2 Hebrews 2-3

2 Hebrews 2-3

Today we continue our study of Hebrews with a survey of Chapters Two and Three, which are concerned with establishing Jesus as a superior prophet to Moses. These two chapters are especially interesting from the JEWISH point of view: that is to say, many of the arguments, assigning Jesus a higher place in the cosmic hierarchy than Moses, are made in the philosophical Jewish idiom, and make constant reference to an historical authority that only a Jew would understand or endorse. Remember that this letter is written from Rome to a group of Hebrews in Jerusalem, troubled by doubts about the divinity of Jesus; therefore, the letter’s first order of business is to give the Jews something to believe in that comes easily out the established Jewish culture.

The first section of the chapter implies a fairly threatening picture of a Karma-driven world—(“if the message spoken by angels was binding, and every violation and disobedience received its just punishment”)— a picture which is brightened only by the promise of salvation through Jesus the Christ. The opening also contains a magnificent declaration of the new dispensation of Grace over the Law. But the very first thing it says is this: we need to be careful what we think and say, because in these last days the Truth of the Word has been translated from the Mind of God to the Heart of God. Also, a pertinent question to ask is “How do we listen carefully? Do we listen with ears conditioned by the law, the angelic intelligence, or do we listen with the ears of the heart, which hears past the rational sense of the angelic language to the mystery of its origins? We need to listen carefully with every ear we own, and not get it wrong, because inattention will cause us to drift away from the Truth—the New Truth.

Thus, we begin:

Hebrews 2: 1-3:

"1 We must pay more careful attention, therefore, to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away. 

2 For if the message spoken by angels was binding, and every violation and disobedience received its just punishment, 

3 how shall we escape if we ignore such a great salvation? This salvation, which was first announced by the Lord, was confirmed to us by those who heard him.” 

[Sidebar: Notice the idea that, 

“if the message spoken by angels was binding, and every violation and disobedience received its just punishment, how shall we escape. . .?” 

The idea of JUST PUNISHMENT goes hand in hand with the law; (apparently, the LAW is spoken by the angels, as the intelligent voice of God); so, instead of our just punishment for Adam’s original sin, we have salvation, bought for us, and announced to us by Jesus the Christ. It is an elegant picture of SALVATION, because, by virtue of the laws of Karma, it implies, although it does not explicitly state, what doom we are being saved FROM.

From Grace Communion International we read:

“But "how shall we escape if we ignore such a great salvation?" (v. 3). If the message of angels was binding (and it was) and disobedient people were punished, surely we won’t escape if we ignore the message of Christ.

This is an argument from the lesser to the greater, a common Jewish method of teaching. If Jesus is better than the angels, his message is better than theirs. If the message delivered by servants was authoritative, then the message delivered by the Son is even more so.

The readers were attentive to the law of Moses, but they weren’t attentive enough to the message of Jesus. They believed in Jesus as the Christ, but they hadn’t thought about his significance. They were so busy with Moses that they were not hearing Jesus.

Rhetorical strategy

In this, Hebrews uses a clever rhetorical strategy. The author begins with concepts the readers agree with, and they go through chapter 1 agreeing with him. Then he takes that point of agreement and turns it into a point of correction. You believe Jesus is great, he says, but you are not acting like it. You are paying too much attention to the old message and not enough to the new.”

We are in agreement with all of this, especially the part about listening to the NEW. We have become so indoctrinated in the essence of Christianity, as a cultural commonplace, that it is hard for us to imagine how NEW this new salvation must have seemed to the people of the first millenium. We need constant reminding that Jesus set cosmic waves in motion that, even now, have not yet crested.

Back to Hebrews 2:4:

“4 God also testified to it by signs, wonders and various miracles, and gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to his will.” 

I love how it says Jesus spread his fame through works and miracles. Here, by mentioning the works and miracles of Jesus, the author does not ignore the congregation’s materialist need to justify the authority of Jesus by virtue His miraculous good works. Now, you have heard me say, many times, that Jesus’ miracles mean no more or less to me than my own little miracles, miracles I witness every day; every day Heaven comes down and glory fills my soul, so I don’t need water to wine, or even resurrection from the dead, to justify my faith in the Divine Mediator. Nevertheless, Jesus’ miracles are part of the historical record, and cannot, therefore, be reasonably dismissed or contradicted. 

Of even deeper significance is the phrase: “gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to his will.” These gifts partake of the same miraculous character as the more physical miracles, water into wine, etc., but, to me, they are somehow more real because they are personal, and because they raise our consciousness to higher levels. It's too bad that so many people don't believe that those miracles are happening and continue to happen today, even though it's not Bible times anymore.

In John Gill’s Exposition of the Bible, on this subject, we read: 

“both with signs and wonders, and with divers miracles;
such as taking up serpents without hurt, healing the sick, causing the lame to walk, and raising the dead, and casting out devils, and the like; all which were for the confirmation of the Gospel preached by them: a sign, wonder, or miracle, for these signify the same thing, is a marvellous work done before men, by the power of God, to confirm a divine truth; God is the sole author of miracles; and they were done in the first ages of Christianity, when they were necessary, to give evidence of the truth of it, and to establish men in it; and these were various, as before observed: and gifts of the Holy Ghost; such as besides gifts of healing and working miracles, gifts of foretelling things to come, discerning of spirits, speaking with divers kinds of tongues, and the interpretation of tongues, according to his own will; either according to the will of God, who bore testimony by these miracles and gifts; or according to the will of the Holy Spirit, who distributed them to men severally as he pleased.”

As you can imagine, this sentence really pisses me off: 

“God is the sole author of miracles; and they were done in the first ages of Christianity, when they were necessary, to give evidence of the truth of it, and to establish men in it.”

The implication of the phrase, “they were done in the first ages of Christianity” is that they are not done anymore. This a pissoff for two reasons:

1. It implies that miracles no longer happen, or, worse, they are no longer authored by God. In these latter days miracles have been as often attributed to the Devil as to God because supernatural events smack of witchcraft or infernal magic.

2.It implies that it was the miracles alone that that gave evidence of the truth of Jesus’ divinity.

Both of these implications expunge the possibility of the miraculous from our daily experience, and consign the miraculous to the domain of the occult, which, to many, means of the devil. Oh pshaw.

Back to Hebrews 2:5:

“5 It is not to angels that he has subjected the world to come, about which we are speaking.” 

This sentence refers, once again, not only to the superiority of the Christ to angels, but to the ultimate superiority of MAN to the angels—indeed, it was the idea of this glorious kinship of Man to the Christ, and the promised birthright of Man to a higher place in the cosmic hierarchy, that was the final straw that turned Lucifer against the Will of the Father.

Back to Hebrews 2:6-9:

“6 But there is a place where someone has testified: "What is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him? 

7 You made him a little lower than the angels; you crowned him with glory and honor 

8 and put everything under his feet." In putting everything under him, God left nothing that is not subject to him. Yet at present we do not see everything subject to him.” 

9 But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, now crowned with glory and honor because he suffered death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone."

Note: “God left nothing that is not subject to him. Yet at present we do not see everything subject to him.”

BUT WE SEE JESUS. Jesus the mediator is the most and best of the infinite God that our finite minds can appreciate, made visible to us through His humiliation in the flesh. We must think, we must ponder, we must PAY ATTENTION, but, in the final analysis we must let the Divine Christ Consciousness become our passion and our vision.

One of the other important things about this first section is its very Jewish method of establishing a heavenly hierarchy by way of argument and historical precedent. There's lots of stuff about being higher and lower than the angels. The doctrinal principle here is that Jesus is the head man, and that is a principle that I can wholeheartedly endorse. Again:

“We see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, now crowned with glory and honor because he suffered death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone."

The expression, “tasted death for everyone” is such a tantalizing expression, in its miraculous impossibility—we cannot get our minds around the idea that one Man could redeem the sins of all. Although, when you think about it, it only makes sense— because if we are all psychically connected to each other, spiritually connected to each other, having sprung from a common source, it only makes sense that some large being should be able to reach out into all those levels of consciousness below Him, and act in our best interest and for our general benefit, by sending messages and blessings down the same pipeline— the same cosmic highway.

The following is from Matthew Henry's Commentary – Verses 1–9: 

"God declares of Christ the perfect equity of his administration, and of the execution of his power, through all the parts of his government: A sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre of thy kingdom, Heb. 1:8. He came righteously to the sceptre, and he uses it in perfect righteousness; the righteousness of his government proceeds from the righteousness of his person, from an essential eternal love of righteousness and hatred of iniquity, not merely from considerations of prudence or interest, but from an inward and immovable principle: Thou lovest righteousness and hatest iniquity, Heb. 1:9. Christ came to fulfil all righteousness, to bring in an everlasting righteousness; and he was righteous in all his ways and holy in all his works. He has recommended righteousness to men, and restored it among them, as a most excellent and amiable thing. He came to finish transgression, and to make an end of sin as a hateful as well as hurtful thing. 

God declares of Christ how he was qualified for the office of Mediator, and how he was installed and confirmed in it (Heb. 1:9): Therefore God, even thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows. 

1. Christ has the name Messiah from his being anointed. God’s anointing of Christ signifies both his qualifying him for the office of the Mediator with the Holy Spirit and all his graces, and likewise his inauguration of him into the office, as prophets, priests, and kings, were by anointing. God, even thy God, imports the confirmation of Christ in the office of Mediator by the covenant of redemption and peace, that was between the Father and the Son. God is the God of Christ, as Christ is man and Mediator. 

2. This anointing of Christ was with the oil of gladness, which signifies both the gladness and cheerfulness with which Christ undertook and went through the office of Mediator (finding himself so absolutely sufficient for it), and also that joy which was set before him as the reward of his service and sufferings, that crown of glory and gladness which he should wear for ever after the suffering of death.” 

Hebrews 2: 10:

“10 In bringing many sons to glory, it was fitting that God, for whom and through whom everything exists, should make the author of their salvation perfect through suffering.” 

[Sidebar: “Perfect through suffering” is an expression that cries out for amplification. We have heard, many times, that what doesn't kill you makes you stronger; (this is not always true—some things can make you weaker); but, in general, perfection through suffering seems to be the process to which we must all submit: every single one of us has a cross to bear into old age. And this cross, which we have borne our whole lives, and which was given to us, each of us, individually by God, ESPECIALLY FOR US by God— this suffering is the purifying fire that must ultimately make us free.

Of course, for notes on suffering we must turn to the C.S. Lewis book, A Grief Observed, that details so many levels of suffering, while attempting to reveal its purpose. 

“God has not been trying an experiment on my faith or love in order to find out their quality. He knew it already. It was I who didn't. In this trial He makes us occupy the dock, the witness box, and the bench all at once. He always knew that my temple was a house of cards. His only way of making me realize the fact was to knock it down.” 

You have heard me say that: at the Last Judgement, it is we who will judge ourselves. When we occupy the dock, the witness box, and the bench all at once, the self-knowledge acquired in these last days will reveal the truth to the most self-blinded; and true self-knowledge will result in the one and only possible flow of nature into the infinite. C. S. Lewis has always upheld that suffering leads to self-knowledge, if for no other reason than the HONESTY it invokes.

One of my favorite suffering quotes is from Aeschylus, who writes:

“Even in our sleep, pain which cannot forget falls drop by drop upon the heart, until, in our own despair, against our will, comes wisdom through the awful grace of God.”

The second chapter of Hebrews ends with an affirmation of Jesus’ authority over mankind, because He Himself became human; it was this humanity that qualified Him to be the mediator between Man and God which He has become.

Hebrews 2: 11-18:

“11 Both the one who makes men holy and those who are made holy are of the same family. So Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers. 

12 He says, "I will declare your name to my brothers; in the presence of the congregation I will sing your praises." 

13 And again, "I will put my trust in him." And again he says, "Here am I, and the children God has given me." 

14 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 much here to sort through. The main motif of this section is the idea of “brothers”. We are brothers genetically, descended form Abraham, we are brothers in service, and brothers in that “those who are made holy are of the same family”; as such they are equal in God. The point is also made that Jesus and we are brothers because we have all, —ALL— shared our humanity, and been tempted by the desires of the flesh. Again:

“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-- and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death.”

On the subject of defeating the devil, and overcoming the fear of death, I am reminded of the “Armor of God” sermons which I gave a while back. In 1st John we read about Satan’s weakness in the presence of Jesus:

1 John 4:2-6 

“2 Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God:

3 And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world.

4  Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world. 

5  They are of the world: therefore speak they of the world, and the world heareth them. 

6  We are of God: he that knoweth God heareth us; he that is not of God heareth not us. Hereby know we the spirit of truth, and the spirit of error." 

This passage reveals the fatal weakness of Satan: he cannot bear the name of Jesus. He may twist and squirm around it, but Jesus' name is filled with the power of the armor of God, and can defeat every trick of the devil to confound us.

The third chapter of Hebrews continues the previous discussion of cosmic hierarchy, comparing the rank of Moses to the rank of Jesus:

Hebrews 3:1-2: Jesus Greater Than Moses

“1 Therefore, holy brothers, who share in the heavenly calling, fix your thoughts on Jesus, the apostle and high priest whom we confess. 

2 He was faithful to the one who appointed him, just as Moses was faithful in all God's house.” 

The David Guzik Commentary on the Bible, zeroes in on some nuanced terms, like “apostle” and “consider”:

“Consider (fix your thoughts on) the Apostle and High Priest of our confession, Christ Jesus,

a. Consider the Apostle: We don't often apply this word to Jesus, but He is our Apostle. The ancient Greek word translated apostle really means something like ambassador. In this sense, Jesus is the Father's ultimate ambassador. God the Father had to send a message of love that was so important, He sent it through Christ Jesus.

i. The ancient Greek word translated consider is katanoein: "It does not mean simply to look at or to notice a thing. Anyone can look at a thing or even notice it without really seeing it. The word means to fix the attention on something in such a way that its inner meaning, the lesson it is designed to teach, may be learned." (Barclay) The same word is used in Luke 12:24 (Consider the ravens). It is an earnest appeal to look, to learn, and to understand.

ii. The message is plain: consider this. Consider that God loves you so much He sent the ultimate Messenger, Christ Jesus. Consider also how important it is for you to pay attention to God's ultimate Apostle, who is Christ Jesus.

iii. God also chose His original, authoritative "ambassadors" for the church. These are what we think of as the original twelve apostles. God still chooses ambassadors in a less authoritative sense, and there is a sense in which we are all ambassadors for God. Yet surely, Jesus was and is the Father's ultimate ambassador.”

[Sidebar: Another interesting literary construction is the idiomatic use of the word “house”. In this opening section, the metaphor of the “HOUSE” is used three slightly different ways: 

1. there is reference, above, to the “God’s House” of Moses, which can only mean the established cultural order of the Jews, 

2. there is reference, below, to God as the “Builder of the House”, which can only mean the Spiritual edifice of God’s all-inclusive Kingdom, and

3. there follows the statement, “we are his house”, meaning the brotherhood of Christians is an organism of spiritual beings, aligned by faith in Jesus the Christ.”

Aside from the literary elegance of this construction, its very linguistic flexibility intrinsically implies that the LANGUAGE of truth admits of a variety of interpretations; that even though the same word can mean several things that may be true, the deeper truth of our identity in the Christ Consciousness is eternally the same.

Back to Hebrews 3: 3-6:]

“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.”

Here, the author would forbid any doubt that Jesus is superior to Moses, that the heart is superior to the law; but he would also have us see Jesus as a kind of natural NEXT STEP in the history of the Jews. We are meant not only to see that Moses qualifies as an appropriate predecessor of Jesus, but also to see that Jesus is indeed the appropriate successor of Moses—and that a few laws may have to be broken in order to get at a higher truth.

Next, the character of an “exhortation” is continued as we are again warned against unbelief; just as in the opening of the Second Chapter we are warned that if life were fair, none of us would escape whipping: 

As we read in Hebrews 2:2-3.

“For if the message spoken by angels was binding, and every violation and disobedience received its just punishment, how shall we escape?” 

Hebrews 3: 7-13 

Warning Against Unbelief

“7 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.” 

[Sidebar: One of the delightful features of Hebrews is how REASONABLE it is—it makes most of its claims by rationally justifiable argument, listing historical precedents; the Jews of the past were punished by God for disobedience—therefore beware of unbelief lest you too suffer the punishments of God!

The next few verses continue the comparison of Jesus to Moses. I cannot help but feel that the question of the Law vs. Grace is playing an underlying role in this section. There is a lot of talk about the HEART. We read the expression “harden your hearts as you did in the rebellion”, and the statement, “Their hearts are always going astray,” and reference to “a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God”.

Hebrews 3:14-19:

“14 We have come to share in Christ if we hold firmly till the end the confidence we had at first. 

15 As has just been said: "Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as you did in the rebellion." 

16 Who were they who heard and rebelled? Were they not all those Moses led out of Egypt? 

17 And with whom was he angry for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies fell in the desert? 18 And to whom did God swear that they would never enter his rest if not to those who disobeyed ? 

19 So we see that they were not able to enter, because of their unbelief.”

Two more commentaries on this scripture should about wind us up; from Mathew Henry’s Concise Commentary we read:

“3:14-19 The saints' privilege is, they are made partakers of Christ, that is, of the Spirit, the nature, graces, righteousness, and life of Christ; they are interested in all Christ is, in all he has done, or will do. The same spirit with which Christians set out in the ways of God, they should maintain unto the end. Perseverance in faith is the best evidence of the sincerity of our faith. Hearing the word often is a means of salvation, yet, if not hearkened to, it will expose more to the Divine wrath. The happiness of being partakers of Christ and his complete salvation, and the fear of God's wrath and eternal misery, should stir us up to persevere in the life of obedient faith. Let us beware of trusting to outward privileges or professions, and pray to be numbered with the true believers who enter heaven, when all others fail because of unbelief. As our obedience follows according to the power of our faith, so our sins and want of care are according to the prevailing of unbelief in us.”

From Barnes’ Notes on the Bible we read:

“For we are made partakers of Christ - We are spiritually united to the Saviour. We become one with him. We partake of his spirit and his allotments. The sacred writers are accustomed to describe the Christian as being closely united to the Saviour, and as being one with him see the John 15:1-7; John 17:21, John 17:23 notes; Ephesians 5:30 note; 1 Corinthians 12:27 note. The idea is, that we participate in all that pertains to him. It is a union of feeling and affection; a union of principle and of congeniality; a union of dependence as well as love; a union where nothing is to be imparted by us, but everything gained; and a union, therefore, on the part of the Redeemer of great condescension. It is the union of the branch to the vine, where the branch is supported and nourished by the vine, and not the union of the ivy and the oak, where the ivy has its own roots, and merely clings around the oak and climbs up upon it. What else can be said so honorable of man as that he is a "partaker of Christ;" that he shares his feelings here, and that he is to share his honors in a brighter world? Compared with this, what is it to participate with the rich and the frivolous in their pleasures; what would it be to share in the honors of conquerors and kings?”

Thus is ended the exhortation against unbelief. I think I need to substitute “faith” for “unbelief”. I feel that the true partaker in Christ allows himself to transcend the limits of mundane reality by placing trust in an intangible. The experience of the intangible creates belief not the other way round. I hope that pure faith can suck the life out of the vine, and connect us to the mighty oak.

Let us pray: Jesus thank you for the clarity which your path provides; we stumble in verbal paradoxes, seeking sense, when all we really have to do is lend our minds to You, and let You provide all the missing links. Amen,