Under the Law of Moses only the High Priest could enter the Most Holy Place, could enter into the presence of God. However, the writer of the Book of Hebrews tells us that under the new covenant entered into by Jesus’ sacrifice we can freely enter into God’s presence. Under the old covenant regular and frequent sacrifices were required. Under the new covenant, Jesus sacrificed Himself once for all time. This should inspire us to strive to keep from sinning. Under the old covenant, if you sinned again, you just offered another sacrifice. Under the new covenant, the sacrifice has been offered. When we sin again, it is as if we are asking Christ to once more go to the Cross. We should associate with other believers so that we can encourage them, and be encouraged by them, to do acts of love and good works.
The writer says something here that I struggle with explaining. Those who have known and accepted Christ and then rejected Him will never turn to Him once more. The reason I struggle with this is that I have known some who turned away from God and then returned to be faithful servants to Him. Yet, I also know several people who fit into exactly what the writer is describing. They once fervently served Christ, but something happened and they chose to turn away from what they knew to be God’s will. I still pray that I am mistaken and that the Holy Spirit will reach out and transform them, but looking at the decisions they have made I cannot see any way that they would ever return to God. They knew the glory of Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit, but have chosen to reject both. I hope with all that I am that I am wrong.
As I started to read this I felt that Hebrews follows the letters of Paul in much the same way that the Gospel of John follows the other three Gospels. The writer of Hebrews is concerned with the nature of Jesus and His relationship with God in much the same way that John is in his Gospel. In fact, at some point I want to read the Book of Hebrews immediately after reading the Gospel of John. I really think that the writer of Hebrews is saying the same thing about Jesus as the Gospel of John, just worded differently. Both writers tell us that Jesus is God, but also a human being. Together these two letters form the basis for the doctrine of the Trinity.
However, the writer of this letter wrote this to be about what that means for us, not to talk theology. If Jesus is God, then we must pay even closer attention to what He taught than was called for by the teachings of the Law of Moses, which was communicated by angels (slight over simplification of his argument). Those who spoke to Abraham, Moses, and the other prophets were God’s celestial messengers. Jesus was God Himself. So, on the one hand, Jesus’ teachings must be listened to because they are teachings directly from God. But, Jesus was also a human being, so He understands how difficult following those teachings can be.
I was hoping this would just follow on from the other things I wanted to write about this passage, but it did not. Perhaps the most important part about the writer’s intent is what he writes at the end of this passage. We need to stop relying on others to teach us again and again the basics of the Gospel. We need to act on what we have learned and start teaching it to others. Acting on what we have already learned about the Gospel is the only way to become able to understand and learn more. The theology of the Trinity is only useful as it leads us to act, to do God’s will and show His love to those around us.
