Chapter thirteen ends the author's treatise. He has made his case, he has presented evidence and witnesses. Now, we come to his closing argument. He will suggest what all of it should mean to us. He will declare what reasoning minds should extract from the case, and the verdict they should render. We have heard the arguments, and the witnesses. We have seen the clear evidence. What should we do? How should we proceed? First of all, we are charged to give free rein to brotherly love. Not only so, but we should maintain it, as one who keeps a fire going. We are also responsible to stand between love and the enemies of love, to defend it for the common good. Succinctly, the author charges us that we should do all that we can as the caretakers of love.
The second charge is not to bury the talent, not to close ourselves in. We must be open to outsiders, sharing the light of love to all those who would come into our circle. The author refers to Abraham in verse two. Abraham received strangers into his company with gladness, offering help and refreshment. Lot took in the same strangers, offering protection. We are warned against overlooking the aspect of love that is service. Love is a higher calling, it connects us to the heavenly. Abraham and Lot shared the light of love with strangers, not knowing they were angels. They knew it was possible. They did not permit the opportunity to slip through their hands. Rather, they gripped the opportunity and held tight. Because of that, they were compensated, even though they sought no reward.
The third charge is found in verse three. We ourselves suffer adversity and know bonds. We didn't need the case, with its evidence and witnesses, to tell us that. Nonetheless, it follows from the case that we should remember our struggling brothers and sisters. To be with them in our hearts as if we are there with them in the flesh is the living definition of love. The spirit of love reaches out. It seeks to help. We know what the sufferer is going through, and we, ourselves, have received help. In the 1970s, when I was a hitchhiker, those kind people who gave me a ride did so in remembrance of kind people who had taken time to lend them a hand. They were paying forward the love because the light of it showed them how and why.
All individuals, even loners, are part of something. No one is unconnected. We are, therefore, called on to be stable, dependable, true, and loyal in our ties. Knowing that God will punish the untruthful and the unfaithful is not the first reason to be true in our relationships, but it is a very strong second argument. Be true because it is right and honorable. Be right and honorable because those who love you are doing the same. Don't overreach. When the author mentions our “conversation,” in verse five, that one word should be taken to cover all of our dealings with our loved ones. It covers not only our speech but our actions. It also covers our inward intent. Our conversation is who we are to other people, and foremost, we should be trustworthy. Covetousness should not be found in us. If we are true in our ties, we are also content with what we have in life. We are also faithful, remembering that God will not leave us, or forsake us.
In reality, the author is charging us, not with things that are outside of us. Nothing strange or bizarre here, just the stuff we already know. We are charged to carry on in all the common attributes of our lives and spirits. We already love. Continue to do so. We already are true and faithful. Continue to be so. Practice who you already are, the good person, helpful and kind. Grow strong in your natural traits so that you may boldly go. Let your conversation shout, “the Lord is my helper,” I am not fearful of what bad people do.
Continuing at verse seven, the author mentions “them which have rule over you.” These are the people who have come before us. These are the people who have believed before you did. They have suffered. They have practiced and maintained their faith in the face of suffering, temptations, and need. They, among all of us, are able to lead by example and teach from experience. They are steadfast and true. They are dependable and trustworthy. We are counseled to emulate faith, “considering the end of their conversation,” by which he means, the goal and outcome of their thoughts, actions, and intent. Where will their faith take them? What will it achieve in them? What light will it produce in them, that they may shine it on, and affect, their ties with loved ones?
Actually, the answer is given in verse eight. The goal and outcome, in them and in you, is Jesus. “Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever” speaks not of Jesus sitting on the right hand of God, distant and apart. It speaks of Jesus in the ones who came before, and in us who follow, and those who follow us. It speaks of Jesus in our loyalties, faithfulness, dependability, hardships, and perseverance. It speaks of a Jesus who lives in our thoughts, words, and actions. He is the same in all of our connections and ties yesterday, today, and forever.
This goal and outcome require discipline among the ranks. As a driver, people who switch lanes annoy me the most. As a faithful Christian, I am required to pick the lane I want to drive in and stay put. The author of Hebrews delivers the truth most needful to Christians. That is, not to be “carried about” with strange doctrines that differ from the one we know works for us. We are counseled to know the doctrine in which we have been taught, and be faithful to it. A runner who suddenly lays down on the track to see if he can swim the rest of the way, will not be first across the finish line. We must be strongly established in what our hearts have learned to be most essential. That is not in the outward rigors of laws that only address the physical aspect of our being. The author mentions “meats, which have not profited them that have been occupied therein.”
A big issue for Christianity then was that it broke custom with orthodox Jewry. The Jews exercise strict observance of outward ordinances such as which meats one was allowed to eat, the washing of hands, the attendance of Sabbath and how far one could walk, or the work one could perform on a given day. Rather, the author reminds us of the essential matters, those we know to be most effective. They are the grace of God and the practice of Jesus yesterday, today, and forever. That practice is our faith. Jesus living in each individual is our faith, for it can not be done with Jesus apart from us. Consider what Jesus, himself, said.
Jesus said, in Matthew 11:29, “Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.” He said, in John 14:6, “I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” The way is not external but internal. Jesus must live within. When you speak, people should be able to say, 'he speaks just like Jesus.' When you act, people should be able to say, 'he does that just like Jesus.' The truth of Jesus is a personal character trait. God is looking to see Jesus in what you do and say. When Jesus said “by me,” he did not mean a Jesus outside of who you really are. Who you really are is the Jesus inside of you.
Returning to the Jewish connection, the author reminds his audience, in verse ten, that those who served in the Jewish tabernacle, and at the altar on which animals were sacrificed for sin, had no right to eat of the sacrifice. The bodies were burned outside the camp. In the new covenant, in order to sanctify believers with his spilled blood, Jesus, also, was crucified beyond the gate. Verse thirteen explicitly shows our individual, internalized connection to Jesus when it says, “Let us go forth therefore unto him” outside the camp, and also bear “his reproach.” We must be like Jesus. We must be where he is. The link between Christ and a Christian has to be an internal link. Outside the camp, and outside the gate represent a faithfulness to the Christian doctrine apart from Judaism and other doctrines, but a Jesus apart from the inner man just doesn't work.
The Christian, in this present world, is a transient, with no permanent home. We seek one to come. To be where Jesus is, outside the gate, that is sacrifice. That is an acceptance of our cross, and yet still praising God despite our suffering. We are not in this alone, we have each other. We should know that our loved ones stand ready to help us through. Our loved ones should know that we stand ready to help them through. We should recognize, and hold tight to the Jesus in each other.
The author returns to the topic of our spiritual rulers. They are those who have gone before, believed before, suffered before us, and are both able and willing to watch for our souls. We are exhorted to obey them, for they have not engaged lightly in their chosen task. They must give an account to the one whom they serve. Their job is another burden on top of an already burdened life. Let them have some joy in their work – they deserve it. Don't cause them grief, that would not profit you in any way, as they serve the Lord. The author asks for prayer, not for himself alone, but for “us.” The author was a part of something bigger than himself, one member of the body of spiritual rulers watching for the souls of their lambs. We see someone, not as an authoritarian icon, but as a real person with a real desire to do what is good and right. “We trust we have a good conscience” are the words of a genuine individual working toward the common good. “In all things willing to live honestly” paints the portrait of a humble and honorable man.
Whoever the author of Hebrews was, he knew and was known by his audience. Among the words of advice and exhortation may be found a genuine plea that, through their compliance, he may be returned to them all the sooner.
Continuing at verse twenty, the author concludes his letter. It has been laid out like a legal argument, in the hope, I think, that no stone would remain unturned. He has tried, at length, to be thorough, but, it is only a letter, and he must bring it to a close. He has written to people he cares deeply for, and the indication is that the author is known and loved by those to whom he writes. In our recent past, when we actually wrote letters, we might end them with something like 'sincerely' or 'yours truly.' The author of the letter to the Hebrews was not such a minimalist. It took him six lines to wrap up. That is an engaged spirit. Often, in phone calls, we find ourselves in the position of trying to say goodbye, yet, we continue to speak. It takes some doing to make the break.
The God of peace make you perfect. God is a God of many more things than peace, but this attribute is stressed because of the author's desire toward those he is writing to. The God of peace is the same God that brought Jesus back from the dead. I want you to focus on the word, 'that.' It is a word used to indicate God, to show God as the one who is and performs. It is a word used not once, but twice for the same entity. If you removed the second clause from verse twenty, it would read, “Now the God of peace, that great shepherd of the sheep.” Before your very eyes, is the conclusion that the one who raised Jesus is Jesus. God and Jesus are one. Jesus said, in John 10:18, “No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of my Father.”
We often think of Jesus in relation to the 'new' covenant, or the new testament, but that is, in actuality, a refinement within an overall covenant. The resurrection of Jesus from the dead was a thing accomplished “through the blood of the everlasting covenant.” I stress the word “everlasting” to show that the old and new covenants, the old and new testaments, are one and the same. It is a singular instance of blood that binds us, that makes us perfect.
I have heard far too many people make the false claim that man cannot be perfect. Even Christians entertain the notion that the nature of man is irredeemable, but it is not, and the caveat to the perfection mentioned in verse twenty-one, is not a set of superpowers, it is not a superhuman constitution that allows us to walk on water. Rather, it is the simplest of things. Our perfection is proven in “every good work” to do the will of God. Perfection is found in how we treat each other, it is found in what we do and say among ourselves. If it were not possible for man to be perfect, God would not have commanded that man make the effort.
In Matthew 5:48, Jesus said, “Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.” It is commanded that man be like God. But how, you ask? Jump up a few verses to Matthew 5:45. Jesus said, “That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.” Perfection is found in fairness and justice within our relationships. It is not for us to pick and choose, but to do the right thing. Perfection is found in our behavior.
In the old testament part of the everlasting covenant, God said more than three times to mankind, 'be holy, for I am holy.' God commanded that we be like him in Leviticus 11:44, Leviticus 11:45, Leviticus 19:2, Leviticus 20:26, and Leviticus 20:7. We may not say that perfection is out of reach. We can be like God. Peter tells us how in 1 Peter 1:15, “but like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior.” When we are perfect in our behavior, we will still have pains and maladies. We will not escape our problems of health or finances. We can bear our cross and be perfect at the same time. We will not accomplish godly perfection if we love some and hate others, neither if we choose our thoughts over his. How can anyone believe God is all-powerful while they engage in persecution of enemies? There should be no enemies.
The action of having and persecuting enemies robs God of his prerogative. Perfection in our behavior will glorify the one to whom glory belongs, it will accomplish the thing that pleases God. How? Because, in perfect behavior, we are like the son of God. There is no higher praise of another than to be that person.
Beyond that, the author asks that we do not tire of exhortation. When we care, we exhort. That does not always go down the way we hope it will. Those we exhort, sometimes feel challenged. They tell us to keep it to ourselves. The author says to the Hebrews that he has only written a few words. There will be more exhortations. They may seem like other people telling them what to do. It will feel like an infringement to those who are not inclined toward mutual support. Yet, in innumerable ways, we do just that in our common communications. We say, 'be well,' 'take care,' 'be careful,' or 'hang in there.' We do it all the time without really thinking about it. We hear it all the time from those we are connected to. When we come to the point where we tell them to mind their own business, we can be sure we will fail to grow in our relationships. One is either inclined toward mutual support, or one is an outsider.
There are the 'say hello for me' salutes, and news of Timothy, who represents one like the author, which the author may travel with to see the Hebrews. It is suggested that one's concerns be with spiritual leaders and saints, and those from Italy send greetings. The letter is done, and all that is left is the well-wishing. Grace be with you all.
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