December 6, 2021
Dec. 12 | Unexpected Glory
Moses had witnessed glory, but Jesus was the embodiment of the glory of God . . .
Series: Study
November 29, 2021
Dec. 5 | Unexpected Faith
This centurion understood how authority works. He answered to people, and people answered to him . . .
November 22, 2021
Nov. 28 | Join the Ranks of the Faithful
The writer of Hebrews encouraged readers not to give up, to look to faithful examples, and to consider Jesus. Therein we can join the ranks of the faithful.
November 15, 2021
Nov. 21 | Persevere in Faith
After spending significant time and space describing why the New Covenant is superior to the Old Covenant, the writer gives what some call the fourth major exhortation of the Epistle.
November 8, 2021
Nov. 14 | Grow Up
Ongoing growth was a challenge for the Hebrew Christians. In this section of the Epistle (Hebrews 5:11–6:12), the writer inserted this aside to exhort people to Christian maturity.
November 1, 2021
Nov. 7 | Hold Firm to the End
A heart that becomes hard can all too quickly become unbelieving. A hard heart can test the Lord, but an unbelieving heart can cause a person to turn away from God.
October 25, 2021
Oct. 31 | Both Priest and Sacrifice
Under the Old Covenant, priests would bring animals to the tabernacle and sacrifice them. By contrast, the Messiah not only administers the sacrifice, he is the sacrifice.
October 18, 2021
Oct. 24 | High Priest in a New Covenant
This text (Hebrews 8:1–9:10) is at the heart of the writer’s argument about how the high priesthood of Jesus interfaces with the old and New Covenants.
October 11, 2021
Oct. 17 | High Priest in the Order of Melchizedek
As the writer moved his argument along about Jesus’ priesthood and New Covenant, Melchizedek became the perfect type of Christ in the Old Testament to connect some interpretative dots between Jesus and his non-Aaronic tribe.
October 4, 2021
Oct. 10 | Designated by God to Be High Priest
No one can simply decide they want to be a priest, let alone the high priest. God alone can do this. Not even Jesus just showed up and expected to serve in that office. He needed to be designated by God—and he was.
September 27, 2021
Oct. 3 | A Merciful and Faithful High Priest
Jesus experienced the full weight of what it meant to be human. His humanity and suffering qualified him to be a high priest. His death paid the punishment for sin. His temptations gave him compassion for those tempted.
September 20, 2021
Sept. 26 | Jesus Is Mediator of a Superior Covenant
Jesus is the ultimate mediator, and he mediates a superior covenant, between heaven and earth.
September 13, 2021
Sept. 19 | Jesus Is a Superior Sacrifice
When Jesus was done, he sat down at the right hand of God. These days, people sit down to work. By contrast, in the ancient world when someone sat down, it meant their work was finished (John 19:30)
September 6, 2021
Sept. 12 | Jesus Is Superior to Moses
The writer of Hebrews makes the case that Jesus was superior to everything and everyone, including the ginormous person of Moses. Was Moses in fact a “type” of Christ (Deuteronomy 18:15-18)?
August 30, 2021
Sept. 5 | Jesus Is Superior to Prophets and Angels
If Galatians and Colossians addressed a “Jesus-plus” type of faith, then Hebrews addressed a “minus-Jesus” type of faith. Hebrews says that any step away from Jesus is regression. The reason is simple: Jesus is superior to anyone and anything. Four lessons highlight this superiority.
August 23, 2021
Aug. 29 | Which Desires?
Paul wrote at the level of our desires when he shared the practical application of living by faith in Christ as opposed to living by works of the law. Desires shape much of our lives. But what shapes those desires?
August 16, 2021
Aug. 22 | Which Covenant?
Just as Sarah forced Hagar to leave, so also Paul forced (called for) God’s people to leave the slavery of the law and embrace freedom in Christ.
August 9, 2021
Aug. 15 | Which Inheritance?
In this week's Scripture text, Paul used several metaphors to drive home his point about being saved by faith in Christ as opposed to works of the law; the primary metaphor Paul used was inheritance.
August 2, 2021
Aug. 8 | Which Righteousness?
Having called the Galatians back to the true gospel, defended his own apostleship, and having confronted Peter (i.e., Cephas), Paul begins to argue for the gospel of righteousness.
July 26, 2021
Aug. 1 | Which Gospel?
With the churches of Galatia, Paul squared off against doctrinal defection. The gospel that came from heaven cannot be improved. Adding to it or subtracting from it totally dilutes it.
