Our first lesson in the epistle to the Hebrews selects some key verses. Noticing these will help to introduce and commend the letter to us, and make us aware from the outset of the main idea in the letter, which is the authority exercised by Jesus as our great High Priest.
Theme Verses
The first few verses in each of the first three chapters are "nutshell" verses. They express the great theme which concerns the writer to the Hebrews.
This theme in Hebrews is that God has spoken to us through Jesus Christ his Son and our great High Priest, so we should pay attention to his message and fix our thoughts upon him.
Heb 1:1-4 Today God speaks through his Son.
Heb 2:1-3 We have heard what Jesus says and we should pay much more attention to what we have heard.
Heb 3:1-3 We should consider (fix our thoughts on) Jesus as our great High Priest, and not neglect the great salvation that he preached.
Nine Beliefs About Jesus
Heb 1:1-4 In the first theme verse above, there are nine statements made about Jesus. The epistle elsewhere makes further true statements about Jesus, but these nine, at the start, express the writer’s understanding of Jesus, and underpin the main ideas in his letter. These nine points show...
THE ABSOLUTE AUTHORITY OF JESUS TO SPEAK AS GOD.
God speaks to us by him. In times past God spoke through men, namely the prophets. But in the last days, God spoke through God, namely his Son Jesus.
He has been appointed heir of all things. The Son has the authority to speak, because the Father shares his whole estate with his Son, including the gospel by which we are saved.
He created the worlds. Not only does he share all things with his Father, but helped his Father create the entire material cosmos, all the heavenly realms, and all that is in them (cf Jhn 1:3).
He is the radiance of God’s glory. Christ the Son is subject to his Father, but is not inferior to him. He dwells in the same glory as his Father (cf Jhn 1:9,14 1Tm 6:14-16).
He is the exact image of God. Jesus said, "He who has seen me has seen the Father" (Jhn 14:9). Jesus represents his father exactly, and all that we see in Jesus Christ is exactly what we would see in the Father. There is not the slightest shade of difference.
He sustains everything by his word. In a similar list of points (Col 1:13-20) Paul says, "in him all things hold together". If not for the exercise of Christ’s authority, evil forces would tear heaven and earth apart and all things would cease to exist.
He alone cleansed our sins. Nobody, nobody at all but Jesus, could offer to God an acceptable sacrifice for all sin.
He sat down at God’s right hand. To sit at the right hand of God means to share the throne of God, to reign with the very authority of God granted by God the Father.
He became superior to the angels. We know that in the heavenly hierarchy, angels are above mankind, because man was made "a little lower than the angels" (Psa 8:4-6). We also know that there is a hierarchy among the angels, for the Bible mentions Michael the archangel (Jde 1:9). There is no hint in the Bible of any authority higher than the angels yet lower than God’s. If Christ is elevated above the angels, he therefore has the next highest authority, which is that of God himself.
The Two Natures of Christ
Heb 2:9
The authority of Jesus Christand his divine nature In the opening statements noted above, and the following discussion in chapter one (comparing Christ to angels), there has been an emphasis on the divine nature of Christ and his superior authority deriving from it.
The obedience of Jesusand his human nature Now, in chapter two, the discussion turns to the fleshly nature of Jesus "made a little lower than the angels" by virtue of which Jesus, as an obedient and faithful Son, was able to become a merciful and faithful High Priest who made atonement for everyone by the sacrifice of himself.
A Key Quote From the Old Testament
Psa 110:4 This key prophecy, "The Lord has sworn, and will not change his mind, 'You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek'", is quoted twice in Hebrews, and is the basis of some very strong and crucial arguments.
The authority of Christ’s priesthood(Heb 5:6-10) The prophecy is introduced in chapter five, mainly to show the priestly authority of Jesus Christ the Son of God. He did not appoint himself, but was called and designated as a high priest by God.
Three other key characteristics of Christ’s priesthood(Heb 7:11-28) The prophecy is examined in more depth in chapter seven, which is an exposition of the three points in the prophecy that demonstrate the superiority of Christ’s priesthood.
He was a priest forever. He rose from the dead and ascended into the heavens and lives forever. The priesthood of old was subject to the vicissitude occasioned by death.
He was a priest like Melchizedek. Melchizedek held the two offices of priest and king. He was superior to Abraham because he blessed and received tithes from Abraham (Heb 7:1-10). So the order of Melchizedek’s priesthood was superior to the order of Levi and Aaron the descendants of Abraham.
He became a priest through an oath sworn by God. The appointment of the priests of old was significantly without oath. Christ’s appointment to priesthood, by comparison, was based on an oath sworn by God. An oath sworn by God has the highest authority.
The Hebrew writer shows how these points make the priesthood of Christ infinitely superior to the old priesthood, which had none of these advantages.
Steps By Which the Gospel Came to Us
Heb 2:1-5 These key verses develop the opening statement of the epistle, that "in these last days God has spoken to us by his Son..." (Heb 1:1). The Hebrew writer now describes the steps by which the gospel of Jesus Christ came to us.
Step 1. The gospel message first began to be spoken by the Lord. Thus the original preacher of the gospel was God himself.
Step 2. It was confirmed to the Hebrew writer and other Christians of the second generation, by witnesses who had personally listened to Jesus.
Step 3. Their testimony and message was confirmed by the Holy Spirit performing signs, wonders, and various miracles.
Step 4. The message was then passed on to all Christians through the writer to the Hebrews and other New Testament writers. When he says, "we are speaking of the world to come" (Heb 2:5) he is claiming to represent the gospel first spoken by the Lord and confirmed by witnesses and by the Holy Spirit.
It is important to understand these steps, and especially to accept that...
Jesus was the first to preach the gospel,
He did so while in the flesh but with authority from heaven
He enabled his disciples to complete what he had begun,
His message deserves our confidence because it has been passed on to us in a trustworthy manner.