Leap of Faith 2011 Small Faith – GREAT BIG GOD
Week 1 – March 13 – March 19
Over the next six weeks, we will study together the book of Hebrews. The writer of Hebrews has always been anonymous. Some have thought it was Paul, the apostle, and other suggested an apostle more known for his polished Greek like Apollos, but yet we really don’t know who the writer was.
We do know that it was written around 60 AD and to Jewish believers that had followed Christ for some time. We would have considered these believers to be mature by today’s standards just by the amount of time they had been in the faith. Yet they struggled greatly with how their neighbors looked down on them, and because of that thought seriously about going back to Judaism without Jesus in order to be popular again.
Does any of this sound remotely current, relevant, or familiar to you? That familiar temptation to go back to the old, the familiar, the safe places in our lives is something we all experience. Let me go on.
In crowded cities, people lived in close-knit communities and jobs, opportunities, etc. depended on ‘who you knew’ in your social group. So for some of these Christians, they had to turn their back on family traditions and risk the loss of job and home. Maybe the butcher wouldn’t sell you meat, or if someone ratted you out to the local governor, you could be executed if you refused to sacrifice to the divine emperor.
While we may not face that kind of persecution we do face reasons that we feel the need to ‘add on’ to what Jesus has done, or in some way to make him a bit less harsh, and more culturally relevant. They are a community of people discouraged because of suffering and dealing with some doubts about whether Jesus was really enough to take care of their sin.
Hebrews is known as the book of ‘better things’. The writer makes no apologizes for the truth that Jesus is the best thing; and he is supreme over all and sufficiently all we need to enter the sanctuary of God’s presence. Part 1 is all about Jesus and his Supremacy. Part 2 will show us how Jesus is the perfect high priest, and Part 3 will encourage us to be faithful in our perseverance and obedience. So, suddenly Hebrews becomes a very current message for us, to return to the powerful simple truth that Jesus is the answer for us and for the world! Let’s dig and start to be encouraged and take a leap of faith together.
*Making note that I drew huge research from How to Read the Bible Book by Book by Gordon D. Fee, Zondervan Press and from Bible Background Commentary for the Old Testament and New Testament by John H. Walton, Victory H. Matthews & Mark W. Chavalas, IVP
