Hebrews 13:20-25
Readings for this week November 13-19
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Day 1 – Benediction
Silence, Stillness and Centering before God (2 minutes)
Scripture Reading – Hebrews 13:20-21
We’re coming to the very end of Hebrews now. Here, in the closing verses, we come to a rather wonderful benediction (that we’ll cover twice – it’s that good!) that serves as a succinct summary of what the entire letter/sermon has been about: Jesus. The book opened with Jesus as God’s final word to us; we close with Jesus too. He is the centre. He has made everything possible. His life, death, resurrection and ascension have revealed the full extent of God’s love for us, restored the breach between us, and shown us the way forward as we partner with God in birthing his eternal kingdom. It’s all here, all found in him. He has rescued us from the sin that entangles. He is our hope and he supplies hope for a restored creation and repaired and renewed lives. He shows us the way to live faithfully as we go about God’s work in the world.
He has equipped us to do his will, in the same way that Jesus himself went about doing the will of his father. He has given us everything we need to fulfil his will for creation. The good news about the Good News is that we are free to share it with the entire world. We have no excuses for inaction: God has said he is with us, he is on our side, and he goes with us – and before us – in bringing peace, freedom and restoration to all people. Hebrews is about the expansive, transforming love of God. Now that we know it and experience it, we should have no fear in stepping out and sharing it far and wide.
Question to Consider
How does God equip us? How does this equipping help you share the gospel with others?
Prayer
Gracious God, may I not be slow to use the tools you have blessed me with to share your love with others, and bring light into the dark places of the world. May I always be eager to do your will and follow your steps. Amen.
Conclude with Silence (2 minutes)
Day 2 – The Shepherd and the Priest
Silence, Stillness and Centering before God (2 minutes)
Scripture Reading – Hebrews 13:20-21
The central picture of Christ that the author of Hebrews uses throughout the book is the image of Jesus as high priest, the final, definitive high priest who was both sacrifice and officiant and who now sits at the right hand of the Father. So it is somewhat surprising (and may also have been for the original recipients of Hebrews) that here at the end, the author presents us with the image of Jesus as “the great shepherd of the sheep.” But the two images are meant to be interpreted in the light of each other. Christ is a shepherd-like high priest, always interceding for his people with his Father. Alongside this is the idea of the high-priestly shepherd who is a guide and protector. Jesus is the one that God exalted from the dead, raised on high, and is now forever present as a guide to his flock.
But the key point about this shepherd, in line with all that has been written so far, is one who gives his life for the sheep – his sheep. The gospel of John also recognises this point when Jesus says that he is the good shepherd who lays down his life for his sheep (John 10:11). The reference used in this passage of Hebrews to the blood of the eternal covenant in the same verse as the good shepherd, highlights that Jesus is a greater shepherd of his people than Moses was. God led the shepherd Moses and his sheep out of the desert; Jesus is the great shepherd who God brought from the realm of the dead as the first fruits of eternal resurrection life that is now offered to all.
Question to Consider
How do the images of high priest and shepherd speak to you? What do they reveal of Jesus and the nature of his relationship with us?
Prayer
Almighty Father, thank you for guiding us together as a people, protecting us and showing us the way. Help us be gentle with each other. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Conclude with Silence (2 minutes)
Day 3 – Going Deeper into God
Silence, Stillness and Centering before God (2 minutes)
Scripture Reading – Hebrews 13:22
The benediction touches on the major themes that have been expounded in the letter, bookending Hebrews with the person of Jesus. For the writer of Hebrews, it is simply, centrally and supremely about Jesus. Thirteen chapters later and the author states “I have written only briefly” (!). Like the statement at the end of John’s gospel about the number of books that would be required to record all the deeds of Jesus, the author knows that even with all that he has written about all that Jesus has accomplished and all that he is still doing by his Spirit, there is even so much more beyond this, so much more that could be said by way of exposition, teaching and encouragement. With God, there is always more.
There is always more of God to encounter and experience. He has more of himself to share with us, more of his hopes to inspire us with, and bigger and greater plans for his creation that he wants us to be a part of. We will never reach the end of him – there are always new depths that he longs to reveal to us. What we need to do in order to experience the hopes and plans and depths of God is to willingly dive deeper into him. All of us can take the plunge into God, all of us can strive to go deeper. Opening up our lives through deeper prayer will show us that there is more of God waiting for us, more of himself he is waiting to share with us, more of his world he wants to redeem with us.
Question to Consider
How might God be asking you to go deeper into him in prayer? How can you do this? How might others help you?
Prayer
Heavenly Father, take me deeper into you. Reveal more of yourself to me. Make my prayer life a road to a deeper experience of you; may I lean into you more and more each day. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Conclude with Silence (2 minutes)
Day 4 – Applied Living
Silence, Stillness and Centering before God (2 minutes)
Scripture Reading – Hebrews 13:23-24
As theologically sophisticated as the letter to the Hebrews is, it is nevertheless still deeply rooted in the situation of the sender and the recipients. After the benediction we have a few verses of seemingly mundane updates, and the type of traditional greetings that we might expect from one of Paul’s epistles, for example. In fact, the mention of Timothy explicitly links the letter with the world of Paul, although this tantalising piece of name dropping provides no details of its composition, or of the community it was intended for. But it does serve to ground the practicalities of the letter, and these last couple of chapters in particular, in the circumstances of the difficulties and dangers of following Jesus in the ancient Roman world.
The mention of Timothy being ‘released’ from some sort of captivity links back to verses 18-19 where the writer seeks the peoples’ prayers so that he may be ‘restored to you’ – perhaps the writer himself was imprisoned too? Although we cannot know for sure, we know that so many other early followers of Jesus ended up imprisoned for their faith; it was an occupational hazard of being a disciple then, as it still is now for so many around the world. At the end of a letter so intensely devoted to showing the importance of the powerful work accomplished on the cross and the reality of Jesus as truly Emmanuel – ‘God with us’ – in all that we do and all we go through, it is fitting that we are reminded that life must still be lived in all its uncertainty – but also that God is always with us.
Question to Consider
What have you learned from the book of Hebrews this year? How has God spoken to you? How are you applying what you have learned/heard?
Prayer
Heavenly Father, help me to live faithfully and apply your word each day. Speak to me through the spiritual rhythms of my life and mould me into the likeness of your son. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Conclude with Silence (2 minutes)
Day 5 – The Final Word
Silence, Stillness and Centering before God (2 minutes)
Scripture Reading – Hebrews 13:25
We don’t know who wrote Hebrews, but the book ends, in its very final verse, with a sign off that is often used by Paul at the end of his epistles: an invocation of grace. This is entirely appropriate: everything laid out in the book of Hebrews – the person and work of Jesus, the rescue and formation of his people, the strength to live faithfully in difficult times – is possible because of the grace of God. God showers his grace upon us. He has already done so much for us and he continues to lavish his love upon his creation so that his creation can come to know him again. He has restored us to himself by his grace and he has offered us the opportunity to be restored to each other as well.
We need not be stuck in destructive patterns of relationship with each other anymore. His grace is sufficient. We need never worry about not having the ability to fulfil the kingdom’s restorative, redemptive work he has for us. His grace is abundant. We need not worry when times and circumstances and events threaten us. His grace sustains. Whatever situation the Hebrew believers were in – and whatever situation we find ourselves in – God’s grace covers all things, transforms all things, and restores all things. The first word was grace – the unforced, unnecessary, gratuitous grace of Creation – and the last word is also grace, the grace that God offers to each of us and that he calls each of us to offer to each other and all others: the power to live faithfully and graciously in his name.
Question to Consider
How have you been experiencing more of God’s grace lately? How have you been sharing his grace with others?
Prayer
Lord God, show me the ways of grace. Make me a grace-filled person who always shares your love with others and always seeks to pour grace into the lives of those around me. In Jesus’ name, Amen
Conclude with Silence (2 minutes)