Themes in Hebrews

Hebrews is probably most well known for its emphasis on Christ as High Priest (4:14; 8:1), discussions of covenants (8:7; 9:15; 13:20), the use of Old Testament typology (3:5; 8:5; 10:1), and the heroes-of-faith chapter (ch. 11). In the Arminian-versus-Calvinist debates, Hebrews is also often referenced concerning the doctrine of the perseverance of the saints (6:4–8; 10:39).

What is the original purpose of Hebrews? The author realizes that his readers are experiencing some level of persecution because of their faith (10:32–34; 12:4; 13:3), and some are even tempted to return to a truncated form of Judaism (13:9). He writes to encourage and exhort the congregants to persevere in Christ. But more specifically, the author of Hebrews emphasizes that the person and work of Christ as the Son and the High Priest are the reality and motivation for the congregants to continue to persevere. Thus, my pithy way of summarizing Hebrews is this: Persevere in Christ, the Son and High Priest. I will use this to organize the themes for this article.

Before getting to these themes, allow me a few introductory comments. For both the Son and High Priest emphases, Christ is wonderfully presented as truly divine and truly human. Also, these two emphases are not airtight compartments, for obviously it is one Christ that is in view. In fact, there are several texts that explicitly combine these two emphases (e.g., 1:2–3; 4:14; 5:5; 7:1–3). In addition, the “Son” emphasis closely connects to Christ’s kingly office. Clearly, the High Priest emphasis connects to Christ’s priestly office. The prophetic office of Christ is included in Hebrews (e.g., 1:2; 2:12–13), but with less emphasis and less explicitly. Hence, the three offices of Christ—Prophet, Priest, and King—are all in Hebrews, but the prophetic office has less prominence. Finally, in Hebrews there are other statements about Christ beyond the three offices. For example, He is called “God” (1:8), “apostle” (3:1), “surety” or “guarantor” (7:22), “mediator” (9:15), and the “great shepherd of the sheep” (13:20).

Christ the son

Let us look at two passages that emphasize Christ as Son, Hebrews 1:1–13 and 5:5–8. Others not considered include Hebrews 3:1–6; 6:6; 7:3; 7:28; and 10:29.

The grand beginning paragraph of Hebrews highlights Christ as the Son (1:1–4). God the Father spoke by the prophets in the Old Testament, but “in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son.” This Son is of the same substance (“exact imprint”) as God the Father and the Creator and Upholder of the universe. Thus, the Son has the divine nature; He is the second person of the Trinity (see 1:10–12; 7:3; 13:8). “Making purification for sins” shows Christ’s human nature. This divine-human Son is now at the “right hand of the Majesty on high” and is “heir of all things.” These statements of Christ’s ascension to God’s “right hand” and being “heir” refer to His kingly office (1:13; see Ps. 110:1). He has an exalted “name,” which here in context is “Son” (see Heb. 1:4–6, 8).

Jesus is the divine Creator, became the incarnate God-man, died for our sins, is now exalted, and will come again.

Hebrews 1:5–14 includes a chain (a catena) of seven Old Testament quotations that are justifying the statements about Christ from the previous paragraph. Note the continued use of “Son.” In Hebrews 1:5 (“You are my Son”), Christ’s ascension and exaltation are connected to Psalm 2:7, which has explicit kingship and messianic statements. Also in Hebrews 1:5 is a quote of the Davidic covenant from 2 Samuel 7:14, which again emphasizes kingship (“he shall be to me a son”). In Hebrews 1:8, the “Son” is called “God” in the context of kingly metaphors (e.g., “scepter”) based on Psalm 45:6–7. Further, in Hebrews 1:10–12, the Son is equated to the creator and sustainer God of the Old Testament by the quote of Psalm 102:25–27 (“you are the same, and your years will have no end”; compare Heb. 13:8). Finally, Christ’s kingly exaltation (“right hand”) is again mentioned in Hebrews 1:13 through the quote of Psalm 110:1, and His second coming is alluded to with the destruction of “enemies.” In sum, Hebrews 1 reveals the sweep of the Son’s activities through redemptive history. He is the divine Creator, became the incarnate God-man, died for our sins, is now exalted, and will come again. Truly, Hebrews 1 presents an amazing Son.

Hebrews 5:1–10 is a unit that highlights Christ as both Son and High Priest. As to the Son emphasis, 5:5, 8 are the key verses, and we will look at just verse 8: “Although he was a son, he learned obedience through what he suffered.” By using “although,” the author of Hebrews indicates that this type of Son, the eternal Son, would not be expected to “learn obedience” as a normal son would. But given that the eternal divine Son did so, this shows that the Son also had a human nature (see 2:5–9). He had to learn obedience and suffer existentially or experientially (see also 10:5–7). As a true human being, Christ dealt with human difficulties and problems, personal sin excepted (2:18; 4:15; 12:3–11; see Luke 2:52; Rom. 5:19; Phil. 2:6–8). This obedience and suffering were part of the qualifications of making the Son a perfect High Priest (Heb. 5:9–10). Now, to step back and consider this, Hebrews 5:8 is a stunning statement. The Son of God, the second person of the Trinity, the One who created and sustains the universe, learned obedience and suffered. And He did it for us.

Christ the high priest

The author of Hebrews primarily presents Christ as High Priest in 4:14–5:10 and 7:1–10:18. As is true of the presentation of Christ as Son, Christ as High Priest includes both His divine (7:3, 16, 13:20) and human (2:14, 17; 4:15; 7:14; 10:5) natures. His not being from the priestly tribe of Levi is explained by Christ’s being typologically from the order of Melchizedek (Gen. 14:17–20; Ps. 110:4; Heb. 7:1–17). The work of Christ as High Priest has both an earthly component culminating in His atoning sacrifice on the cross (Heb. 5:7–10; 7:27; 9:12; 10:14) and a heavenly component as He intercedes for us ( 4:14–16; 7:25; 9:24). With His earthly work, Christ purchased/accomplished our salvation; with His heavenly work, He applies our salvation to us.

With His earthly work, Christ purchased/accomplished our salvation; with His heavenly work, He applies our salvation to us.

For purposes of this article, let us look at one expression: “He offered up himself” (7:27; see also 9:14; 10:12; compare 9:25; 10:10, 14; 12:2, 24; 13:12, 20). It captures significant elements of Christ’s priesthood and has some rhetorical punch. A priest’s offering is not shocking, but a priest’s offering himself is. “He offered up himself” reminds us that Christ is both the Priest and the sacrificial victim. As Ambrose of Milan (AD 339–97) famously put it, “Priest and victim are one.”

Concerning the “victim,” Christ did not use “the blood of goats and calves” but “his own blood” (Heb. 9:12, 14) when “he offered up himself” (7:27). But why was blood needed? Because “without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins” (9:22). Why not use an animal’s blood? Because “it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins” (10:4). Whose blood, then, is required? Christ’s—“the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all” (v. 10). That is, “he offered up himself” (7:27). Amen and Amen.

Persevere

“Let us run with endurance the race that is set before us” (12:1). As noted above, the purpose of Hebrews is to encourage and exhort the congregants to persevere in Christ. Part of the outline of Hebrews makes this clear. Hebrews has significant doctrinal discussions, but it also has explicit exhortation sections (2:1–4; 5:11–6:12; 10:19–39; 12:1–29; 13:1–17). Except for perhaps 13:1–17, these exhortation sections all emphasize that one should persevere in Christ until the end of this life. In addition to these, the heroes-of-faith chapter, Hebrews 11, although not explicitly an exhortation section, implicitly makes the same point.

What are the main realities that the author of Hebrews uses to exhort and encourage one to persevere? They are, of course, centered on Christ as the Son and High Priest. His salvation, received only through faith, brings justification (10:17–18), sanctification (10:16), and glorification (11:40). Given this, why “neglect such a great salvation” (2:3)?

Also fitting with the perseverance theme, believers are to “hold fast.” This verb and a similar one encourage them to hold fast/persevere in their “confidence” (3:6, 14), their “confession” (4:14; 10:23), and the “hope set before” them (6:18).

Another aid to perseverance is appropriately being encouraged by and imitating other believers who have already finished the race. “Be . . . imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises” (6:12), of which Abraham is a prime example (6:13–15). Chapter 11 has many heroes of faith to imitate. Concerning ministers/leaders who had recently died, the congregation is told to “consider the outcome of their way of life, and imitate their faith” (13:7). Finally, the Old Testament wilderness generation is presented as a negative example of whom not to imitate (3:19).

Through the power of the triune God, may we all persevere in Christ, the Son and High Priest.

Dr. Robert J. Cara is provost, chief academic officer, and Hugh and Sallie Reaves Professor of New Testament at Reformed Theological Seminary in Charlotte, N.C. He is author or contributor to several books, including Cracking the Foundation of the New Perspective on Paul and Hebrews: A Mentor Commentary.

Themes in Hebrews