Week 15:
Day 1: Hebrews 1-6
The book of Hebrews was probably
written before 70 A.D. when the temple in Jerusalem was destroyed by the
Romans. It was written to Hebrew
(Jewish) Christians. The Jewish people
had been looking for the Messiah for centuries.
They had the promises from God, the Law, the commandments and the
prophets describing God’s way to forgiveness and salvation. Christ, the Messiah, came to fulfill the Law
and the Prophets, conquering sin, shattering the barriers to God, freely
providing eternal life. Following Jesus
seemed contrary to the way they had worshipped God for centuries and the new
“way” was difficult to accept.
The specific author (unknown)
explains the sufficiency and superiority of Christ compared to what the Jewish
people were accustomed to.
In this section, the author
compares Jesus and His superiority to angels, their leaders and their priests.
Key verses – Hebrews 5:12 – 6:1
(NLT): “12 You
have been believers so long now that you ought to be teaching others. Instead,
you need someone to teach you again the basic things about God’s word. You are
like babies who need milk and cannot eat solid food. 13 For
someone who lives on milk is still an infant and doesn’t know how to do what is
right. 14 Solid food is for those who are
mature, who through training have the skill to recognize the difference between
right and wrong. 1 So let us stop going over the basic teachings about Christ again and
again. Let us go on instead and become mature in our understanding.” This passage echoes what Jesus said about
“going on to perfection” (that the founder of the Methodist movement, John
Wesley communicated as well).
Day 2: Hebrews 7-10
In this section, the author
indicates how Christianity surpasses Judaism because it has a better covenant,
a better sanctuary, and a more sufficient sacrifice for sins.
In Old Testament times, the high
priest would make sacrifices every day, first for their own sins and then for
the sins of the people. And only once a
year, the high priest would go behind the curtain that separated the Most Holy
Place from the rest of the temple, on the Day of Atonement. The curtain separated the Most Holy Place
(where the Ark of the Covenant was and where God “lived”) from the rest of the
temple and the people. So this
symbolized the fact that sinful people could not be in the presence of a Holy
God. However, when Jesus died, the
curtain in the temple was torn in two.
This symbolized the fact that we can now be with God if we believe in
the death of Jesus being the payment for our sins.
This passage talks about Jesus
being the ultimate High Priest, making the sacrifice for our sins, once and for
all. There is no need for a high priest
to make daily sacrifices any longer.
Day 3: Hebrews 11-13
In this section, the author
explains how to live by faith, specifically in chapter 11 talking about people
from their past in what some might call the “Hall of Faith.” Finally, there is discussion to encourage for
daily living, comparing the old and new covenants and some moral exhortations.
In Hebrews 11, we have the “Hall
of Faith” – all of the Hebrew people from the past that found favor with
God. Sometimes, it is easy to think that
the birth, life, death and resurrection of Jesus brought a new way to be made
right with God – the Law from the Old Testament and Jesus from the New
Testament. But this chapter tells us
that from the beginning, it is faith that makes us right with God. The Law can’t do that because no one can
follow the Law perfectly. So we need
another way. Faith in Jesus! However, it is also faith in the Old
Testament that made people right with God.
However, before Jesus: “39 All
these people didn’t receive what was promised, though they were given approval
for their faith. 40 God provided something better for us so they wouldn’t
be made perfect without us.” (Hebrews 11:39-40
CEB)
And then at the start of chapter
12, “1 So then let’s also run the race that is laid out in front of us, since
we have such a great cloud of witnesses surrounding us. Let’s throw off any
extra baggage, get rid of the sin that trips us up, 2 and fix our eyes on
Jesus, faith’s pioneer and perfecter. He endured the cross, ignoring the shame,
for the sake of the joy that was laid out in front of him, and sat down at the
right side of God’s throne. (Hebrews12:1-2 CEB)
Day 4: 2 Timothy (entire book)
Written in 66-67 A.D. to Timothy,
giving him final instructions and encouragement. This letter was written by
Paul in prison in Rome. This is Paul’s
last letter and it reveals his heart and his priorities: sound doctrine, steadfast faith, confident
endurance and lasting love. Since these
are Paul’s last words, his “famous last words,” we can be sure that they are of
utmost importance as he “passes the torch” to the new generation of church
leaders.
Read Paul’s last words as if they
are his last words written directly to you, a follower of Christ!
Day 5: 2 Peter (entire book)
Peter wrote this letter to warn
Christians about false teachers and to exhort them to grow in their faith around
67 A.D. These were Peter’s last written
words and he knew his time was coming and so he wrote what was on his heart and
about what would happen when he was gone.
Day 6: Jude
Jude is the brother of Jesus and
James. This letter was written about 65
A.D. to
Jewish Christians to encourage
them to keep strong in the faith and to oppose heresy. Catch a theme yet? How many of the letters written and recorded
in the New Testament deal with false teachers, false teaching and heresy? A lot!
We have the same issue today in maybe different ways. So we need to keep our eye on the truth as
all of these New Testament letters explain.
Day 7: rest
