The Core Message of the Whole Bible - Hebrews 1, 3, 11 and 12
“Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.” (Hebrews 11:1)
Jesus said that the whole Bible is about him. “You study the Scriptures diligently because you think that in them you have eternal life. These are the very Scriptures that testify about me,” (John 5:39). So Jesus is the interpretive key to every passage of scripture. We haven’t understood any scripture until we’ve understood how it refers to Jesus. When it comes to the Old Testament this foundational principle still holds true. Don’t forget, at the time that Jesus referred to Scripture that’s all there was! The New Testament had not yet been written. Even though Jesus is not explicitly named in any of the oldest writings in the Old Testament, Jesus still said they were about him. In Moses’ writings there is a passage that refers to the concept of a Messiah, a once-and-for-all sovereign-divine-prophet-ruler who would arise (Deuteronomy 18:15-22). Jesus said, “If you believed Moses, you would believe me, for he wrote about me.” (John 5:46).
The New Testament book of Hebrews helps us by explaining what Jesus meant by his statements in John 5. Hebrews is therefore really important to get our heads around because it teaches Christians how to read and understand much of the Old Testament.
In the years of Jesus’ ministry and following his death, many Jews came to believe that Jesus was the long-awaited Messiah, the divine-human figure spoken about throughout the Old Testament, who would come to serve and shepherd and rescue and restore God’s people. The Messiah would fulfil every unrealised promise alluded to in the Old Testament. But if that was true, how could Jesus have ended up being killed by the Jews themselves? Didn’t that prove that in fact he wasn’t the Messiah after all? And what kind of redemption was it that left Israel still under Roman occupation? Hebrews re-calibrates the Messianic expectations, answers these questions and many more, and explains the message of the key figures, texts and themes of the Old Testament.
Interestingly, scholars aren’t sure who wrote Hebrews as the author declined to name themselves. Perhaps Paul wrote it, Tertullian thought Barnabas did, Martin Luther suggested Apollos. It doesn’t really matter. What remains beyond doubt is that it is a work of divinely-inspired genius. It seems the author preferred to keep us focussed on the only name that matters: Jesus. Even as we look back and understand ancient scriptures, let’s keep moving forwards in our faith, fixing our eyes on him. As we pray today, let’s simply consider Jesus afresh and meditate on what we have read. There are some stunning verses in these four chapters of Hebrews, take time to repeat over and over one or two of them and worship LOVE for the timeless truths about him as you realise them.
“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy that was set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.” (Hebrews 12:1-3)
