Scripture:
Hebrews 10.19-25
Translation: 19So, brothers
and sisters, because we have boldness by Jesus’ blood into the way in to the
Holy Places, which new and living way through the curtain He inaugurated for
us, that is of His flesh, 21and [because we have] a great priest
over God’s house, 22we should approach with a genuine heart in
certainty of faith, truly cleansing the hearts from an evil conscience and
truly washing the body with clean water! 23We should hold on tight
to the confession of the hope without wavering, because the One Who promised is
faithful. 24And we should think about one another for the purpose of
an instigation of love and good works, 25[which means] don’t abandon
the meeting up of ourselves, just as is a habit of some, instead urge [it], and
as much more as you see the day getting close.
Interpretation
1.
Structure
a.
Larger
b.
More specific
19So,
brothers and sisters,
because we have boldness by Jesus’ blood into the way in for the holy people,
because we have boldness by Jesus’ blood into the way in for the holy people,
which new
and living way through the curtain He inaugurated for us,
that is
through His flesh,
21and
[because we have] a great priest over God’s house,
22we
should approach with a genuine heart in certainty of faith,
truly
cleansing the hearts from an evil conscience
and truly
washing the body with clean water!
23We should hold
on tight to the confession of the hope without wavering,
because
the One Who promised is faithful.
24And we should
think about one another for the purpose of an instigation of love and good
works,
25[which
means] don’t abandon the meeting up of ourselves,
just as is
a habit of some,
instead
urge [it],
and so
much more as much as you see the day getting close.
c.
Rhetorically
i.
Because of two things Jesus
is for us
1.
A way to God
2.
A Great Priest
ii.
Do three things
1.
Approach God with a genuine
trusting heart
2.
Hold on to our confession
of hope
3.
Come up with ways to love
more and do more good works
2.
Themes
a.
Way/path/road to God
b.
Jesus is our Great High
Priest
c.
Faith
d.
Hope
e.
Love
f.
Good works
g.
Cleansing, washing
h.
Cohortative tone
i.
Being a part of the church,
communal tone
j.
Return of Jesus
3.
Doctrines
a.
Jesus is our way to God,
and our Great High Priest representing us before God
b.
The church is a central
part of the Christian life
c.
Faith, hope, and love are
some of the foundational Christian virtues
d.
Jesus is coming back!
e.
As Christians, we should
continue to respond to what Jesus has done for us
Applications
1.
Outline
a.
Our Motivation to be the
church together comes from what Jesus is for us
i.
We want to be the Church
because Jesus is our Way to God
ii.
We want to be the Church
together because Jesus is our Great High Priest
1.
Jesus not only gets us to
God, He facilitates our interactions with God, Jesus makes our relationship
with God a wonderful and happy one
2.
He is like our defense
attorney
b.
Our Response to Jesus as a
Church together comes naturally from Who Jesus is for us
i.
We come to God in absolute
faith with genuine hearts,
1.
because Jesus as our Great
High Priest cleansed our hearts and washed our bodies
a.
this has to do with
forgiveness, repentance, and baptism—Jesus got rid of our dirtiness and junk,
and made us part of a new community
b.
however, it is also true,
and the Greek is somewhat ambiguous about Who is doing what here (that is, it
may be that the emphasis is on our response to Jesus, rather than Jesus’ action
for us), that we cleansed our hearts from an wicked conscience and washed our
bodies in baptism, which is a way of saying that we repented from our evil ways
of thinking and acting when we turned to Christ in faith and got baptized.
2.
This we do because of what
Jesus has done
3.
But we also do this
together, we come to God together, we worship God through Jesus together. We
don’t come to God in sure faith only on our own, we come to God with sure faith
together as well, and especially together at times
ii.
We hold on to our Christian
commitment together to put our hope in God without wavering
1.
On top of the fact that Jesus
is representing us, is the fact that God is faithful, we know that His promises
will be kept
2.
Being a Christian has
always meant openly admitting that you are with Jesus and hoping in His return
and His work for you
3.
This is something we do in
front of one another and together with one another, being a Christian means
being a part of the Christian community.
4.
Moreover, we need to be
this community, we need to support and strengthen one another in the faith and
in the hope. The truth is, one of the reasons that some of your friends will go
away to college and ditch Jesus, is not just because their faith was not
genuine or strong, but because one of the most important things that people
should do to get ready for college is look up and find out where the good and
solid Gospel preaching churches are, because we need to be a part of the
community, because the church helps us to hold on and maintain through trials
the faith that God has graciously given to us.
iii.
We think about how to pump
each other up to love more and do more good
1.
This actually is a very
natural response to Jesus being our Way to and High Priest before God, because
Jesus loved us and did good things for us, so we should naturally be trying to
imitate His example, on top of the fact that we want to go to God with love and
good works to offer Him as a sacrifice, plus, although Jesus certainly can and
will and in fact already has offered our one and only needed sacrifice before
God, when He died on the cross, do we really want Him to always have to defend
us, wouldn’t it be nice if He didn’t have to beg for us so often, that is to
say, while Jesus’ dead covered and removed all our sins, do we want to treat
Jesus with contempt by taking advantage of His love and good works for us?
2.
This actually requires us
to keep meeting up together,
a.
The truth is this is an
easy habit to lose, and a harder one to gain, especially when life is crazy.
3.
This actually requires us
to interact with each other, urging one another to be a part of the church
4.
This actually should be
more and more important to us
a.
We sometimes think it is
not more important, but in fact it should be getting more and more important.
Sometimes we think that when Jesus comes back all our troubles will end, so if
He is getting back soon, then we don’t need the church as much. But that is not
completely true, because while Jesus will be back soon, He wants us ready and
waiting with gifts of love and good works to give to Him and God, our rewards
are dependent on our conduct, which means that Jesus coming back soon shortens
the amount of time we have to accrue eternal rewards for ourselves.
2.
All in all, in a way, not
embracing being part of the church and responding to what Jesus has done for us
in the three ways this passage describes, is really a surrendering of blessings
intended for us by Christ, as well as a devaluing of Christ, by devaluing what
He has given us and how He has structured for a response. In other words,
saying, “I want to enjoy Jesus and what He provides, but I don’t want to do it the
way He wants me to,” is a way of saying that what Jesus gave us as His Own
expense was not good enough. That is ungrateful, as well as arrogant, since it
assumes that we know better than Jesus was true goodness and joy really looks
like, we assume we know what is better for us than Jesus
3.
Questions
a.
Jesus being our Way to God
and our Great High Priest is our motivation to do the things this passage calls
us to do, how motivating is it? Does Jesus’ role motivate you for anything
else?
b.
Is it easier for your to
come to God on your own or together with the Church?
c.
How do you think you could
help a brother or sister stay committed to God, to their confession of hope in
Jesus?
d.
Have you ever thought about
how you could help a brother or sister or the church as a whole love more and
do more good?
e.
Evaluate your church
participate habits. How strong is your commitment to be at church? What tends
to overrule that commitment? What about our church makes it difficult to be
here? What solutions can you offer?
f.
Do you think about Jesus’
coming a lot? What does it motivate you to do?
Illustrations/Explanations
1.
I used to drive on division
street when I lived downtown when I would come back from church. The only
problem was that Division Street was a nightmare to drive down. It was totally
decrepit. It was filled with uneven pavement and potholes. I would be driving
along this road at night, it was filled with stop lights too, and it was hard
and difficult, and I was always worried I was going to ruin my car. However, there
was also the Ohio Street exit, and it was actually a little be past where I
lived, so I would be wasting a little gas and time if I wanted to take that
road, but you know what, I almost always took the Ohio Street exit, and do you
know why? It was because the Ohio Street exit was a newer way that was better
for the life of my car. Jesus is a sort of like the Ohio Street exit, He is New
and Alive, He is the path to God that because it is so good, it makes us want
to take it. But you see, Jesus is not exactly like the Ohio street exit,
because there was always only one way to God, and what Jesus really is is
Division street new, resurfaced, and alive! Because there is only one way to
God, it is not that Jesus is the best way or the easiest way, no, Jesus is the
only way! In our culture, it is convenient and advised to consider Jesus just
one of many possible options, but the truth is Jesus is not a way to God, He is
the Only Way to God. And it is just icing on the cake that He is not just the
Only Way, but the kind of Way that makes us want to use it!
2.
Jesus being our Great High
Priest is kind of like Him being our Great Defense Attorney. He represents us
and keeps us out of jail, pays our fines and represents us well
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