The New=20 Testament

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Summaries and = Commentaries=20
The Letter to the Hebrews =

Summary=20 Commentary=20

After the Christian community had existed = for a few=20 decades, the enthusiasm that characterized its earlier years began = to=20 wane. The expected return of Jesus had not taken place, opposition = to the=20 movement had developed from different quarters, and doubts were = beginning=20 to arise concerning any permanent significance that Christianity = might=20 have over other religious sects and parties. To counteract these=20 tendencies and to strengthen the faith of Christians who were = associated=20 with the new movement are the chief purposes of this letter. The = author is=20 unknown, but many guesses have been made concerning his identity.=20 Authorship has been attributed to the apostle Paul; in many = editions of=20 the New Testament, this idea is expressed in the title given to = the=20 letter. However, the contents of the letter indicate that Pauline=20 authorship is not likely. The ideas set forth in the letter are = unlike=20 those found in the genuine letters of Paul. In fact, Hebrews=92=20 interpretation of Christianity in many respects is foreign to the = thought=20 and work of the apostle.

Whoever the author may have been, we can be = certain=20 that he was someone who believed that Christianity was something = more than=20 just another religious movement. Convinced that Christianity is = the only=20 true religion, he wanted to show its superiority over all the = religions=20 that were competing with it, and he was especially anxious to show = its=20 superiority over Judaism. To do this, he makes a series of = comparisons=20 between conceptions that he finds in the Old Testament and = corresponding=20 ideas in his interpretation of Christianity. In each of his = comparisons,=20 the Christian view is presented as the more advantageous of the = two.

Hebrews begins with the statement that God, = who in=20 ancient times revealed himself through the prophets, has in these = last=20 days revealed himself through the life and teachings of a Son. = This Son,=20 who is identified with the person known as Jesus of Nazareth, is = said to=20 be greater than Moses or any of the prophets. He is superior even = to the=20 angels of heaven, for no one of them has ever been called a Son, = nor did=20 any of them have a part in the creation of the world. Because the = messages=20 delivered by angels have been valid and any transgression with = reference=20 to them has been justly punished, it is all the more important = that people=20 should heed what has been delivered to them by the Son. Calling = Jesus the=20 Son of God does not, for the author of this letter, constitute a = denial of=20 Jesus=92 humanity. On this point he is quite emphatic: =93Since = the children=20 have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity.=94 And = again, =93For=20 this reason he had to be made like his brothers in every way.=94 = It is=20 because of Jesus=92 humanity that it can be said of Jesus, = =93Because he=20 himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who = are=20 being tempted.=94

Throughout the letter, Jesus is referred to = as the=20 great high priest whose ministry exceeds in importance the = services=20 performed by the priests of ancient Israel. The greatness of the=20 priesthood of Jesus is emphasized in a number of different ways, = one of=20 which concerns the priesthood of Melchizedek. The author refers to = a story=20 in the Book of Genesis in which Abraham encounters Melchizedek, = who was a=20 priest and the king of Salem. Abraham, returning from a battle, = received a=20 blessing from Melchizedek, to whom he paid a tithe of all the = spoils he=20 had obtained from the battle. This is the substance of the story = as=20 reported in Genesis, but from this meager account a number of = conclusions=20 can be drawn. One conclusion is that what happened to Abraham in = this=20 encounter affected the entire Levitical priesthood since the = priests were=20 all present in the loins of Abraham, the father of the Hebrew = people.=20 Asserting that the lesser is always blessed by the better, the = author=20 infers that the Levitical priesthood is necessarily inferior to = the=20 priesthood of Melchizedek; because Jesus is a high priest after = the order=20 of Melchizedek, he is therefore greater than any of the priests of = the Old=20 Testament. Quoting from Psalms 110, the author assumes that it was = Jesus=20 about whom the statement was made, =93You are a priest forever, in = the order=20 of Melchizedek.=94

Although Jesus is believed to have been a = human being=20 with actual flesh and blood, he is also the Son of God insofar as = he is=20 the incarnation of the divine Logos, or Spirit of God. This aspect = of=20 Jesus=92 nature is eternal and has neither beginning nor end in = the=20 processes of time. The author of Hebrews draws another comparison = between=20 Jesus and the priests of the Old Testament: The narrative in = Genesis says=20 nothing concerning the parentage of Melchizedek, and from this = silence the=20 author draws the conclusion that Melchizedek had no father or = mother. In=20 other words, he was an eternal rather than a temporal being. All = of the=20 Levitical priests were men who were born and who died, but Jesus, = who was=20 a priest after the order of Melchizedek, had eternal life. In = addition,=20 the work that Jesus performed as a priest exceeded in importance = that=20 which was done by the men who ministered under the Levitical = priesthood.=20 One of the reasons given to support this claim of Jesus=92 = priestly=20 superiority is that the priests of the tribe of Levi had to = perform their=20 services at repeated intervals. Even the sacrifice made on the = great day=20 of atonement had to be performed once every year. In contrast, = Jesus as=20 high priest offered the sacrifice of himself, which was done only = once,=20 but this one sacrifice was sufficient not only for all time to = come but=20 even for those who had died prior to the time when the sacrifice = was made.=20

The real significance of Jesus=92 sacrifice = rests not=20 merely on the fact that it was made once rather than repeated at = regular=20 intervals, but that it was qualitatively different from the ones = made by=20 the Levitical priests. The priests=92 sacrifices involved merely = the blood=20 of bulls and of goats, but Jesus=92 sacrifice was that of his own = blood. By=20 insisting on this difference, the author of Hebrews does not mean = to infer=20 that the priests=92 sacrifices offered in ancient times had no = value at all,=20 for they did mean something to the people of Israel. His point is = that the=20 sacrifice made by Jesus has even greater value, not only for Jews = but for=20 all humans insofar as they believe in Jesus Christ. In fact, the = real=20 significance of the entire sacrificial system as set forth in the = Old=20 Testament stands in a very definite relation to the death of Jesus = on the=20 cross. As the Hebrews writer sees it, these sacrificial offerings = were but=20 shadows that pointed toward another and greater sacrifice to be = made in=20 the future and apart from which all of the Old Testament services = would=20 have been in vain.

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