“Now there’s no part of the bible that’s irrelevant, extraneous, or inconsequential - it's all important: Today I’m going to paint a whole bible picture for you about God’s priests…”
Hebrews 3:1-6
“Church, we need to radically reconsider what we think of as practical theology. We all want three quick points that tell us what to do so that we can feel better about our spirituality. But the solution to the apathetic, discouraged, and downtrodden is a deeper understanding of the gospel and the person and work of Jesus. The solution is to take our eyes off of our own situation and consider the one who is more than willing and able to come to our aid, he who was equipped to be a merciful and faithful high priest through what he suffered, and offered himself as the atonement for our sins through his own blood. We must take our eyes off of our situation, however dire it may be, and direct them to Christ!“
Hebrews 2:10-18
“Jesus is better, not by degree but by kind—not a higher rank on the same scale, but the only one who can actually do what the rest of the OT pointed to. Everything Jesus is compared to was only a shadow pointing to what he really did. Jesus is not merely a better shadow, but the reality. Jesus is better—not a little more of what Israel already had, but the only priest, covenant, and sacrifice that can actually save…”
Christian Submission (Mark 10:35-45)
“You’ll have noticed that everytime I mentioned our topic today, I said Christian submission and not just submission. And that’s because Christ makes all the difference! Regular submission is defined as - surrendering, yielding, obeying the power or authority of another, being subject under another. Often this kind of submission is forced or enforced by an authority with way more power than the one submitting…But the Christian in Christian submission changes everything…One exists in school yard rules. King of the hill, the biggest kid stands on top of the hill or on top of your back and you yell ‘Uncle, I give, I give,’ until he relents. The other form is backward. It’s Kingdom of God rules, where the biggest kid leaves the peak of the hill and does whatever it takes to bring the weaker, the tired, the helpless and hopeless to the crest. And this game is a rare sight in the school yard, but it is out there because of God’s work in common grace, or in changed hearts through Jesus' unrelenting love.”
Hebrews 2:5-9
Hebrews 1:5-2:4
“Why is there a whole chapter on how Jesus is better than angels?…His audience already knows that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. He is not just repeating the most basic doctrine of the church for posterity. The main point is that the message given to us by Christ, and through his apostles, the gospel, is far superior to the message which was declared by angels; namely, the OT law…”
Soli Deo Gloria (Psalm 103)
Hebrews 1:1-4
“We do not have an altar here, because we do not perform sacrifices. We have a table of remembrance…The significance of a seated high priest is amplified in subsequent chapters, especially in vv. 10:11–14, where Christ is contrasted with the Aaronic priests, who remained standing because their sacrificial service was never finished. By contrast, Christ made purification for sin through his once-for-all death on the cross. The forgiveness he has won is permanent. His seated position shows that his work is finished. Church, Christ is now seated at the right hand of God because his work is done.”
John 8:30-59
“He begins by saying that those who hold to his words are truly his disciples. Jesus, in response to this crowd expressing faith, lays down exactly what separates counterfeit faith from true faith: ‘If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples.’ In short, perseverance is the mark of true faith of the genuine disciple. A true believer abides in Christ’s word, his teaching, and that person, that true believer, seeks to understand it better and finds it more and more precious, and finds it more and more controlling in our lives. It leads us to want to obey Christ’s words.”
Hebrews Introduction
“We know that Hebrews was a sermon by an exceptionally talented church leader, who was saturated in the Old Testament Scriptures, trained in rhetoric, familiar with both Jewish and Greek philosophy, and whose grammar and vocabulary is considered, by most, to be among the finest in the NT. This was a master preacher, utilizing deep understanding of the Scriptures with great style, to pastorally address the urgent issues facing his community…Hebrews speaks directly to those who are tired of service, tired of resisting temptation, tired of being hurt by other Christians, tired of being viewed as strange by non-Christians. Hebrews is for such people because it shows that Jesus and the covenant he has instituted are infinitely better than anything else we can have or could hope to have.”