The Book of Hebrews was written to the Jews to help them understand how Jesus fulfilled the law so they would recognize Jesus for who he was and accept his authority. It was difficult for the Jews, and sometimes even for us, to grasp that Jesus was the Son of God. It would have been dangerous for these Jews to be seen as Christ-followers, so this book will also serve to empower them with truth. We may find even today the temptation to fall away from our faith.
As we’ve been reading different texts to help us understand who Jesus is, this one encourages us to want a relationship with Jesus. He is certainly someone I want to associate with. I like this quote from Aaron Rogers, quarterback of my team (Green Bay Packers). “Surround yourself with really good people. I think that’s an important thing. Because the people you surround yourself are a reflection of you.”Don’t we want the world to see Jesus reflected in us?
Continue reading “Hebrews 1:1-4 💛 Jesus is God’s Son”
The letter to the new Jewish believers is coming to an end. As we close any letter, sermon, book, etc., there is usually a summation of what the important take-aways should be. This letter does a beautiful job of that. The author is giving them (and us) a workable set of guidelines to follow. I never like to think about my faith and behavior in terms of “expectations” or “rules,” but I do like to know what pleases God.
There is a lot of symbolism in today’s reading I probably missed the first couple times I read through this text. For some of us, understanding Jewish tradition is not something we have spent a lot of time doing. I wonder when Christians stopped observing Jewish traditions? Granted, not all early Christians were Jewish, but a lot of them were. The book of Hebrews has been written to them to help them in coming to grips with their new belief. How can you juggle two different traditions? I’m sure this book/letter was very helpful to them.
Fear can be crippling. What are your fears? What comes to mind for me are the obvious fears like spiders, heights and confined spaces. We aren’t born with these fears, but somehow they creep in over the course of time. Since moving to Mexico I have really come to grips with my fear of spiders. It’s been a while since I’ve seen one scurrying around (yes, they are VERY fast here, and VERY big). You’ve heard people say the way to conquer your fear is to face it.
I hope we all know the most important thing is to love God with our whole heart, mind, soul, and strength. Beyond that, this passage reminds us of others who should receive our affection as well. As our author closes this letter, he wants to remind us all of what should be obvious but often forgotten.
