Our Great Leader (Hebrews 3 and 4)

This sermon was preached on 11/4/2013

Last week Mrs. Thatcher passed away. Whatever we think of her politics we are aware that her policies will influence our country, indeed the world, for years to come. From her perspective, she found Britain in an economic mess and had a vision on how to lead us out of it and restore our position in the world. Whether she did or not, we cannot say. But one thing we can say is that as a leader her own limitations prevented her from achieving all of her goals (for example, she made mistakes in her assessments of things and misjudged the responses of people to her policies). Further her own followers eventually rebelled against her and so prevented her from achieving her aims. She was a leader who could have done more but was prevented from doing so by factors beyond her control. Yet she remains for many an example of effective leadership. But is she the kind of leader that the church needs?

Throughout history, there have been famous rulers and most countries have had such. If we were to ask non-Christian friends of the first readers of this letter, ‘Who was your most famous leader?’, they because they were Jews would have replied, ‘Moses, because he brought our ancestors out from bondage in Egypt. He did this as God’s special servant, therefore we are very proud of him.’ Who could possibly be a better leader than him? The writer therefore knew that he would have to explain how Jesus was a greater leader than Moses. Is Moses the kind of leader that the church needs in its crises today?

Those who are familiar with the story of Moses will know that his limitations prevented him achieving his aims. Although he led the children of Israel to the borders of the Promised Land, he was not allowed to enter it because he had lost his temper previously on one occasion (Num. 20:12). We may think the penalty was very severe; nevertheless we have to agree that it was his own failings that caused him to miss out on Canaan. Further, his own people, the ones he had rescued from slavery in Egypt, also rebelled against him many times and in the end most of them did not get into Canaan either.  So although he was a prominent leader, he was not perfect.

The questions that come to mind as we think of Jesus as a leader are twofold: (a) what can Jesus do for me and (b) what does Jesus want of me? We will aim to answer both questions from this passage in Hebrews and to do so under four headings.

Remember what Jesus did for you

The writer begins with a call that reminds his readers who they are and says three things about them that they all share. They are holy brothers, they have a heavenly calling and they make a common confession of praise to God. The first term describes the relationship they share, the second details the riches they possess having been called to heaven, and the third describes the response they should have. An obvious response to such a reminder would be to think of another question: ‘Who gave us these shared blessings?’, and the answer of course is that Jesus did. They did not contribute to any of those blessings. He is their brother who has united them to himself (as we saw in the previous chapter), they were called to go to heaven to be with him, and they praise him together on the journey there. It is always good to ask oneself of benefits we have received from Jesus before moving on to consider what is required of us.

Remember to consider Jesus (3:1-6a)

The word that is translated ‘consider’ is a verb meaning to focus on diligently, to scan accurately, and to contemplate carefully. Imagine an expert looking at a work of art – he will notice every detail and also observe how all the individual details contribute to the one picture. Jesus is a magnificent work of art and his people are called to be experts in appreciating the individual details of his person and work as well as the overall impression that he makes.

Here, the readers are urged to consider Jesus in two specific ways. Firstly, they are to think of him as an apostle. An apostle is basically a messenger or an ambassador, and here Jesus is described as the one whom God sent to live out and declare a heavenly message. An ambassador is a person who speaks with the authority of the one who sent him. There was no contradiction between what Jesus said and who he was. A minister, in a sense, is also a messenger but it cannot be said of him that he is exactly like the one he represents or that he knows every thought of the God who has sent him. But Jesus was exactly like his Father and he also knew his Father’s will exactly in all its details.

Secondly, they are to think of Jesus as high priest. The priest’s role was to teach the people, to intercede for them, and to offer sacrifices for their sins. Jesus, as the apostle, explained what he would do as the high priest, which did involve him becoming the sinbearer on the cross. Obviously, his work of atonement was a most important and essential aspect of his work as our high priest. But the author has more than looking back in mind.

Our translation suggests that the author wants to stress that Jesus was faithful to his Father who had called him to this role. Jesus did say that his meat and drink was to the will of him who sent him and to finish the work he had been given to accomplish. The Saviour was aware that he always did what pleased the Father – Jesus never had to think about an occasion about which he could have concluded that he should have done better. Yet the author uses a present participle when describing the faithfulness of Jesus. He is saying that Jesus is as equally faithful to them today as he was when he was on cross for them. So although they were facing many difficulties, they could still rely on Jesus to fulfill his obligations on their behalf. In fact, he would never let them down.

A non-Christian Jew, not realizing the uniqueness of Jesus’ service, might respond to this and say that Moses was also faithful most of the time. But it is part of the Christian’s confession to say that a big difference between Jesus and Moses is also found in their personal identities. Jesus was the Son who is involved in building God’s house whereas Moses was only a servant working in God’s house. In a way, the author is saying that Moses, great man that he was, is only a servant of Jesus the builder because much of what Moses organized pointed to Jesus (the manna, the tabernacle). The author here is repeating what Jesus had said he would do – he would build his church, an activity that Moses could not do because it is a divine activity.

Remember the necessity of faith in Jesus (3:6b-18)

The crucial question for his readers was retaining membership of the house that Jesus was building. Remember that they were being tempted to give up their profession because of the persecution they were facing. What they had to do was ‘hold fast our confidence and our boasting in our hope’, which is another way of saying, ‘Keep on having a loving and lively faith in Jesus.’ How does the author go about encouraging them to continue?

He goes back to an event in Israel’s history when the people abandoned their hope of entering the Promised Land when they initially reached its borders. The climax of their rebellion against God was to conclude that they could never defeat the inhabitants of Canaan. Instead they refused to go in, and God punished them by saying they would never enter into the experience of Canaan, an experience that he defines by the words ‘my rest’.

The author wants his readers to be realistic about themselves. They were showing signs of drawing back from Christ and in doing so they were in danger of repeating something similar to what the Israelites had done when they refused to keep on going and enter into Canaan. The author is reminding them that it is not enough to have a good start (the Israelites, after all, had that); in addition, they also had to continue. The remedy that he prescribes is twofold: self-examination to see whether or not they have unbelief in their hearts and fellowship, here in the form of constant, mutual encouragement. Cain once asked, ‘Am I my brother’s keeper?’ When a Christian asks a similar question, the answer is ‘yes’.

The biggest danger facing those early Christians was not external opposition but an evil heart of unbelief that would lead them away from the living God. Persecution was one of the logs that would burn out the spark of faith, but it was not the root cause of such apostasy. Instead the root would be unbelief about God and his promises. So in addition to self-examination, there had to be mutual encouragement and correction. In other words, they had to come alongside one other and speak about their souls.

Remember what we need is rest (4:1-11)

This passage highlights the concept of God’s rest. The rest intended here is not the rest of heaven because the author clearly says that those among his readers who were true believers had this rest already (4:3). So whatever else it may mean, it cannot refer to the experience of heaven. Instead it is an experience known on earth, or as John Owen puts it, ‘The rest, therefore, here intended is that rest which believers have an entrance into by Jesus Christ in this world.’ The leadership skills of Jesus are also revealed in whether or not he can give rest to his people. But what is the rest that the author has in mind? Fortunately he tells us.

First, he says that God’s rest first was mentioned in the Bible to describe the seventh day of the creation week. Rest was a day for fellowship with God for Adam and Eve as they ceased the tasks they did on other days. The rest was marked by satisfaction and the enjoyment of an environment in which peace and serenity and joy was found. All the details of this rest could not be retained after the fall because sin changed their relationship with God.

Does this mean that rest could no longer be known? No, the answer is that rest continued to be offered and a place where it could have been enjoyed was in Canaan. The generation that left Egypt with Moses were refused entry into the place of rest because of their repeated rebellion. Nevertheless, the next generation, this time under Joshua, did enter the Promised Land. Yet even after they had arrived there they did not discover God’s rest, a fact David commented on generations later when he wrote Psalm 95 in which mentions this failure. The reason why they did not experience God’s rest even in Canaan was because they were disobedient to God, a sign that they did not believe in him. Because Israel did not receive rest, despite their great leaders, it meant that God’s promise of rest still awaited fulfillment.

The writer points out in 4:3 that those who believe in Jesus have entered God’s rest. Those who believe in Jesus now enjoy this experience of divine rest, which had been offered to the Israelites but sadly spurned by them. In other words, the rest is what they are given by grace when they believe. This is the rest that still exists for the people of God. The reference to the Sabbath rest in verse 10 is not a reference to a future experience in heaven. Rather it describes what Christians can know on earth.

There are many aspects to this rest, and here are some of them. First, there is the rest from trying to obtain salvation by works. Jesus himself referred to this aspect when he said to his listeners, ‘Come to me, all you who labour and are heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.’ His listeners were enduring the bondage of the laws imposed on people by the Pharisees and Jesus told them that he alone could give spiritual rest to those trying to work their way into God’s kingdom.

Second, there is the status of justification that is given to all who believe in Jesus. As Paul puts it, ‘Being justified by faith we have peace with God' (Rom. 5:1). God is no longer their enemy. The Judge has become their Friend and they have this permanent status of acceptance, and it is all because of Jesus.

Third, there is the awareness that all their sins have been forgiven. Who can count the number of their sins? God knows how many each of us has committed, and he knows how many he has pardoned. Here we have described the way for peace of conscience, and that is a marvelous aspect of his rest. And again, it is all because of Jesus.

Fourth, there is the privilege of adoption into the family of God. At one time, they were strangers and outcasts, far away from God. Yet when they believed in Jesus they were brought into God’s family as equal sons, and this exalted position is their eternal possession. And the realization of the fullness that this rest incorporates leads them to enjoy it.

Fifth, there is the sense that God is for us. This sense is given to us freely by the Holy Spirit as he applies to our souls the reality that all of God’s promises are ours, although we did not deserve any of them. But they are Yes and Amen in Jesus.

This is the rest that would have been enjoyed by the Israelites in Canaan to some extent if they had not succumbed to unbelief. They would not have enjoyed it to the degree in which we can, but as they would have looked forward to the coming of the Messiah they would have the rest of anticipated salvation and would have enjoyed fellowship with God.

Hopefully, we can now see why it was so serious for these Hebrew Christians to contemplate giving up on Jesus. Instead they should be resolute in adhering to him. They should cope with their problems by living in the rest that Jesus provides. After all, he did say that if they took his yoke on them they would find rest for their souls. We will do so as long as we regard Jesus as a good Leader, and as we do so we will go on experiencing his abilities and thus discover rest that Moses and Joshua together could not provide.