Hebrews study notes

Important Concepts

• The Supremacy of Christ: Jesus is God’s final word, superior to angels, Moses, and the whole old order.
• The Great High Priest: Christ, a priest forever after Melchizedek, always lives to intercede for His people.
• The Once-for-All Sacrifice: By a single offering of Himself, Christ has perfected His people forever.
• The New Covenant: Christ mediates a better covenant of forgiveness and direct access to God.
• Faith and Endurance: The saints of old and Jesus Himself call us to run with persevering faith.
• Drawing Near, Not Falling Away: Because of Christ, we draw near with confidence; yet we must not drift or shrink back.

Practical Application

Hebrews is a book for weary believers tempted to give up. Its original readers were battered by pressure and drifting back toward an easier religion; and every Christian, sooner or later, feels the pull to coast, to compromise, or to quit. Hebrews’ remedy is not merely to try harder but to see Jesus more clearly. Again and again it lifts our eyes to the surpassing greatness of Christ — better than every rival, the divine Son, the perfect and permanent High Priest, the once-for-all sacrifice, the mediator of a better covenant — so that we will not exchange the substance for shadows or trade Him for anything the world offers. When we grasp how great our salvation is and how sufficient our Savior is, drifting away becomes unthinkable, and holding fast becomes our joy. Hebrews therefore calls us to “consider Jesus,” to “hold fast our confession,” and to keep drawing near “with confidence... to the throne of grace,” knowing we have a High Priest who sympathizes with our every weakness and always lives to intercede for us.

The book also summons us to endurance. Its sober warnings against drifting, hardening the heart, neglecting salvation, and shrinking back are meant to keep us running the race rather than sitting down in it. And its encouragements are just as strong: we are surrounded by “so great a cloud of witnesses” who lived and died by faith, and we look above all to “Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith,” who endured the cross “for the joy that was set before him.” Like Him, we are to endure hardship as the Father’s loving discipline, to pursue holiness and peace, to love one another, and to look beyond “no lasting city” here to “the city that is to come.” Hebrews thus calls us to fix our eyes on the unchanging Christ — “the same yesterday and today and forever” — and, strengthened by all He is and has done, to run our race with endurance all the way to the end.

Questions for reflection

1. Hebrews shows Jesus as “better” than every alternative. What are you tempted to drift toward instead of Him, and how does His supremacy call you back?
2. We have a High Priest who sympathizes with our weakness. How often do you “draw near to the throne of grace” for mercy and help?
3. “Looking to Jesus... run with endurance.” Where do you need endurance right now, and how does fixing your eyes on Christ help you keep running?