The letter to the Hebrews is a challenging book. It reads a lot differently than other books in the Bible–it’s more like a speech or a sermon than a letter. The author’s rhetorical style is unique, so if we’re used to reading Paul and the Gospels (most of the New Testament), it can be hard to pick up on what the letter is trying to do to us.
In addition, the author seems to be participating in a conversation that we may not find particularly relevant today. The author’s main concern seems to be the relationship between Jewish faith and the faith of those who follow Jesus–to what degree do these belong together? Most of us don’t spend very much time pondering this question. It seems to have been answered for us quite thoroughly.
This brings us to the third difficulty: the author is intent on demonstrating that Jesus is the true fulfillment of the Scriptures (i.e., the Old Testament) and goes to great lengths (including some interpretive techniques that seem strange to us) to demonstrate this. As those who have the fruits of the labor of the New Testament authors (i.e., the New Testament), we are generally content to find Jesus there and consult the Old Testament when we need an exciting story for Sunday School. The author of Hebrews didn’t have this luxury, so his writing is a tapestry of Old Testament quotes, followed by Christ-centered interpretation of them. It isn’t how we are used to reading Scripture and quite honestly, it’s hard to understand.
However, despite all these challenges, Hebrews is worth our time today. I believe our Evangelical de-emphasis on the Old Testament is long-overdue to end.
We would do well to recover the author’s conviction that every word of Scripture points to the supremacy of Jesus. And learning to see Jesus as the truest fulfillment of Scripture and even recovering some of the strange methods of interpretation used by New Testament authors to do so, would be well worth our time.
Over the next few weeks, we will be looking at five passages from Hebrews that draw our attention to the greatness of Jesus. To see all things summed up in Christ and to hear the Old Testament as the Word of God to us today is where I hope that Hebrews will take us.
We may have to wrestle with this letter. We may have to sit patiently with it. But it is an indispensable part of our biblical canon, so I have no doubt that our extra effort in understanding it will be rewarded with a deep and rich experience of hearing God’s Word for us today.