“Christianity is no longer an option; it’s a problem.”
Download discussion questions: Hebrews 13:7-19
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I encourage you to look at the passage in Hebrews before you read this Blog entry. What do you see in the text yourself? What questions come to your mind? How would you interpret what the writer says? After even a few minutes examining and thinking about the text you will be much better prepared to evaluate the comments in the Blog.
The handout for this passage took on a different form. You might notice that there are no verse numbers or paragraph breaks. The intent is to look at the text itself to understand how the writer may have organized his thoughts.
For example, the NIV[1] groups verses 7-8 as a short paragraph, while NKJV[2] includes verse 9. The ESV[3] presents a much longer paragraph from verse 7 through verse 15. Some translations[4] simply show each verse separately rather than attempt to organize the text into paragraphs. All of this effort is the work of the translators and publishers, not the original writers of Scripture. Chapter divisions and verse numbering were not added until centuries after the documents were written. In fact, most of the New Testament was written (in Greek) without differences in upper- and lower-case letters or even spaces. The English version of the text would look more like:
rememberthosewhoruleoveryouwhohavespokenthewordofgodtoyouwhosefaithfollowconsideringtheoutcomeoftheirconductjesuschristthesameyesterdaytodayandforeverdonotbecarriedaboutwithvariousandstrangedoctrines
So it is not unreasonable to spend some time and energy to see how we would understand the flow of the writer’s thinking. The more we observe the wording and structure of the writer’s thoughts, the better we will be able to correctly and precisely interpret his meaning and how to apply it to our life.
Remember…
Our discussion began with the pastor’s emphasis on leaders and “the result of their conduct,” or as one person commented from the NKJV, the “outcome” of their conduct. The suggested implication is that behavior, how we live, is an important indication of genuine faith. We should look for examples to imitate. The writer to the Hebrew congregation had mentioned that before (Hebrews 6:12). A group member reminded us that the apostle Paul repeatedly exhorted imitation (1 Corinthians:16; 11:1; Philippians 3:17; 2 Thessalonians 3:9). Peter pointed to Christ as the ultimate example, specifically as an example to follow in how to respond to suffering (1 Peter 2:21). Finding examples to imitate has been part of Christian discipleship from the very beginning.
Then the question came up, “Who were these leaders? Were they the present elders in the Hebrew congregation? Were they historical figures, perhaps referring back to the examples of faith in Hebrews 11? Could they have been martyred members of the congregation? As a person pointed out, the writer had already brought up the possibility of “shedding blood” a few sentences earlier (Hebrews 12:4).
Without resolving that question (more consideration later) someone noted that the transition between verses 7 and 8 seemed very “abrupt.” Did the writer suddenly leave his exhortation about imitating leaders to jump to a general theological truism about Jesus? Then did he move to another new topic about strange teachings? The consensus of our discussion was that verses 7-9 form a coherent section about who to imitate and why. Since Jesus doesn’t change, following Him today should look a lot like following Him in the past. The proliferation of new, creative interpretations and progressive-thinking doctrines (in the first century or today) is no substitute for the faith once delivered. Living leaders, martyred leaders, or historical leaders whose lives reflected the character of Christ provide practical patterns we can follow.
An applicable question to consider: Who are specific people whose faith and the “outcome of their conduct” that you would benefit from imitating?
A Different Altar
Verse 9 provides a possible example of a slight shift in the pastor’s thinking in the middle of a verse. The unchanging stability of Jesus is the foundation by which we avoid “varied and strange teaching” (v. 9a). But how does that connect with the heart being strengthened, but not by foods (v. 9b)? One person noted the definite connection indicated by the word “for,” indicating an additional explanation. The heart being “strengthened by grace” must explain something about not being “carried away” by strange doctrines.
As often happens in a good Bible-study conversation, one question raises several more.
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- What does it mean for the “heart to be strengthened”?
- How is the heart strengthened “by grace”? (What one person called ‘an ethereal-sounding idea.’)
- How is the heart strengthened “by food” and what is wrong with that?
Our group offered several suggestions about the word “strengthened,” some from other translations, others from our understanding of the word: established, firmed up, reassured.
The idea of a heart being “reassured” was helpful. Are hearts reassured (in us or in the Hebrew believers) by God’s grace or by following food regulations or other rules?
Someone commented (as we have discussed before) that the original hearers of this written sermon had a perspective very different from ours. The idea of being reassured by keeping the Jewish dietary laws (as well as the rest of Torah) would have been the norm for their entire lives before the gospel. Leaving those lifelong practices would have been a difficult change, resulting in rejection by Jewish family and friends. The difficulties were aggravated by living in a hostile pagan culture. Returning to that familiar environment of the temple sacrifices would be very reassuring. Keeping the Law would provide confidence in right standing with God. Wouldn’t those familiar traditions strengthen the heart?
The pastor exhorts them to the better way he has been explaining through the entire sermon: grace through the once-for-all sacrifice and priesthood of Jesus the Messiah.
A person asked, “Why is the heart to be strengthened by grace and not by love?” Another person pointed out that most of the sermon has been about the contrast between the two covenants: works under the old covenant and grace under the new covenant. The pastor emphasizes grace in order to summarize the whole sermon in verse 9. Those Jews depending on works or temple sacrifices or following Torah “were not benefited.” Or, as he wrote earlier, “both gifts and sacrifices are offered which cannot make the worshiper perfect in conscience” (Hebrews 9:9). Under the law, our conscience can always accuse us, “Did I do enough? Was my sacrifice adequate?” Only God’s grace can truly strengthen and reassure our heart by cleansing the conscience based on Christ’s perfect work. Any other way of dealing with our sin is of no benefit. One person commented that the other ways of dealing with sin (trying harder, holding on to shame, etc.) ultimately lead to “Christian meltdown.” Another member added, “I’m not Jewish, and I still struggle with ‘going back’ to ways other than grace.”
The pastor would know the difficulties the Hebrew congregation was facing. He would understand the desire to return to the familiar Jewish traditions. As he has done throughout the sermon, he clarifies the continuity of the new covenant with the old, emphasizing the superiority of the new. The sacrifices on the altar at the temple would not cleanse the conscience. He describes a better altar. Our group considered what he meant. The context of food and eating and a sacrificial altar (v. 9b-10) suggests Communion.[5] (The bread and the cup we would later share as a group were in front of us.) The pastor used the altar imagery familiar to the audience as a transition to focus on grace instead of food laws. At the same time, he stressed the distinction. Those who depended on animal sacrifices or food laws to strengthen their hearts “have no right to eat” from the new table of the sacrifice of Christ.
Outside the Camp
We considered why “those who serve the tabernacle have no right to eat” (Hebrews 13:10b). Again, someone noted the word “For” at the beginning of the next sentence, suggesting the pastor himself was providing the reason.
Under the old covenant, the sacrificial offering for sin on the Day of Atonement (“the animals whose blood is brought into the holy place by the high priest as an offering for sin” – Hebrews 13:10) were not to be eaten (Leviticus 16:27). Instead, the entire body of the bull and of the goat were to be “taken outside the holy precinct of the camp for disposal in a region of cultic impurity.”[6] The comparison with Jesus would imply how the Jewish leadership had rejected Him, considering Him unclean. (This might reflect the earlier rebuke of those who “regarded as unclean the blood of the covenant” in Hebrews 10:29.)
The Hebrew congregation was certainly feeling “outside the camp” in their isolation from family and friends who could not understand or accept their new beliefs. The pastor underscores their new identity and unity in the corporate body of Christ (“let us go out…for we do not have…” v. 13-14, emphasis added). And most of all, he emphasizes their identification with Christ, “let us go out to Him, outside the camp, bearing His reproach: (v. 13, emphasis added). He does not minimize the painful facts. The congregation is outside the camp, outside the comfort of their culture. The congregation is bearing reproach from family, from neighbors, even from government.
But as their pastor he reminds them of the reality “further up and further in,” the deeper reality that can fuel their endurance. “For here we do not have a lasting city, but we are seeking the city which is to come” (Hebrews 13:14). Nothing that we see around us can be the source of our hope, our satisfaction, our joy because none of it lasts, It will all be shaken and removed (Hebrews 12:27). A group member pointed out that the Hebrew congregation could easily lament their losses. But nothing they had lost would last anyway. Regaining those losses by returning to the temple sacrifices would be a short-term solution. Only the “city which is to come” will last. The anticipation of that eternal city can enable our endurance, just as the anticipation of “the joy set before Him” enabled Jesus to endure even the cross (Hebrews 12:2).
Likewise, in our rapidly changing culture, Christians are more and more perceived as “the bad guys.”
Increasingly Christianity is viewed as the bad guy. Christianity is no longer an option; it’s a problem. The cultural, political and legal guns that Christianity once held are now trained on us—and it’s happened quickly. The number of those professing faith has fallen dramatically. The number of those who reject the faith they held until their late teens has risen dramatically. The seat at the cultural table that we assumed was ours for keeps is increasingly being given to others. We’re on the wrong side of history, the wrong side of so many issues and conversations.[7]
Believers can certainly feel “outside” in relation to our workplace, our neighborhood, even our family. Like the first-century Hebrew congregation, the comfort of fitting-in to those around us can be a powerful attraction. Like those early Christians, we need to remember and imitate those who have endured with hearts strengthened by grace before us. We must keep our eyes on the city which is to come. That anticipation will enable our endurance.
A Sacrifice of Praise
The pastor’s encouraging words about “the city which is to come” immediately lead him into a call to worship and a call to action. A “sacrifice of praise” (v. 15) is the logical response, as indicated by the “then” or “therefore”[8] introducing the phrase.
We discussed the unusual wording, “sacrifice” of praise. Our culture, even Christian culture, has a generally negative view of sacrifice. A sacrifice is something hard, something we would rather not do, something difficult and costly. But praise is positive and joyful. How does enthusiastic praise fit with the solemnity of sacrifice?
We considered how our culture views sacrifice. Our self-obsessed culture flees from sacrifice. To cite only one example, “a recent study found that people who join causes online are not more apt to actually do something—they’re less likely to take action.”[9] A mouse-click may ease the conscience with no actual sacrifice of time or money or other costly resources. Even for Christians, the ultimate sacrifice offered by Jesus was “the most terrifying torture we can imagine.”[10] Perhaps it is not a surprise that the word “sacrifice” stirs negative reactions.
But a member of our group offered another perspective, that of an “offering.” In the Jewish context of the first-century Hebrew audience, the sacrifice in the temple was exactly that, an offering.
Offering has a much more positive connotation. The emphasis is on the delight of giving a gift rather than on the cost. A “continual offering of praise” is an exact description of “the fruit of lips that give thanks” for God’s amazing grace that strengthens and reassures our heart.
The pastor doesn’t stop there. He moves the appropriate response into the realm of action, “Do not neglect doing good and sharing” (v. 16). He uses general terms open to wide application. Where do you see an opportunity to do good? What can you share with another person or family? In a congregation undergoing persecution and financial hardship there would be many opportunities to display those qualities.
Note that the repeated word “sacrifice” groups his ideas together (v. 15a – 16b).
Through Him then, let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God,
that is, the fruit of lips that give thanks to His name.
And do not neglect doing good and sharing,
for with such sacrifices God is pleased.
The pastor summarizes the sacrifices or offerings that please God: praise and thanksgiving, along with doing good and sharing. To put it another way, “love God, love others”
(Matthew 22:39).
Obey and Pray
In that context of that behavior pleasing to God, the writer returns to the topic of leaders (v. 17-19). These instructions are more immediately focused (obey, submit) than the earlier “remember” (v. 7). This suggested to our group that the earlier exhortation (v. 7-9) related to historical or even martyred leaders, while this section (v. 17-19) describes obligations to the current leadership.
The wording of verse 7 (“the result of their conduct”) is considered by some commentators as “their end”[11] or “the end of their life” (NASB1995, marginal note). As he concluded his sermon, he brought the audience’s attention back to examples of the faith.
The exhortation is to remember their departed leaders, persons of such a nature that they spoke the Word of God to them (2:3, 4:2). Some of these had probably gone to heaven by way of martyrdom. They are urged to imitate their faith while at the same time observe attentively the kind of lives they lived and the outcome and issue of their lives. They were to imitate their lives where the latter tallied with what they preached. Thus, they would be guarded against forsaking Messiah and going back to the temple sacrifices.[12]
Having reminded the congregation of respected leaders who were no longer with them (v. 7-9), the writer turns their attention to those now leading them (v. 17-19).
Some in our group have had unfortunate experiences with church leaders who used verse 17 (“Obey your leaders and submit to them”) as a “hammer” to demand absolute and unquestioning compliance. But the word used (πείθω, peithō) indicates a very different meaning. The word is used elsewhere in Hebrews of being “convinced” (Hebrews 6:9, 13:18). In Hebrews 2:13 πείθω expresses Christ putting His trust in God. Elsewhere the word is used frequently of confidence (2 Corinthians 2:3; Galatians 5:10; Philippians 1:5, 14; 2 Thessalonians 3:4; 1 Timothy 1:5; Philemon 1:21) or persuasion (Acts 5:30, 12:20, 13:43, 14:19, 17:4, 19:8; 2 Corinthians 5:11, 10:7).
The pastor was not calling the congregation to automatic, unquestioning, unthinking conformity. Instead, he encourages the congregation to understand, to “be persuaded” about the guidance of their leaders. And certainly, leaders who are genuinely “watching over souls” will want thoughtful collaboration in the church. The reality of giving an account would motivate sincere leaders to desire input and constructive suggestions and even questions from a congregation.
Our group had several comments. One person brought up the Bereans (Acts 17:11) who were commended for questioning the Apostle Paul himself. They judged his message by questioning (literally, “cross-examining”) Scripture. If Paul could submit to questioning to confirm that his leadership was Biblical, church leaders should have the same humility.
Another person reminded us that Biblical leaders are essentially servants, not masters. Masters cannot be questioned. Servants are continuously subject to questioning about what they do and how they act. Servant leaders should welcome questions in order to improve their leadership as genuine servants.
The function of leaders to “keep watch over souls” brought out the observation that a weekly sermon (or even a weekly study of Hebrews) is not adequate for that task. One of the repeated themes through the sermon to the Hebrew congregation has been the corporate responsibility for the spiritual formation of every individual. Whether an official leader or any member of the community, we all have the opportunity to watch over each other’s soul.
[1] https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=heb+13%3A7-19&version=NIV
[2] https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=heb+13%3A7-19&version=NKJV
[3] https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=heb+13%3A7-19&version=ESV
[4] https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=heb+13%3A7-19&version=KJV
[5] This unique use of the altar imagery should not be taken as support for Communion repeating the sacrifice of Christ. “This contention cannot be substantiated. There is no evidence for a sacramental interstation of the Eucharist, in which the Lord’s table is described a an altar until more than a century after the writing of Hebrews.”
William L. Lane, Hebrews 9-13, Word Biblical Commentary (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan, 1991), 538.
[6] William L. Lane, Hebrews 9-13, Word Biblical Commentary (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan, 1991), 540; emphasis added.
[7] Stephen McAlpine, Being the Bad Guys: How to Live for Jesus in a World That Says You Shouldn’t (Charlotte, North Carolina: The Good Book Company, 2021), Kindle edition, 3.
[8] e.g. Mounce, NKJV, NIV; https://www.biblegateway.com/verse/en/Hebrews%2013:15
[9] Brant Hansen, Unoffendable: How Just One Change Can Make All of Life Better (Nashville: W Publishing Group, 2015), 94, original emphasis.
[10] Michael F. Bird, What Christians Ought to Believe (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan, 2016), Kindle Edition location 1781.
[11] W. E. Vine, Merrill F. Unger, William White, Jr., “article,” Vine’s Complete Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words (Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1996), 199.
[12] Kenneth S. Wuest, Hebrews in the Greek New Testament, Word Studies in the Greek New Testament; Volume II (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1973), 235.