Hebrews: The Glorious Jesus

The writer completes this great homage to Christ with some final thoughts on holy living and a final word of encouragement and greeting. After showing how the Lord Jesus glorified His church through His ministry, death, resurrection and ascension to the right hand of God, the author goes on to encourage his readers to respond in kind by glorifying Jesus as His church. He tells them that they can do this by living holy lives and remaining faithful to Him,…

The author continues his description of the type of people who belong in Christ’s Church as those who have a holy lifestyle. I have shown that the author’s purpose in this letter has been to persuade his readers not to abandon Christianity for Judaism. He does this by demonstrating how Jesus is more glorious than any part or personality within the Jewish religion. He then goes on to say that God’s people, in every age, glorify Him by being faithful.…

In this lesson Mike diagrams and explains the famous chapter that describes the ‘heroes of faith. After having shown Christ’s glory by demonstrating His superiority over the Jewish religion as its fulfillment, the author of the Hebrew letter goes on to exhort his readers to reflect that glory by being faithful to Him. He encourages them not to fall away as some have done, but because they have a great mediator in Christ, go forward in confidence, despite the obstacles…

Having finished describing Jesus’ glorious life and ministry the author now focuses on the type of church that carries His glorious name. At this point of his letter the author will bring the lesson home to his readers. In the previous sections he has warned them about falling back and the terrible consequences for one who, after having known the Lord, abandons Him. Now, he exhorts them in a positive way by pointing out what they ought to be doing.…

In the final part of the first section of Hebrews, the writer summarizes the reasons why Jesus’ ministry is superior to that of the Jewish High Priest but also that the results of the Lord’s ministry on behalf of all men yields a superior final result. In the book of Hebrews the author is showing Christ’s superiority over the entire system of religion as embodied by the Jewish priesthood and sacrificial rituals in the Old Testament. In this final section…

This lesson demonstrates how Jesus’ ministry was superior to that of the Jewish High Priest in its service to the people by producing superior results. In his letter to Jewish Christians, the Hebrew writer is trying to encourage these brethren to remain faithful to Christ and not return to their former religion. He does this by demonstrating how Jesus is superior to every element of that faith. In the last section we looked at he explained that Jesus was not…

In this lesson, the author will review Jesus’ work as High Priest, not only His credentials to server in this role. In the previous chapter we finished the section in the letter to the Hebrews that explained Jesus’ superiority as high priest over Aaron. Aaron and descendants as high priests – appointed by the Law, temporary and serviced by sinful men. Jesus as high priest – appointed by God, eternal in nature (Melchizedek type), serviced by a perfectly righteous divine…

In this final section on Melchizedek, the writer explains the relationship between Aaron, Melchizedek and Jesus. In the last three chapters of the book of Hebrews the author has demonstrated how Jesus, as High Priest, was superior to the Aaronic line of high priests in Judaism. The idea was that formerly, under the Mosaic system, the hope of the Jewish people was based on the fact that their priests could go before God and intervene on their behalf (give thanks,…

In this lesson, Mike examines the passages that demonstrate that Christianity’s priesthood is superior to the Aaronic priesthood. The author of the book of Hebrews is comparing Jesus to various aspects of the Jewish religion in order to encourage his readers not to abandon their new faith in Christ for their old faith of Judaism. The notion that the Jewish religion is superior because it boasts of the ancient priesthood of Aaron is dealt with by showing that, in Christ,…

This lesson examines what the writer of Hebrews says about the 4th element of the Jewish religion, the priesthood, and especially the High Priest. In his argument encouraging Jewish Christians to remain faithful to Christ, the author of the book of Hebrews divides his letter into two sections: He shows that the glory of Christ is greater than the glory of the Jewish religion and all of its parts. In the last several chapters we have covered three of these…

Mike begins to develop the Hebrew writer’s next argument for Christianity’s superiority over Judaism – Jesus’ greater authority than Moses. This epistle was written to certain Christian Jews who, because of persecution, were considering a return to their former religion. The author encourages them to be faithful by arguing that Christianity is superior to Judaism and is, in fact, the fulfillment of the Jewish religion. In successive chapters, the author demonstrates how Christ is superior to the Jewish prophets as…

After demonstrating from Scripture that Jesus is greater than the angels, the author focuses on what Jesus accomplished when, for a while, He took a position lower than angels. The book of Hebrews was written to first century Christian Jews who were contemplating returning to Judaism because of the persecution they were facing. The author encourages them to be faithful by demonstrating that Jesus Christ was superior to every element of their former Jewish religion. He begins by showing how…

In this section the Hebrew writer lists the many passages in the Old Testament that demonstrate Jesus’ exalted position above the angels. The book of Hebrews was written to a particular group of Jewish Christians who, because of persecution, were being tempted to abandon Christianity and return to Judaism. In his letter, the author appeals to them to remain faithful to Christ by showing them Christ’s superiority to their former Jewish religion. He does this by comparing Jesus to various…

This first lesson in the series establishes the historical and religious context for the writing of this book. The first Christians were Jewish. The first congregation of the Lord’s church was made up of Jewish people. The first Scriptures used to prove Christ as the Messiah were the Jewish Scriptures which we refer to as the Old Testament. It took approximately ten years for the Apostles to preach the gospel to non-Jews (Cornelius and his household – Acts 10). In the…