We aren’t exactly sure of who wrote the Book of Hebrews and the context of why it was written. Common views of authorship include Luke, Clement, Barnabas, Apollos, Timothy, Peter, Silas, Jude, and of course Paul. Yeah, pretty long list of candidates.
While the specific context is not known either, fewer suggestions than those of authorship are offered. One view is that the writer was addressing a breakaway house church. A more common view—one that makes the most sense to me—is that the writer was addressing Jewish believers who were being persecuted for following Jesus by other Jews and were therefore considering abandoning Jesus and returning to Judaism. Perhaps, even, these were former priests.
As you read Hebrews, that potential context makes a lot of sense. The author’s main message is “Jesus is better. He is better than anything the Old Testament offered because He has fulfilled it all. Why would anyone want to go back?”
Most of us aren’t probably wrestling with that exact same situation, but we do need to remember the message of Hebrews day-by-day just as much. We face the same temptation, although in different forms.
Jesus Is Better than Any Other Object of Worship
We are all natural worshipers. The issue is that we are often tempted to worship the wrong things. We can worship possessions, relationships, ourselves, and even our churches or worship itself. All of these things are not inherently bad, but they become bad if we replace Jesus with any of these as our object(s) of worship.
Jesus is better than anything or anyone else we might be tempted to worship. We settle for less—infinitely less—when we turn our affections anywhere else.
Jesus Is Better than Anything the World Offers
Just as we are natural worshipers, we also are all prone to seek satisfaction—fulfillment—in life. Again, the problem is that we are often to seek satisfaction in the wrong places. The list is similar: possessions, relationships, career, grades, and so forth. All of these might give us fleeting satisfaction, but none of them give us lasting satisfaction.
Jesus is better than anything or anyone else we might be tempted to seek satisfaction from. We settle for less—infinitely less—when we turn anywhere else to find meaning and joy.
Jesus Is Better than I Am
Just as we are natural worshipers and we seek satisfaction in life, we also seek to control our lives. While some may prefer to give control of their lives to another person, most often we hold a death grip on controlling our own lives. We believe we know what is best. We know what we need. We know what to do. And we don’t want anyone else calling those shots. Including Jesus. This, of course, is a disaster. We don’t know what is best. The creation does not know better than the Creator.
Jesus is better than we are at running our lives. We settle for less—infinitely less—when we choose how we are to live instead of following God’s design.
Jesus is a superior revelation of God. When we see him, we know just what the God of the universe is like. We know how he thinks. We know how he talks. We know how he relates to people. God has spoken in His Son. It is his ultimate communication, his final word, his consummate eloquence. Oh, the superiority of the Son!” — R. Kent Hughes
R. Kent Hughes, Hebrews: An Anchor for the Soul, in Preaching the Word (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2015) [Wordsearch].
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