Hebrews

No. 68 Hebrews 13:7-16
Hebrews was written to Jewish Christians under pressure to go back to the temple worship they had come from. The letter argues at length that Christ's sacrifice fulfills and replaces that system, and this...
No. 277 Hebrews 7:1-10
Hebrews is building a careful argument that Jesus is a greater priest than the priests of the temple, and this passage is one of its stranger moves. To make the case, the writer reaches back to a figure who...
No. 297 Hebrews 6:9-20
The writer of Hebrews is trying to steady people who are weary and tempted to drift away, and he reaches for the most solid thing he can name: the fact that God bound himself by an oath. First he reassures...
No. 416 Hebrews 7:11-17
Hebrews is continuing its argument that Jesus is a greater priest than the old temple priesthood, and in this passage it puts its finger on the crucial difference. The old priesthood, the Levitical one...
No. 591 Hebrews 3:1-11
Hebrews has been showing how Jesus is greater than everything that came before, greater even than Moses, Moses faithful as a servant in God's house, Christ faithful as a Son over it. And then, having lifted...
No. 832 Hebrews 2:1-8
The letter to the Hebrews has just spent a chapter showing how much greater Christ is than the angels, and now it draws the practical conclusion, and the conclusion is a warning about something quieter than...
No. 989 Hebrews 13:17-25
As Hebrews closes, the writer gives final instructions. Obey your leaders and submit to them, he says, for they are keeping watch over your souls as those who will give an account; make their work a joy and...
No. 993 Hebrews 10:8-16
The writer of Hebrews is showing why Christ's sacrifice replaces the whole system of sacrifices. Quoting the psalm, he notes that God did not ultimately desire sacrifices and offerings, and then Christ says,...
No. 1188 Hebrews 4:1-5
The writer of Hebrews warns his readers not to fall short of God's promised rest. The wilderness generation had the good news preached to them, just as we do, he says, but the message did no good for them...
No. 1258 Hebrews 12:14-21
The writer of Hebrews urges his readers to strive for peace with everyone and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord. Watch carefully, he says, that no one fails to obtain the grace of God,...
No. 1385 Hebrews 12:1-6
The writer, having recounted a long roll of the faithful who have gone before, turns to us. Since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, he says, let us lay aside every weight and the sin that...
No. 1475 Hebrews 11:7-12
The great chapter on faith moves through the patriarchs. By faith Noah built an ark for the saving of his house. By faith Abraham obeyed the call to go out to a land he would receive, going out not knowing...
No. 1542 Hebrews 10:24-31
The writer of Hebrews urges his readers not to drift, and gives a means: let us consider how to stir one another up to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as some have made a habit of doing,...
No. 1654 Hebrews 9:1-5
The writer to the Hebrews recalls the layout of the earthly tabernacle. In the first room, the Holy Place, stood the lampstand and the table with the showbread. But behind a second veil lay the inner room, the...
No. 1666 Hebrews 12:7-13
The writer urges his readers to endure hardship as God's discipline. God deals with you as with children, he says, for what child is not disciplined by a father? Earthly fathers disciplined us for a short time...
No. 1844 Hebrews 11:29-40
The great roll call of faith gathers examples of what faith has done: passing through the Red Sea, the walls of Jericho falling, Rahab spared, and the many who through faith conquered kingdoms, shut the mouths...
No. 1849 Hebrews 13:1-6
The letter to the Hebrews closes with practical exhortations: let brotherly love continue; show hospitality to strangers; remember those in prison and the mistreated as if you shared their chains; honor...
No. 1898 Hebrews 5:1-5
The letter to the Hebrews describes the high priest: taken from among men, appointed to represent them before God, to offer gifts and sacrifices for sins. And it notes something about him: he can deal gently...
No. 1918 Hebrews 6:1-8
The writer to the Hebrews urges his readers forward: leaving the elementary teachings about Christ, let us press on to maturity, not laying again the foundation of the first principles. He does not despise the...
No. 2194 Hebrews 8:1-6
The writer of Hebrews states the main point of all he has been saying: we have such a high priest, who sat down at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens, a minister in the true tabernacle...
No. 2426 Hebrews 1:6-14
Hebrews piles up scriptures to show the Son is far above the angels. To the angels God says they are winds and flames, servants; but to the Son he says, your throne, O God, is forever, and, you laid the...
No. 2530 Hebrews 10:1-7
Hebrews explains why the old sacrifices could never finish their work. The law was a shadow of the good things to come, not the reality itself, and the same offerings, repeated year after year, could not...
No. 2546 Hebrews 5:6-14
Hebrews is unfolding the priesthood of Christ, who learned obedience through what he suffered, when it breaks off to scold its readers. There is much to say about these deep things, the writer complains, but...
No. 2820 Hebrews 9:6-10
The writer describes the old worship carefully. Priests went in and out of the outer tent every day, doing their service, but into the inner Holy of Holies only the high priest could enter, and only once a...
No. 2846 Hebrews 10:32-39
The writer to the Hebrews asks his readers to look backward for courage. Remember the early days, he says, when after you were first enlightened you endured a hard struggle: public insult, prison, the...
No. 2872 Hebrews 9:11-20
The writer sets Christ against the whole old system. He came as high priest and entered the greater, true sanctuary, not with the blood of goats and calves but with his own blood, once for all, securing an...
No. 2952 Hebrews 10:17-23
Because God has said, I will remember their sins no more, the writer draws a conclusion: where sins are fully forgiven, there is no more offering needed for them. And so, having confidence to enter the holy...
No. 2963 Hebrews 11:20-28
The roll call of faith continues. By faith Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph blessed their descendants and spoke of things still to come; by faith Moses' parents hid him, unafraid of the king's decree; and by faith...
No. 3199 Hebrews 7:18-22
The writer to the Hebrews says the former commandment is set aside because it was weak and useless; the law made nothing perfect. In its place a better hope is introduced, through which we actually draw near...
No. 3284 Hebrews 1:1-5
God has always been a speaking God, but the writer to the Hebrews marks a decisive turn. Long ago God spoke in many partial ways through the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son,...
No. 3317 Hebrews 3:12-19
The writer warns against a heart of unbelief that hardens gradually, and gives a remedy: take care, brothers, lest any of you have an evil, unbelieving heart, but exhort one another every day, as long as it is...
No. 3398 Hebrews 12:22-29
The writer lifts our eyes to where, in Christ, we have already come: not to a mountain of terror like Sinai, but to Mount Zion, the heavenly Jerusalem, to countless angels, to God the Judge of all, and to...
No. 3611 Hebrews 8:7-13
The writer to the Hebrews quotes Jeremiah's promise of a new covenant, and it is glorious. God says, I will put my laws into their minds and write them on their hearts; I will be their God, and they shall be...
No. 3642 Hebrews 2:9-18
Hebrews explains why the Son of God became a man of flesh and blood. He shared in our humanity so that through death he might destroy the one who holds the power of death, the devil, and free those who all...
No. 3897 Hebrews 4:6-16
After urging his readers not to harden their hearts but to enter God's rest, the writer of Hebrews turns to the great high priest we have in Jesus, and the confidence he gives us. We do not have a high priest...
No. 3928 Hebrews 11:1-6
The great chapter on faith opens with a description: faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. Faith gives substance to what we hope for and certainty about realities we...
No. 3937 Hebrews 7:23-28
The writer of Hebrews contrasts the old priests, who died one after another and had to be replaced, with Jesus, who lives forever and so holds his priesthood permanently. And from this flows a glorious...
No. 4186 Hebrews 9:21-28
The writer of Hebrews explains why Christ's sacrifice is superior to the old sacrifices, which had to be repeated year after year. Christ, he says, entered not an earthly sanctuary but heaven itself, and he...
No. 4239 Hebrews 11:13-19
The great examples of faith, the writer of Hebrews says, all died without receiving the things promised; they saw them from afar and welcomed them, confessing that they were strangers and pilgrims on the...