The journey concludes. I hope to write these up in some fashion. We'll see what form it ends up taking. The Story of Hebrews thus far...
1 -- The Setting of Hebrews
2 -- The Cast of Characters
3 -- The Context at Corinth/Ephesus (13:22-25)
4 -- Closing Clues (13:1-19)
5 -- The Main Takeaway (4:14-16; 10:25-31)
6 -- Remember the Good Times (5:11-6:2; 10:32-39)
7 -- The Impossibility of Repentance (6:3-8; 10:26-31)
8 -- The Rhetorical Strategy of Hebrews
9 -- An Eternal Priest (Hebrews 5, 7)
10 -- The New Covenant (Hebrews 8)
11 -- A Better Sacrifice and Sanctuary (Hebrews 9-10)
12 -- The Cheering Witnesses (Hebrews 11)
13 -- The Discipline of the Lord (Hebrews 12)
14 -- Celebrating the Enthroned Christ (Hebrews 1)
15 -- The Logic of Salvation (Hebrews 2)
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1. "The structure of your sermon is now fairly clear to me," Tertius said. "But tell me again how you see it."
"We will start triumphantly with the celebration of the enthroned Son" (Heb. 1), Apollos said, "followed by the logos of salvation and the key point of the sermon."
He continued. "We will hinge the argument at two places where we urge them to hold fast because Christ has passed through the heavens into the Most Holy Place of heaven where he now sits at God's right hand."
"Wonderful!" Tertius said.
"I do think there needs to be some warming up still before the first hinge (4:14-16),"Apollos continued.
"Great," Tertius said. "Could you come back to that. For the moment, could you lay out the rest of the sermon as you see it?"
"Yes," Apollos said. "After the first hinge, we will start the argument that Jesus is a heavenly high priest (5:1 and chapter 7). But just as soon as we begin, we will startle them with the strongest warning of the letter (6:1-3). If they do not hold fast and fall away, they will not be able to return."
"Yet, each time," Tertius added, "you give your strongest exhortations, you remind them that they can still choose to hold fast and be faithful (10:26-31). It's not too late."
"The heart of the argument is when we show them that the new covenant is superior to the old one (chapter 8) and that Christ's sacrifice in the true heavenly sanctuary is superior to the Levitical sacrificial system and any earthly sanctuary (chapter 9).
"That ends with the second hinge, right? (10:19-25)" Tertius said.
"Yes. After the second hinge," Apollos continued, "we'll give them the cloud of witnesses urging them to keep running the race (chap 11). And we'll remind them of how beneficial the discipline of the Lord is (chap. 12)."
"And that will end the sermon, right?" Tertius asked.
"Yes. Then we'll add a letter closing after that (chap 13). It will wind down first with some general exhortations and then end with final greetings."
2. "This is going to be a spectacular sermon," Tertius said. "Now about that material between the introduction to the sermon and the first hinge--what do you see going there?"
"We are going to use the negative example of Israel in the wilderness."
"Ah. They did not hold fast," Tertius said.
"Exactly. They left Egypt. They had the hope of the Promised Land," Apollos started.
"But their corpses fell in the desert" (3:17), Tertius said, completing his thought.
"Sadly so," Apollos agreed. "They are a reminder that it is not enough to be in the people of God at this moment," he continued. "It is not just about getting in. One must be faithful and stay in."
"Very sobering," Tertius said.
"Those who did not keep the covenant were ejected from Israel," Apollos said. "And so if these Roman converts do not persist in faith, they will have nothing to look forward to but a fearful look toward judgment" (10:27).
"And if the consequences were severe under Moses, how horrible will they be in the better covenant" (2:2-3; 12:25).
3. "I do want to start this section with reinforcement of Christ as greater than his equivalents in the first covenant," Apollos said.
He continued. "We will start the sermon with the fact that Christ is greater than the angels, who administer the first covenant."
"Then in the heart of the sermon," Tertius added, "you will show that Christ is greater than any earthly priest and sacrifice--and in a greater sanctuary."
"So in this part of the sermon between the introduction and the central argument," Apollos said, "I want to start wit the fact that Christ is greater than Moses" (3:1-6).
"That will be very controversial to some," Tertius said.
"Yes, but clearly the Messiah is a greater prophet than Moses," Apollos said.
He continued. "Moses was a servant in God's household" (3:5; cf. Num. 12:7).
"Ah, but Christ is God's Son" (3:6), Tertius added.
"Exactly. In a household, a son is greater than a servant."
4. Apollos continued. "I want to end this section with the psalm that tells us not to harden our hearts like Israel in the desert" (Ps. 95:7-11).
"Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts," Tertius started. "That one?"
"Yes," Apollos answered. "God did not let them enter into his rest in the Promised Land because they did not continue in faith."
"We are only in God's household if we hold fast until the end" (3:6; 14), Tertius said.
"I love how the psalm sets aside a day for us," Apollos said.
"Today?" Tertius asked.
"Indeed! Today! Today, if we hear his voice, God is calling us to enter his rest."
"And tomorrow will be another today," Tertius agreed with a grin.
"If the earthly Promised Land had been the full rest, David would not have spoken of another day" (4:8), Apollos said.
"So there remains a rest for us to enter," Tertius concluded.
"Yes. There is both the rest that we enter every day when we choose to hold fast."
"And there is the final rest we will enter when the kingdom fully arrives," Tertius extended the thought.
"Indeed! That final rest will be like God resting on the seventh day after he had finished putting all the creation in order," Apollos said.
"Ah, the ultimate Sabbath rest for the people of God!" (4:9), Tertius said.
"What a blessed hope!" Apollos said.
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