This week we are looking at why it is essential for us as followers of
Jesus to be consistently investing our time in a community group. And to do
that, I would like for us to look at a section of a letter that is recorded for
us in the New Testament of the Bible called the book of Hebrews. Yesterday we
spent a few minutes talking about the book of Hebrews.
As the title of the book of Hebrews reveals for us, the book of Hebrews was
written around 65 A.D. to the Hebrews, which were Jewish Christians who had
never heard or seen Jesus in person, but had learned of Him as the claims of
Christ and the message of the gospel had been proclaimed throughout the known
world. However, as the claims of Christ and the message of the gospel was
proclaimed throughout the known world; and as people from throughout the known
world responded to the claims of Christ and the message of the gospel by
believing, trusting and following Jesus, persecution against followers of Jesus
began to increase throughout the known world.
And as a result of what the author of the book of Hebrews saw occurring
among these Jewish people who claimed to want to follow Jesus but who had
become either stalled and stuck, or were considering bailing on Jesus, the
writer of the book of Hebrews wrote this letter to communicate a simple but
profound message. And that simple and profound message involved the absolute
supremacy and superiority of Jesus Christ and Christianity over Judaism.
The writer of Hebrews began his letter by proclaiming the absolute
supremacy and superiority of Jesus as the messenger to proclaim God’s message
to humanity. And because of the reality that Jesus had a position of absolute
supremacy and superiority over the prophets and angels when it came to
proclaiming God’s message to humanity, in the second chapter of the book of
Hebrews, the writer of Hebrews encouraged the Jewish readers of his letter to
pay attention to the superior message of Jesus.
And the Jewish readers of this letter were encouraged to pay attention
because of the greatness of Jesus Christ, who was a
superior priest than the Levitical priests who led the Jewish religious system
as Jesus ushered in a New Covenant, or agreement, between God and man by
providing one sacrifice to pay the penalty of the selfishness and rebellion of
humanity through His death on the cross. And it is in this context that we
jump into this section of this letter that is recorded for us in the New
Testament of the Bible, called the book of Hebrews, beginning in Hebrews 10:19-22.
Let’s look at it together:
Therefore, brethren, since we have confidence to
enter the holy place by the blood of Jesus, 20 by a new and living
way which He inaugurated for us through the veil, that is, His flesh, 21
and since we have a great
priest over the house of God, 22 let us draw near with a sincere
heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our
bodies washed with pure water.
Now to
fully understand what the writer of Hebrews is communicating here, we first
need to understand a few things about the Jewish sacrificial system. According to the Jewish sacrificial system, there were
two times every day that sacrifices were made to God for the sins of the
people, one early in the morning and one in the in the late afternoon. These
sacrificial offerings involved animals who were offered as a substitute to pay
the penalty for acts of selfishness and rebellion that had been committed
against God. These sacrifices were to be made on the altar at the Temple in
Jerusalem.
In the letters that make up the Old Testament, God
provided the Jewish people very clear and detailed instructions when it came to
when sacrifices were to be offered and what was to be offered in those
sacrifices. A specific group of priests, known as the Levitical priests, were
given the position, privilege, and responsibility to help lead the Jewish
people in following the Jewish sacrificial system. In the Jewish sacrificial system, the leader of
the Levitical Priests, who was referred to as the High Priest, was responsible
to represent the Jewish people before God.
On the Day of Atonement, the
High Priest alone would enter into the holy place, also known as the Holy of
Holies in the Temple in Jerusalem, in order to offer a sacrifice for his sins
and for the sins of the people. This
sacrifice atoned, or covered, the sins that had been committed by the Jewish
people. God would see the atoning sacrifice rather than the sin so that the
penalty would not be extracted from the person who had sinned. However, the Jewish
sacrificial system never removed the sins from the people. Instead it only
covered the sins.
In addition, the
sacrifice for the people that was made on the Day of Atonement only dealt with
the sins that had been committed during the previous year. Thus, every year,
the High Priest would have to offer a sacrifice, because the Jewish Sacrificial
system never provided an offering that dealt with sin once and for all. In
addition, the Jewish sacrificial system never addressed the conscience or the
heart of people that had been corrupted by sin.
So in these verses we see
the writer of Hebrews remind the readers of his letter that Jesus Christ, who
was a superior priest than the Levitical priests who led the Jewish religious
system, had ushered in a New Covenant, or agreement, between God and man by
providing one sacrificial offering, once and for all, to pay the penalty of the
selfishness and rebellion of humanity through His death on the cross. And as a
result of Jesus sacrificial death on the cross, in our place, for our
selfishness and rebellion, followers of Jesus now have confidence to enter into
the very presence of God.
Followers of Jesus have
the confidence that we can enter into the very presence of God as a result of
placing their confident trust in what Jesus did for us
through His life, death, and resurrection. The writer of Hebrews is reminding
the readers of his letter, and followers of Jesus throughout history, that
Jesus replaced the Jewish sacrificial system and the Levitical priesthood as the
way by which humanity could experience a relationship with God and enter into
the presence of God.
And
because of that reality, in verse 22, the writer of Hebrews urged the readers
of his letter to draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith. In
other words, the writer of Hebrews was urging followers of Jesus throughout
history to approach God with a state of complete certainty in their devotion to
Jesus that was based on their confident trust in Jesus. The writer of Hebrews
urged followers of Jesus to approach God with a state of complete certainty as
a result of having our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience
and our bodies washed with pure water.
In
other words, followers of Jesus were urged to approach God with a state of
complete certainty because their hearts and consciences had been purified as a
result of what God had done through Jesus life, death, and resurrection that
had led them to believe, trust, and follow Jesus as Lord and Leader. Followers
of Jesus were urged to approach God with a state of complete certainty because
they had publicly identified with Jesus through being baptized as a public
proclamation of placing their confident trust in Jesus.
But not
only were these followers of Jesus strongly urged to draw near and approach the
presence of God with a state of confident certainty. The writer of Hebrews also
strongly urged the readers of his letter and followers of Jesus throughout
history, the do something else.
Friday,
we will discover what the writer of Hebrews was urging the readers of his
letter to do...
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