Tag: Hebrews

Devotional

Daily Devotional-August 11

August 11, 2020

For the next 13 days we will be spending time together walking through the book of Hebrews! Hebrews is written to Jewish Christians who were undergoing persecution for their faith and considering running back to Judaism. The author of Hebrews takes an in-depth look at the practices and regulations of the Old Testament as articulated in the Torah and argues for how Jesus is both superior to each of them and supreme over all of them! The author also warns his audience of the grave danger facing them should they choose to now reject Jesus and return to their former way of life. These warnings can and should make us feel uncomfortable as we read through the book together; allow the Spirit to do what He wants to do in your heart through them! Overall, the message of Hebrews is that Jesus, the Son of God as well as our Savior and Messiah, is infinitely superior to anything or anyone else we could give our lives to, and He is worthy of all our devotion and worship. Jesus is greater!

In the concluding chapter of Hebrews the author gives a few practical applications of the truths he has elaborated on throughout the rest of the letter as well as invoking a blessing on his readers and greeting them. He tells his readers to leave behind their love for and attachment to the things of this world and join in the reproach that Christ endured for us on the cross, and then he commands them to continually offer their praise and worship to God (v.13-16)!

Throughout the letter the author has repeatedly spoken of how Christ’s blood has “cleansed”, “sanctified”, and “perfected” us. In his blessing towards his audience, he now reminds us that this kind of transforming, redeeming power which exists in Jesus’ blood is not an end in itself; God empowers us through it, equipping us with every good thing in order to do His will!

We have been cleansed, been forgiven and set apart and made new in Christ Jesus, not simply in order to change our eternal destiny but in order for our lives here on earth to be lived in obedience and surrender towards God. He desires to use us to build His Kingdom and to advance His gospel, and through the blood of Jesus He gives us everything we need in order to do it!

Let’s seek His will and His Kingdom, trusting in the power, greatness, glory, and love of Jesus which surpasses anything and everything else! He really is greater!

Hebrews 13

Sacrifices Pleasing to God

13 Let brotherly love continue. 2 Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares. 3 Remember those who are in prison, as though in prison with them, and those who are mistreated, since you also are in the body. 4 Let marriage be held in honor among all, and let the marriage bed be undefiled, for God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterous. 5 Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” 6 So we can confidently say,

“The Lord is my helper;
    I will not fear;
what can man do to me?”

7 Remember your leaders, those who spoke to you the word of God. Consider the outcome of their way of life, and imitate their faith. 8 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. 9 Do not be led away by diverse and strange teachings, for it is good for the heart to be strengthened by grace, not by foods, which have not benefited those devoted to them.10 We have an altar from which those who serve the tent have no right to eat. 11 For the bodies of those animals whose blood is brought into the holy places by the high priest as a sacrifice for sin are burned outside the camp.12 So Jesus also suffered outside the gate in order to sanctify the people through his own blood. 13 Therefore let us go to him outside the camp and bear the reproach he endured. 14 For here we have no lasting city, but we seek the city that is to come. 15 Through him then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name. 16 Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God.

17 Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with groaning, for that would be of no advantage to you.

18 Pray for us, for we are sure that we have a clear conscience, desiring to act honorably in all things. 19 I urge you the more earnestly to do this in order that I may be restored to you the sooner.

Benediction

20 Now may the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant, 21 equip you with everything good that you may do his will, working in us that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.

Final Greetings

22 I appeal to you, brothers, bear with my word of exhortation, for I have written to you briefly. 23 You should know that our brother Timothy has been released, with whom I shall see you if he comes soon. 24 Greet all your leaders and all the saints. Those who come from Italy send you greetings.25 Grace be with all of you.

The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

Family Discussion Question:

  • How has God used the book of Hebrews to grow your understanding and affections towards Jesus? How does His blood equip us to do His will?
Devotional

Daily Devotional-August 10

August 10, 2020

For the next 13 days we will be spending time together walking through the book of Hebrews! Hebrews is written to Jewish Christians who were undergoing persecution for their faith and considering running back to Judaism. The author of Hebrews takes an in-depth look at the practices and regulations of the Old Testament as articulated in the Torah and argues for how Jesus is both superior to each of them and supreme over all of them! The author also warns his audience of the grave danger facing them should they choose to now reject Jesus and return to their former way of life. These warnings can and should make us feel uncomfortable as we read through the book together; allow the Spirit to do what He wants to do in your heart through them! Overall, the message of Hebrews is that Jesus, the Son of God as well as our Savior and Messiah, is infinitely superior to anything or anyone else we could give our lives to, and He is worthy of all our devotion and worship. Jesus is greater!

In this chapter of Hebrews the author encourages his audience, as he has time and time again throughout the letter, to persevere in the faith through all the difficulty they are facing. He points them to the examples of the Old Testament saints which he outlined in chapter 11 and, ultimately, to the example of Jesus Himself, and tells them that they must follow these examples of endurance and perseverance in the face of hostility and opposition.

This chapter is a call to wake up and be strong in the Lord! He reminds his readers that everything they are suffering is a refining tool of discipline in the hands of the Lord, that God is indeed treating them as His children by using these hardships and persecutions to shape their hearts and their character after His own! 

We don’t like suffering or difficulty, but it is perhaps thedefinitive tool that God uses in our lives to make us more like Jesus, and because of this fact the author says that we must “lift your dropping hands and strengthen your weak knees” (v.12). We persevere by faith through the suffering because we know that the end result is us being more like Jesus!

The author then makes an Old Testament comparison to give his readers a final word of warning, this time between the voice of God which spoke out of the cloud of glory at Mt. Sinai and the voice which is speaking to his audience. God warned the people of Israel from earth, but through Christ God warns His people now from heaven itself. If they didn’t escape judgment when they refused to submit to Him, how could we possibly think that we will if we do the same?

Through all of the suffering, difficulty, and hardship that we face in this life we can know that God is accomplishing His purposes in us and for us, and we can know that in the end we will receive a kingdom that cannot be shaken. This ought to lead us to thanksgiving and joyful worship!

Hebrews 12

Jesus, Founder and Perfecter of Our Faith

12 Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2 looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.

Do Not Grow Weary

3 Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted. 4 In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. 5 And have you forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons?

“My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord,
    nor be weary when reproved by him.
6 For the Lord disciplines the one he loves,
    and chastises every son whom he receives.”

7 It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline? 8 If you are left without discipline, in which all have participated, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. 9 Besides this, we have had earthly fathers who disciplined us and we respected them. Shall we not much more be subject to the Father of spirits and live? 10 For they disciplined us for a short time as it seemed best to them, but he disciplines us for our good, that we may share his holiness. 11 For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.

12 Therefore lift your drooping hands and strengthen your weak knees,13 and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be put out of joint but rather be healed. 14 Strive for peace with everyone, and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord. 15 See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God; that no “root of bitterness” springs up and causes trouble, and by it many become defiled; 16 that no one is sexually immoral or unholy like Esau, who sold his birthright for a single meal. 17 For you know that afterward, when he desired to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no chance to repent, though he sought it with tears.

A Kingdom That Cannot Be Shaken

18 For you have not come to what may be touched, a blazing fire and darkness and gloom and a tempest 19 and the sound of a trumpet and a voice whose words made the hearers beg that no further messages be spoken to them. 20 For they could not endure the order that was given, “If even a beast touches the mountain, it shall be stoned.” 21 Indeed, so terrifying was the sight that Moses said, “I tremble with fear.” 22 But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering, 23 and to the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, 24 and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.

25 See that you do not refuse him who is speaking. For if they did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, much less will we escape if we reject him who warns from heaven. 26 At that time his voice shook the earth, but now he has promised, “Yet once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens.” 27 This phrase, “Yet once more,” indicates the removal of things that are shaken—that is, things that have been made—in order that the things that cannot be shaken may remain. 28 Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe, 29 for our God is a consuming fire.

The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

Family Discussion Question:

  • How does knowing that God uses the suffering and difficulty we face to shape and to mold our hearts according to His purposes give us the encouragement and strength we need to face them?
Devotional

Daily Devotional-August 9

August 9, 2020

For the next 13 days we will be spending time together walking through the book of Hebrews! Hebrews is written to Jewish Christians who were undergoing persecution for their faith and considering running back to Judaism. The author of Hebrews takes an in-depth look at the practices and regulations of the Old Testament as articulated in the Torah and argues for how Jesus is both superior to each of them and supreme over all of them! The author also warns his audience of the grave danger facing them should they choose to now reject Jesus and return to their former way of life. These warnings can and should make us feel uncomfortable as we read through the book together; allow the Spirit to do what He wants to do in your heart through them! Overall, the message of Hebrews is that Jesus, the Son of God as well as our Savior and Messiah, is infinitely superior to anything or anyone else we could give our lives to, and He is worthy of all our devotion and worship. Jesus is greater!

Here in Hebrews chapter 11 the author gives us the well-known “Hall of Faith”, recounting the ways in which the people in the Old Testament lived their lives by confident faith in God and His promises as an example for us to follow. He has just finished demonstrating the awesome, incomparable greatness of Jesus and His superiority to everything that came before Him, and now the author turns and commands his audience, in light of Jesus’ surpassing greatness, to walk by faith, following in the steps of those who went before.

He defines faith in the first verse as “the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” As he goes down the list of Old Testament heroes who lived according to their faith, notice that they are not commended merely for believing God, but for what they did based on that belief. Every single time the author says “By faith”, what follows is an action the person took based on their confident belief and trust in God and His promises.

Faith means that we obey God, that we follow where He leads when His plan and purposes aren’t all laid out for us clearly. It means that we trust that He really is as great as He says He is, and that if that is true then it is worth following Him no matter what we have to go through or where He leads us!

This point is made crystal clear in the ending of the chapter: the author starts by stating all of these amazing feats that were accomplished by faith, but in verse 35 he turns to the horrific things that were endured by those of faith. Jesus is able to lead us to do great and incredible things for Him and His Kingdom; He is also worthy of enduring and persevering through suffering for. 

In any and every circumstance Jesus is the treasure, the reward that we cling to by faith, and that is how we live a life that is pleasing to God! 

Hebrews 11

By Faith

11 Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. 2 For by it the people of old received their commendation. 3 By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible.

4 By faith Abel offered to God a more acceptable sacrifice than Cain, through which he was commended as righteous, God commending him by accepting his gifts. And through his faith, though he died, he still speaks.5 By faith Enoch was taken up so that he should not see death, and he was not found, because God had taken him. Now before he was taken he was commended as having pleased God. 6 And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him. 7 By faith Noah, being warned by God concerning events as yet unseen, in reverent fear constructed an ark for the saving of his household. By this he condemned the world and became an heir of the righteousness that comes by faith.

8 By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going. 9 By faith he went to live in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, heirs with him of the same promise. 10 For he was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God. 11 By faith Sarah herself received power to conceive, even when she was past the age, since she considered him faithful who had promised. 12 Therefore from one man, and him as good as dead, were born descendants as many as the stars of heaven and as many as the innumerable grains of sand by the seashore.

13 These all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. 14 For people who speak thus make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. 15 If they had been thinking of that land from which they had gone out, they would have had opportunity to return. 16 But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city.

17 By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises was in the act of offering up his only son, 18 of whom it was said, “Through Isaac shall your offspring be named.” 19 He considered that God was able even to raise him from the dead, from which, figuratively speaking, he did receive him back. 20 By faith Isaac invoked future blessings on Jacob and Esau. 21 By faith Jacob, when dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph, bowing in worship over the head of his staff. 22 By faith Joseph, at the end of his life, made mention of the exodus of the Israelites and gave directions concerning his bones.

23 By faith Moses, when he was born, was hidden for three months by his parents, because they saw that the child was beautiful, and they were not afraid of the king’s edict. 24 By faith Moses, when he was grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, 25 choosing rather to be mistreated with the people of God than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin.26 He considered the reproach of Christ greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking to the reward. 27 By faith he left Egypt, not being afraid of the anger of the king, for he endured as seeing him who is invisible.28 By faith he kept the Passover and sprinkled the blood, so that the Destroyer of the firstborn might not touch them.

29 By faith the people crossed the Red Sea as on dry land, but the Egyptians, when they attempted to do the same, were drowned. 30 By faith the walls of Jericho fell down after they had been encircled for seven days.31 By faith Rahab the prostitute did not perish with those who were disobedient, because she had given a friendly welcome to the spies.

32 And what more shall I say? For time would fail me to tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets— 33 who through faith conquered kingdoms, enforced justice, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, 34 quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, were made strong out of weakness, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight. 35 Women received back their dead by resurrection. Some were tortured, refusing to accept release, so that they might rise again to a better life. 36 Others suffered mocking and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. 37 They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were killed with the sword. They went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, afflicted, mistreated— 38 of whom the world was not worthy—wandering about in deserts and mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth.

39 And all these, though commended through their faith, did not receive what was promised, 40 since God had provided something better for us, that apart from us they should not be made perfect.

The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

Family Discussion Question:

  • What are some ways you have heard “faith” defined? How does the way the author defines and demonstrates it in this chapter change your understanding of faith?
Devotional

Daily Devotional-August 8

August 8, 2020

For the next 13 days we will be spending time together walking through the book of Hebrews! Hebrews is written to Jewish Christians who were undergoing persecution for their faith and considering running back to Judaism. The author of Hebrews takes an in-depth look at the practices and regulations of the Old Testament as articulated in the Torah and argues for how Jesus is both superior to each of them and supreme over all of them! The author also warns his audience of the grave danger facing them should they choose to now reject Jesus and return to their former way of life. These warnings can and should make us feel uncomfortable as we read through the book together; allow the Spirit to do what He wants to do in your heart through them! Overall, the message of Hebrews is that Jesus, the Son of God as well as our Savior and Messiah, is infinitely superior to anything or anyone else we could give our lives to, and He is worthy of all our devotion and worship. Jesus is greater!

In this chapter the author finished contrasting the sacrifices under the Old Covenant Law with the once-for-all sacrifice which Jesus made on the cross. Once again, he demonstrates to his audience (and to us) that Jesus is greater. 

The comprehensive greatness of what Jesus has done leads the author to encourage his audience to return to having full assurance in Him and the redemption He offers. The benefits we receive from Jesus’ blood compared to the ministry of the Old Covenant system are astounding:

  • The sacrifices under the Law were unable to “make perfect those who draw near” (v.1); Jesus has “by a single offering…perfected for all time those who are being sanctified” (v.14) 
  • The priest stands daily in the same place to make the same sacrifices, which can never ultimately deal with sins; Jesus sits at the right hand of God, His work already having been completed, and His sacrifice is sufficient not only to forgive us our sins but to cleanse us from sin!
  • The priests under the Law entered the holy place by the blood of animals and only with great fear and trembling; we enter into the heavenly holy place by the blood of Jesus with boldness and confidence!

In light of these facts, the author once more warns his audience of the grace danger that they face should they choose to continue in sin and ultimately reject the sacrifice of Jesus for them; to do so is to trample Jesus Himself underfoot, to treat the blood He shed as something common or worthless, and to outrage the Holy Spirit. It is, indeed, “a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God” (v.31), and we ought to take this warning extremely seriously.

The author ends with assurance that his audience is not made up of the type of people who will shrink back in the end and so prove that they never belonged to Christ in the first place. The question for us, then, is whether you are? Should tribulation come, persecution arise, or calamity strike, would you cling to Christ with confident faith in His surpassing greatness and worth, or shrink back and be destroyed?

He is sufficient, and His sacrifice is all that we need. Draw near to Him once more with a true heart and in the full assurance of faith!

Hebrews 10

Christ’s Sacrifice Once for All

10 For since the law has but a shadow of the good things to come instead of the true form of these realities, it can never, by the same sacrifices that are continually offered every year, make perfect those who draw near.2 Otherwise, would they not have ceased to be offered, since the worshipers, having once been cleansed, would no longer have any consciousness of sins? 3 But in these sacrifices there is a reminder of sins every year. 4 For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.

5 Consequently, when Christ came into the world, he said,

“Sacrifices and offerings you have not desired,
    but a body have you prepared for me;
6 in burnt offerings and sin offerings
    you have taken no pleasure.
7 Then I said, ‘Behold, I have come to do your will, O God,
    as it is written of me in the scroll of the book.’”

8 When he said above, “You have neither desired nor taken pleasure in sacrifices and offerings and burnt offerings and sin offerings” (these are offered according to the law), 9 then he added, “Behold, I have come to do your will.” He does away with the first in order to establish the second.10 And by that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.

11 And every priest stands daily at his service, offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. 12 But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God,13 waiting from that time until his enemies should be made a footstool for his feet. 14 For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified.

15 And the Holy Spirit also bears witness to us; for after saying,

16 “This is the covenant that I will make with them
    after those days, declares the Lord:
I will put my laws on their hearts,
    and write them on their minds,”

17 then he adds,

“I will remember their sins and their lawless deeds no more.”

18 Where there is forgiveness of these, there is no longer any offering for sin.

The Full Assurance of Faith

19 Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, 20 by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, 21 and since we have a great priest over the house of God, 22 let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. 23 Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. 24 And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, 25 not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.

26 For if we go on sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, 27 but a fearful expectation of judgment, and a fury of fire that will consume the adversaries. 28 Anyone who has set aside the law of Moses dies without mercy on the evidence of two or three witnesses. 29 How much worse punishment, do you think, will be deserved by the one who has trampled underfoot the Son of God, and has profaned the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has outraged the Spirit of grace? 30 For we know him who said, “Vengeance is mine; I will repay.” And again, “The Lord will judge his people.” 31 It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

32 But recall the former days when, after you were enlightened, you endured a hard struggle with sufferings, 33 sometimes being publicly exposed to reproach and affliction, and sometimes being partners with those so treated.34 For you had compassion on those in prison, and you joyfully accepted the plundering of your property, since you knew that you yourselves had a better possession and an abiding one. 35 Therefore do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward. 36 For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God you may receive what is promised. 37 For,

“Yet a little while,
    and the coming one will come and will not delay;
38 but my righteous one shall live by faith,
    and if he shrinks back,
my soul has no pleasure in him.”

39 But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who have faith and preserve their souls.

The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

Family Discussion Question:

  • How does the blood of Jesus give us confidence in approaching a holy God? How can you draw near to Him in the full assurance of faith this week?
Devotional

Daily Devotional-August 7

August 7, 2020

For the next 13 days we will be spending time together walking through the book of Hebrews! Hebrews is written to Jewish Christians who were undergoing persecution for their faith and considering running back to Judaism. The author of Hebrews takes an in-depth look at the practices and regulations of the Old Testament as articulated in the Torah and argues for how Jesus is both superior to each of them and supreme over all of them! The author also warns his audience of the grave danger facing them should they choose to now reject Jesus and return to their former way of life. These warnings can and should make us feel uncomfortable as we read through the book together; allow the Spirit to do what He wants to do in your heart through them! Overall, the message of Hebrews is that Jesus, the Son of God as well as our Savior and Messiah, is infinitely superior to anything or anyone else we could give our lives to, and He is worthy of all our devotion and worship. Jesus is greater!

In this chapter the contrast between the Old Covenant priesthood and Jesus’ priesthood continues. The author describes in detail the ministry of the Levitical priests and their proximity to God, and then goes on to explain how Jesus, as our superior high priest, has gone before us and paved the way for us to have direct access to God!

Under the Old Covenant the priests were limited to the Holy Place, outside the presence of God in the Most Holy Place. Only the high priest was able to enter the Most Holy Place, and he only did so once a year on the Day of Atonement after having his own sins atoned for by sacrifice. There was no direct access to God, and all the sacrifices they performed, while they temporarily atoned for the peoples’ sins, did nothing to transform their hearts. 

Jesus’ ministry as high priest is totally different:

  • While the Levitical priests served in the earthly temple, Jesus ministers in the actual presence of God, of which the earthly temple is merely a shadow
  • The Levitical priests had to offer sacrifices to atone for their own sin; Jesus offered Himself, a holy and spotless sacrifice, for the sins of His people!
  • The atonement the Levitical priesthood achieved was temporary, repeated and did nothing to change the peoples’ hearts; the redemption accomplished by Jesus’ sacrifice is eternal, once for all, and purifies us from the inside out!
  • The Levitical priests were the only ones who could come into God’s presence; Jesus, as our great high priest, has made a way for all of His people to have direct access to the very presence of God Almighty!

What Jesus has done is so much greater than anything and everything which came before Him, and nothing can ever take away from what He has accomplished through His blood and His resurrection! All of this leads us to worship Him and to look to Him to return, when He will “save those who are eagerly waiting for him.” (v.28)

Hebrews 9

The Earthly Holy Place

9 Now even the first covenant had regulations for worship and an earthly place of holiness. 2 For a tent was prepared, the first section, in which were the lampstand and the table and the bread of the Presence. It is called the Holy Place. 3 Behind the second curtain was a second sectioncalled the Most Holy Place, 4 having the golden altar of incense and the ark of the covenant covered on all sides with gold, in which was a golden urn holding the manna, and Aaron’s staff that budded, and the tablets of the covenant. 5 Above it were the cherubim of glory overshadowing the mercy seat. Of these things we cannot now speak in detail.

6 These preparations having thus been made, the priests go regularly into the first section, performing their ritual duties, 7 but into the second only the high priest goes, and he but once a year, and not without taking blood, which he offers for himself and for the unintentional sins of the people. 8 By this the Holy Spirit indicates that the way into the holy places is not yet opened as long as the first section is still standing 9 (which is symbolic for the present age). According to this arrangement, gifts and sacrifices are offered that cannot perfect the conscience of the worshiper, 10 but deal only with food and drink and various washings, regulations for the body imposed until the time of reformation.

Redemption Through the Blood of Christ

11 But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things that have come, then through the greater and more perfect tent (not made with hands, that is, not of this creation) 12 he entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves but by means of his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption. 13 For if the blood of goats and bulls, and the sprinkling of defiled persons with the ashes of a heifer, sanctify for the purification of the flesh, 14 how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God.

15 Therefore he is the mediator of a new covenant, so that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance, since a death has occurred that redeems them from the transgressions committed under the first covenant. 16 For where a will is involved, the death of the one who made it must be established. 17 For a will takes effect only at death, since it is not in force as long as the one who made it is alive. 18 Therefore not even the first covenant was inaugurated without blood. 19 For when every commandment of the law had been declared by Moses to all the people, he took the blood of calves and goats, with water and scarlet wool and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book itself and all the people, 20 saying, “This is the blood of the covenant that God commanded for you.” 21 And in the same way he sprinkled with the blood both the tent and all the vessels used in worship. 22 Indeed, under the law almost everything is purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins.

23 Thus it was necessary for the copies of the heavenly things to be purified with these rites, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. 24 For Christ has entered, not into holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true things, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God on our behalf. 25 Nor was it to offer himself repeatedly, as the high priest enters the holy places every year with blood not his own,26 for then he would have had to suffer repeatedly since the foundation of the world. But as it is, he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. 27 And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment, 28 so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him.

The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

Family Discussion Question:

  • Which of the ways that Jesus’ ministry is greater than that of the Levitical priests resonates most with your heart today? Why? How can you thank and worship Him for what He has done and is doing for you today?
Devotional

Daily Devotional-August 6

August 6, 2020

For the next 13 days we will be spending time together walking through the book of Hebrews! Hebrews is written to Jewish Christians who were undergoing persecution for their faith and considering running back to Judaism. The author of Hebrews takes an in-depth look at the practices and regulations of the Old Testament as articulated in the Torah and argues for how Jesus is both superior to each of them and supreme over all of them! The author also warns his audience of the grave danger facing them should they choose to now reject Jesus and return to their former way of life. These warnings can and should make us feel uncomfortable as we read through the book together; allow the Spirit to do what He wants to do in your heart through them! Overall, the message of Hebrews is that Jesus, the Son of God as well as our Savior and Messiah, is infinitely superior to anything or anyone else we could give our lives to, and He is worthy of all our devotion and worship. Jesus is greater!

In this chapter the author of Hebrews demonstrates the superiority of Jesus to anything and everything that came before Him based on the superiority of the New Covenant, which Jesus mediates, to the Old Covenant. The author states here that the earthly tabernacle (and, by extension, the whole Old Testament law) is merely a shadow and a copy of the heavenly things which they represent; Jesus is the greater fulfillment of it all!

Jesus is greater as our high priest because He is eternal and because He ministers in the actual, literal, direct presence of God in heaven rather than in the earthly Holy Place. The author says that the covenant Jesus mediates is better because it is enacted on better promises, and then he quotes from the book of Jeremiah to give us just a few of the promises that this New Covenant is enacted on:

  • The New Covenant will not be like the Old Covenant, which failed due to human sinfulness (v.9)
  • God will transform His people from the inside out by writing His law on their hearts and minds rather than on stone tablets (v.10)
  • All of God’s people will know Him intimately (v.11)
  • God will forgive His people’s sins finally and forever (v.12)

All of these promises have been fulfilled for us in the person and work of Jesus Christ. He truly is our great high priest, our greater worship, having made the Old obsolete and ushered in the New for His people! Everything which came before Jesus was meant to point us to Him, and He alone is worthy of all our devotion, love, and worship!

Hebrews 8

Jesus, High Priest of a Better Covenant

8 Now the point in what we are saying is this: we have such a high priest, one who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in heaven,2 a minister in the holy places, in the true tent that the Lord set up, not man. 3 For every high priest is appointed to offer gifts and sacrifices; thus it is necessary for this priest also to have something to offer. 4 Now if he were on earth, he would not be a priest at all, since there are priests who offer gifts according to the law. 5 They serve a copy and shadow of the heavenly things. For when Moses was about to erect the tent, he was instructed by God, saying, “See that you make everything according to the pattern that was shown you on the mountain.” 6 But as it is, Christ has obtained a ministry that is as much more excellent than the old as the covenant he mediates is better, since it is enacted on better promises. 7 For if that first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no occasion to look for a second.

8 For he finds fault with them when he says:

“Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord,
    when I will establish a new covenant with the house of Israel
    and with the house of Judah,
9 not like the covenant that I made with their fathers
    on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt.
For they did not continue in my covenant,
    and so I showed no concern for them, declares the Lord.
10 For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel
    after those days, declares the Lord:
I will put my laws into their minds,
    and write them on their hearts,
and I will be their God,
    and they shall be my people.
11 And they shall not teach, each one his neighbor
    and each one his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’
for they shall all know me,
    from the least of them to the greatest.
12 For I will be merciful toward their iniquities,
    and I will remember their sins no more.”

13 In speaking of a new covenant, he makes the first one obsolete. And what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away.

The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

Family Discussion Question:

  • How does the fulfillment of God’s New Covenant promises in Jesus move us to have confidence in Him? How can you respond to His faithfulness in acts worship today?
Devotional

Daily Devotional-August 5

August 5, 2020

For the next 13 days we will be spending time together walking through the book of Hebrews! Hebrews is written to Jewish Christians who were undergoing persecution for their faith and considering running back to Judaism. The author of Hebrews takes an in-depth look at the practices and regulations of the Old Testament as articulated in the Torah and argues for how Jesus is both superior to each of them and supreme over all of them! The author also warns his audience of the grave danger facing them should they choose to now reject Jesus and return to their former way of life. These warnings can and should make us feel uncomfortable as we read through the book together; allow the Spirit to do what He wants to do in your heart through them! Overall, the message of Hebrews is that Jesus, the Son of God as well as our Savior and Messiah, is infinitely superior to anything or anyone else we could give our lives to, and He is worthy of all our devotion and worship. Jesus is greater!

Here the author picks up where he left off in 5:10, returning to his description of Jesus’ high priesthood. Through contrasting the high priesthood of Jesus to that which was outlined in the Mosaic Covenant, he demonstrates the superiority of Christ to the Levitical priesthood and all it represented!

Several times throughout the letter now, the author has quoted Psalm 110:4, stating that God appointed Christ as a high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek. If you don’t know who Melchizedek is, go read Genesis 14:18-20 for the only other mention of him in the entire Old Testament. The author of Hebrews here explains some things about Melchizedek and sets him up as a “type” of Christ, a forerunner of the type of high priest that Christ would one day be for us! 

In contrasting the high priesthood of Jesus with that of the Old Covenant, the author points out several big differences: the Levitical priests were made so by descent, but Jesus has been made high priest by an unchangeable and eternal oath; the Levitical priests were mortal and died, but Jesus lives to make intercession for us forever; the Levitical priests were sinful and had to constantly make sacrifices for the people’s sin and for their own, but Jesus is holy and perfect and offered Himself once and for all for others!

Because of these things, we can rest assured that Jesus is greater than the priesthood of the Old Covenant; indeed, He is “the guarantor of a better covenant” (v.22), because where the Old Covenant Law was unable to make us perfect, Jesus is our better hope, allowing us to draw near to God and making us perfect in and through Himself!

“He is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him” (v.25). Let’s celebrate His greatness and the comprehensive nature of His salvation today!

Hebrews 7

The Priestly Order of Melchizedek

7 For this Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of the Most High God, met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings and blessed him, 2 and to him Abraham apportioned a tenth part of everything. He is first, by translation of his name, king of righteousness, and then he is also king of Salem, that is, king of peace. 3 He is without father or mother or genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but resembling the Son of God he continues a priest forever.

4 See how great this man was to whom Abraham the patriarch gave a tenth of the spoils! 5 And those descendants of Levi who receive the priestly office have a commandment in the law to take tithes from the people, that is, from their brothers, though these also are descended from Abraham. 6 But this man who does not have his descent from them received tithes from Abraham and blessed him who had the promises. 7 It is beyond dispute that the inferior is blessed by the superior. 8 In the one case tithes are received by mortal men, but in the other case, by one of whom it is testified that he lives. 9 One might even say that Levi himself, who receives tithes, paid tithes through Abraham, 10 for he was still in the loins of his ancestor when Melchizedek met him.

Jesus Compared to Melchizedek

11 Now if perfection had been attainable through the Levitical priesthood (for under it the people received the law), what further need would there have been for another priest to arise after the order of Melchizedek, rather than one named after the order of Aaron? 12 For when there is a change in the priesthood, there is necessarily a change in the law as well. 13 For the one of whom these things are spoken belonged to another tribe, from which no one has ever served at the altar. 14 For it is evident that our Lord was descended from Judah, and in connection with that tribe Moses said nothing about priests.

15 This becomes even more evident when another priest arises in the likeness of Melchizedek, 16 who has become a priest, not on the basis of a legal requirement concerning bodily descent, but by the power of an indestructible life. 17 For it is witnessed of him,

“You are a priest forever,
    after the order of Melchizedek.”

18 For on the one hand, a former commandment is set aside because of its weakness and uselessness 19 (for the law made nothing perfect); but on the other hand, a better hope is introduced, through which we draw near to God.

20 And it was not without an oath. For those who formerly became priests were made such without an oath, 21 but this one was made a priest with an oath by the one who said to him:

“The Lord has sworn
    and will not change his mind,
‘You are a priest forever.’”

22 This makes Jesus the guarantor of a better covenant.

23 The former priests were many in number, because they were prevented by death from continuing in office, 24 but he holds his priesthood permanently, because he continues forever. 25 Consequently, he is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them.

26 For it was indeed fitting that we should have such a high priest, holy, innocent, unstained, separated from sinners, and exalted above the heavens. 27 He has no need, like those high priests, to offer sacrifices daily, first for his own sins and then for those of the people, since he did this once for all when he offered up himself. 28 For the law appoints men in their weakness as high priests, but the word of the oath, which came later than the law, appoints a Son who has been made perfect forever.

The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

Family Discussion Question:

  • How does the high priesthood of Jesus on our behalf motivate us not only to obey Him, but to worship Him?
Devotional

Daily Devotional-August 4

August 4, 2020

For the next 13 days we will be spending time together walking through the book of Hebrews! Hebrews is written to Jewish Christians who were undergoing persecution for their faith and considering running back to Judaism. The author of Hebrews takes an in-depth look at the practices and regulations of the Old Testament as articulated in the Torah and argues for how Jesus is both superior to each of them and supreme over all of them! The author also warns his audience of the grave danger facing them should they choose to now reject Jesus and return to their former way of life. These warnings can and should make us feel uncomfortable as we read through the book together; allow the Spirit to do what He wants to do in your heart through them! Overall, the message of Hebrews is that Jesus, the Son of God as well as our Savior and Messiah, is infinitely superior to anything or anyone else we could give our lives to, and He is worthy of all our devotion and worship. Jesus is greater!

This chapter begins with the continuation of the warning which the author began in chapter 5. Putting aside for just a moment the way that the rest of Scripture colors how we interpret this passage, the warning in verses 4-8 should make us feel uncomfortable, even scare us a bit. The author is warning his audience that for those who participate in the community life of the church, seeing God’s power at work, who seem to be Christians but then fall away from the faith, there is no chance for repentance. He says that such people are essentially re-crucifying Jesus, once more putting Him to open shame and humiliation, and for such people it is impossible to be restored to repentance.

The assumption is, of course, that genuine believers will not fall away from the faith. But that shouldn’t keep us from taking this warning really seriously; the person the author is describing looks basically identical to a genuine believer from the outside. If hearing the truth of the gospel, seeing the Holy Spirit move, and witnessing true instruction from God’s Word as well as God’s mighty power demonstrated is not enough to bring about true, heart-level repentance in a person, then nothing will. A person can seem to be one of God’s children by all outward measures, but the true test is whether or not they persevere in the faith until the end!

The author then reassures his audience that he does not believe them to be people like this, having seen the fruit of their good works, and encourages them to hold onto their hope until the end as well as to imitate those who “through faith and patience inherited the promises” (v.12). The immediate example the author gives of this type of patient faith is Abraham, who waited to receive the promise of a son from God and then finally did receive it! We are to imitate this kind of faith and endurance as we await the fulfillment of all God has promised us in Christ. 

All of this, says the author, encourages us to “hold fast to the hope set before us” (v.18). This hope which is set before us is Christ Jesus Himself, who has gone behind the Temple’s inner curtain as our high priest in order to give us access to the Father! The hope which is in Christ acts as an “anchor for the soul” (v.19), granting us stability and steadfastness as we hold to it. As we hold fast to our hope in Christ, we can rest assured that this hope will never let us down, that as long as He is our anchor we will not be moved!

Hebrews 6

6 Therefore let us leave the elementary doctrine of Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God, 2 and of instruction about washings, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment. 3 And this we will do if God permits. 4 For it is impossible, in the case of those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, and have shared in the Holy Spirit, 5 and have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the age to come, 6 and then have fallen away, to restore them again to repentance, since they are crucifying once again the Son of God to their own harm and holding him up to contempt. 7 For land that has drunk the rain that often falls on it, and produces a crop useful to those for whose sake it is cultivated, receives a blessing from God. 8 But if it bears thorns and thistles, it is worthless and near to being cursed, and its end is to be burned.

9 Though we speak in this way, yet in your case, beloved, we feel sure of better things—things that belong to salvation. 10 For God is not unjust so as to overlook your work and the love that you have shown for his name in serving the saints, as you still do. 11 And we desire each one of you to show the same earnestness to have the full assurance of hope until the end, 12 so that you may not be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.

The Certainty of God’s Promise

13 For when God made a promise to Abraham, since he had no one greater by whom to swear, he swore by himself, 14 saying, “Surely I will bless you and multiply you.” 15 And thus Abraham, having patiently waited, obtained the promise. 16 For people swear by something greater than themselves, and in all their disputes an oath is final for confirmation. 17 So when God desired to show more convincingly to the heirs of the promise the unchangeable character of his purpose, he guaranteed it with an oath, 18 so that by two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us. 19 We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain, 20 where Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf, having become a high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.

The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

Family Discussion Question:

  • Take a considerable look at your life and at your heart. How might the warning of verses 4-8 urge you to live more faithfully and to hold more tightly to the hope which you have in Jesus? How does this hope act as an anchor for our souls?
Devotional

Daily Devotional-August 3

August 3, 2020

For the next 13 days we will be spending time together walking through the book of Hebrews! Hebrews is written to Jewish Christians who were undergoing persecution for their faith and considering running back to Judaism. The author of Hebrews takes an in-depth look at the practices and regulations of the Old Testament as articulated in the Torah and argues for how Jesus is both superior to each of them and supreme over all of them! The author also warns his audience of the grave danger facing them should they choose to now reject Jesus and return to their former way of life. These warnings can and should make us feel uncomfortable as we read through the book together; allow the Spirit to do what He wants to do in your heart through them! Overall, the message of Hebrews is that Jesus, the Son of God as well as our Savior and Messiah, is infinitely superior to anything or anyone else we could give our lives to, and He is worthy of all our devotion and worship. Jesus is greater!

In this chapter the author begins further explaining Jesus’ role as high priest which he began at the tail end of chapter 4. He reminds his audience of the role of high priest as making atonement for the sins of the people and representing them before God, as well as the fact that high priests are chosen and appointed by God Himself. Jesus meets all of these criteria and more, since He, as the perfect and sinless high priest, does not have to offer sacrifice to atone for His own sins!

The author then goes on to tell of how Jesus was “made perfect” by what He experienced and the suffering He endured during His earthly life and ministry. The author does not mean that Jesus was sinful or somehow less than perfect in the first place, but that as He endured in perfect obedience to the Father through all of His suffering, He matured and was made perfect and complete as a human being. Because of this, His perfect righteousness is “the source of eternal salvation to all who obey Him” (v.9), and through His perfect obedience we also are being made perfect, just as He was!

This chapter ends with the beginning of a scathing rebuke and warning towards the author’s audience. The author accuses his audience of needing the basics of the gospel and the Christian faith laid out for them again, though they have been following Jesus long enough that they ought to be able to instruct others in the Way by now! He calls them spiritual infants, who need to be fed on the spiritual “milk” which babies eat rather than the spiritual “solid food” with which the mature in Christ are fed.

How many of us have been content for years, decades even, with feeding on the spiritual “milk”, remaining infants in Christ, helpless and needing constant feeding from those who are mature rather than becoming mature ourselves? How many of us are content with remaining helpless consumers instead of growing into the kind of believers that invest spiritually in others?

God’s will for each of us who are in Christ is for our growth into spiritual maturity. Let us each wake from our stupor and grow into the maturity to which Christ has called us!

Hebrews 5

5 For every high priest chosen from among men is appointed to act on behalf of men in relation to God, to offer gifts and sacrifices for sins. 2 He can deal gently with the ignorant and wayward, since he himself is beset with weakness. 3 Because of this he is obligated to offer sacrifice for his own sins just as he does for those of the people. 4 And no one takes this honor for himself, but only when called by God, just as Aaron was.

5 So also Christ did not exalt himself to be made a high priest, but was appointed by him who said to him,

“You are my Son,
    today I have begotten you”;

6 as he says also in another place,

“You are a priest forever,
    after the order of Melchizedek.”

7 In the days of his flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to him who was able to save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverence. 8 Although he was a son, he learned obedience through what he suffered. 9 And being made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey him, 10 being designated by God a high priest after the order of Melchizedek.

Warning Against Apostasy

11 About this we have much to say, and it is hard to explain, since you have become dull of hearing. 12 For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the basic principles of the oracles of God. You need milk, not solid food, 13 for everyone who lives on milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, since he is a child. 14 But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil.

The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

Family Discussion Question:

  • Are you content with remaining and spiritual “infant”? What steps can you take to begin moving from spiritual infancy to maturity in Christ?
Devotional

Daily Devotional-August 2

August 2, 2020

For the next 13 days we will be spending time together walking through the book of Hebrews! Hebrews is written to Jewish Christians who were undergoing persecution for their faith and considering running back to Judaism. The author of Hebrews takes an in-depth look at the practices and regulations of the Old Testament as articulated in the Torah and argues for how Jesus is both superior to each of them and supreme over all of them! The author also warns his audience of the grave danger facing them should they choose to now reject Jesus and return to their former way of life. These warnings can and should make us feel uncomfortable as we read through the book together; allow the Spirit to do what He wants to do in your heart through them! Overall, the message of Hebrews is that Jesus, the Son of God as well as our Savior and Messiah, is infinitely superior to anything or anyone else we could give our lives to, and He is worthy of all our devotion and worship. Jesus is greater!

The author continues his warning from the previous chapter, here asserting that we should fear and obey God while there is still time to enter into His promised rest! Those who followed Moses failed to enter in because of unbelief and subsequent disobedience, but the author states that the “Today” David references in Psalm 95 is an indication of the fact that there is still time! As long as Jesus has not yet returned, there is still time to hear, believe, and enter into the promised Sabbath rest of God!

The audience is then urged to strive to enter into that rest by persevering in the faith, being warned that God’s Word will reveal even the deepest thoughts and intentions of their heart and that they will have to give an account before the Lord, from whom nothing can remain hidden, on the last day. 

Finally, the author encourages his audience to hold fast to their confession in view of the glorious and gracious gift of the high priesthood of Jesus! Because Jesus is our high priest, we can hold on to hope no matter our circumstances. The author states here that Jesus, because he took on human form and lived among us, experiencing life and temptation just as we do but without once sinning, we can both trust that his sacrifice on the cross is sufficient to cover all our sin and draw near to God’s throne with confidence because we know that He understands our weakness!

Because Jesus came and dwelt among us, He is uniquely equipped to serve as our high priest: He is able to sympathize with us and show us abundant mercy as well as know exactly what we need in order to give us grace to help in the moment of need! Let’s believe that truth and draw near to Him in confidence every step of the way!

Hebrews 4

4 Therefore, while the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us fear lest any of you should seem to have failed to reach it. 2 For good news came to us just as to them, but the message they heard did not benefit them, because they were not united by faith with those who listened. 3 For we who have believed enter that rest, as he has said,

“As I swore in my wrath,
‘They shall not enter my rest,’”

although his works were finished from the foundation of the world. 4 For he has somewhere spoken of the seventh day in this way: “And God rested on the seventh day from all his works.” 5 And again in this passage he said,

“They shall not enter my rest.”

6 Since therefore it remains for some to enter it, and those who formerly received the good news failed to enter because of disobedience, 7 again he appoints a certain day, “Today,” saying through David so long afterward, in the words already quoted,

“Today, if you hear his voice,
do not harden your hearts.”

8 For if Joshua had given them rest, God would not have spoken of another day later on. 9 So then, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God, 10 for whoever has entered God’s rest has also rested from his works as God did from his.

11 Let us therefore strive to enter that rest, so that no one may fall by the same sort of disobedience. 12 For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. 13 And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account.

Jesus the Great High Priest

14 Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. 15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. 16 Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

Family Discussion Question:

  • How does the high priesthood of Jesus urge us to live our lives? If we can draw near to His throne with confidence because of what He has done, and if we can expect to receive both mercy to cover our failure and grace to help us live in a way that glorifies Him when we need it, what could possibly hinder us from living with boldly for His glory?