Hebrews 5:7-9 During the days of Jesus’ life on earth, he offered up prayers and petitions with loud cries and tears to the one who could save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission. 8 Although he was a son, he learned obedience from what he suffered 9 and, once made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him.
 
IT has been typical in the worldly courts of power that all heirs to the throne are pampered and protected. The Crown Prince, the one will would inherit the throne, is especially set apart to receive all comforts of his position.
   But the royal family of England has a different plan for the heirs to the throne. For example, the current heir William, Prince of Wales, has had a very specific education to help him understand life for the average English person. He has had to  work at many different jobs, even cleaning toilets, working as a laborer and risking his life in rescue missions in the British Royal Navy. His active life has taught him to submit to authority and to have empathy for many different people. He has learned to be an effective son to help King Charles III and one day England’s king.
   Jesus, Immanuel, was actively engaged with humanity. Jesus, Son of God, lived amid very difficult circumstances. He leaned about human work and human relationships. He even learned how to confront human fear of death and suffering. Jesus, fully God and fully man offered up prayers and petitions with loud cries and tears to the one who could save him from death in Gethsemane: Luke 22:42-45 “Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.” 43 An angel from heaven appeared to him and strengthened him. 44 And being in anguish, he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground.
   In his humanity Jesus prayed to escape suffering and death. Of course he did not. Did the Father ignore him? Was he truly heard because of his reverent submission? We might say, “He was not. The Father ignored his plea. Jesus suffered on the cross.” But what happened in his anguish? An angel came to strengthen him. The Father’s will was extreme suffering and death for  his Son. He would not change that plan. He did not protect Jesus from the plan because the plan was the way Jesus has become your Savior. But the Father did comfort his Son in the suffering.
   It seems almost blasphemous to say that Jesus needed to learn something. He is the Word made flesh, eternal, all-knowing at the throne of heaven. But he did learn the real experience of human emotions of anguish and fear. He learned about suffering. He learned how to obey the Father as a human.
   You can know Jesus knows more than your name. He knows your anguish, your fears and your tears. He knows you need the ministering angels and the Holy Spirit to help you. Seek his help. Receive his comfort.    

Hebrews 5:6 And he says in another place, “You are a priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek.”
 
HEBREWS quotes Psalm 102:4 here as evidence God had appointed Jesus to be high priest in the order of Melchizedek. We learn about this mysterious man in Hebrews 7:1-3 This Melchizedek was king of the city of Salem and also a priest of God Most High. When Abraham was returning home after winning a great battle against the kings, Melchizedek met him and blessed him. 2 Then Abraham took a tenth of all he had captured in battle and gave it to Melchizedek. The name Melchizedek means “king of justice,” and king of Salem means “king of peace.” 3 There is no record of his father or mother or any of his ancestors, no beginning or end to his life. He remains a priest forever, resembling the Son of God.
  Note he was from Salem, which many think is the future Jerusalem. Abraham was returning from rescuing his nephew Lot. He carried the bounty of his victory. Under God’s authority Melchizedek had priestly powers to receive the tithe from God’s chosen father of Israel. Hebrews says that God set the form of Jesus’ priestly office through Melchizedek. Why does this matter? 
   One way the Jews could challenge Jesus’ role as High Priest is to say, “He was not a Levite. He was from the tribe of Judah. Only Levites could be priests.” But Hebrews defends Jesus’ priesthood as the fulfillment of God’s call on Jesus’ life. Just as God called Melchizedek to be a priest before Abraham long before the Levites became God’s priests, God chose Jesus to be the eternal High Priest.
   Hebrews further teaches that Jesus is one who has become a priest not on the basis of a regulation as to his ancestry but on the basis of the power of an indestructible life. (Hebrews 7:16) And in Hebrews 7:26 Jesus is the kind of high priest we need because he is holy and blameless, unstained by sin. He has been set apart from sinners and has been given the highest place of honor in heaven. 27 Unlike those other high priests, he does not need to offer sacrifices every day. They did this for their own sins first and then for the sins of the people. But Jesus did this once for all when he offered himself as the sacrifice for the people’s sins.
   Once more we have seen how Hebrews weaves God’s Word together into a specific lesson to teach us more about Jesus. Regardless of our background, we can understand our Sovereign Lord has been at work throughout the ages to reveal his Son to us.
           God is at work now through you. When he called you to faith, you became a vital unit of God’s eternal plan. What desires and passions has he given to you, so you can serve Jesus’ church? How might you serve your family and your community? 

Hebrews 4:14-15 Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. 15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are – yet was without sin.
 
WHAT does it mean to you that Jesus is your great high priest who has gone through the heavens? Do you express a constant gratitude that he has come from heaven to live as you do? Are you in awe he has returned to heaven to be your High Priest to care for you now? Your High Priest is not someone separated from your daily life. He is One intimately involved in each thing you say and do. He understands your troubles, your sufferings, your mourning and your fears. Jesus know about your response to temptation. He understands how difficult it is to resist the devil when you may be weak physically or spiritually.
   Jesus also knows how to say, “No.” to Satan. He knows the power of the Word to strengthen, comfort and keep you. Your great High Priest is not like the Jewish high priest who could access the holy of holies only once a year to atone for Israel’s sins. Jesus is the Priest, who is in heaven’s holy presence. He and the Holy Spirit continually intercede for you. Your High Priest opens the way for you to approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need. (Hebrews 4:16) What an extraordinary blessing this is!
   How effective will our prayers be when we understand this Priestly passion Jesus has for us. In response, we can hold firmly to our faith. By God’s grace, each Christian has the privilege to be in touch with God.
   The Hebrews writer than continues to praise the benefits of Jesus as your High Priest: Hebrews 5:1-5 Every high priest is a man chosen to represent other people in their dealings with God. He presents their gifts to God and offers sacrifices for their sins. 2 And he is able to deal gently with ignorant and wayward people because he himself is subject to the same weaknesses. 3 That is why he must offer sacrifices for his own sins as well as theirs. 4 And no one can become a high priest simply because he wants such an honor. He must be called by God for this work, just as Aaron was. 5 That is why Christ did not honor himself by assuming he could become High Priest. No, he was chosen by God, who said to him, “You are my Son. Today I have become your Father.” (from Psalm 2:7)
   The Father appointed the Son to be above the human priests into the heavenly priestly office. The Son obeyed with humility and sacrifice.
   In every aspect, Hebrews’ great proof of Jesus’ deity and his saving power is firmly written in Scripture. The writer tightly wraps God’s Word into a unified package to identify Jesus as Son, Savior, King and Priest. As one reader recently said, “When one asks, ‘Who is Jesus?’ we merely need to open the Book.”
   Hebrews is opening the Book of Life to his Jewish audience. He implores them to understand the power and wonder of their faith. Given from heaven, faith is a gift we must use each day to know the gospel’s glorious benefit: the Son of God has opened your pathway to heaven.  
   

Hebrews 4:12-13 For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. 13 Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account.
 
WHEN you hear the word “Bible” what do you see in your mind? Is it a book sitting on a bookshelf seldom used? Perhaps it’s a bit dusty. Or is it a well-worn book alongside your favorite place to sit in your home? Is the Bible real in your life? Does it make any difference to you?
   Hebrews describes God’s Word in one of the most powerful, even life-threatening images in the culture of his day. Warriors and guards carried two-edged swords. They were weapons of conquest and order. A skilled swordsman could quickly cut the bone and marrow of his victim. There was no dust on a sword. It was ready to use.
   That’s the way it must be with God’s Word. The Bible is God’s living Word. How do we know? Learn God’s commands. Put them to use, and you will discover how readily the Bible applies to each circumstance in your life. The power of the living Word is that anyone in any situation can use it to bring order to life.
   God keeps no secrets about the human condition. He reveals what sinful thoughts and actions do to people. He teaches us about repentance and humility, grace and forgiveness. He uses historical events to illustrate his relationship with the world in general and with Israel specifically.
   The Lord gives us words of wisdom and warning. He promises and he completes the promises. The Lord cuts away the barriers that reject him, so he can penetrate our souls and spirits to save us. He uses Scripture to judge the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. God sees all. It is to him we must give account of our lives.
   God is creator. He all-powerful and ever-present. Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight.
   Be mindful, then, that one day we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive what is due him for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad. (2 Corinthians 5:10) This is not salvation by works, but it is an assessment of your reward in heaven. The Christian life is to use the Bible as a weapon for truth, so we can effectively serve God. Each passage in Scripture holds a truth we must use to cut away the wrong, so the right will thrive to bring order to our lives.    
   

Hebrews 4:9-11 There remains, then, a Sabbath – rest for the people of God; 10 for anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from his own work, just as God did from his. 11 Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will fall by following their example of disobedience.
 
THE first-century Jews needed to hear that “Sabbath” meant “rest”. In their culture, the Christian Jews knew very little about a pure Sabbath rest. Many of them were educated in a very legalistic Sabbath. The Pharisees’ specific laws regarding the Sabbath had made Sabbath-keeping hard work. Jesus admonished the Pharisees that the Sabbath was made for man, not man made for the Sabbath (Mark 2:7). The Sabbath is a day to stop one’s daily work to be a day of restoration and renewal. It is not a day for more rules.
   Jesus also showed us it is a day one can take time to care for others. And it is a day of resting in God’s care. We must believe God’s Word that his plan for our weekly routine includes a day of rest that will bless our lives both physically and spiritually. God has commanded, and God has set the example: Genesis 2:2 By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work.
   Hebrews’ urging to make every effort to enter that rest can sound as if we must work really hard to rest. But the effort is to be an intentional decision to allow the benefits of the Bible’s lessons to enter your life. Think of the Israelites who did not enter into the Promised Land. They made no effort to trust God’s promise that they would overcome great obstacles to conquer the land. If they had made the effort to look back to Egypt, the Red Sea and other places of God’s miracles, they would have believed once more that God had given them victory over their enemies. They would have heard that if they obeyed his commands, he would abundantly bless them. But they made no effort to strengthen their faith, and they did not enter God’s rest.
   As Jesus’ church, our effort must be to examine Scripture to read of God’s promises, learn how he judges disobedience and know how he blesses obedience. To make every effort to believe God’s promises is truly observing the Sabbath.
   Do as God says, and then see how he will bless you. Keep the Sabbath and learn how God keeps you well. Understand what it means that the Sabbath was made for you. God gives you a day each week to rest. Are you willing to keep it?
 

Hebrews 4:1-3 Therefore, since the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us be careful that none of you be found to have fallen short of it. 2 For we also have had the gospel preached to us, just as they did; but the message they heard was of no value to them, because those who heard did not combine it with faith. 3 Now we who have believed enter that rest, just as God has said, “So I declared on oath in my anger, ‘They shall never enter my rest.’” And yet his work has been finished since the creation of the world.
 
THE word “rest” has three meanings: the Promised Land, heaven and the Sabbath. We’ll consider the first two here.
   Hebrews 3 has told of Israel’s rejection of God’s promise of rest in the new land. God was angry with his people. His anger is not emotional or vindictive. His anger comes out of his holiness. Anger is God’s just reaction to Israel’s disobedience: “They shall never enter my rest.’”
   But God’s plan to bring you into heaven’s eternal rest is still active. In fact, it has been a completed plan in God’s mind since eternity past. No disobedient people or person will destroy the eternal rest God has prepared for his church. Therefore, since the promise is still true, the church has a new opportunity to demonstrate faithfulness to God’s gospel – his words given to his people.
   The Jews in the Exodus journey certainly believed in God. The LORD God visibly displayed himself in the miracles, the fire on the mountain, the pillar of fire by night and the cloud by day. But the Jews did not believe God. They disdained his promise that victory and rest awaited them in the Promised Land.
   Hebrews urges us to hear God’s Word with faith that extends into an active confession that declares, “I rest in God’s Word. I trust what he says and will live my life as closely to his Word as possible.” This is the faith that believes Jesus when he invites you into his rest: Matthew 11:28 “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.”
   Believe Jesus. Anticipate your future with him. You will rest from worry, fear, doubt and despair. You will rest into the joy of knowing eternal heaven awaits you. Rest for body and soul is easier when you know the Lord’s promises are true.
 

Hebrews 3:7-13 So, as the Holy Spirit says: “Today, if you hear his voice, 8 do not harden your hearts as you did in the rebellion, during the time of testing in the desert, 9 where your fathers tested and tried me and for forty years saw what I did. 10 That is why I was angry with that generation, and I said, ‘Their hearts are always going astray, and they have not known my ways.’ 11 So I declared on oath in my anger, ‘They shall never enter my rest.’” 12 See to it, brothers, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. 13 But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness.
 
STAY faithful to God. Be faithful to one another. Encourage each other to remain in God’s truth.
   Hebrews points the Jews to remember a great sin among their ancestors in the Exodus journey. Numbers 13 describes Israel’s rebellion to refuse to go to the Promised Land. At God’s command, Moses sent 12 spies into the land, so Israel would be prepared to enter. But 10 spies expressed fear of the giants and fortified cities. Caleb and Joshua attempted to encourage Israel: Numbers 13:30 “We should go up and take possession of the land, for we can certainly do it.”
   But the fear influenced the nation to rebel against God’s promise. In response, God judged them to 40 years of wandering. No person over 20 years old would enter the land. Instead of living in God’s promise, Israel died in the desert. Only the faithful Caleb and Joshua entered the new land.
   Hebrews urges the church to remember the hard lesson. We can look at Israel’s history and know there were many more rebellions against God. The 10 tribes of the nation Israel would be dispersed in exile. God also judged the tribes of Judah and Benjamin into a 70-year exile.
   The rebellion hasn’t stopped with the New Covenant. Throughout the generations, the church has also rebelled and still is rebelling. As Caleb encouraged Israel, Hebrews has encouraged the church to stay faithful to God. We must encourage each other to keep our minds fixed on the living God. It is easy to set our minds on the “giants and fortified cities” that confront us. They loom large when our minds become preoccupied with their threats.
   Hebrews reinforces the remedy for our fear as he repeats verse 8 in verse 15 As has just been said: “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as you did in the rebellion.” And then he summarizes the rebellion and God’s judgment again in verses 16-19.
   Repeating the point confirms the point. Have a soft heart for God’s Word. Trust him above the fear or rebellion that may cover your heart. Be willing to share your fears and doubts. Be alert to encourage others who have these giants in their lives.
   Listen to and learn from God’s Word. Help others do the same.

Hebrews 3:2-5 He was faithful to the one who appointed him, just as Moses was faithful in all God’s house. 3 Jesus has been found worthy of greater honor than Moses, just as the builder of a house has greater honor than the house itself. 4 For every house is built by someone, but God is the builder of everything. 5 Moses was faithful as a servant in all God’s house, testifying to what would be said in the future.  6 But Christ is faithful as a son over God’s house. And we are his house, if we hold on to our courage and the hope of which we boast.
 
HEBREWS teaches his Jewish readers that Jesus is greater than Moses. To that purpose the author uses the image of a house, its builder, its servants and its authority.
   God first built a house called Israel. He appointed Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in succession to serve the house under construction. Then God raised up Moses to serve Israel. Each thing Moses did was under God’s commands. He prophesied, and he gave the law. He counseled, and he disciplined. Moses affected many miracles and judgments, but he was God’s servant in the House, not the builder and authority.
   Then God built a new house called the Christian church. He first sent Jesus to serve this new house. Matthew 20:28 “just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” As his service concluded on the cross, Jesus took on a new role. He became the authority of the church. Matthew 24:30 “At that time the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and all the nations of the earth will mourn. They will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky, with power and great glory.” Jesus is greater than Moses because he oversees the house.   
   How is Jesus doing that now? The Bible tells us the following (from Life Application Bible Commentary):

1. Jesus sits at God’s right hand, a place of distinction, uniqueness, and power. Hebrews 1:3 The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven.
2. Jesus intercedes for us before God: Hebrews 7:25 Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them.  
3. Jesus is our mediator: John 14:6 Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”
4. Jesus is the head of the church: Ephesians 4:15b we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ.  
5. Jesus leads and guides us through the Holy Spirit: John 16:13a But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth.  

 
What are you doing now? Called into God’s house to share in your heavenly calling, you are as Moses, a servant under God’s authority. What is your response?  

Hebrews 3:1 Therefore, holy brothers, who share in the heavenly calling, fix your thoughts on Jesus, the apostle and high priest whom we confess.  
 
THE word “therefore” is a favorite transition word for the Hebrews writer. This is the third time we have read it, and we’ll see it 17 times through the letter. As one of my favorite pastors used to preach, “What is the therefore there for?” The word is there for you to take a moment to consider what you have just read and then respond appropriately. Because Jesus has suffered, because he has risen, because he is Supreme, because he is your eternal Hope, fix your thoughts on him.
   Yes, take time to purposefully consider Jesus. Keep a steady gaze on the One who declared he is your Good Shepherd and the Way to heaven. In your heart gaze steadfastly on the Lord’s ministry. He literally walked into the world’s sin, so he would be your way to a sinless life. Clear away any blurred vision that may come from doubt, temptation or complacency. Fix your thoughts on the cross and remember Jesus’ broken body and blood shed there for you.
   Be attentive, also, that you belong to a community of believers. With holy brothers and sisters, you share in the heavenly calling. Yes, fix your mind on that wonderful joy. You have been called to heaven! God has opened his home to say, “In my house ae many mansions. I have prepared a place for you.” (from John 14:2) Fix your eyes on God’s deep love to point you to his extraordinary height. Even through hard challenges and desperate days, you have One on whom you can set your mind. Jesus is your anchor. He gives you the way out of harm and into him.
   Hebrews calls Jesus the apostle and high priest whom we confess. This is another way to help us see Jesus is our personal Lord and Savior. God’s apostles are messengers. Jesus personally commissioned apostles to go into the world to make disciples. They knew what to do because Jesus showed them how. The Father had commissioned the Son: Luke 9:35 A voice came from the cloud, saying, “This is my Son, whom I have chosen; listen to him.” He has come directly to earth to be God’s messenger in the Father’s authority.  
   When you fix your mind on Jesus, you will know who you are and where you are going. You will know what to do. The world’s ways change. New ideas become old. That’s why we thank Jesus he has come with his timeless truth. We know where we can be safe amid the world’s noisy conflict. It is a wonderous gift that we join with Jesus and with others to share in the heavenly calling, isn’t it?
 

Hebrews 2:14-18 Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might destroy him who holds the power of death – that is, the devil – 15 and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death. 16 For surely it is not angels he helps, but Abraham’s descendants. 17 For this reason he had to be made like his brothers in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people. 18 Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.
 
THERE is an awful truth about our salvation. Jesus had to die, so we can live, free of death, free of fear of death. The cross is Scripture’s center point. It is history’s center point. Let us consider once again how Jesus transformed his tragic death into triumph for our eternal life.
   This is possible because Jesus shared our humanity. How do you understand that? We know the Son of God became flesh and blood. But then think about a shared humanity. Jesus shared life with his family and with his people. He lived each day as we do. Jesus became hungry and ate meals. He played as a child and worked as an adult. Mary’s son attended synagogue and fellowshipped with friends. He was a brother to James, Jude, Joses, Simon and his sisters (Mark 6:3). Jesus shared family’s and friends’ joys and sorrows. He mourned when Joseph died as a son mourns his father. Jesus shared in their humanity.
   Jesus was fully man because it was the only way he could destroy him who holds the power of death – that is, the devil. Death is sin’s penalty. The Liar Satan told Eve, “You shall not surely die.” (Genesis 3:4a). But Adam and Eve did die. Altogether, Adam lived 930 years, and then he died (Genesis 5:5) The fear of death has gripped mankind’s mind. In response, each culture throughout history has a remedy for death with some form of ongoing existence.
   But we thank God Jesus came in the flesh, to rise again, so we have a clear picture of eternal life. He has died to rise in order to free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death. This is for Abraham’s descendants – all who confess Jesus is Lord and Savior. Immanuel had to be like us in every way. It is the only way he can purely represent us before the presence of the Father. Our Mediator is our representative, our  merciful and faithful high priest to atone for our sins. Jesus became captive to death, so the Spirit could release him from death’s prison into eternal glory. Trusting Jesus, we can trust death has no hold on us. 1 Corinthians 15:55 “Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?”
   This is our future in Jesus. When the Spirit awakens our spirit to our sin, we know we need a High Priest to purify our sins. We confess our sin and confess Jesus. We believe Jesus. We trust him. We die to ourselves, so we will live in and with Christ forever.
   Yes, you’ve heard this before. Are you hearing int now? Do you fear death? Do not let it trap you and hold you from a joyous relationship with Jesus. The Resurrection and the Life has come to set the captives free (Luke 4:18b) Be free from fear. Be free in life. Live into your potential. This is the only life you have. Enjoy it.