The Jesus Story: Take Two

The Bible has virtually every sort of book; Esther doesn't mention God, Jonah speaks of a
prophet who is rather unprophet-like, Song of Solomon is about passionate love, Ruth is
about a foreigner, Job deals explicitly with suffering, Ecclesiastes vigorously argues the
purpose and meaning of life, and the Chronicles give us a mid-Bible history lesson.

Here we have a peculiar letter; the author is unknown (though the Author is), and the title
bears neither the name, the place nor the subject matter of the letter, unlike books like
Matthew, John, Ephesians, Romans, Acts and Revelation. Instead, it seems to be directed to a
group of people (in fact, Hebrews was at that time less frequently used, it would seem;
'Jews' was more common).

Yet it is here that some of the most profound messages in the New Testament are put across,
pertaining to Christ himself and our part in God's story. And it seems the title 'Hebrews'
may also serve to bring the reader(s) back to the time when they were known simply as the
Hebrews, that is, before the Egyptian slavery.

Hebrews

In a word, Hebrews is about Jesus and us.

With 13:8 as the glue that keeps things together ("For Jesus doesn't change"), the author
describes him as the master of all time.

Jesus was there from the beginning of time itself, and was indeed maker of both Old and New
Covenants. The references to Abraham and Melchizedek bring us back to the pre-law times, and show us that God was already working righteousness then.

In fact, the 'New Covenant' is really the 'Oldest Covenant', for it restores all of Creation
to the Creator's original dream -- just better, for God can only improve on a good thing.
"God put the old plan on the shelf. And there it stays, gathering dust."

He is also God of the present. "God keeps renewing the promise and setting the date as
today." An angel, in C.S. Lewis' allegory The Great Divorce, confronts a man and his choices
with this proclamation, 'in this moment all moments are present.' As long as it is today, we
can do God's work.

At the end of all things, he is the God of the future; in the final judgement he will "[get]
rid of all the... junk so that the unshakable essentials stand clear and uncluttered."
"We don't have a priest who is out of touch with reality," and yet we often put him on a
distant pedestal, as if God were only concerned with matters of church ritual and tradition
and eternity.

But Hebrews doesn't stop there. Much of the second half directs it focus and attention to
the people who have decided to follow Jesus.

In an exhortation to never stop praying, inspiring the bridge of Steven Curtis Chapman's
'Let Us Pray', we are to "[walk right up to God without hesitation], full of belief,
confident that we're presentable inside and out."

"Let's see how inventive we can be in encouraging love and helping out, not avoiding
worshipping together... but spurring each other on..." This verse from 10:24-25 has been the
driving force behind my 'zealousness' for the school's Christian Union. I've always
believed, and still do, that fellowship is one of the greatest and most important gifts we
have from God.

On a grander scale, the author dedicates chapter 11 to matters of faith. In fact, if Hebrews
is known for anything, it is this chapter. "This faith... makes life worth living. It's our
handle on what we can't see."

If life were limited to this world, it would be pointless, since clods of dirt don't amount
to anything. But the great heroes of faith inspire us because their hearts were with God in
a kingdom literally beyond this world. For that reason, they did crazy things, convinced God
could see things better than all humanity ever could. Sacrificing Isaac was one example.
"These pioneers who blazed the way, all these veterans cheering us on..."

But we know as they did, that living this life and walking this path is not easy at all; in
fact it may be the hardest thing we're ever called to do. So the author writes, almost
pleadingly, "Pray for us. We have no doubts about what we're doing or why, but it's hard
going and we need your prayers."

This journey hasn't been easy for us, and I can only expect it will get harder. But by God's
grace, and the support of the saints of all these years, many of whom continue to cheer us
on, fighting with us daily, we will make it.

Not much time left here; we're targeting to touchdown on Thursday, due to my desire to end
on the same day as Soo Tian, who is even now switching into Hyperdrive Mode. And then with
this behind us, d'NA should prove a most amazing experience.