Today in the Word Devotional Today In The Word

At the beginning of my Christian experience, I counted the days, weeks, and months that I had been following Jesus. I thought it would be a real achievement if I could make it to the four-year mark! After forty years, I now know that it is not an achievement but a matter of grace.

In today’s passage, the author urges readers to persist in faith. “See to it, brothers and sisters, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God” (v. 12). It is one thing to struggle with sin and wrestle with our doubts. All believers face such trials. It is something else to “turn away” from God. While some turn from God by blatantly choosing sin, the author warns that some were in danger of taking a different path. They were tempted to replace Jesus with a righteousness of their own making. Anyone who would turn away from Christ’s gift of righteousness to rely on the Law of Moses rejected the very righteousness they hoped to find. Instead of honoring God, but revering the Law more than Christ, they committed the same sin as those who first received the Law (vv. 16–19). Unbelief kept them from experiencing God’s rest (v. 19).

To guard against this, the author calls for vigilance and encouragement. Individually, they were to examine their hearts and root out unbelief. Collectively, they were to encourage each other in the faith (vv. 12–13). The kind of faith God desires from those who follow Jesus is as enduring as it is responsive (vv. 14–15). It is not a momentary decision that is easily set aside but a conviction that we hold “firmly to the very end” (v. 14). It does not harden our hearts when we hear God’s voice.
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Next to the Old Testament patriarch Abraham, perhaps no human figure was as highly regarded by the recipients of this letter as Moses. Philo of Alexandria, a Jewish philosopher who lived in the time of Christ, wrote that Moses functioned as a prophet, priest, king, and legislator.

The author of Hebrews turns next to Moses to show that Jesus is better. In Hebrews 3:1 the writer calls Jesus an apostle. It is the only place in the New Testament where this term is used of Jesus. The title is not intended to lower Jesus’ status but to show that, like Moses, Jesus was an authorized messenger of God.

Moses and Jesus alike served as God’s representatives to His people. But there is a distinct difference. Verse 3 points out what makes Jesus worthy of even greater honor. Moses was a servant, but Jesus was the “builder.” Moses is God’s messenger, but Jesus is God’s Son and the Creator (v. 6). If the readers of this letter respected the message that came to them through Moses, they had even more reason to regard the message that came through Christ.

But the writer goes a step further by pointing out that Moses bore witness to Jesus (v. 5). In this way, Moses was not only God’s servant but also a servant of Christ. This assertion echoes Jesus’ claim in John 5:39 that the words of the Old Testament “are the very Scriptures that testify about me.” Consequently, those who ignore Christ’s message make the same mistake as the disobedient generation that perished in the wilderness after the Exodus (vv. 7–11). Those who reject Christ reject God and miss the rest He has promised to all who come to Him in faith (Matt. 11:28–30). If you have heard His call, do not ignore it!
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How human was Jesus? In his book Jesus Wars, author Philip Jenkins observes, “In the early centuries of Christianity, very strong forces were pulling Christ Godward and heavenward.” Many early Christians emphasized the divine nature of Christ, sometimes at the expense of His humanity. But Jenkins goes on to point out that this tendency was checked by the New Testament itself, which clearly portrays the divine Christ as human.

The book of Hebrews is outspoken on this point. This same Jesus who is “the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being” also “shared” our humanity (Heb. 1:3; 2:14). Jesus did not merely appear to be human, He was “fully human in every way” (v. 17). In the person of Jesus Christ, we find someone who is both truly God and truly human.

Verses 14 and 17 go on to explain the reason this was necessary. Jesus shared our humanity so that He could die for us. He was also made like us so that He could live for us. Humanity was essential to Christ’s role as our High Priest. Without a human nature, Christ would not have been able to die on our behalf. Because He was truly human, Jesus not only died but “suffered when he was tempted.” As a result, he is “able to help those who are being tempted” (v. 18).

Jesus’ humanity was not a publicity stunt intended to get our attention. Hebrews 2:17 points out that it was a necessity. Jesus had to be made like us to be our sacrifice and High Priest. Because He was made like us and has suffered for us, He is able to “free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death” (v. 15). Jesus is the one and only God–Man!
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Angels are everywhere. You see them on charm bracelets, in pictures, and shaped in sculpture. You can find them in cemeteries, mounted on park fountains, and even on a certain brand of toilet paper. Humans in every age have had a fascination with these heavenly beings. Unfortunately, this interest has sometimes crossed the line and fallen into angel worship.

Those who received this letter appear to have developed an excessive interest in angels. The writings of the Jewish community of Qumran, known as the Dead Sea Scrolls, include speculations about angels. There may even be an indication that they were venerated to the point of worship. Similarly, Colossians 2:18 warns, “Do not let anyone who delights in false humility and the worship of angels disqualify you. Such a person also goes into great detail about what they have seen; they are puffed up with idle notions by their unspiritual mind.”

Today’s passage puts angels in the proper perspective by pointing out that Jesus is superior to the angels. Angels are God’s servants and messengers, but Jesus is the divine Son of God and is worshiped by angels (vv. 5–6). The angels surround the throne and are God’s servants (v. 7, compare with Rev. 5:11). But Jesus is enthroned at God’s right hand (vv. 8, 13). Although Jesus was made “lower than the angels” when He took to Himself a human nature (2:9), He is now enthroned at the Father’s right hand, waiting for all His enemies to be subdued (v. 13).

Jesus is not an ordinary human who has been elevated to divine status. Nor is He an angel on steroids. He is the eternal God and our Creator who became flesh (vv. 10–12). He is worthy of our worship. No angel can make such a claim (Rev. 19:10; 22:8–9).
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In a later chapter, the author of Hebrews defines faith as “assurance about what we do not see” (Heb. 11:1). And 2 Corinthians 5:7 makes a similar point when it says that we “live by faith, not by sight.” Yet faith is itself a way of seeing. The faith that shapes our vision for living is not blind faith. When we live by faith, we train our vision to see the world as Scripture describes it.

In today’s text, the writer contrasts how things appear and how things truly are. Verses 5–8 quote Psalm 8, comparing what we can see with what we do not yet see. We do not yet see all things subdued under Christ’s control (v. 8). Instead, we see Jesus “who was made lower than the angels for a little while, now crowned with glory and honor because he suffered death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone” (v. 9).

This is the language of faith. While we may not see these things with the naked eye, we can apprehend them through the testimony of God’s Word. The gospel message portrays a crucified, risen, and exalted Christ who became the “pioneer” of our salvation by suffering on our behalf (v. 11). He has gone before us to open the way to God. Those who trust Christ receive His righteousness as a gift and are adopted into God’s family (v. 12).

How, then, do we come to see things as the writer of Hebrews describes them in these verses? The only way is to view them through the eyes of faith and put our trust in Christ (v. 13). The work of God that is unfolding in our lives today is a work that is already finished (see also John 19:30).
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People sometimes wish that God would say something to them. They have a question to ask or perhaps even a complaint to air. But if the Old Testament teaches us anything, it indicates that God has already spoken to us. The writer of the book of Hebrews, whose name we do not know, begins with a reminder that God spoke “at many times and in various ways” in the past (Heb. 1:1).

The author says this to draw a contrast that will shape everything else we read in this book. God has spoken in the past. But the climax of all that He has said is found in the person and work of Jesus Christ. This is because everything God has said is ultimately meant to reveal Himself. According to verse 3, only Jesus is “the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being.” Jesus puts a human face on God. But He does more than translate the unseen nature of God into a human form.

Verse 3 points out that Jesus shows us what God is like because He is God. He sustains all things “by his powerful word.” Jesus is the revelation of God that all previous revelation was building toward. Yet He came to do more than show us what God is like. Jesus also provided “purification for sins” by offering Himself as a sacrifice (v. 3). The message at the heart of the book of Hebrews is the incomparability of Christ. Jesus is superior to all things, even the angels, because He is their creator (v. 4). He is the sacrifice that surpasses any other sacrifice that may be offered for sin, even those that God Himself prescribed in the Law of Moses. Jesus is the only way to God.
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