Archive for September 2023

Isaiah 42-43, Proverbs 26:1-16, Luke 23:26-31, Hebrews 9:11-28 Hebrews 9:11-28: Now in this section the author of Hebrews outlines, at some length, not only the differences between the old covenant and the new covenant, but the great superiority of the new. It is here that Christ – fulfilling all that was promised in the Old Testament – sacrifices…

Isaiah 40-41, Proverbs 25:15-28, Luke 23:13-25, Hebrews 9:1-10 Hebrews 9:1-10: Now the author of Hebrews comes to describe what worship was like in the old covenant.  Sometimes, we can think that such worship – with all its ceremonies – must have been particularly exciting, brilliant and somehow better than the rather plain (by comparison) kind of worship with…

Isaiah 37-39, Proverbs 25:1-14, Luke 23:1-12, Hebrews 8:7-13 Hebrews 8:7-13: Now the author of Hebrews describes the new covenant that has come in the person of Christ, the new covenant that God has now established. This new covenant will: Give an increased desire to obey God’s law: I will put my laws in their minds and write them…

Isaiah 34-36, Proverbs 24:23-34, Luke 22:63-71, Hebrews 8:1-6 Hebrews 8:1-6: Now the author of Hebrews is coming closer to establish the reason for this extended exhortation regarding Jesus being a priest in the line of Melchizedek. The point that he is proving is that following Jesus, and therefore remaining as a Christian and not going back to Judaism,…

Isaiah 31-33, Proverbs 24:1-22, Luke 22:54-62, Hebrews 7:11-28 Hebrews 7:11-28: Some people seem to view the Old Testament as merely a list of rules, at best, or, at worst, a description of slightly disreputable activity on the part of an unpredictable and wrathful deity. But this kind of approach to the Old Testament woefully misses the larger story…

Isaiah 29-30, Proverbs 23:19-35, Luke 22:47-53, Hebrews 7:1-10 Hebrews 7:1-10: This is one of those passages in the Bible whose logic is a little hard for us to grasp because it is depending on modes of thinking that are unfamiliar to us. For most of us, conversations about Melchizedek and priests and who is greater than the other…

Isaiah 27-28, Proverbs 23:1-18, Luke 22:39-46, Hebrews 6:13-20 Hebrews 6:13-20: How do you know that God will do what he has promised to do? We often think of God’s promises, in the plural, but there is an overarching promise, in the singular, that holds together all his promises and is the guarantee of them all. It is this…

Isaiah 24-26, Proverbs 22:17-29, Luke 22:31, Hebrews 6:1-12 Hebrews 6:1-12: Having exhorted his readers to leave elementary mere “milk” teaching to go on to the “meat,” the author of Hebrews does precisely that. But in beginning now to teach about some deeper matters, he has often left those who read his words wondering how to interpret what…

Isaiah 21-23, Proverbs 22:1-16, Luke 22:24-30, Hebrews 5 Hebrews 5: In this passage, the author of Hebrews first describes how Jesus can be a high priest even though he was not born in the line of the tribe of Levi, and then what this teaching means for us in practice.  First, he talks about Melchizedek in the Old…

Isaiah 17-20, Proverbs 21:17-31, Luke 22:14-23, Hebrews 4:12-16 Hebrews 4:12-16: The author of Hebrews is taking a brief break in his exegesis to apply what he has been saying. And broadly speaking, he applies his teaching so far in two ways: 1) to the Bible and 2) to prayer.  His application to the Bible, or “the word of God,”…