Hebrews, Chapter 13
Originally posted Tuesday October 28, 2008
Hebrews, Chapter 13:1-6 Service Well-Pleasing to God -
Exhortation
The first twelve
chapters of "Hebrews" is dedicated to establishing Jesus as the
successor and replacement of the "old covenant," the Law of Moses, as
the path to righteousness and the presence of God. The exhortative passages
were directed toward those whose faith had been shaken by persecution because of their Christian faith
and were in peril by a drift backward to Jewish holiness traditions. The
author now turns from his weighty Christology to matters of earthly behavior
within the community of believers.
As with all the
letters of Paul and his disciples, love is the centerpiece of all
relationships. Mutual love is the binding force that fosters unity and the
sense of commonality needed when facing the outside forces arrayed against the
members. No one person need suffer alone. This latter maxim is expressed in
concerns for fellow Christians who are in prison and those
being subjected to torture, a common method for extracting
confessions of one's association with Christianity. In both cases -
imprisonment and torture, remembering is empathetic, the keenest sense of unity
realized in putting oneself in the situation of the other. As Paul wrote,
using Jesus as the model, Christian love leads us to rejoice with
those who rejoice and to suffer with those who suffer, even is if is done
vicariously.
This same love is
the foundation of marriage which should be honored by mutual faithfulness. A
warning is added to emphasize that fidelity is not simply a human concern but
involves God's word in Genesis, "The two are made one flesh." Sexual
immorality, a perennial problem in transitions from a pagan to Christian
culture, is a destroyer of the unity as well as the community in which God has
a stake.
An obsession with
accumulating wealth does not lend itself to mutual love but detracts attention
from one's needed involvement in the community of faith as well as family.
Being content is not taking a vow of poverty nor is it a mandate precluding
doing one's best to support oneself and family. When interest in material
gain outweighs all other human and spiritual concerns it becomes destructive.
The writer paraphrases Ps. 37:25 and Ps. 27:1 as a source of one's
confidence in God's faithfulness to help those who are God's children.
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Ps. 37:25 - "I was once younger and I grew old; and I have not beheld the just being abandoned and neither his offspring seeking bread loaves." (LXX)
Ps. 27:1 "The Lord is my illumination and my deliverer;
who shall I fear? The Lord is the defender of my life; from whom shall I be
timid?" (LXX)
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Hebrews, Chapter 13:7-19 General Exhortations
The leaders
mentioned in vs. 7 are
those evangelists who were and continue to be responsible for preaching
and teaching among the various small gatherings of Christians. They are to be
respected for their holy vocation and imitated according to the fruits of
their "way of life." Their teaching does not digress from the
Gospel and the witness of the Spirit as proclaimed through them, for
"Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever." Consistency in the
message of Christ is meant to prevent being "carried away by all kinds
of 'multiple and strange' teachings." This is a reference to
temptations, retreating to Jewish traditions which have proven ineffective for
those who practice them in their search for righteousness. It is God's grace
that strengthens faith, not useless food regulations as substitutes for or
supplements to grace. What one eats and with whom one eats is of no
consequence one way or the other.
The writer returns
to his extended discussion of the difference between the priests' sacrifices in
the earthly Tabernacle of the old covenant and Jesus' sacrifice in the
heavenly Tabernacle of the new covenant. The altar of vs. 10 is that of the heavenly
Tabernacle in which Christ's once for all sacrifice is given. Those
who practice the ways of the altar of the old Tabernacle
"have no right to eat" at this new altar. In other words,
those members of the Christian communities who insist on relying on food
regulations instead of God's grace have no right to participate in the benefits
of the sacrifice of Christ. Practicing the old covenant is inconsistent with
and opposed to the new. An exclamation mark is placed after this added
exposition on the differences between the two covenants. The sacrifices for
sin made by the priests under the old covenant were not eaten by the
priests. They were burned "outside the camp." Although the comparison
is obscure, he equates this "outside the camp" with the crucifixion
(sacrifice) of Jesus which took place outside Jerusalem's walls. We
might understand the writer's concept by thinking of the altar as the place of
sacrifice for sin and the receiving of God's grace. While the altar of the old
Tabernacle was not useful for sanctification that led to righteousness,
the altar of the heavenly sacrifice of Christ was useful. Those who now wish to
seek God's grace by following the old ways will not only fail, they will have
no right to receive it apart from Christ. Those acting under the old covenant
cannot partake of the food (God's grace through Christ) of the new.
Because Jesus
suffered "outside the city gate" Christians are urged to follow in
his steps, to go where Christ went and to share the abuse he received. Going
"outside the gate" is to leave the security of old traditions of
the Law which offer no hope or consolation. The city represents Jerusalem,
the place of those who teach and enforce the traditions. This city is of no
importance to Christians for there is a new city yet to come and for which they
wait. In the meantime Christians can make their own sacrifices to God. These
sacrifices are their confessions of faith in Christ, doing good and sharing
one's material goods.
In a
pre-closing close the author exhorts his readers to respect their leaders
with obedience. Those who have pastoral care over the flock will give an
account of their sheep to God on the last day. Hopefully they will do so
without disappointment.
Hebrews, Chapter 13:20-25 Benediction and Final Thoughts
We will recognize
the wording of vs. 20a of
this benediction as one often used in churches of our day. As a whole it
contains the common themes of peace offered by the God who raised Christ,
"the great shepherd of the sheep." It is this God of peace upon
which the writer calls to work in the believer for good and for the desire to
do God's will.
In a final appeal he
urges the members to take his exhortations seriously. On a personal note he
mentions the freeing of Timothy and his hope that both of them will be visiting
the community soon. He sends greeting from "those from Italy," who
would represent members of the Roman church communities who are fellow
evangelists. Last of all he invokes and extends the grace of God to them all.
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