Through faith in Christ, my Giant enemies have been conquered! He did it for me. He is the only legitimately appointed Messiah, Savior, of us all. We cannot save ourselves. We must let Jesus save us!

[1] Paul Ellingworth and Eugene Albert Nida, A Handbook on the Letter to the Hebrews, UBS Handbook Series (New York: United Bible Societies, 1994), 96.

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Hebrews 5:3, Jeremiah 17:9

Jesus: The Only Pure Sacrifice

Filed Under: Devotions by Chuck
September 11, 2019

The subject of Hebrews chapter five is the superiority of Jesus’ priesthood over the Aaronic priesthood of the Old Testament. The chief priests of Israel were to deal “gently” with God’s people. That should not have been a problem for them because they were “one” of them. They were taken from among the people and shared all the same struggles as the people and what was even more important, they were sinners just like the people they offered sacrifices for. Hebrews 5:3 says, “Because of this, he is obligated to offer sacrifice for his own sins just as he does for those of the people.”

You would think this would lead to a “gentle” approach to dealing with sinners, being one yourself. I like the way Hughes put it, “When one is truly aware that he or she is a sinner, and couples this with the interior awareness of human weakness, this person will deal gently with others. Conversely, a harsh, judgmental, unsympathetic spirit is a telltale indication that one has outgrown his sense of weakness and awareness of sin. Many evangelicals fall into this syndrome after humbly coming to Christ at conversion, for their initial experience of sanctification deludes them into imagining they are better than others. Such arrogation however, actually disqualifies them from spiritual ministry.”[1] This is an important observation because this became the fate of the priests and religious leaders in Jesus’ day. They were able to blind themselves to their own sinfulness and focus their attention on demanding righteousness from others. Jesus often tried to bring the religious people to an understanding of their own sinfulness. It didn’t seem to work well.

Jesus, on the other hand, as Brown says, “certainly did not need to offer a sacrifice for his own sins as the Old Testament priests did, but because he went through so much bitter and hostile temptation, he can the more effectively meet our own deep spiritual needs.”[2] How can He be more effective than someone who sins in the same way as the people do? All the sacrifices offered at the hands of the priests of Israel were offered by the hands of sinful people. Their hearts, as Jeremiah said, “were desperately wicked and deceitful above all things” (Jeremiah 17:9). All the sacrifices offered to God on behalf of the people were filtered through the sinful hands of the priests, no matter how accurate the offering was. Regardless of how sincere the sinner was in bringing his offering or how sincere the priest was, every sacrifice was filtered through sinful hands. Every offering of man is corrupt! But Jesus’ offering was pure in every way. There was no guile, no corruption, no deceit, nothing that defiled the offering. Jesus was both the sacrifice and the offeror! The sinfulness of the priests made it impossible for them to offer a pure sacrifice! Listen, all the sacrifices you and I make are corrupt! They all pass through sinful hands and hearts! The only sacrifice worth putting your faith and confidence in is the one that Jesus made for you.

[1] R. Kent Hughes, Hebrews: An Anchor for the Soul, vol. 1, Preaching the Word (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 1993), 138–139.

[2] Raymond Brown, The Message of Hebrews: Christ above All, The Bible Speaks Today (Leicester, England; Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1988), 97–98.

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