Friday, January 19<\/b><\/p>\n
Matthew 9.27-34: The healing of two blind men in these verses parallels a very similar account in 20:29-34. This earlier healing of the two blind men stands in contrast to the growing spiritual blindness of Jesus\u2019 enemies in these two chap-ters, terminating in 9:34.<\/p>\n
The healing of blindness is a manifestation of the messianic era foretold in a number of Old Testament texts, notably Isaiah 29:18; 35:5; 42:7. This messi-anic note is particularly emphasized by the blind men calling Jesus \u201cson of Da-vid.\u201d The Lord\u2019s answer, \u201cLet it be!\u201d (genetheto<\/i>), by which the light floods into the eyes hitherto blind, repeats the verb in Genesis 1:3, \u201cLet there be light!\u201d (genetheto phos<\/i>).<\/p>\n
It is also worth mentioning that this cure of blindness, which is the ninth of Mat-thew\u2019s series of ten miracles in chapters 8 and 9, is parallel to the ninth plague of Egypt, the darkness. The account of the ten miracles terminates with the Pharaoh-like hardness of heart on the part of Jesus\u2019 enemies (9:34).<\/p>\n
Hebrews 8.1-13: Rather early in Christian thought, what Jesus had to say about the coming destruction of the temple prompted Christians to think more deeply about the transitory nature of any shrine or sanctuary that men might build. In their reflections on this point, they reviewed the biblical teaching that even the tabernacle constructed by Moses had been modeled on a heavenly type re-vealed to the prophet on Mount Sinai. That sanctuary on high—in the very heavens to which Jesus had ascended—was the authentic model.<\/p>\n
These early theological reflections form much of the argument made in the Epistle to the Hebrews, as we see in the present text. Our author describes the Mosaic tabernacle as \u201cthe copy and shadow of the heavenly things, as Moses was divinely instructed.\u201d This earthly copy he contrasts with \u201cthe sanctuary and . . . the true tabernacle which the Lord erected, and not man.\u201d<\/p>\n
The superiority of the Christian dispensation, for the author of Hebrews, has partly to do with its direct relationship to the worship offered directly before God\u2019s heavenly throne. He speaks in this text of Jesus \u201cseated at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens.\u201d<\/p>\n
That is to say, the actual substance of the Christian religion is already radically complete and accomplished. Even while its adherents are still on pilgrimage in this world, its defining element is already \u201cperfect.\u201d That is to say, what is most essential to the Christian religion is already accomplished: Jesus has already en-tered \u201cheaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us.\u201d<\/p>\n
Our text ends with a quotation from Jeremiah 31:31-34. Indeed, it is the long-est Old Testament quotation found in the New Testament.<\/p>\n
By using the expression \u201cnew covenant\u201d at the Last Supper (1 Corinthians 11:25), Jesus implicitly invited Christians to consult Jeremiah\u2019s description of it. In addition to this long quotation in Hebrews, the passage from Jeremiah was referenced by St. Paul, who wrote that God \u201cmade us sufficient as ministers of the new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit\u201d (2 Corinthians 3:6). Paul seems to have had this Jeremian text in mind when he wrote: \u201cYou are our epis-tle written in our hearts, known and read by all men— clearly an epistle of Christ, ministered by us, written not with ink but by the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of flesh, of the heart\u201d (2 Corinthians 3:2).<\/p>\n
Saturday, January 20<\/b><\/p>\n
Matthew 9.35-38: Very much as Matthew 4:23-25 set the stage for the Ser-mon on the Mount, these verses 35-38 set the stage for the calling of the Lord\u2019s first missionaries and the missionary discourse of Matthew 10. Indeed, Matthew 9:35 repeats 4:23 nearly word-for-word. This early mission-circuit of Jesus (periegen<\/i> in verse 35, \u201cHe went around\u201d) was stern work. The Jewish historian Josephus tells us that there were 204 villages in Galilee. This mission was a foreshadowing of the Great Commission to \u201call nations\u201d with which Matthew\u2019s gospel ends.<\/p>\n
Hebrews 9:1\u201310: Of the appointments of the ancient Sanctuary, the author says, \u201cwe cannot now speak particularly.\u201d In fact, however, I do want to speak about three of these things in particular.<\/p>\n
First, let us speak about the sanctuary itself. Genesis 11:<\/p>\n
He does not say, \u201cYe will<\/i> come.\u201d He says, rather, \u201cYe have<\/i> come.\u201d In Jesus our Mediator we stand already among the innumerable compa-ny of angels. It is already a fact. Because of His eloquent blood, we take our place already among the spirits of just men made perfect. This is why we in-voke the saints in our worship of God: we are already in their presence, standing before the same Throne at which they worship.<\/p>\n
The Church of Jesus Christ does not offer a \u201cworship service\u201d distinct from the eternal worship already in progress. Eternity is now<\/i>. Heaven is here<\/i>. We have already<\/i> come to Mount Zion.<\/p>\n
Second, let us speak of the Bread that is central to biblical worship. In today\u2019s reading there are two types, or pre-figurations, of this Bread: \u201cthe showbread . . . and . . . the golden pot that had manna.\u201d These two forms of bread in the Old Testament sanctuary, the miraculous manna and the bread of the Pres-ence, foreshadow the living Bread which comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.<\/p>\n
In both the Old Testament and the New, some form of bread is central to the act of worship. Biblical worship is constructed around the Bread. Indeed, the central act of worship prescribed in the New Testament is called simply \u201cthe breaking of the Bread.\u201d It did not have to be defined further. Everyone knew what was meant.<\/p>\n
Without this Bread, there is no Church. It is this Bread that makes<\/i> the Church: \u201cThe bread which we break: is it not the communion of the body of Christ? For we, being many, are one bread and one body, for we are all partak-ers of that one Bread.\u201d The bread that Jesus gives, He tells us, is His flesh, giv-en for the life of the world. In our worship the Holy Spirit, the Lord and giver of life, comes in power upon a loaf of bread—bread baked in an oven in a kitchen in a home in the local church—and the Holy Spirit transforms that bread into a type of the eternal manna, on which the servants of God will feed forever.<\/p>\n
It is of this bread that Jesus said, \u201cYour fathers ate manna in the wilderness, and are dead. This is the Bread which cometh down from Heaven, that a man may eat thereof and not die.\u201d Our worship, then, is a foretaste of the mysteri-ous bread which will sustain us for all eternity.<\/p>\n
Third, there was a candlestick in the sanctuary. Why? Because the area would otherwise be dark. The worship of God is an exercise of light. Worship, accord-ing to the Bible, begins with light.<\/p>\n
In our eternal worship, according to St. John, there will be no night. The differ-ence between heaven and hell is a matter of light. Everlasting loss is described as darkness, but eternal life is described as light.<\/p>\n
The lamp in the sanctuary has seven branches, which symbolizes the perfection of light. That is to say, it symbolizes the divine light, of which St. John said, \u201cThis then is the message which we have heard from Him and declare unto you: that God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all.\u201d<\/p>\n
We worship God in order to remain in the light and to drive all darkness from our minds and hearts. \u201cIf we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth. But if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.\u201d<\/p>\n
The light is also the first of God\u2019s creatures, which is a good reason for wor-shipping on Sunday, the first day of creation. This is the day on which the Lord said, \u201cLet there be light.\u201d This original light was not only a fact; it was also a promise, because it pointed toward a greater Sunday and a more glorious light.<\/p>\n
Sunday, January 21<\/b><\/p>\n
Matthew 10:1-15: Before sending out His missionaries in Matthew 11:1, Jesus gives a lengthy discourse on the structure and dynamics of mission; this is the second great sermon of the Gospel of Matthew.<\/p>\n
This initial mission, unlike the Great Commission at the end of Matthew, is di-rected only \u201cto the lost sheep of the house of Israel. The disciples are endowed with exsousia<\/i>, \u201cauthority\u201d (10:10:1), which we have seen to be a char-acteristic of Jesus\u2019 own ministry in deed and word. Sometimes the shaking-off of dust from the feet has been taken very literally by Christian preachers; cf. Acts 13:51.<\/p>\n
Among many curious features of this list of the twelve apostles, it is instructive to note that the list includes someone who worked for the Roman government (Matthew) and someone sworn to its overthrow (Simon the Canaanite; cf. Luke 6:15). Much of this chapter will be concerned with the resistance that the world will offer to the proclamation of the Gospel. This message has been prepared by Chapter 8-9, where Jesus\u2019 own ministry was constantly resisted by those who felt it to be a threat.<\/p>\n
Hebrews 9.11-22: These verses refer to the scene of the ratification of the Si-nai Covenant in Exodus 24. According to this passage in Exodus (verses 8,11), the ratification of that covenant was marked by both a sacrificial meal and by the sprinkling of sacrificial blood:<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd Moses took the blood, sprinkled it on the people, and said, \u201cBehold, the blood of the covenant which the Lord has made with you according to all these words. . . . So they [Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Is-rael] saw God, and they ate and drank.\u201d<\/p>\n
The prophet Zechariah later refers to this: \u201cAs for you also, \/ Because of the blood of your covenant, \/ I will set your prisoners free from the waterless pit\u201d (9:11).<\/p>\n
Our earliest Christian reflection on this scene in Exodus is found in this text in Hebrews (verses 16-23), in a context emphasizing that the deep significance of the sacrificial blood in the Old Testament is its prophetic reference to the re-deeming blood of Jesus, shed on the cross for the salvation of mankind. The blood of Jesus is called the \u201cblood of the covenant\u201d here in verse 29 and in Mark 14:24.<\/p>\n
Moreover, in quoting Exodus 24:8, this passage in Hebrews (verse 20) slightly, but very significantly, alters the wording of it. Whereas Exodus reads \u201cBehold (idou<\/i>, translating the Hebrew hinneh<\/i>) the blood of the cove-nant,\u201d the author of Hebrews wrote: \u201cThis (touto<\/i>) is the blood of the covenant.\u201d There is no doubt that his wording here reflects the traditional words of Jesus with respect to the cup of His blood at the Last Supper (cf. Mat-thew 26:28).<\/p>\n
Both in the Old Testament and the New, the sacrificial blood is the medium of consecration—It is consecrated life<\/i> poured out in devotion to God. It is, therefore, \u201ccovenant blood,\u201d through which God and man are joined in atone-ment. The blood of Christ means the \u201clife\u201d of Christ. The image in the Book of Revelation is \u201cwashed\u201d in His blood.<\/p>\n
Monday, January 22<\/b><\/p>\n
Matthew 10:16-26: Four animals are mentioned in the first verse, all of them for their symbolic value.<\/p>\n
Although this initial mission is only to \u201cthe lost sheep of the house of Israel,\u201d it is significant that the \u201cnations\u201d are mentioned in 10:18; again, this foreshad-ows the Great Commission given at the end of Matthew.<\/p>\n
These verses make it clear that the proclamation of the gospel by the Church will be met with resistance, just as we saw to be the case in chapters 8 and 9. Like Jesus, the disciples will be \u201chanded over\u201d to \u201ccouncils\u201d (synedria<\/i>). This description, contained here in prophecy, was very much the experience of the Christians whom Matthew knew when he was writing these words. Similar experiences are recorded in the Acts of the Apostles.<\/p>\n
Hebrews 9:23-28: According to Leviticus, the altar and the curtain fronting the Holy of Holies were consecrated with the blood of the sin offering: \u201cHe shall bring the bull to the door of the tabernacle of meeting before the Lord, lay his hand on the bull\u2019s head, and kill the bull before the Lord. Then the anointed priest shall take some of the bull\u2019s blood and bring it to the tabernacle of meet-ing. The priest shall dip his finger in the blood and sprinkle some of the blood seven times before the Lord, in front of the veil of the sanctuary. . . . The anointed priest shall bring some of the bull\u2019s blood to the tabernacle of meet-ing. Then the priest shall dip his finger in the blood and sprinkle it seven times before the Lord, in front of the veil. And he shall put some of the blood on the horns of the altar which is before the Lord, which is in the tabernacle of meet-ing; and he shall pour the remaining blood at the base of the altar of burnt of-fering, which is at the door of the tabernacle of meeting\u201d(4:4-7,16-18).<\/p>\n
That is to say, the physical place of the worship—the place where God and man were reconciled—needed to be sanctified by this expiatory blood.<\/p>\n
If this was true of the Tabernacle in the time of Moses, says the author of He-brews, why should we imagine it not to be true of the true Tabernacle, the eternal model in heaven? Consequently, as the blood of the ancient sin offering purified and consecrated the ancient Tabernacle, so the sacrificial blood of Je-sus had to purify and consecrate the heavenly sanctuary, that which was made without hands: \u201cTherefore was it necessary that the copies of the things in the heavens should be purified with these, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these.\u201d<\/p>\n
The application of this imagery, to elaborate the theology of redemption, is based on the prior understanding of Jesus\u2019 death as a \u201csin offering.\u201d This term, in Hebrew, is \u2019attata\u2019t<\/i>, literally \u201csin.\u201d The LXX translation is literal: hamartia,\/i>. <\/i><\/p>\n
In Leviticus the verb used to \u201cmake\u201d this sin offering is \u2018asah<\/i> (three times in Leviticus 4:8-9), which is a normal verb connoting the performance of many sacrifices (cf. 5:10; 6:15; 8:34; 9:7,16,22; 14:19; 15:15,30; 16:9,15,24; 19:9; 22:23; 23:12,19). In the Greek text of the Septuagint this \u2018asah<\/i> was translated as poiein<\/i>. This is the same verb used by St. Paul in 2 Corinthians 5:21, where he says that God \u201cmade [Jesus] a sin offer-ing\u201d (hamartian epoiesen<\/i>).<\/p>\n
This latter text is concerned with man\u2019s reconciliation with God through the sacrifice of Christ: \u201cNow all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ . . . God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them\u201d (5:18-19). This is the context in which Paul wrote, \u201cHe made Him, who knew no sin, a sin offering for us, that we might be-come the righteousness of God in Him\u201d (5:21).<\/p>\n
That is to say, while St. Paul used the theology of the sin offering to interpret the sacrificial death of Christ, the Epistle to the Hebrews extends that theology to describe the glorification of Christ in the heavenly sanctuary.<\/p>\n
Tuesday, January 23<\/b><\/p>\n
Psalms 40 (Greek & Latin 39): The correct \u201cvoice\u201d for Psalm 40 is not in doubt. We know from Hebrews 10 that these are words springing from the heart of Christ our Lord and have reference to the sacrificial obedience of His Passion and death.<\/p>\n
We may begin, then, by examining that interpretive context in Hebrews, which comes in the section where the author is contrasting the Sacrifice of the Cross with the many cultic oblations prescribed in the Old Testament. These prescrip-tions of the Mosaic Law, says Hebrews, possessed only \u201ca shadow of the good things to come.\u201d Offered \u201ccontinually year by year,\u201d they were not able to \u201cmake those who approach perfect\u201d (10:1). That is to say, those sacrifices did not really take away sins, and their effectiveness depended entirely on the Sac-rifice of the Cross, of which they were only a foreshadowing. Indeed, \u201cit is not possible that the blood of bulls and goats could take away sins\u201d (v. 4).<\/p>\n
In support of this thesis, the author of Hebrews quotes our psalm: \u201cSacrifice and offering You did not desire \/ . . . In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin \/ You had no pleasure\u201d (vv. 5, 6). In fact, this theme appears rather often in the Old Testament itself. Isaiah, for example, and other prophets frequently at-tempted to disillusion those of their countrymen who imagined that the mere offering of cultic worship, with no faith, no obedience, no change of heart, could be acceptable to God.<\/p>\n
The author of Hebrews, therefore, is simply drawing the proper theological con-clusion when he writes: \u201cAnd every priest stands ministering daily and offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins\u201d (v. 11). What God seeks, rather, is the perfect obedience of faith, and such an obedience means the total gift of self, not the mere sacrificial slaughter of some beast.<\/p>\n
This obedience of Christ our Lord is a matter of considerable importance in the New Testament. He Himself declared that He came, not to seek His own will, but the will of the Father who sent Him (John 5:30). This doing of the Father\u2019s will had particular reference to His Passion, in which \u201cHe . . . became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross\u201d (Phil. 2:8). This was the obedience manifested in our Lord\u2019s prayer at the very beginning of the Passion: \u201cTake this cup away from Me; nevertheless, not what I will, but what You will\u201d (Mark 14:36).<\/p>\n
This spirit of obedience to God\u2019s will is likewise the essential atmosphere of Christian prayer. \u201cYour will be done\u201d is the spiritual center and major sentiment of that prayer that the Lord Himself taught us.<\/p>\n
Christ\u2019s own obedience to God\u2019s will is also the key to the psalm here under dis-cussion, and Hebrews goes on to quote the pertinent verses, referring them ex-plicitly to the Incarnation and Sacrifice of Jesus the Lord: \u201cSacrifice and offer-ing You did not desire, \/ But a body You have prepared for Me. \/ In burnt offer-ings and sacrifices for sin \/ You had no pleasure. \/ Then I said, \u2018Behold, I have come\u2014 \/ In the volume of the book it is written of Me\u2014 \/ To do Your will, O God\u2019\u201d (vv. 5\u20137).<\/p>\n
The body \u201cprepared\u201d for Christ in the Incarnation became the instrument of His obedience to that \u201cwill\u201d of God by which we are redeemed and rendered holy: \u201cBy that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. . . . For by one offering He has perfected forever those who are being sanctified\u201d (vv. 10, 14).<\/p>\n
The various sacrifices of the Old Testament, which are spoken of from time to time throughout the Book of Psalms, have now found their perfection in the one self-offering of Jesus the Lord. Again the author of Hebrews comments: \u201cPrevi-ously saying, \u2018Sacrifice and offering, burnt offerings, and offerings for sin You did not desire, nor had pleasure in them\u2019 (which are offered according to the law), then He said, \u2018Behold, I have come to do Your will, O God\u2019\u201d (vv. 8, 9).<\/p>\n
The \u201cHe\u201d of this psalm, then, according to the New Testament, is Christ the Lord. We pray it properly when we pray it as His own words to the Father. The \u201cwill\u201d of God to which He was obedient was that \u201cwill\u201d to which He referred when in the Garden He prayed: \u201cNot my will, but Yours be done.\u201d<\/p>\n
This self-oblation of our Lord\u2019s obedience to God is not simply a feature of this particular psalm; it is the interpretive door through which we pray all of the psalms. The \u201cYour will be done\u201d of the Lord\u2019s Prayer is likewise the summation of the entire Book of Psalms, and what ultimately makes Christian sense of the Psalter.<\/p>\n
Wednesday, January 24<\/b><\/p>\n
Matthew 10.34-42: The New Testament provides a number of stories in which entire households accepted the Gospel, which then became the basis of a whole new way of family life. These verses of Matthew, however, affirm that such is not always the case. The Gospel proclamation can divide as well as unite, and family unity has sometimes been destroyed by the Gospel\u2019s acceptance by some family members and its rejection by others. This is a matter of history experience.<\/p>\n
Consequently there is the principle announced in verse 37 about the priorities of love. This \u201che who\u201d sentence becomes the first of a series of ten such sen-tences that close out the chapter on the more positive note of those who actu-ally accept the Gospel. In this series of short sayings we particularly observe the emphasis on the first person pronoun, \u201cMe\u201d or \u201cMy,\u201d with reference to Je-sus. It appears seven times.<\/p>\n
Hebrews 10.11-18: Citing Jeremiah 31, which he quoted at greater length in chapter 8, the author contrasts the sacrifices of the Mosaic Law with the sacri-fice offered in the Passion of Jesus. There are several points of contrast:<\/p>\n
First, the Old Testament priest \u201cstands,\u201d whereas Jesus is enthroned: \u201cAnd every priest stands<\/i> ministering daily . . . But this Man, after He had of-fered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down<\/i> at the right hand of God.\u201d From the very beginning of this work, Jesus is portrayed as \u201cseated\u201d in glory: \u201cwhen He had purged sins, [He] sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high\u201d (1:3). Later on the author will say of Jesus that He \u201cfor the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God\u201d (12:2).<\/p>\n
This image of Jesus seated in glory is drawn mainly from Psalm 109 (110), cit-ed at the beginning of this work (1:13) and obviously much favored in the early Church (cf. Mark 16:10; Ephesians 1:20; Colossians 3:1; Revelation 3:21).<\/p>\n
Second, the Old Testament sacrifices were many, whereas the New Testament sacrifice is unique: \u201cAnd every priest stands ministering daily and offering repeatedly<\/i> the same sacrifices . . . But this Man, after He had offered one sacrifice<\/i> for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of God.\u201d In the previous chapter we read that \u201cChrist was offered once<\/i> to bear the sins of many\u201d (9:28). This word \u201conce\u201d (hapachs<\/i>) is found in Hebrews 8 times, more than all the other New Testament books put together.<\/p>\n
This hapachs<\/i>, \u201conce,\u201d is contrasted with pollakis<\/i>, \u201cmany times\u201d (9:25-26).<\/p>\n
This \u201conce\u201d contrasted with \u201cmany\u201d is related to the \u201cseated\u201d contrasted with \u201cstanding.\u201d The \u201conce\u201d and \u201cseated\u201d indicate finality and fulfillment—the end of history—whereas the \u201cstanding\u201d and \u201cmany\u201d suggest an ongoing process.<\/p>\n
Third, the Old Testament sacrifices were unable, of themselves, to atone for sins and purify the heart: \u201cAnd every priest stands ministering daily and offer-ing repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins<\/i>, and \u201cby one offering He has perfected forever those who are being sanctified.\u201d<\/p>\n
Implied in the development of this theme is an underlying judgment on the Jew-ish religion itself: Now that the fulfillment of its history has come in Christ and His redeeming work, the Jewish religion no longer represents God\u2019s will for histo-ry. This is why it is called \u201cthe old<\/i> covenant: \u201cIn that He says, \u2018A new covenant,\u2019 He has made the first obsolete. Now what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away\u201d (8:13). The continued existence of a \u201cJewish religion\u201d alongside the Christian Gospel remains an anomaly yet to be resolved.<\/p>\n
Thursday, January 25<\/b><\/p>\n
Hebrews 10.19-31: What the Jewish high priest could do only once a year—enter the Holy of Holies—the Christian can do everyday, by reason of the blood of Christ. It is the blood of Christ that gives the believer intimate access to God.<\/p>\n
The author begins by speaking of boldness—parresia<\/i>, an expression of which he is fond: \u201chaving boldness to enter the Holiest by the blood of Jesus.\u201d<\/p>\n
In context, this boldness comes from the full certainty of faith: en pleropho-ria pisteos<\/i>: \u201chaving boldness to enter the Holiest by the blood of Jesus, . . . let us draw near with a true heart in full certainty of faith.\u201d<\/p>\n
This word, plerophoria<\/i> is found four times in the New Testament, two of them in Hebrews. The other place is 6:11—\u201cand we desire that each one of you show the same diligence to the full certainty of hope [plerophoria elpidos<\/i>] until the end.\u201d<\/p>\n
And what does \u201cfull certainty\u201d bring? Boldness—parresia<\/i>. The full cer-tainty of faith finds expression in boldness of the heart.<\/p>\n
Whereas the Acts of the Apostles had used this word, parresia<\/i>, to de-scribe the proper tone in Christian preaching (Acts 4:13,28,29,31), St. Paul used the expression to speak of our relationship to God. He wrote that in Christ, \u201cwe have boldness [parresia<\/i>] and access with confidence by the faith of Him\u201d (Ephesians 3:12).<\/p>\n
This is the normal sense of the word also in Hebrews, which is similar, in this re-spect, to Ephesians. Thus, our author says that we are the house of Christ, \u201cif we hold fast the boldness [parresia<\/i>] and the rejoicing of the hope firm to the end\u201d (3:6). Again, he exhorts his readers, \u201cLet us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need\u201d (4:16). And somewhat later in the present chapter, he further ex-horts, \u201cTherefore do not cast away your boldness [parresia<\/i>, which has great reward\u201d (10:35).<\/p>\n
This attitude of boldness in the Epistle to the Hebrews is not limited to the four times when the word is used in this book. The boldness of the Christian soul in approaching God is, rather, a presupposition of the whole book. We find it later, in chapter 12, where the author contrasts Mount Sinai with Mount Zion. Mount Sinai, he says, \u201cburned with fire, and . . . blackness and gloom and tempest, and the sound of a trumpet\u201d (12:18). It was a very scary place, of which Moses said, \u201cI am exceedingly afraid and trembling\u201d (12:21). This was the kind of place where no one could safely feel bold.<\/p>\n
It is not to Mount Sinai, however, that Christians are called, but to a gentler mountain: \u201cBut you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, to an innumerable company of angels, to the general assembly and church of the firstborn who are registered in heaven, to God the Judge of all, to the spirits of just men made perfect, to Jesus the Mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling that speaks more eloquently than that of Abel\u201d (12:22).<\/p>\n
Hebrews 10:26-31: Here we find one of Holy Scripture\u2019s most solemn declara-tions of judgment. Having exhorted his readers to boldness in their access to God (verses 19-22), our author now describes the alternative in frightening terms.<\/p>\n
In both instances—the exhortation to confidence and the warning of judgment—he uses the description \u201cliving, declaring that we have a new and living<\/i> way,\u201d and then reminding his readers, \u201cIt is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living<\/i> God.\u201d In both cases the modifier serves to put the reader on notice that these things are not matters of theory and abstraction. \u201cLiving,\u201d in each of these contexts, indicates real, actual, existential. It means that both salvation and damnation are worthy of our most serious attention.<\/p>\n
These verses depict the gravity of falling away from God. The author recalls that such falling away, even at the time of Moses, was dealt with in a radical manner—namely, those who rejected the rule of Moses were devoured with fiery indignation (verses 27-28). Our author, who has been at pains to empha-size the superiority of Jesus over Moses, argues here that this superiority im-plies a greater severity in those who fall away: \u201cOf how much worse punish-ment, do you suppose, will he be deemed worthy who has trampled underfoot the Son of God\u201d (verse 29). He had earlier contrasted Moses and Jesus, call the first God\u2019s servant and the second God\u2019s Son (3:5-6). How, he asks, which of them is it more dangerous to abandon?<\/p>\n
Our author used this same argument in chapter 2, where he contrasted the word given by angels to the message given by Christ: \u201cFor if the word spoken through angels proved steadfast, and every transgression and disobedience re-ceived a just reward, how shall we<\/i> escape if we neglect so great a sal-vation, which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed to us by those who heard Him?\u201d (2:2-3)<\/p>\n
In chapter 2, and again here, our author treats such apostasy as a sin against the Holy Spirit. Here he speaks of insulting the Spirit of grace (verse 29), and in chapter 2 he spoke of \u201cthe gifts of the Holy Spirit\u201d as pertinent to the message of salvation (2:4).<\/p>\n
When our text describes the just recompense of apostasy as \u201ca certain fearful expectation of judgment and fiery indignation which will devour the adversaries\u201d (verse 37), the reader is put in mind of the rebellion against Moses, narrated in Numbers 16. According to that account, certain of the Reubenites—including Korah, Dathan, and Abiram—revolted against the leadership of Moses and Aa-ron. Their punishment, we recall, consisted in being devoured by the earth, as fire from heaven descended upon them (Numbers 16:31-35).<\/p>\n
Now, our author contends, if such was the retribution allotted to those who fell away from Moses\u2019 Law, what should we expect for him who has \u201ctrampled the Son of God underfoot, counted the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified a common thing, and insulted the Spirit of grace?\u201d This is the sus-tained threat, he says, against anyone who sins willfully after receiving the knowledge of the truth.\u201d<\/p>\n
Friday, January 26<\/b><\/p>\n
Psalms 69 (Greek & Latin 68): From the very beginning the Christian reading of Psalm 68 (Hebrew 69) has uniformly interpreted this prayer in the context of the Lord\u2019s suffering and death. \u201cSave me, O God, for the waters have come even unto my soul. . . . I have come to the depths of the sea, and the flood has submerged me,\u201d prays the Man of sorrows who described His approaching Pas-sion as the baptism with which He must be baptized (cf. Mark 10:38; Luke 12:50; Rom. 6:3).<\/p>\n
This same Sufferer goes on to pray: \u201cZeal for Your house has consumed me,\u201d a verse explicitly cited in the New Testament with respect to the Lord\u2019s purging of the temple (John 2:17). In the context this consuming of the Lord was a ref-erence to His coming Passion; He went on to say to those who were plotting to kill Him: \u201cDestroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.\u201d In saying this, the evangelist noted, \u201cHe was speaking of the temple of His body\u201d (vv. 19, 21).<\/p>\n
The very next line says: \u201cThe reproaches of those who reproached You have fallen on me,\u201d a verse later cited in Romans as bearing on the sufferings of the Lord. The apostle\u2019s lapidary and understated comment was that \u201ceven Christ did not please Himself\u201d (15:3). In this passage St. Paul could obviously presume a common Christian understanding of Psalm 69, even in a congregation that he had not yet visited.<\/p>\n
Still later in our psalm stands the line: \u201cLet their dwelling be deserted, and let no one live in their tabernacles.\u201d Even prior to the Pentecostal outpouring, the Church knew this verse for a reference to Judas Iscariot (cf. Acts 1:20), that dark and tragic figure who guided the enemies of Jesus and betrayed his Lord with a kiss.<\/p>\n
Psalm 69 is the prayer of Him \u201cwho, in the days of His flesh . . . offered up prayers and supplications, with vehement cries and tears to Him who was able to save Him from death\u201d (Heb. 5:7). The Christian Church has ever been per-suaded that Psalm 68 expresses the sentiments of that soul \u201cexceedingly sor-rowful, even to death\u201d (Matt. 26:38). In Psalm 68 we are given a vision into the very heart of Christ in the circumstances of His Passion: \u201cDeliver me from those that hate me, and from the depths of the waters. Let not the flood of wa-ter submerge me, nor the depth swallow me down, nor the mouth of the pit close over me.\u201d<\/p>\n
This is the Christ who in dereliction sought in vain the human companionship of His closest friends during the vigil prior to His arrest: \u201cWhat? Could you not watch with Me one hour?\u201d (Matt. 26:40). Psalm 69 speaks of this disappoint-ment as well: \u201cMy heart waited for contempt and misery; I hoped for someone to share my sorrow, but there was no one; someone to console me, but I found none.\u201d<\/p>\n
According to all four Gospels, the dying Christ was offered some sort of bitter beverage, oxsos<\/i>, a sour wine or vinegar, as He hung on the Cross. This is the very word used at the end of the following verse of Psalm 68: \u201cAnd for my food they laid out gall, and for my drink they gave me vinegar.\u201d<\/p>\n
But there is another dimension to the Passion of the Lord\u2014the resolve of His victory. Even as He was being arrested, His enemies were unable to stand up-right in His presence (cf. John 18:6). This was the Christ, \u201cwho for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame\u201d (Heb. 12:2). No man takes the Lord\u2019s life from Him, for He has power to lay it down and to take it up again (cf. John 10:18). This is the Christ whom death could not hold, who descended a very conqueror into hell to loose the bonds of them that sat in darkness, and who \u201cwent and preached to the spirits in prison\u201d (1 Pet. 3:19).<\/p>\n
This sense of Christ\u2019s victory also dominates the final lines of Psalm 69: \u201cI am poor and distressed, but the salvation of Your face, O God, has upheld me. I will praise the name of God with song; and I will magnify Him with praise.\u201d<\/p>\n
The victory of Christ is the foundation of the Church, those described when our psalm says, \u201cLet the poor see and rejoice. Seek God, and your soul will live. . . . For the Lord will save Zion, and the cities of Judah will be built, and they shall dwell there and hold it by inheritance, and the seed of His servants will possess it.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Friday, January 19 Matthew 9.27-34: The healing of two blind men in these verses parallels a very similar account in 20:29-34. This earlier healing of the two blind men stands in contrast to the growing spiritual blindness of Jesus\u2019 enemies in these two chap-ters, terminating in 9:34. The healing of blindness is a manifestation of … Continue reading January 19 – January 26, 2024<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.touchstonemag.com\/daily_reflections\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2088"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.touchstonemag.com\/daily_reflections\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.touchstonemag.com\/daily_reflections\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.touchstonemag.com\/daily_reflections\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.touchstonemag.com\/daily_reflections\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2088"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.touchstonemag.com\/daily_reflections\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2088\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2089,"href":"https:\/\/www.touchstonemag.com\/daily_reflections\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2088\/revisions\/2089"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.touchstonemag.com\/daily_reflections\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2088"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.touchstonemag.com\/daily_reflections\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2088"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.touchstonemag.com\/daily_reflections\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2088"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}