Mosaic Blogs

Finally at the end of the reflections through the Book of Hebrews.

Chapter 13.

For an ex-terrorist Paul is incredibly empathetic.  I love how he urges us to be compassionate towards strangers, the prisoners, and the mistreated.  To really embody ourselves as one of them. 

The Scriptures also remind us again of this idea of being content with what we have, and that the type of sacrifice God is pleased with is that of doing good works and sharing with others.  How hard is it for us to believe this?

Submission to leadership is also alluded to here, not simply to honor God, but that the leaders work might be a joy and not a burden.  What would it look like for you to bring joy to your bosses, teachers, and leaders?

The most fascinating passage of the chapter was this:

 11The high priest carries the blood of animals into the Most Holy Place as a sin offering, but the bodies are burned outside the camp. 12And so Jesus also suffered outside the city gate to make the people holy through his own blood. 13Let us, then, go to him outside the camp, bearing the disgrace he bore. 14For here we do not have an enduring city, but we are looking for the city that is to come.

Which could easily seem odd and obscure, but it really speaks towards how sacrifice happens outside of the holy place, outside of safety and comfort.  Huddling within the church may be nice, but there is something better that is to come.  There is something worth each of us leaving our safe places for, and sacrifice for…

Continuing the reflections on Hebrews 12.

“In your struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood.” - In our own struggles with sin, and not to belittle them in anyway, what’s the worst that’s really happened when we’ve struggled against sinning?  I doubt many of us have shed blood over it.

This passage speaks of God’s love and discipline.  How might God be showing his love through his discipline in your life right now?

The last section is interesting for me, about receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken… it made me think of that old song about how “I” will not be shaken… but the scriptures describe it as something much broader than just me.  and so for my life going forward, I’m reminded that odds are i will be shaken, challenged, disciplined, and fail… but it’s this kingdom, this new reality god is bringing in, that will not be shaken, which i’m blessed to be a part of.

Here’s the passage you can refer to

Some personal reflections

- I’m so glad the law is just a shadow - there’s so much more to life than following rules.

- I wonder what it looks like for us to be perfected?  What would it look like for you and me to head towards that today?

- It describes Christ as beign faithful… ie. full of faith.  What might that mean?

- A popular verse is mentioned in this chapter about not giving up meeting together and encouragement.  It’s so easy to think that we dont’ need one another, or the person right next to us needs encouragement.  The Scriptures remind us not to ever stop these spiritual disciplines.

Continuing along in the Scriptures through Hebrews 8

- Hebrews talks about how in the past the priest and the sanctuary were simply a shadow of what is in heaven and something far superior was coming.  I wonder if some of the things we do are still simply ’shadows’ of the real thing?

- It’s interesting how God says that his ‘new covenant’ will not be like the old, where he ‘led them by the hand’, that maybe there’s something better than direct handholding of God?

- It’s amazing how it describes God putting prints of himself directly on the hearts and minds of people.  I guess to what degree we accept that is a different question, but He’s already right here, within every person in some way.

continuing the journey through Hebrews

- high priests have weaknesses

- those weaknesses can help them engage in the weaknesses of others

- priests need atoning for their sins as well

- what does it mean to be called by God?

- What does it mean for Jesus to have reduced himself to having to ‘learn’ certain things?

- If milk is for infants and solid food is for the mature - what do you feel you need to be feeding on these days?

If you’re following along, Hebrews is no light read.  It is dense with meaning, symbolism, especially with it’s references to the Hebrew Scriptures (The Old Testament).

Some reflections

- What is the ‘heavenly calling’?

- It’s interesting to note that Jesus is described as an apostle

- If the “Builder of a house has greater honor than the house itself” - Where is more emphasis and honor today, the church and all it’s activities, or Jesus Himself?

- What does it mean to hold on to our courage?

- Is God being reactionary as he makes an oath in anger? What does it mean for an unchanging God to actively respond to us?

- Could it be that the sins of others are my responsibility? The Scriptures here call for us to see to it that no one has a sinful, unbelieving heart. How do we fulfill our calling to point people to the Living God?

- There’s several references here to the hardening of the heart. Reminds me of Pharaoh’s heart being hardened. Quite possibly as we refuse to respond to God, there comes a point where there is no turning back?

“We must pay more careful attention, therefore, to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away.” (Hebrews 2:1)

This is so simple and profound.  I believe the phrase I’ve heard for Chrsitians these days is that we are “educated beyond our obedience”.  How might we all make a habit of actually responding to all the ways God speaks to us?

“In bringing many sons to glory, it was fitting that God, for whom and through whom everything exists, should make the author of their salvation perfect through suffering.” (Hebrews 2:10)

It’s interesting how God himself found it fitting that the author of life should offer salvation through suffering.  I guess I shouldn’t be shocked when we try to offer life to others, it might involve suffering as well.

It’s also bewildering how the passage describes Christ as our ‘brother’ as he shares in our humanity.  Yo Bro, would be the last thing I would thinking of calling Jesus the King of Kings.

So I’ll likely post weekly on reflections as I journey through Hebrews - you’re welcome to join along and comment or post as well.

A few thoughts

- Hebrews was written towards a Jewish context, like 30 years or so after the death of Christ

- There is no official author attributed to it, though some believe that it was either Paul or Apollos

- Christ is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being (we have no parallel to this in our world)

- Re-present - the same in character and action - but not the same in person

- Christ sustains all things - he is not just some humble teacher from long ago

- Father / Son relationship - from eternity - Do they ever wonder what was before them? Probably not.

- The son is king of the kingdom

- Christ hates wickedness - sometimes we worry about if we disappointed God, or everything wasn’t quite perfect… we need to realize sometimes there are other areas of our life, that are just plain wicked

- Angels are ministering spirits sent to serve those who inherit salvation - this is something given not earned - though sometimes when life gets rough and messy, you gotta wonder where those angels are…

- The same person that spoke the universe into existence, holds all things together in the fabric of his being, sustains your life